Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – October 11

126. Appointment of acting Chief Justice.-

When the office of Chief Justice of India is vacant or when the Chief Justice is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office, the duties of the office shall be performed by such one of the other Judges of the Court as the President may appoint for the purpose.

The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership of Rajya Sabha is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of 250 members, and current laws have provision for 245 members. Most of the members of the House are indirectly elected by state and territorial legislatures using single transferable votes, while the President can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Members sit for staggered six-year terms, with one third of the members retiring every two years.

The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous sessions, and unlike the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, is not subject to dissolution. However, the Rajya Sabha, like the Lok Sabha can be prorogued by the President. The Rajya Sabha has equal footing in all areas of legislation with Lok Sabha, except in the area of supply, where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers.

The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who presides over its sessions. The Deputy Chairman, who is elected from amongst the house’s members, takes care of the day-to-day matters of the house in the absence of the Chairman. Rajya Sabha members are elected by state legislatures rather than directly through the electorate by single transferable vote method.

Following Fundamental rights are available against Individual as well as State. So if some private individual is violating these, he can be dragged to Supreme Court. Remaining Fundamental rights are available against State only.

Art 15 (2) ( and not 15(1) ) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to

access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment; or

the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public

Art 17 Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden The enforcement of any disability arising out of Untouchability shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law

Art 23 (1) Traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law

Art 24 No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.

A-155: The Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.

A-156: (1) The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.

(2) The Governor may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office.

(3) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this article, a Governor shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office:
Provided that a Governor shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue to hold office until his successor enters upon his office.

A-159: Every Governor and every person discharging the functions of the Governor shall, before entering upon his office, make and subscribe in the presence of the Chief Justice of the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to the State.

No Confidence Motion

*This can be moved only in Lok Sabha and by the opposition of the house.

*Can be brought only against the Council of ministers and not against any individual minister.

*Unlike censure motion, a no-confidence motion does not require any specific ground.

*Once admitted in the House, it takes precedence over all the pending business of the House.

*Generally the PM answers the allegations after the members have spoken.

What is Motion of Thanks to President’s Address?

The President makes a special address(a statement of government policy that has to be approved by the Cabinet) to a joint sitting of both Houses. The address is followed by a motion of thanks moved in each House by ruling party MPs and this is called ‘Motion of Thanks’.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is a statutory multi-disciplinary body established to combat organized wildlife crime in the country. The Bureau has its headquarter in New Delhi and five regional offices at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Jabalpur,

Functions:

• It is mandated to collect and collate intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities and to disseminate the same to State and other enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals;
• to establish a centralized wildlife crime data bank;
• co-ordinate actions by various agencies in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of the Act;
• assist foreign authorities and international organization concerned to facilitate co-ordination and universal action for wildlife crime control;
• capacity building of the wildlife crime enforcement agencies for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes and assist State Governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crimes;
• and advise the Government of India on issues relating to wildlife crimes having national and international ramifications, relevant policy and laws.
• It also assists and advises the Customs authorities in inspection of the consignments of flora & fauna as per the provisions of Wild Life Protection Act, CITES and EXIM Policy governing such an item.

NITI Aayog will launch the Mentor India Campaign, a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs, established across the country as a part of the Atal Innovation Mission. CEO NITI Aayog,

Mentor India is aimed at maximizing the impact of Atal Tinkering Labs, possibly the biggest disruption in formal education globally. The idea is to engage leaders who will nurture and guide students in the Atal Tinkering Labs. These labs are non-prescriptive by nature, and mentors are expected to be enablers rather than instructors.

NITI Aayog is looking for leaders who can spend anywhere between one to two hours every week in one or more such labs to enable students experience, learn and practice future skills such as design and computational thinking.

WHAT IS ATAL TINKERING LAB?

Atal Tinkering Labs are dedicated works spaces where students from Class 6th to Class 12th learn innovation skills and develop ideas that will go on to transform India. The labs are powered to acquaint students with state-of-the-art equipment such as 3D printers, robotics & electronics development tools, Internet of things & sensors etc.

NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission is among one of the flagship programs of the Government of India to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country to set up the Atal Tinkering Labs across the country.

The Mission has / is in the process of setting up 900+ such labs across India and aims to have 2,000 such labs by end of 2017.