Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity) | November 11,2020

Regulating Act, 1833 was the final step towards centralization in British India.
The features of this Act were as follows:
•It made the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor – General of India and vested in him all civil and military powers. Thus, the act created, for the first time, Government of India having authority over the entire territorial area possessed by the British in India. Lord William Bentick was the first Governor-General of India.
•It deprived the Governor of Bombay and Madras of their legislative powers. The Governor-General of India was given exclusive legislative powers for the entire British India. The laws made under the previous acts were called as Regulations, while laws made under this act were called as Acts.
•It ended the activities of the East India Company as a commercial body, which became a purely administrative body. It provided that the Company’s territories in India were held by it ‘in trust for His Majesty, His heirs and successors’.
Source: Laxmikanth

On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the historic ‘Objectives Resolution’ in the Assembly. It laid down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure. It read:
•“This Constituent Assembly declares its firm and solemn resolve to proclaim India as an Independent Sovereign Republic and to draw up for her future governance a Constitution”.
•Where in shall be guaranteed and secured to all the people of India justice, social, economic and political; equality of status of opportunity, and before the law; freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action, subject to law and public morality; and
•Where by shall be maintained the integrity of the territory of the Republic and its sovereign rights on land, sea and air according to justice and the law of civilized nations.
Source: Laxmikanth

The Constitution of India is neither rigid nor flexible, but a synthesis of both. Article 368 provides for two types of amendments:
•Some provisions can be amended by a special majority of the Parliament, i.e., a two-third majority of the members of each House present and voting, and a majority of the total membership of each House.
•Some other provisions can be amended by a special majority of the Parliament and with the ratification by half of the total states.
At the same time, some provisions of the Constitution can be amended by a simple majority of the Parliament in the manner of ordinary legislative process. Notably, these amendments do not come under Article 368.
Source: Laxmikanth

Inner Line Permit is a concept drawn by colonial rulers; the Inner Line separated the tribal-populated hill areas in the Northeast from the plains.
•To enter and stay for any period in these areas, Indian citizens from other areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP).
•The Inner Line protects Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram, and Manipur was added lately.
Source: Indian Express

The Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 6–12 September 1978.
It expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the health of all people.
Source: WHO

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Atal Bhujal scheme to strengthen the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management and bringing about behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management in seven States.
•The scheme will be implemented in about 8,350 gram panchayats in 78 districts of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
•Of the total outlay of ₹6,000 crore to be provided from 2020-21 to 2024-25, 50% will be in the form of World Bank loan to be repaid by the Central government.
•The remaining part will be made available via Central assistance from regular budgetary support.
•The entire World Bank’s loan component and the Central assistance will be passed on to the States as grants.
•The Prime Minister said the scheme, or the guidelines related to the Jal Jeevan Mission, were big steps in proving the resolve to deliver water to every household in the country by 2024.
•He said the Jal Jeevan Mission would work towards delivering piped water supply to every house and Atal Bhujal scheme would pay special attention to those areas where groundwater was very low.
Source: The Hindu

Microsoft & Data Security Council of India (DSCI) in association with ISEA of Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) have launched Project Cyber Shikshaa for skilling women engineering graduates in the niche field of Cyber Security in September 2018.
As part of this program, C-DAC, NIELIT and other noted training partners are conducting training exclusively for women and making them Industry ready by imparting the requisite technical skills in the domain of Cyber Security.
Source: Indian Express

The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244a of the Indian Constitution.
•Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
•ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.
•The governors of these states are empowered to reorganize boundaries of the tribal areas. In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.
They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without a separate legislation.
Source: Laxmikanth

In order to realize the objectives of equality and justice as laid down in the Preamble, the Constitution makes special provisions for the scheduled castes (SCs), the scheduled tribes (STs), the backward classes (BCs) and the Anglo-Indians.
These special provisions are contained in Part XVI of the Constitution from Articles 330 to 342.
Source: Laxmikanth

The Supreme Court (under Article 32) and the high courts (under Article 226) can issue the writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo-warranto.
•Further, the Parliament (under Article 32) can empower any other court to issue these writs.
•Since no such provision has been made so far, only the Supreme Court and the high courts can issue the writs and not any other court.
Source: Laxmikanth