Daily Quiz #9 UPSC Prelims Marathon – September 11, 2019

Explanation: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a eight-member multilateral organization, established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. These countries, except for Uzbekistan, had been members of the Shanghai Five group, formed on 26 April 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions. In 2001, during the annual summit in Shanghai, the five member nations first admitted Uzbekistan in the Shanghai Five mechanism (thus transforming it into the Shanghai Six). Thereafter, on 15 June 2001 the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, was signed and in June 2002 the heads of the SCO Member States signed the SCO Charter which expounded on the organization’s purposes, principles, structures and forms of operation, and established it in international law. At the July 2005 Astana Summit, India, Iran and Pakistan were granted Observer status. In July 2015 in Ufa, Russia, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. India and Pakistan signed the memorandum of obligations in June 2016 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, thereby starting the formal process of joining the SCO as full members. On 9 June 2017, at the historic summit in Astana, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full-fledged members.

Explanation: Rajasthan was the first state to establish Panchayati Raj. The scheme was inaugurated by the prime minister on October 2, 1959, in Nagaur district. Rajasthan was followed by Andhra Pradesh, which also adopted the system in 1959. Thereafter, most of the states adopted the system. Though most of the states created panchayati raj institutions by mid 1960s, there were differences from one state to another with regard to the number of tiers, relative position of samiti and parishad, their tenure, composition, functions, finances and so on. For example, Rajasthan adopted the three-tier system while Tamil Nadu adopted the two-tier system. West Bengal, on the other hand, adopted the four-tier system. Further, in the Rajasthan–Andhra Pradesh pattern, panchayat samiti was powerful as the block was the unit of planning and development, while in Maharashtra–Gujarat pattern, zila parishad was powerful as the district was the unit of planning and development. Some states also established nyaya panchayats, that is, judicial panchayats to try petty civil and criminal cases.

Explanation: The institutions of urban local government originated and developed in modern India during the period of British rule. The major events in this context are as follows:
•In 1687-88, the first municipal corporation in India was set up at Madras.
•In 1726, the municipal corporations were set up in Bombay and Calcutta.
•Lord Mayo’s Resolution of 1870 on financial decentralization visualized the development of local self-government institutions.
•Lord Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 has been hailed as the ‘Magna Carta’ of local self-government. He is called as the father of local-self government in India.
•The Royal Commission on decentralization was appointed in 1907 and it submitted its report in 1909. Its chairman was Hobhouse.

Explanation: Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) – formerly known as Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) – currently represents a grouping of 21(of 36) countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE and Yemen) whose shores are washed by the Indian Ocean and collectively aims at enhancing economic cooperation for sustained development and balanced economic growth of its members. It has 7 Dialogue Partners: China, Egypt, France, Japan, UK, USA and Germany. The name IORA was adopted in November 2013 in Perth, Australia during the 13th meeting of Foreign Ministers. The IORA Secretariat is located at Port Louis, Mauritius.

Explanation: The Prime Minister enjoys the following powers as head of the Union council
of ministers:
•He recommends persons who can be appointed as ministers by the president. The President can appoint only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the Prime Minister.
•He allocates and reshuffles various portfolios among the ministers.
•He can ask a minister to resign or advise the President to dismiss him in case of difference of opinion.
•He presides over the meeting of council of ministers and influences its decisions.
•He guides, directs, controls, and coordinates the activities of all the ministers.
•He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office.
Since the Prime Minister stands at the head of the council of ministers, the other ministers cannot function when the Prime Minister resigns or dies. In other words, the resignation or death of an incumbent Prime Minister automatically dissolves the council of ministers and thereby generates a vacuum. The resignation or death of any other minister, on the other hand, merely creates a vacancy which the Prime Minister may or may not like to fill.