Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity & International Relations) – May 10, 2020

Oath of the Governor: Before entering upon his office, the governor has to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation. In his oath, the governor swears:

(a) to faithfully execute the office;

(b) to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law; and

(c) to devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of the state.

The oath of office to the governor is administered by the chief justice of the concerned state high court and in his absence, the senior-most judge of that court available. Every person discharging the functions of the governor also undertakes the similar oath or affirmation.

Statement 1 is correct: A notified area committee is created for the administration of two types of areas—a fast developing town due to industrialisation, and a town which does not yet fulfil all the conditions necessary for the constitution of a municipality, but which otherwise is considered important by the state government. Since it is established by a notification in the government gazette, it is called as notified area committee.

Statement 2 is Incorrect: Its powers are almost equivalent to those of a municipality. But unlike the municipality, it is an entirely nominated body, that is, all the members of a notified area committee including the chairman are nominated by the state government. Thus, it is neither an elected body nor a statutory body.

Originally, the Constitution of India did not make any provision with respect to the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities. 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 Constitution.

Mercosur is a regional integration process. It was created in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was signed by the heads of state of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Several other countries were later admitted as associate members, and in 2006 the presidents of the four member countries approved full membership for Venezuela. Mercosur is headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The foreign policy of India is opposed to arms race and advocates disarmament, both conventional and nuclear. India has been using the UNO platform to check the arms race and to achieve disarmament. India took the initiative of holding a six-nation summit at New Delhi in 1985 and made concrete proposals for nuclear disarmament.

However, by not signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) of 1996, India has kept its nuclear options open. India opposes NPT and CTBT due to their discriminatory and hegemonistic nature. They perpetuate an international system in which only five nations (USA, Russia, China, UK and France) can legitimately Posses nuclear weapons.