Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity & International Relations) – April 15, 2020

The Constitution of India did not make any provision with respect to the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities1. Later, the States Reorganisation Commission (1953-55) made a recommendation in this regard. Accordingly, the Seventh Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 inserted a new Article 350-B in Part XVII of the Constitution2. This article contains the following provisions:

1. There should be a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities. He is to be appointed by the President of India.
2. It would be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under the Constitution. He would report to the President upon those matters at such intervals as the President may direct. The President should place all such reports before each House of Parliament and send to the governments of the states concerned.

It must be noted here that the Constitution does not specify the qualifications, tenure, salaries and allowances, service conditions and procedure for removal of the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities.

The duties and functions of the CAG as laid down by the Parliament and the Constitution are:

• He audits the accounts related to all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, consolidated fund of each state and consolidated fund of each union territory having a Legislative Assembly.
• He audits all expenditure from the Contingency Fund of India and the Public Account of India as well as the contingency fund of each state and the public account of each state.
• He audits all trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts, balance sheets and other subsidiary accounts kept by any department of the Central Government and state governments.
• He audits all transactions of the Central and state governments related to debt, sinking funds, deposits, advances, suspense accounts and remittance business. He also audits receipts, stock accounts and others, with approval of the President, or when required by the President.
• He audits the accounts of any other authority when requested by the President or Governor. For example, the audit of local bodies.

The Constitution (Article 76) has provided for the office of the Attorney General for India. He is the highest law officer in the country. The Attorney General (AG) is appointed by the president. He must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. In other words, he must be a citizen of India and he must have been a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the president.

Mekong- Ganga Cooperation is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (Mekong passes through these five countries along with China). It seeks for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications. It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Laos. Both the Ganga and the Mekong are Civilization Rivers, and the MGC initiative aims to facilitate closer contacts among the people inhabiting these two major river basins.

Future Investment Initiative (FII) is an initiative by Saudi Arabia to diversify the kingdom’s economy and reduce its dependence on petroleum products. FII brings together policymakers, investors and global experts, to discuss the role of investment in driving global prosperity and development. FII is widely being described as “Davos in the desert”.