PRELIMS 2017 REVISION TEST 23

• Solution: c)

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  The term is used in Article 102 (1)(A) of the Indian Constitution which bars a member of the Indian Parliament from holding an office that would give its occupant the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit. It refers to a post under central/state government which yields salaries, perks and other benefits. The actual amount of profit gained during the violation has no bearing on its classification. India had the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1950, 1951, and 1953 exempting certain posts from being recorded as offices of profit. All these Acts were replaced by the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959. By virtue of section 3 of the said Act, certain offices did not disqualify their holders from being members of Parliament.[1] The law was again amended in 2006.[2] The representatives cannot hold an office of profit under section 9 (A) of the Representation of People Act and Article 191 (E) of the Constitution also.

Solution: b)

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The Inner Line Permit system (ILP) is a special pass or permit or quasi visa that is required by Indian citizens to enter protected/restricted area of state for a limited period. o It was introduced by then British India government to protect indigenous tribal people from encroachment into their areas by outsiders. Later, they used it as an instrument to advance the commercial interest. o Protected area/restricted area under ILP regime are notified by Union Government and ILP is issued by state governments under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. o This permit is presently operational in three north-eastern states viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.

Solution: a)

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The pardoning power of President is NOT absolute. It is governed by the advice of the Council of Ministers.

Solution: b

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Supreme Court has ruled that armed personnel cannot just shoot to kill militants who create internal disturbances under the presumption that they are enemies, and would face criminal prosecution if found using excessive force even in areas where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is in force.  The SC observed that there is no concept of absolute immunity from trial by a criminal court if an Army man has committed an offence.

  What is AFSPA?

 o AFSPA was enacted in 1958 amid the nascent Naga insurgency, gives powers to the army and state and central police forces to shoot to kill, search houses and destroy any property that is “likely” to be used by insurgents in areas declared as “disturbed area”. o Governor of the State and Central Government are empowered to declare any part or full of any state as disturbed area. o Security forces can “arrest without warrant” a person, who has committed or even “about to commit a cognizable offence” even on “reasonable suspicion”. It also protects them from legal processes for actions taken under the act.

Solution: b)

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The Supreme Court ruled that all cinemas in the country must play the national anthem prior to the screening of a film, with all doors closed.  States that have already made it compulsory: o Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Goa. o The States have done this under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.  The Act, which addresses insults to the Constitution, the national flag and the national anthem, has its genesis in Article 51 (a) of the Constitution, which enjoins a duty on every citizen of India to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the national flag and the national anthem.

Solution: c)

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Article 129 and Article 142 (2) of the Constitution enables the Supreme Court to issue notice and punish anyone including Judges of the High Court for the contempt of court.

Contempt under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971:

 o Civil contempt as the wilful disobedience to any judgement, decree, direction, order or writ of the court.

o Criminal Contempt as the publication (by spoken words, written material, signs, visual representation or otherwise) or doing of any act which has any of the following effects:  Scandalizing or lowering the authority of the Court.  Tending to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceeding.  Obstructing or tending to obstruct the administration of justice in any other manner.

Solution: a)

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Administration of Union Territories:

o Articles 239 to 241 in Part VIII of the Constitution deal with the union territories. Even though all the union territories belong to one category, there is no uniformity in their administrative system.

o Every union territory is administered by the President acting through an administrator appointed by him.

o An administrator of a union territory is an agent of the President and not head of state like a governor.

o The Union Territories of Puducherry (in 1963) and Delhi (in 1992) are provided with a legislative assembly and a council of ministers headed by a chief minister.

Solution: b)

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The Gadgil formula was formulated with the formulation of the fourth five-year plan for the distribution of plan transfers amongst the states. It was named after D. R. Gadgil, then deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

Solution: a)

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Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) or verifiable paper record (VPR) is a method of providing feedback to voters using a ballotless voting system. A VVPAT is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, to detect possible election fraud or malfunction, and to provide a means to audit the stored electronic results.It contains name of the candidate (for whom vote has been casted) and symbol of the party/ individual candidate.

Solution: a)

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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a committee of selected members of Parliament, constituted by the Parliament of India, for the auditing of the expenditure of the Government of India.  The Committee is formed every year with strength of not more than 22 members of which 15 are from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha.  The Chairman is appointed by the Speaker of Lok Sabha. Since 1967, the chairman of the committee is selected from the opposition. Earlier, it was headed by a member of the ruling party.  Its chief function is to examine the audit report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) after it is laid in the Parliament. CAG assists the committee during the course of investigation.  A Minister is not eligible to be elected as a member of the Committee and if a member, after his election to the Committee, is appointed as a Minister, he ceases to be a member of the Committee from the date of such appointment.  The term of office of members of the Committee does not exceed one year at a time.

Solution: d)

Statement 1:This move aims to improve domestic availability in the wake of rising prices and concerns about the wheat crop in 2016-17. The duty was waived because of uncertainty over the wheat output this year. Despite a rise in area sown, questions are raised over condition of the wheat crop, low fertiliser and pesticide use due to and fears of a warm winter.
Statement 2: It will further increase dumping as import prices will reduce.
Statement 3: This was not a part of the Nairobi agenda. We have covered it in a different question in this test and previous tests.

Solution: c)

It is found both in eastern and western Himalayas.
Rhododendrons can be found in nearly all Himalayan states like NE India, Sikkim, WB, Uttarakhand, J&K, HP etc.
It is a state symbol of Sikkim and Uttarakhand.
The flowering plants with variegated flowers are fast disappearing from this region because of being ruthlessly felled down with dual purpose of obtaining fuel and construction of houses.

Solution: b

HDI covers three major indicators – health, standard of living (per capita income) and educational attainments.
In calculating the above, it takes only gross national figures into account.
It does not capture qualitative aspects of indicators. For e.g. one year additional schooling in rural India and urban India are significantly different. Also, an extra year lived at the age of 81 might not given an individual the same utility as that lived at the age 25. In several countries, primary enrolment does not mean completion of education. Drop out rates are not counted.
It does not contain social exclusion, discrimination, social inequity, gender disparities I development. So, higher HDI does not necessarily ensure greater happiness and cultural satisfaction.

Solution: a

Statement 1: Zinc is quite reactive. It can react with food items and make them unfit for consumption. Tin is used in place of zinc.
Statement 2: The botulinum toxin is produced in the food during anaerobic growth, not due to presence of Zinc. We have covered the toxin and related issues in a previous test.

Solution: c)

The Income Tax department is planning to implement the first phase of ‘Project Insight’ from May 2017 to monitor high value transactions, with a view to curbing the circulation of black money.
This project has been initiated for collection, collation and processing of such information for effective risk management with a view to widening and deepening tax base.
It will use data mining, big data and analytics to scoop out tax evaders from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Permanent Account Number (PAN) will be the unique identifier is used by the Income Tax department to link and analyse various transactions relating to the tax payers.

Solution: c

The amara-nayakasystem was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is likelythat many features of this system were derived from the iqtasystem of the Delhi Sultanate
Amara-nayakas collected taxes and other dues from peasants, craftspersons and traders in the area.
The amara-nayakas sent tribute to the king annually and personally appeared in the royal court with gifts to express their loyalty.
They retained part of the revenue for personal use and for maintaining a stipulated contingent of horses and elephants.
These contingents provided the Vijayanagara kings with an effective fighting force with which they brought the entire southern peninsula under their control.

Solution: b)

https://www.britannica.com/place/Palghat-Gap

Solution: d)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digboi

Solution: c

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siachen_Glacier

Solution: c.

The Hallmarking Scheme is a voluntary scheme being operated by BIS under the BIS Act 1986. BIS is operating the scheme through its network of Regional/ Branch Offices all over the country. As per this scheme the licence is granted to a jeweler for certification of purity of gold (or silver) jewellery. A licensee jeweler has to get the jewellery hallmarked through any of the BIS recognized Assaying and hallmarking centres (no hallmarking center has been set up by Central Government or by Bureau of Indian Standards. Hallmarking centres are generally set up by private entrepreneurs).