10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: May 12, 2020

Open source software is a software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Source Code is the code computer programmers can manipulate to change how a of software/program/application works.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Any private or government developed software can be made open source, e.g.Singapore’s TraceTogether app has been made open source, noted commercially developed OSS are Firefox, WordPress etc.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Aarogya Setu application’s source code has not been made public. It has been demanded by many transparency activists and government may release it at some time in future.

Statement 3 is correct. One of the objectives of National Policy on Information Technology, 2012 is “to adopt Open standards and promote open source and open technologies”.

Statement 1 is correct. Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr.vs Union Of India And Ors Case 2017 held that right to privacy is intrinsic to freedom of life & liberty (Article 21) and an inherent part of the fundamental rights enshrined in Part III of the Constitution.

Statement 2 is correct. The judgment mentions a proportionality test for state intervention in the right to privacy: i. The state action mustbe sanctioned by law. ii. There must be a legitimate aim for action. iii. Action must be proportionate to the need for such interference. iv. It must be subject to procedural guarantees against abuse of the power to interfere.

Statement 1 is incorrect.CMIE is a privately owned company head-quartered at Mumbai. It is a business information company established in 1976 primarily as an independent think tank.

Statement 2 is correct. It conducts surveys to estimate household incomes, pattern of spending and savings; it has created an integrated database of the Indian economy. CMIE produceseconomic and business databases and develops specialized analytical toolsfor decision making and for research. It analyses the data to decipher trends in the economy.

Statement 1 is correct. The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957) was amended through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2015 to provide for the establishment of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in any district affected by mining related operations.

Statement 2 is incorrect. These are established by state governments by notification. Section 9B(1) states “in any district affected by mining related operations, the State Government shall, by notification, establish a trust, as a non-profit body, to be called the District Mineral Foundation.”

The objective of the DMF is to work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining related operations.

The Interstate Migrant Policy Index 2019 (IMPEX 2019) is an index compiled by India Migration Now, a Mumbai-based nonprofit, which analyses state-level policies for the integration of out-of-state migrants.

Kerala ranked first out of seven states for migrant friendly policies on the Interstate Migrant Policy Index 2019 (IMPEX 2019)

Statement 1 is incorrect. It subsumes and replaces the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; the Trade Unions Act, 1926; and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946. It provides for the recognition of trade unions; notice periods for strikes and lock-outs, standing orders, and resolution of industrial disputes.

Statement 2 is correct. The Industrial Relations Code 2019 prohibits strikes or lock-outs in an industrial establishment unless a prior notice of 14 days is provided. Similar provision existed in Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for public utility services (such as, railways and airlines) which the 2019 code extends for all establishments.

Status of The Industrial Relations Code, 2019: It was introduced in Loksabha in November 2019 and then referred to standing committee which submitted its report on Apr 23, 2020.

All were part of the Karachi Resolution of 1931.

It included fundamental rights which protected civil liberties and the resolution put forward a list of socio-economic principles/rights that the Indian state should adhere to.

Some provisions under the resolution were:Freedom of association and combination, freedom of speech and press, freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion, religious neutrality on part of the state, living wage for industrial workers, limited hours of labour, healthy conditions of work, protection against the economic consequences of old age, sickness. and unemployment, labour to be freed from serfdom or conditions bordering on serfdom, adult suffrage, free primary education etc.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Article 75(5) mandates that a minister must be a Member of Parliament or a Minister who is not a member of either House of the Parliament for 6 months shall cease to be a Minister on expiration of such term. There is no bar on members of Rajyasabha to be part of the council of ministers. Dr. Manmohan Singh was member of Rajyasabha while being the Prime Minister of India.

Statement 2 is correct. No-confidence motion can be introduced only in Loksabha to test the majority enjoyed by council of ministers/government of the day. The council is collectively responsible to Loksabhatherefore no confidence motion is a tool available to Loksabha only.

Statement 3 is correct. RajyaSabha is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. However, one third of the members retire every second year, and are replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years.

Statement 1 is incorrect. As per the Constitutional under Article 244 (1) the ‘Scheduled Areas’ are defined as ‘such areas as the President may by order declare to be Scheduled Areas’. The specification of “Scheduled Areas” in relation to a State is by a notified order of the President, after consultation with the Governor of that State.

Statement 2 is correct. At present, Scheduled Areas have been declared in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.

By Government of India Act 1919the Indian Legislative Council was divided into an Upper House (Council of State) and a Lower House (Legislative Assembly). The council of state had tenure of 5 years while the legislative assembly had tenure of three years.

Other key provisions:

Dyarchy at Provincial level.

Three of the six members of the Viceroy’s executive Council were to be Indian.

It extended the principle separate electorates for Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.

It provided for the establishment of a public service commission. Hence, a Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants.

It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to inquire into and report on its working after, ten years of its coming into force.