Answer (b)
Statement 1 is not correct. Any MP who is not a Minister is referred to as a private member. Bills introduced by Ministers are referred to as government bills. They are backed by the government, and reflect its legislative agenda. Private member’s bills are piloted by non-Minister MPs.
Statement 2 is correct. Up to 1997, private members could introduce up to three Bills in a week. This led to a piling up of Bills that were introduced but never discussed; Chairman K R Narayanan, therefore, capped the number of private member’s Bills to three per session. While government Bills can be introduced and discussed on any day, private member’s Bills can be introduced and discussed only on Fridays.
Statement 3 is correct. The admissibility of a private member’s Bill is decided by the Rajya Sabha Chairman. (In the case of Lok Sabha, it is the Speaker; the procedure is roughly the same for both Houses.) The Member must give at least a month’s notice before the Bill can be listed for introduction; the House secretariat examines it for compliance with constitutional provisions and rules on legislation before listing.
Answer (b)
The Supreme Court is authorized to grant in its discretion special leave to appeal from any judgement in any matter passed by any court or tribunal in the country (except military tribunal and court martial).
This provision contains the four aspects as under:
o It is a discretionary power and hence, cannot be claimed as a matter of right.
o It can be granted in any judgement whether final or interlocutory. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
o It can be granted against any court or tribunal and not necessarily against a high court (of course, except a military court). Hence statement 2 is correct.
It may be related to any matter—constitutional, civil, criminal, income tax, labor, revenue, advocates, etc. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
Answer (d)
Dibru-Saikhowa is a National Park as well as a Biosphere Reserve situated in the south bank of the river Brahmaputra in Assam.
The forest type of Dibru-Saikhowa comprises semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, littoral and swamp forests and patches of wet evergreen forests.
It is the largest swamp forest in north-eastern India.
It is an identified Important Bird Area (IBA), notified by the Birdlife International. It is most famous for the rare white-winged wood ducks as well as feral horses.
Mammals found in the park include Tiger, Elephant, Leopard, Jungle Cat, Bears, Small Indian Civet, Squirrels, Gangetic Dolphin, Hoolock Gibbon, etc.
Maguri Motapung wetland is a part of the Reserve.
Answer (a)
Under the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution, 2001, the owners of vessels are responsible for damage caused by oil leaks.
This convention, also known as BUNKER convention, came into force in 2008 and is administered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The Convention was adopted to ensure that adequate, prompt, and effective compensation is available to persons who suffer damage caused by spills of oil, when carried as fuel in ships' bunkers.
Answer (d)
The SDR was created by IMF as a supplementary international reserve asset in the context of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system.
The SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other international organizations.
The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies.
The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five currencies—the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling.
Answer (a)
Statement 1 is correct. The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India, which formulated India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions. After India achieved independence, a formal model of planning was adopted, and accordingly the Planning Commission, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India, was established on 15 March 1950, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the Chairman.
Statement 2 is not correct. The First Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 which mainly focused in the development of the primary sector. The First Five-Year Plan was based on the Harrod–Domar model with few modifications.
The Second Plan focused on the development of the public sector and "rapid Industrialisation". The plan followed the Mahalanobis model, an economic development model developed by the Indian statistician P C Mahalanobis.
Answer (c)
Statements 1 and 2 are not correct: Pegasus, is a spyware that is developed by an Israeli company, NSO. The NSO Group is a Tel Aviv-based cyber-security company that specialises in ‘surveillance technology’ and claims to help governments and law enforcement agencies across the world fight crime and terrorism.
Statement 3 is correct: One of the worrying aspects of the Pegasus spyware is how it has evolved from its earlier spear-phishing methods using text links or messages to ‘zero-click’ attacks, which do not require any action from the phone’s user. This had made it the most powerful spyware, more potent and almost impossible to detect or stop.
Answer (c)
Abqaiq is located in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and Tal Abyad is a region located in Northern Syria.
Answer (d)
Subhas Chandra Bose had been a unanimous choice as the President of the Congress in 1938.
In 1939, he decided to stand again — this time as the spokesperson of militant left politics and radical groups. But Gandhiji and other leaders of the Congress, such as Rajendra Prasad and Sardar Patel, put up PattabhiSitaramayya as a candidate for the post.
Bose was elected on 29 January by 1580 votes against 1377. Gandhiji considered this to be a personal defeat, and twelve of the fifteen members of the Congress Working Committee resigned.
At the Tripuri Congress held from 8-12 March 1939, Gandhiji asked Bose to constitute his own Working Committee and refused cooperation.
Bose tried to patch up a compromise but failed, and ultimately at the AICC (All India Congress Committee) meeting in Calcutta in April 1939 he resigned and was replaced by RajendraPrasad.Bose soon formed his own Forward Bloc, as a left party within the Congress.
In August 1939 he was removed from all Congress positions and was banned from holding any executive office for three years on charges of indiscipline.
Answer (a)
Statement 1 is correct. Creation of chaityas and viharas in different areas of the country is a contribution of Buddhism to Indian culture. Stupas too were beautiful piece of art.
Statement 2 is correct. The concept of ahimsa was its chief contribution. Later, it became one of the cherished values of our nation.
Statement 3 is incorrect. Language of Pali and other local languages developed through Buddha's teachings.