Indian Polity & Constitution MCQs

Notes:
Article 58 of the constitution lays down the qualifications of a president in India. These qualifications are:

• He should be a citizen of India,
• He must have completed the age of 35 years
• He must be qualified to become a Lok Sabha member.
• He should not hold any office of profit under Union or state government.

Notes:
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is one of the standing parliamentary committees, which was first established in 1921 under the Government of India Act 1919 provisions. This committee examines the manners and results of spending the public funds.
Public Accounts Committee has 22 members of which 15 are from Lok Sabha while 7 from Rajya Sabha. The members are “elected” by members of Parliament amongst themselves via a system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote; so that all parties get due representation in it. Members are elected for a period of one year. A minister cannot be a member of PAC.
Chairman of PAC is appointed by Speaker from its members. The chairman used to be of ruling party till mid 1960s, however, now the chairman of PAC is from opposition by convention.

Notes:
Safeguarding the public Property [Article 51A (i)]; developing scientific temper [Article 51A (h)] and promoting communal harmony [Article 51A (e)].

Notes:
In December 1977, the Janta Government appointed a 13 member committee which was headed by Mr. Ashok Mehta. The committee was appointed for following:

• What are the causes responsible for poor performance of the PRIs?
• What measures should be taken to improve performance of the PRIs?

The Ashok Mehta committee submitted its report in 1978 and made more than 130 recommendations

Notes:
In 1974, as President of Citizens for Democracy (CFD), Jayaprakash Narayan had set up a Committee under the chairmanship of Justice V.M. Tarkunde to study and report on a scheme for electoral reforms. This committee, apart from other recommendations, had advocated for a multi-member election commission in India.

Notes:
Mandamus means “we command”. This writ is a command issued by court to a public official, public body, corporation, inferior court, tribunal or government asking them to perform their duties which they have refused to perform.

Notes:
Most cases in Supreme Court are heard by a division bench comprising of two or three judges. However, a constitution bench consists of at least 5 or more judges to decide substantial questions of law with regard to the interpretation of the constitution in a case. Provision for Constitution bench is in Article 143.

Notes:
An all Parties Conference was held from 28th August to 31st August 1928 with the chairmanship of Motilal Nehru in Lucknow. In the conference, Motilal Nehru presented the draft of the constitution. It is known as the Nehru report. Dominion Status for India was demanded through this report. Later on 28th March 1929, Md. Ali Jinnah demanded his 14 points in the conference of Muslim League in Delhi.

Notes:
74th amendment added the 12th schedule in the constitution comprising 18  items that fall under the purview of municipalities-
1. Urban planning including town planning
2. Regulation of land use and construction of buildings
3. Planning for economic and social development
4. Roads and bridges
5. Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes
6. Public health, sanitation, conservancy and solid waste management
7. Fire services
8. Urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects
9. Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society
10. Slum improvement and upgradation
11. Urban poverty alleviation
12. Provision of urban amenities and facilities 
13. Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects
14. Burials and burial grounds, cremations and cremation grounds and electric crematoriums
15. Cattle ponds, prevention of cruelty to animals
16. Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths
17. Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences
18. Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries

Notes:
The 22 languages which are listed in the Eighth Schedule are Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.