Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is River Dolphin.

Important Points 

• River Dolphin is the national aquatic animal of India.
  • It represents the health of the rivers, particularly the Ganga.
  • The Union government declared River Dolphin as the national aquatic animal to save dolphins from extinction.
  • The ministry of environment and forests declared the Ganges River Dolphin as the National Aquatic Animal in 2010.
  • The Ganges river dolphin was officially discovered in the year 1801.
  • The Ganges river dolphin can only live in freshwater.

Additional Information 

• Tiger is the national animal of India.
• Peacock is the national bird of India.
• Lotus is the national flower of India.
• Banyan tree is the national tree of India.
• River Ganges is the national river of India.

The correct answer is Dr. Sampurnanand. 

Key Points

The correct answer is B.N. Rao.

Key Points

• BN Rao was elected by the Constituent Assembly as its constitutional advisor.
  • The Constituent Assembly was a partly elected and partly nominated body.
  • The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on 9 December 1946.
  • The Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state of Pakistan.
  • Thus only 211 members attended the meeting.
  • Later on 11 December 1946 Dr. Rajendra Prasad and H.C. Mukherjee was elected as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly respectively.
  • Vallabhbhai Patel was the President of the Provincial Constitution Committee
  • Jawaharlal Nehru was the chairman of the Central Constitution Committee.

Additional Information

• In 1934, M N Roy first proposed the idea of a constituent assembly. Under the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946, elections were held for the formation of the constituent assembly.
• On 24 January 1950, The Indian Constituent Assembly adopted "Vande Mataram " as a national song.
• Drafting Committee:
  • The Drafting Committee had seven members:
    • Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami, B.R. Ambedkar, K.M Munshi, Mohammad Saadulla, B.L. Mitter, and D.P. Khaitan.
  • At its first meeting on 30th August 1947, the Drafting Committee elected B.R Ambedkar as its Chairman. 

The correct answer is I, II.

Key Points

• In case of disagreement between both the houses of the Indian Parliament, there is a provision of joint sitting.
• A joint sitting can be called only on ordinary bills.
• A provision for joint sitting on Constitutional Amendment Bills is also described in Article 108.
• Hence the correct answer is I, II.

Additional Information 

• Joint Sitting of Parliament
  • The Constitution of India provides for a joint session of the Parliament. 
  • India has a bicameral Parliament.
  • To pass any bill, both the Houses (the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha) must concur. The bill has to be passed by both Houses before the President can give his/her assent.
  • The founding fathers foresaw situations where there could be a deadlock between both Houses of Parliament.
  • Therefore, they provided for a constitutional mechanism to break this deadlock, in the form of joint sittings.
  • Joint Sitting of Parliament is Summoned by the President.
  • The Speaker presides over a joint sitting.
  • In the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over it, and in his absence, the sitting is presided over by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
  • If any of the above-mentioned people are not available, any Member of Parliament (MP) can preside over the sitting by consensus of both Houses.
  • The quorum to constitute a joint sitting: 1/10th of the total number of members of the House.
• Joint Sitting Constitutional Provision
  • Article 108 of the Indian Constitution provides for a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
  • Accordingly, a joint session can be summoned when: If after a bill is passed by one House and transmitted to the other House.
  • The other House rejects this bill, or The Houses do not agree on the amendments made to the bill, or More than six months elapse with the bill being received by the other House without it being passed.

The correct answer is Neither 1 nor 2.

Key Points

• Role of the commission:
  • From the above, it is clear that the functions of the commission are mainly recommendatory in nature.
  • It has no power to punish the violators of human rights, nor to award any relief including monetary relief to the victim. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • Notably, its recommendations are not binding on the concerned government or authority. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • But, it should be informed about the action taken on its recommendations within one month.
  • In this context, a former member of the Commission observed: 
    • The government cannot wash away the recommendations made by the Commission.
    • The commission’s role may be recommendatory, advisory, yet the Government considers the cases forwarded by it.
    • It is, therefore, improper to say that the commission is powerless.
    • It enjoys great material authority and no government can ignore its recommendation’.
    • Moreover, the commission has a limited role, powers and jurisdiction with respect to the violation of human rights by the members of the armed forces.
    • In this sphere, the commission may seek a report from the Central government and make its recommendations.
    • The Central government should inform the Commission of the action taken on the recommendations within three months.
    • The commission submits its annual or special reports to the Central government and to the state government concerned.
    • These reports are laid before the respective legislatures, along with a memorandum of action taken on the recommendations of the commission and the reasons for non-acceptance of any of such recommendations.