Daily Quiz #15 UPSC Prelims Marathon – July 17, 2019

Explanation:
•It separated, for the first time, the legislative and executive functions of the Governor-General’s council. It provided for addition of six new members called legislative councilors to the council. In other words, it established a separate Governor-General’s legislative council which came to be known as the Indian (Central) Legislative Council. This legislative wing of the council functioned as a mini-Parliament, adopting the same procedures as the British Parliament. Thus, legislation, for the first time, was treated as a special function of the government, requiring special machinery and special process.
•It introduced an open competition system of selection and recruitment of civil servants. The covenanted civil service3 was thus thrown open to the Indians also. Accordingly, the Macaulay Committee (the Committee on the Indian Civil Service) was appointed in 1854.
•It extended the Company’s rule and allowed it to retain the possession of Indian territories on trust for the British Crown. But, it did not specify any particular period, unlike the previous Charters. This was a clear indication that the Company’s rule could be terminated at any time the Parliament liked.
•It introduced, for the first time, local representation in the Indian (Central) Legislative Council. Of the six new a legislative member of the governor general’s council, four members were appointed by the local (provincial) governments of Madras, Bombay, Bengal and Agra.

Explanation: Among all the committees of the Constituent Assembly, the most important committee was the Drafting Committee set up on August 29, 1947. It was this committee that was entrusted with the task of preparing a draft of the new Constitution. It consisted of seven members. They were:
•Dr B R Ambedkar (Chairman)
•N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
• Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar
•Dr K M Munshi
• Syed Mohammad Saadullah
•N Madhava Rau (He replaced B L Mitter who resigned due to ill-health)
• T T Krishnamachari (He replaced D P Khaitan who died in 1948).

Explanation: The parliamentary system is also known as the ‘Westminster’ model of government, responsible government and cabinet government. The Constitution establishes the parliamentary system not only at the Centre but also in the states. The features of parliamentary government in India are:
•Presence of nominal and real executives
•Majority party rule
•Collective responsibility of the executive to the legislature
•Membership of the ministers in the legislature
•Leadership of the prime minister or the chief minister,
•Dissolution of the lower House (Lok Sabha or Assembly).

Explanation: The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand. Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting (February 2004, Thailand), the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC).

Explanation: The Gujral Doctrine is a milestone in India’s foreign policy. It was propounded and initiated in 1996 by I.K. Gujral, the then Foreign Minister in the Deve Gowda Government.
The doctrine advocates that India, being the biggest country in South Asia, should extend unilateral concessions to the smaller neighbors. In other words, the doctrine is formulated on India’s accommodating approach towards its smaller neighbors on the basis of the principle of non reciprocity. It recognizes the supreme importance of friendly and cordial relations with India’s neighbors.