Civil Service Exam:'അശോക ശാസനങ്ങൾ' എന്തിനെ കുറിച്ചാണ് ?

Answer (d)

•    The provisions of Part IX of the constitution relating to the Panchayats are not applicable to the Fifth Schedule areas. However, the Parliament may extend these provisions to such areas, subject to such exceptions and modifications as it may specify. Under this provision, the Parliament has enacted the ―Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, popularly known as the PESA Act or the Extension Act.
•    Prime objectives of this act are to extend the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the panchayats only to the fifth scheduled areas with certain modifications. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
•    The state government may nominate such Scheduled Tribes which have no representation in the Panchayat at the intermediate level or the Panchayat at the district level. But such nomination shall not exceed one-tenth of the total members to be elected in that Panchayat. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
 

Answer (d)

Statement 1 is not correct. Provisions taken from the US constitution are Fundamental rights, independence of the judiciary, judicial review, impeachment of the president, removal of Supreme Court and high court judges, and post of Vice President.

Statement 2 is not correct. A judge of the Supreme Court can be removed from his office by an order of the president. The President can issue the removal order only after an address by Parliament has been presented to him in the same session for such removal. The address must be supported by a special majority of each House of Parliament (ie, a majority of the total membership of that House and a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting). The grounds of removal are two i.e., proved misbehavior and incapacity. The motion for removal of judges does not lapse on the dissolution of Lok Sabha.

Answer (b)

The British Indian government passed a series of acts to improve the social conditions in India. Some of the major ones include:

Age of Consent Act, 1891
o    The Age of Consent Act, 1891, also known as Act X of 1891, was legislation enacted in British India which raised the age of consent for sexual intercourse for all girls, married or unmarried, from ten to twelve years in all jurisdictions, its violation subject to criminal prosecution as rape.
o    It was enacted during the tenure of Lord Lansdowne (1888-1894) as the Governor-General.

Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856
o    It legalized the remarriage of Hindu widows. 
o    It was passed owing to the efforts of social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. 
o    It was passed during the tenure of Lord Dalhousie (1848-56).

Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870
o    The Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870, implemented by the British Government in the latter part of the nineteenth century was the first statute that aimed to deter people from murdering female infants by penalizing the action and laying down specific punishments for the same.
o    It was enacted during the tenure of Lord Mayo (1869-1872) as the Governor-General.

Answer (d)

•    Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was the first law minister of the government of India (1947–51). He had experienced the worst form of caste discrimination during his childhood. He advocated the annihilation of the institution of caste for the real progress of the nation.
•    Dr Ambedkar established the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha in 1924 to highlight the difficulties and grievances of the Dalits before the government. Its motto was: ‘Educate, Agitate and Organise’. He organised in 1927 a massive satyagraha with ten to fifteen thousand Dalits to claim the right to use water from a public tank in Mahad under the control of the local municipality.
•    Ambedkar condemned the hierarchical and insular caste system. The tendency to repudiate Hindu theology as a disempowering and subordinating ideology for the Dalits came to an explosive high point when in December 1927 Dr. Ambedkar in a public ceremony burnt a copy of Manu smriti.
•    The untouchables were first organised in 1926 under the banner of an exclusive organisation by Rao Bahadur M.C. Rajah; but in 1930 Dr. B.R. Ambedkar organised them into an All-India Depressed Classes Congress with a clear anti-Congress agenda. Hence statement 1 is correct.
•    It was in his evidence before the Simon Commission in 1928 that Ambedkar had first demanded a separate electorate. He participated in all three round-table conferences. In 1932 he signed the Poona pact with Mahatma Gandhi, which abandoned the idea of separate electorates for the depressed classes (Communal Award). However, the seats were reserved for the depressed classes in the legislature. Hence statement 2 is correct.
•    Ambedkar, in 1936 founded his Independent Labour Party, in a bid to mobilise the poor and the untouchables on a broader basis than caste alone—on a programme that proposed “to advance the welfare of the labour classes”. Hence statement 4 is correct.
•    In July 1942 he was appointed the Labour Member in the viceroy’s council. At a conference from 18 to 20 July 1942 in Nagpur, he started his All India Scheduled Caste Federation, with its constitution claiming the Dalits to be “distinct and separate from the Hindus”.
•    Dr B.R. Ambedkar joined the viceroy’s executive council as a labour member just before the onset of the Quit India campaign and did not support the Movement. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. It appears that in Vedic times, exchange was conducted through barter, and the mutual gift system served as a mode of exchange in pre-Buddhist times. Sometimes cattle served the purpose of currency. Coins made of metal appear first in the age of Gautama Buddha. The earliest were made largely of silver, though a few copper coins also existed. They are called punch-marked because pieces of silver and copper were punched with certain marks, such as a hill, tree, fish, bull, elephant, and crescent.

Statement 2 is not correct. The era of the Mahajanapadas saw the emergence of India’s first large cities after the demise of the Indus Valley Civilization.The rise of Buddhism and Jainism which challenged the religious orthodoxy of the Vedic Period originated during the time of Mahajanapadas.

Answer (a)

•    One of Ashoka’s first artistic programs was to erect the pillars that are now scattered throughout what was the Mauryan empire. The pillars vary from 40 to 50 feet in height. They are cut from two different types of stone—one for the shaft and another for the capital. The shaft was almost always cut from a single piece of stone. Laborers cut and dragged the stone from quarries in Mathura and Chunar, located in the northern part of India within Ashoka’s empire.
•    Pillar inscriptions were found at Pillars of Ashoka is located in India at Topra Kalan, Meerut, Sankissa, Allahabad, Sanchi, Sarnath, Vaishali, Rampurva, Lauriya Araraj, Lauriya Nandangarh, and Ahraura. However, some of the pillar inscriptions are also found outside India namely Nigalisagar (Nepal) and Rummindei (Nepal).
•    Some of the Ashokan rock edicts are located outside India namely: Kandahar (Afghanistan), Mansehra, Shahbazgari (Pakistan). These are written in Kharosthi. The Aramaic and Greek scripts were used for inscriptions in Afghanistan. 
•    Most of the inscriptions are about dhamma (A Prakrit form of dharma, which literally means the universal law or righteousness or social and religious order) and it was inspired by the Buddhist Upasaka Dhamma (i.e, the Buddhist teaching for the laity).
•    The name Ashoka occurs in copies of Minor Rock Edict I found at three places in Karnataka and at one in MP. Thus, altogether, the name Ashoka occurs four times. It is significant that Ashoka’s name does not occur in any of his inscriptions from north or northwest India. The inscriptions which do not carry his name mention only Devanampriya
Piyadasi, dear to the gods, and leave out the name Ashoka. The title Devanampriya or ‘dear to gods’ adopted by Ashoka was not unique but also adopted by his ancestors. However, Piyadasi, or ‘good looking’ seems to have been his unique title. 
•    Altogether, Ashokan inscriptions appear at forty-seven places, and the total number of versions is 182including two edicts that are considered spurious. It is significant that Ashokan inscriptions which were generally located on ancient highways have been found at six places in Afghanistan. 

Answer (b)

•    The “Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households” was set up by the RBI in Sep 2013 under the chairmanship of NachiketMor, an RBI board member.
•    Possessing a bank account is an important prerequisite to avail of financial services like loans, insurance, etc. Additionally, the government also wants everyone to have a bank account so it can transfer subsidies/benefits directly to these accounts. Thus, the Nachiket committee recommends that every adult Indian (18 years and above) resident should be given a universal electronic bank account (UEBA) by Jan 1, 2016.
•    The committee also recommended setting up 'Payments Bank' to cater to the lower-income groups and small businesses.

Answer (d)

•    Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act was enacted in August 2003. It aims to make the Central government responsible for ensuring inter-generational equity in fiscal management and long-term macro-economic stability. The Act envisages the setting of limits on the Central government’s debt and deficits.
•    Under Section 4(2) of the Act, the Centre can exceed the annual fiscal deficit target citing certain grounds. The grounds include
o    National security, war
o    National calamity
o    Collapse of agriculture
o    Structural reforms
o    The decline in real output growth of a quarter by at least three percentage points below the average of the previous four quarters.
•    The lockdown could cause severe contraction in economic output and the COVID-19 pandemic could be considered a national calamity.
•    Also, the government has already made use of an escape clause this year.

Answer (c)

•    The INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization conducted Operation Thunder, 2020 in 103 countries. The operation was conducted against environmental crimes. 
•    In India, the India Customs along with INTERPOL and WCO seized 18 tonnes of red sandalwood that were destined for UAE.
•    Operation Thunder is being held since 2017. Under the operation, the participating countries focused on particularly vulnerable species protected under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora).

Answer (c)

Statement 1 is correct. The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is an 810km stretch between the river Yamuna in the west and the river Bagmati in the east, comprising the Shivalik hills, the adjoining Bhabhar areas, and the Terai flood plains.

Statement 2 is not correct. It is spread across the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the low-lying hills of Nepal.

Statement 3 is correct. The landscape boasts of some of India’s most well-known Tiger Reserves and Protected Areas such as Corbett Tiger Reserve, Rajaji National Park, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Valmiki Tiger Reserve, and Nepal’s Bardia Wildlife Sanctuary, Chitwan National Park, and Sukhla Phanta Wildlife Sanctuary. In total, the landscape has 13 Protected Areas, nine in India and four in Nepal, covering a total area of 49,500 km2, of which 30,000km2 lies in India.