Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity & International Relations) – April 29, 2020

Since 1950, the provision regarding the joint sitting of the two Houses has been invoked only thrice. The bills that have been passed at joint sittings are:

• Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1960.
• Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill, 1977.
• Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2002.

The Speaker is elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members (as soon as may be, after its first sitting). Whenever the office of the Speaker falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy. The date of election of the Speaker is fixed by the President.

Statement 1 is incorrect: In each House of Parliament, there is the “Leader of the Opposition”. The leader of the largest Opposition party having not less than one-tenth seats of the total strength of the House is recognised as the leader of the Opposition in that House.

Statement 2 is correct: In a parliamentary system of government, the leader of the opposition has a significant role to play. His main functions are to provide a constructive criticism of the policies of the government and to provide an alternative government. Therefore, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were accorded statutory recognition in 1977.

Statement 1 is not correct: The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is a legally binding treaty that outlaws biological arms. After being discussed and negotiated in the United Nations’ disarmament forum starting in 1969, the BWC opened for signature on April 10, 1972, and entered into force on March 26, 1975. It currently has 183 states-parties, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria). Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC (Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan and Tuvalu). Tanzania has ratified the BWC convention on August 14th, 2019 and thereby became the 183rd state party.

Statement 2 is correct: India has ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and pledges to abide by its obligations. There is no clear evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, that directly points toward an offensive BW program. India has defensive biological warfare (BW) capabilities and has conducted research on countering various diseases. India also has an extensive and advanced dual-use pharmaceutical industry.

Statement 1 is correct: The International Atomic Energy Agency is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field. It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Statement 2 is not correct: In October 1957, the delegates to the First General Conference decided to establish the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The IAEA has also two regional offices located in Toronto, Canada (since 1979) and Tokyo, Japan (since 1984), as well as two liaison offices in New York City, United States of America (since 1957) and Geneva, Switzerland (since 1965). The Agency runs laboratories specialized in nuclear technology in Vienna and Seibersdorf, Austria, opened in 1961, and, since 1961, in Monaco.