Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – March 11, 2020

A vacancy in the President’s office can occur in any of the following ways:

1. on the expiry of his tenure of five years.
2. by his resignation.
3. on his removal by the process of impeachment.
4. by his death.
5. Otherwise, for example, when he becomes disqualified to hold office or when his election is declared void.

When the vacancy is going to be caused by the expiration of the term of the sitting President, an election to fill the vacancy must be held before the expiration of the term. In case of any delay in conducting the election of new President by any reason, the outgoing President continues to hold office (beyond his term of five years) until his successor assumes charge. This is provided by the Constitution in order to prevent an ‘interregnum’. In this situation, the Vice-President does not get the opportunity to act as President or to discharge the functions of the President.

He is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India. In that capacity, he appoints the chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. He can declare war or conclude peace, subject to the approval of the Parliament.

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) was set up in 1985 with the principal bench at Delhi and additional benches in different states. At present, it has 17 regular benches, 15 of which operate at the principal seats of high courts and the remaining two at Jaipur and Lucknow1. These benches also hold circuit sittings at other seats of high courts. The CAT exercises original jurisdiction in relation to recruitment and all service matters of public servants covered by it. Its jurisdiction extends to the all-India services, the Central civil services, civil posts under the Centre and civilian employees of defence services. However, the members of the defence forces, officers and servants of the Supreme Court and the secretarial staff of the Parliament are not covered by it. The CAT is not bound by the procedure laid down in the Civil Procedure Code of 1908. It is guided by the principles of natural justice. These principles keep the CAT flexible in approach. Only a nominal fee of 50 is to be paid by the applicant. The applicant may appear either in person or through a lawyer.

The features of the American presidential system of government are as follows:

The American President is both the head of the State and the head of government. As the head of State, he occupies a ceremonial position. As the head of government, he leads the executive organ of government. The President is elected by an electoral college for a fixed tenure of four years. He cannot be removed by the Congress except by impeachment for a grave unconstitutional act. The President governs with the help of a cabinet or a smaller body called ‘Kitchen Cabinet’. It is only an advisory body and consists of non-elected departmental secretaries. They are selected and appointed by him, are responsible only to him, and can be removed by him any time. The President and his secretaries are not responsible to the Congress for their acts. They neither possess membership in the Congress nor attend its sessions. The President cannot dissolve the House of Representatives-the lower house of the Congress. The doctrine of separation of powers is the basis of the American presidential system. The legislative, executive and judicial powers of the government are separated and vested in the three independent organs of the government.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was introduced during the 19th Asean meet held in November 2011. The RCEP negotiations were kick-started during the 21st Asean Summit in Cambodia in November 2012. Now, all participating countries aim to finalise and sign a deal by November 2019. Member states of Asean and their FTA partners are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. On November 4, 2019 India decided against joining the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, saying it was not shying away from opening up to global competition across sectors, but it had made a strong case for an outcome which would be favourable to all countries and all sectors.