Question Discussion & Solution

Untouchability refers to discrimination on the basis of caste.

• It is the practice of excluding a group of people regarded as 'untouchables', resulting in the segregation and persecutions from the people regarded as "higher" caste.
• The term is most commonly associated with the treatment of the Dalit communities in the Indian subcontinent. 
• Article 17 of the Indian Constitution abolishes untouchability and forbids its practise in any form.
• In 1976 the Untouchability Act 1955 was amended and renamed the Protection of Civil Rights act 1955.
• The term untouchability has not been defined in the constitution or in any act.

The correct answer is Not less than 45.

• Establishment of Lokpal
  • The Lokpal shall consist of
    (a) a Chairperson, who is or has been a Chief Justice of India or is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or an eminent person who fulfills the eligibility specified in clause (b) of sub-section (3); and
    (b) such number of Members, not exceeding eight out of whom fifty percent. shall be Judicial Members: Provided that not less than fifty percent. of the Members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities and women.
  • A person shall be eligible to be appointed —
    (a) as a Judicial Member if he is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or is or has been a Chief Justice of a High Court;
    (b) as a Member other than a Judicial Member, if he is a person of impeccable integrity and outstanding ability having special knowledge and expertise of not less than twenty-five years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management.
  • The Chairperson or a Member shall not be
    (i) a member of Parliament or a member of the Legislature of any State or Union territory;
    (ii) a person convicted of any offence involving moral turptitude;
    (iii) a person of less than forty-five years of age, on the date of assuming office as the Chairperson or Member, as the case may be;
    (iv) a member of any Panchayat or Municipality;
    (v) a person who has been removed or dismissed from the service of the Union or a State, and shall not hold any office of trust or profit (other than his office as the Chairperson or a Member) or be affiliated with any political party or carry on any business or practise any profession and, accordingly, before he enters upon his office, a person appointed as the Chairperson or a Member, as the case may be, shall, if—
    (a) he holds any office of trust or profit, resign from such office; or
    (b) he is carrying on any business, sever his connection with the conduct and management of such
    business; or
    (c) he is practising any profession, cease to practise such profession.

The correct answer is 1993.

Key Points

• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India is a Statutory public body constituted on 12 October 1993.
• It is under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993.
• It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA).
• The NHRC is the National Human Rights Commission of India, responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, defined by the Act as "Rights Relating To Life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India.".
• It encourages the efforts of NGOs and institutions congress to work in the field of human rights.

Additional Information

• The headquarters of NHRC is Sardar Patel Bhawan, New Delhi, India.
• The chairman of NHRC is Arun Kumar Mishra (August 2021).
• The Secretary-General of NHRC is Jaideep Govind.
• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is in Geneva.
• The current High Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Commission is Michelle Bachelet of Chile.​​ 

Option 4 is incorrect.

Key Points

• The tenth Schedule contains provisions as to disqualification on the ground of defection.
• It was added by the Constitution (52^nd Amendment) Act, 1985. Hence Option 4 is an incorrect statement.

 Important Points

• India has the world’s lengthiest constitution with 448 articles, 25 parts, and 12 schedules. Hence Option 1 is correct.
• The eleventh Schedule contains the powers, authority, and responsibilities of Panchayats.
• The twelfth Schedule contains the powers, authority, and responsibilities of Municipalities.
• These two were added in 1992 by the 73rd  and 74th Constitution Amendment Act. Hence Option 2 is correct.
• The Ninth Schedule was incorporated in 1951 by the First Amendment to the Constitution to protect land reform laws. Hence Option 3 is correct.

The correct answer is 172.

• Article 172 of the Indian Constitution relates to the tenure of the state legislature.

Key Points

• State Legislature:
  • Articles 168 to 212 in Part VI of the Constitution deals with the organization, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers of the state legislature.
  • States having bicameral legislatures are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. 
    • {Trick to Remember- KUMBAT- Karnatak, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana}
  • The legislature's maximum strength is fixed at 500 and minimum strength at 60.
  • Article 172 deals with the Duration of State Legislatures.

Additional Information