Indian Polity Quiz: Day: 103

Answer: (b)

• The NPR is a list of “usual residents of the country”. According to the Home Ministry, a “usual resident of the country” is one who has been residing in a local area for at least the last six months or intends to stay in a particular location for the next six months.
• NPR is not a citizenship enumeration drive, as it would record even a foreign national staying in a locality for more than six months.
• This makes NPR different from the NRC, which includes only Indian citizens while seeking to identify and exclude non-citizens.
• The NPR is being prepared under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
• Only Assam will not be included (as per a notification by the Registrar General of India in August), given the recently completed NRC in that state

Answer: (d)

• The conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be determined by the President. Under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the Election Commission of India is vested with the power of superintendence, direction, and control of conducting the elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
• In case of difference of opinion amongst the Chief election commissioner and/or two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the Commission by the majority.
• Chief Election Commissioner cannot be removed from his office except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Answer: (c)

• They are the highest civilian honor of India after the Bharat Ratna.
• Instituted in 1954 along with Bharat Ratna.
• The awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher-order), and Padma Shri (distinguished service).
• The awardees do not get any cash reward but a certificate signed by the President apart from a medallion which they can wear at public and government functions.
• All nominations received for Padma awards are placed before the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year.
• The Padma Awards Committee is headed by the Cabinet Secretary and includes Home Secretary, Secretary to the President, and four to six eminent persons as members.
• There is no provision for seeking a written or formal consent of the recipient before the announcement of the award.

Answer: (b)

• The Constitution (Article 165) has provided for the office of the Advocate General for the states. He is the highest law officer in the state. The advocate general is appointed by the governor.
• Eligibility conditions for Advocate General does not include minimum age limits. He must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of a high court.
• The remuneration of the Advocate General is not fixed by the Constitution. He receives such remuneration as the Governor may determine.

Answer: (c)

• Article 33 empowers the Parliament to restrict or abrogate the fundamental rights of the members of armed forces, para-military forces, police forces, intelligence agencies, and analogous forces. The objective of this provision is to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline among them. The power to make laws under Article 33 is conferred only on Parliament and not on state legislatures.
• Any such law made by Parliament cannot be challenged in any court on the ground of contravention of any of the fundamental rights.
• The expression ‘members of the armed forces’ also covers such employees of the armed forces as barbers, carpenters, mechanics, cooks, chowkidars, bootmakers, tailors who are non-combatants.

Answer: (d)

• By the Indian Independence Act of 1947, the Assembly was made a fully sovereign body, which could frame any constitution it pleased. The act empowered the Assembly to abrogate or alter any law made by the British Parliament in relation to India.
• The representatives of the princely states, who had stayed away from the constituent Assembly, gradually joined in.

Answer: (d)

• The 74th Amendment Act (Article 243ZD) provides that every state shall constitute at the district level, a District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by panchayats and municipalities in the district, and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole.
• The Act lays down that four-fifths of the members of a district planning committee should be elected by the elected members of the district panchayat and municipalities in the district from amongst themselves.
• The representation of these members in the committee should be in proportion to the ratio between the rural and urban population in the district.

Answer: (b)

• Article 38: The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting a social order by ensuring social, economic and political justice and by minimising inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities

Answer: (b)

• Recently released  National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report gives statistics on crimes across various states under multiple laws.

Report findings

• Crime against Children:

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act: 1,49,404 cases of crime against children were registered in 2021 of which 53,874 — 36.05 percent — were under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

NCRB data on cases registered under POCSO show a steady increase in the rate (incidents per 1 lakh children):

• 12.1 in 2021(53,276 girls, 1,083 boys);
• 10.6 in both 2020 and 2019.

State-wise:

• Sikkim has the highest rate of sexual offences against children with 48.6 followed by Kerala (28.1), Meghalaya (27.8), Haryana (24.7) and Mizoram (24.6).
• The largest number of cases registered under POCSO in 2021 was in UP(7,129) followed by Maharashtra (6,200), Madhya Pradesh (6,070), Tamil Nadu (4,465) and Karnataka (2,813).
• Among union territories, Delhi had the highest rate of crimes against children in 2021.

Child labour Act:

• There were 982 cases registered under the Child Labour Act last year with the highest number of cases registered in Telangana (305) followed by Assam.

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act:

• The report states that 1,062 cases were registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act last year with the top three states including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Assam.

Overall:

• In percentage terms, the top categories under crime against children during 2021 were kidnapping and abduction (45 percent)followed by POCSO cases.
• In all, there was a 16.2 percent rise in cases of crime against children in 2021 from the previous year.

Answer: (c)

TN Chief Minister yet again reiterated the State’s request for establishing a Regional Bench of the Supreme Court in Chennai and allowing Tamil to be used in the Madras High Court as one of its official languages.

Why in news?

• Outgoing Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu suggested bifurcation of the Supreme Court into four regional benches for speedy disposal of cases.
• However, the Supreme Court has maintained on previous occasions that there is no need for such benches outside Delhi.

Why the Supreme Court is located in New Delhi?

• Article 130of the Constitution of India reads- The Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint.
• The law thus provides scope for setting up the Supreme Court in multiple places, subject to the concurrence of the CJI and the President.