Daily Quiz #23 UPSC Prelims Marathon – October 30, 2019

Explanation: A cantonment board is established for municipal administration for civilian population in the cantonment area. It is set up under the provisions of the Cantonments Act of 2006—a legislation enacted by the Central government. It works under the administrative control of the defense ministry of the Central government. Thus, unlike the above four types of urban local bodies, which are created and administered by the state government, a cantonment board is created as well as administered by the Central government.

Explanation: The Central Council of Local Government was set up in 1954. It was constituted under Article 263 of the Constitution of India by an order of the President of India. Originally, it was known as the Central Council of Local Self-Government. However, the term ‘self-government’ was found to be superfluous and hence was replaced by the term ‘government’ in the 1980s. Till 1958, it dealt with both urban as well as rural local governments, but after 1958 it has been dealing with matters of urban local government only.

Explanation: ‘The scheduled areas are treated differently from the other areas in the country because they are inhabited by ‘aboriginals’ who are socially and economically rather backward, and special efforts need to be made to improve their condition. Therefore, the whole of the normal administrative machinery operating in a state is not extended to the scheduled areas and the Central government has somewhat greater responsibility for these areas’.
•The president is empowered to declare an area to be a scheduled area. He can also increase or decrease its area, alter its boundary lines, rescind such designation or make fresh orders for such re-designation on an area in consultation with the governor of the state concerned.
•Each state having scheduled areas has to establish a tribe’s advisory council to advice on welfare and advancement of the scheduled tribes. It is to consist of 20 members, three-fourths of whom are to be the representatives of the scheduled tribes in the state legislative assembly.

Explanation: India’s “Connect Central Asia” policy is a broad-based approach including political, security, economic and cultural connections. Its features (or elements) are as follows:
1. India will continue to build on its strong political relations through the exchange of high level visits. India’s leaders will continue to interact closely both in bilateral and multilateral fora.
2. India will strengthen its strategic and security cooperation. India already has strategic partnerships with some Central Asian countries. The focus will be on military training, joint research, counter-terrorism coordination and close consultations on Afghanistan.
3. India will step up multilateral engagement with Central Asian partners using the synergy of joint efforts through existing fora like the SCO, Eurasian Economic Community (EEC) and the Custom Union. India has already proposed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement to integrate its markets with the unifying Eurasian space.
4. India looks to Central Asia as a long-term partner in energy, and natural resources. Central Asia possesses large cultivable tracts of land and there is potential for India to cooperate in production of profitable crops with value addition.
5. The medical field is another area that offers huge potential for cooperation. India is ready to extend cooperation by setting up civil hospitals/clinics in Central Asia.

Explanation: In 2014, the Modi Government upgraded India’s “Look East Policy” and renamed it as the “Act East Policy”. The “Look East Policy” was first initiated in 1992 by the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. While addressing the India-ASEAN Summit (2014), the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “A new era of economic development, industrialization and trade has begun in India. Externally, India’s ‘Look East Policy’ has become ‘Act East Policy’”. Similarly, the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, during her visit to Vietnam in 2014, told Indian envoys to ‘Act East’ and not just ‘Look East’