Daily Quiz #18 UPSC Prelims Marathon – October 23, 2019

Explanation: Articles 52 to 78 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the Union executive. The Union executive consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the council of ministers and the attorney general of India. The President is the head of the Indian State. He is the first citizen of India and acts as the symbol of unity, integrity and solidarity of the nation.

Explanation: The creation of Andhra state intensified the demand from other regions for creation of states on linguistic basis. This forced the Government of India to appoint (in December 1953) a three-member States Reorganisation Commission under the chairmanship of Fazl Ali to re-examine the whole question. Its other two members were K M Panikkar and H N Kunzru. It submitted its report in September 1955 and broadly accepted language as the basis of reorganisation of states. But, it rejected the theory of ‘one language– one state’. Its view was that the unity of India should be regarded as the primary consideration in any redrawing of the country’s political units. It identified four major factors that can be taken into account in any scheme of reorganisation of states:
(a) Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the country.
(b) Linguistic and cultural homogeneity.
(c) Financial, economic and administrative considerations.
(d) Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the nation as a whole.

Explanation: The Constitution deals with the citizenship from Articles 5 to 11 under Part II. However, it contains neither any permanent nor any elaborate provisions in this regard. It only identifies the persons who became citizens of India at its commencement (i.e., on January 26, 1950). It does not deal with the problem of acquisition or loss of citizenship subsequent to its commencement. It empowers the Parliament to enact a law to provide for such matters and any other matter relating to citizenship. Accordingly, the Parliament has enacted the Citizenship Act, 1955, which has been amended in 1957, 1960, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005 and 2015.

Explanation: The foreign policy of India is opposed to arms race and advocates disarmament, both conventional and nuclear. This is aimed at promoting world peace and security by reducing or ending tensions between power blocs and to accelerate economic development of the country by preventing the unproductive expenditure on the manufacture of arms. India has been using the UNO platform to check the arms race and to achieve disarmament. India took the initiative of holding a six-nation summit at New Delhi in 1985 and made concrete proposals for nuclear disarmament. By not signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) of 1996, India has kept its nuclear options open. India opposes NPT and CTBT due to their discriminatory and hegemonistic nature. They perpetuate an international system in which only five nations (USA, Russia, China, UK and France) can legitimately posse’s nuclear weapons.

Explanation: India launched the “Connect Central Asia” Policy in 2012. This policy is aimed at strengthening and expanding of India’s relations with the Central Asian countries. These countries include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.