Question Discussion & Solution

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 directly elected by the people.

Key Points

• Panchayat Samiti:
  • Panchayat Samiti is a rural local government (panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/Mandal) level in India.
  • It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block.
  • The members of the Panchayat Samiti are elected directly elected by the people.
  • Panchayat Samiti is related to Article 243(c) of the Indian Constitution.
  • According to  Article 243(c) - “intermediate level” means a level between the village and district levels specified by the Governor of a State by public notification to be the intermediate level for the purposes of this Part
  • It has been said to be the "panchayat of panchayats".
  • The 73rd Amendment defines the levels of Panchayati raj institution as:
    • District (or apex) level
    • Intermediate level
    • Base level
  • The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the gram panchayat (village council) and the Zila Parishad (district board).
  • The name varies across states: Mandal Parishad in Andhra Pradesh, taluka panchayat in Gujarat, and Mandal panchayat in Karnataka.

Additional Information

• The most common departments found in a panchayat Samiti are:
  • Administration
  • Finance
  • Public works (especially water and roads)
  • Agriculture
  • Health
• Each department in a panchayat Samiti has its own officer.
• Most often these are state government employees acting as extension officers, but occasionally in more revenue-rich panchayat Samiti, they may be local employees.
• A government-appointed block development officer (BDO) is the supervisor of the extension officers and executive officer to the panchayat Samiti and becomes, in effect, its administrative chief.
• The panchayat Samiti collects all the prospective plans prepared at the Gram Panchayat level and processes them for funding and implementation by evaluating them from the angles of financial constraints, social welfare, and area development.
• It also identifies and prioritizes the issues that should be addressed at the block level.

The correct answer is English.

• The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the official languages of the Republic of India.
• As per Articles 344 (1) and 351 of the Indian Constitution, the eighth schedule includes 22 languages.
• Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali were added by the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003.

Key Points

There are 22 official languages in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution are following:-

• Bengali
• Assamese
• Kashmiri
• Gujarati
• Hindi
• Kanada
• Malayalam
• Marathi
• Punjabi
• Odia
• Sanskrit
• Tamil
• Telugu
• Sindhi
• Urdu
• Konkani
• Nepali
• Manipuri
• Bodo
• Dogri
• Santhali
• Maithili

The correct answer is One of the senior-most members of the newly elected Loksabha.

Key Points

• One of the senior-most members of the newly elected Loksabha is generally appointed as a Protem Speaker.

Additional Information

• As per the second provision to article 94 of the Constitution, the office of the Speaker becomes vacant immediately before the first meeting of the new Lok Sabha.
• In that case list of senior Lok Sabha members prepared by the Legislative Section is submitted to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, who selects a protem speaker and approved by the President.

• A President pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer.

The correct answer is Cryptocurrency.

In News

• RBI wants a full ban on crypto, legal experts say it is too late.

Key Points

• S. C. Garg Committee:
  • It is related to Cryptocurrency. Hence option 1 is correct.
  • Recommendations:
    • Ban anybody who mines, hold, transact or deal with cryptocurrencies in any form.
    • It recommends a jail term of one to 10 years for exchange or trading in digital currency.
    • It proposed a monetary penalty of up to three times the loss caused to the exchequer or gains made by the cryptocurrency user whichever is higher.
    • However, the panel said that the government should keep an open mind on the potential issuance of cryptocurrencies by the Reserve Bank of India.