Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Speaker.

Key Points

• Before sending it to the upper house, The Speaker of the Lok Sabha certifies the bill as a money bill. Hence, option 3 is correct.
• The Speaker's decision is binding on both the Houses.
• The Bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha.
• When a Money Bill is returned to the lower house with the recommended amendments of the Rajya Sabha, the bill is open to the Lok Sabha to accept or reject any or all of the recommendations.

Important Points

• Money bills passed by the lower house are sent to the Rajya Sabha.
• The Rajya Sabha can recommend amendments.
• The Rajya Sabha can not amend money bills.

The correct answer is Jawaharlal Nehru.

Key Points

• Jawaharlal Nehru was the chairman of the Union Power Committee of the Constituent Assembly of India.
• An idea for a Constituent Assembly of India was proposed in 1934 by M. N. Roy.
• The Constituent Assembly appointed a total of 22 committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making.
• The Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946, and its last session was held on 24 January 1950.

Additional Information

• Important Committees of Constituent Assembly and their chairperson -
  • Union Constitution Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru
  • State Power Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Provincial Committee - Sardar Patel
  • Drafting Committee - BR Ambedkar
  • Minority Committee - Sardar Patel
  • Steering Committee - Rajendra Prasad. 

The correct answer is ​Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Key Points

• ENFORCEMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
  • Some provisions of the Constitution pertaining to citizenship, elections, provisional parliament, temporary and transitional provisions, and short title
  • contained in Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392 and 393 came into force on November 26, 1949 itself.
  • The remaining provisions (the major part) of the Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950.
  • This day is referred to in the Constitution as the ‘date of its commencement and celebrated as Republic Day.
  • January 26 was specifically chosen as the ‘date of commencement of the Constitution because of its historical importance. Hence Assertion is correct 
  • It was on this day in 1930 that Purna Swaraj day was celebrated, following the resolution of the Lahore Session (December 1929) of the INC. Hence R is the correct explanation of A.
  • Constitution Day or Samvidhan Diwas (26th November) is also known as National Law Day. The day commemorates the adoption of the Constitution in India. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India.

The correct answer is N. K. Singh.

• N. K. Singh is the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission.

Additional Information

• 15th Finance Commission
  • The Finance Commission (FC) is a constitutional body, that determines the method and formula for distributing the tax proceeds between the Centre and states, and among the states as per the constitutional arrangement and present requirements.
  • Under Article 280 of the Constitution, the President of India is required to constitute a Finance Commission at an interval of five years or earlier.
  • The 15th Finance Commission was constituted by the President of India, under the chairmanship of NK Singh.
  • Its recommendations will cover a period of five years from the year 2021-22 to 2025-26.
  • Grants Devolution Criteria
    • Population:
      • The population of a State represents the needs of the State to undertake expenditure for providing services to its residents.
      • It is also a simple and transparent indicator that has a significant equalising impact.
    • Area:
      • The larger the area, the greater is the expenditure requirement for providing comparable services.
    • Forest and Ecology:
      • By taking into account the share of the dense forest of each state in the aggregate dense forest of all the states, the share on these criteria is determined.
    • Income Distance:
      • Income distance is the distance of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of a particular state from the state with the highest GSDP.
      • To maintain interstate equity, the states with lower per capita income would be given a higher share.
    • Demographic Performance:
      • It rewards efforts made by states in controlling their population.
      • This criterion has been computed by using the reciprocal of the total fertility ratio of each state, scaled by 1971 population data.
    • Tax Effort:
      • This criterion has been used to reward states with higher tax collection efficiency.

The Correct answer is ​42nd Amendment.

 Key Points

• The 42nd Amendment of the Indian Constitution is the most comprehensive amendment to the Constitution and carried out major changes.
• It is also known as “mini-constitution”.
•  Amendments:
  • Added three new words (i.e., socialist, secular, and integrity) in the Preamble.
  • Added Fundamental Duties by the citizens (new Part IV A).
  • Made the president bound by the advice of the cabinet.
  • Provided for administrative tribunals and tribunals for other matters (Added Part XIV A).
  • Froze the seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies on the basis of 1971 census till 2001 - Population Controlling Measure
  • Made the constitutional amendments beyond judicial scrutiny.
  • Curtailed the power of judicial review and writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and high courts.
  • Raised the tenure of Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies from 5 to 6 years.
  • Provided that the laws made for the implementation of Directive Principles cannot be declared invalid by the courts on the ground of violation of some Fundamental Rights.
  • Added three new Directive Principles viz., equal justice and free legal aid, the participation of workers in the management of industries and protection of the environment, forests, and wildlife.
  • Provided for the creation of the All-India Judicial Service.
  • Shortened the procedure for disciplinary action by taking away the right of a civil servant to make representation at the second stage after the inquiry (i.e., on the penalty proposed).

 Important Points

• The 24th Amendment had re-established Parliament's authority to amend the Fundamental Rights in the Constitution.
• The 25th Amendment was intended to strip the Supreme Court of the power to go into the quantum of compensation for the takeover of property for public use.
• 44th Amendment Act nullified this unjustified power to the government.
• Right to Property was removed from the list of fundamental rights (Article 31) and was made a legal right under Article 300A.
• 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were passed by Parliament in December 1992.
• Through these amendments, local self-governance was introduced in rural and urban India.