UPSC Essentials : Daily subject-wise quiz | Polity and Governance MCQs on Eighth Schedule, Delimitation Commission and more (Week 63)

(a) Inter-State trade and commerce is a State subject under the State List.

(b) Inter-State migration is a State subject under the State List.

(c) Inter-State quarantine is a Union subject under the Union List.

(d) Corporation tax is a State subject under the State List.

QUESTION 2

Consider the following statements about the dual-member constituencies:

1. It was introduced by the Delimitation Commission Act, of 1952.

2. It was introduced to reserve seats for SC and ST populations.

3. The system was discarded after the sixth general elections.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) None

QUESTION 3

The Constitution (71st Amendment) Act, 1992 amends the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution to include which of the following languages? (UPSC 2024)

1. Konkani

2. Manipuri

3. Nepali

4. Maithili

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 1, 2 and 4

(c) 1, 3 and 4

(d) 2, 3 and 4

QUESTION 4

With reference to the ordinances, consider the following statements:

1. Article 143 of the Constitution of India provides for the power of the President to promulgate Ordinances during the recess of Parliament.

2. Once an ordinance is passed, the Houses of Parliament cannot disapprove it.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 5

How many Delimitation Commissions have been constituted by the Government of India till December 2023? (UPSC 2024)

(a) One

(b) Two

(c) Three

(d) Four

ANSWERS TO THE MCQs

1. (c)

FYI:

— Article 246 of the Constitution mentions three lists in the Seventh Schedule — union, state and concurrent lists.

— The present Seventh Schedule and union (at that time Federal) list, state (at that time Provincial) list and concurrent lists are inherited from the Government of India Act, 1935.

— Inter-State trade and commerce, Inter-State migration, Inter-State quarantine, and Corporation tax are Union subjects under the Union List.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

2. (b)

FYI:

— Dual-member constituencies were introduced by the Delimitation Commission Act, of 1952. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— It was introduced to reserve seats with sizeable SC and ST populations. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— Seats with more than half the population belonging to SCs or STs were single-member constituencies.

— However, after the first two Lok Sabha elections, in 1952 and 1957, the system was discarded through the Two-Member Constituencies (Abolition) Act, 1961. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

— Dual-membership faced major criticism after the 1957 election as 20 such constituencies saw winners from the same group, either SC or ST, and did not elect a general candidate.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

3. (a)

FYI:

— The Constitutional provisions relating to the Eighth Schedule occur in article 344(1) and 351 of the Constitution.

— The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages:-

— (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.

— Of these languages, 14 were first incorporated into the Constitution. The Sindhi language was added in 1967. Three additional languages, Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali, were added in 1992. Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali were added in 2004.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: http://www.mha.gov.in)

4. (d)

FYI:

— Under Article 123 of the Constitution (“Power of President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Parliament”), “if at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such Ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require.” Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— An Ordinance “shall have the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament”. But the government is required to bring an Ordinance before Parliament for ratification — and failure to do so will lead to its lapsing “at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament”.

— The Ordinance may lapse earlier if the President withdraws it — or if both Houses pass resolutions disapproving it. (Rejection of an Ordinance would, however, imply the government has lost the majority.) Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

5. (d)

FYI:

— Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in population.

— Under Article 82, Parliament is to enact a Delimitation Act after every Census. Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up the Delimitation Commission.

— The main objective of delimitation is to provide equal representation to equal segments of a population.

— Delimitation is carried out by an independent Delimitation Commission, appointed by the Government of India under provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act.

— The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.

— It is composed of the following: a retired Supreme Court judge, the Chief Election Commissioner of India and respective State Election Commissioners.

— The Delimitation Commission is to work without any executive influence. The Constitution mandates that the Commission’s orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as it would hold up an election indefinitely.

— The Commission is supposed to determine the number and boundaries of constituencies in a way that the population of all seats, so far as practicable, is the same.

— The Commission is also tasked with identifying seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

— In the history of the Indian republic, Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 62)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 62)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 62)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 62)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 62)

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