Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The Supreme Court at Calcutta was set up by the Regulating Act of 1773.

It had a chief justice and three other judges appointed by the Crown, with jurisdiction over British subjects in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. It was the first court in India established by Parliament rather than by the Company.

Answer: C

The duty to protect and improve the natural environment is in Article 51A, among the fundamental duties.

Clause (g) covers forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and requires compassion for living creatures. The duties were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 and, like the directive principles, are not enforceable in court.

Answer: A

K.K. Venugopal was appointed Attorney-General for India in July 2017, succeeding Mukul Rohatgi.

He was 86 at the appointment, and served until 2022. The Attorney-General is the government's chief legal adviser and its first law officer.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Parliament, by law, under Article 312

Article 312 provides that Parliament may create an all-India service common to the Union and the states, but only if the Rajya Sabha first declares by resolution, supported by not less than two thirds of the members present and voting, that it is necessary in the national interest. The requirement gives the states, through the House that represents them, a say in the creation of services whose officers will serve within their jurisdictions. There are three such services: the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, both continued from before the Constitution, and the Indian Forest Service, created in 1966. The article also mentions an all-India judicial service, which has never been established. Their distinguishing feature is dual control: officers are recruited and their conditions of service determined by the Union, and they are allotted to state cadres where they serve, but only the Union government can dismiss or remove them - a protection that is meant to insulate them from state political pressure.

Answer: B

K.C. Wheare called the Indian Constitution quasi-federal.

He meant that it is federal in form but unitary in spirit: the centre can redraw state boundaries, legislate on state subjects in defined circumstances, and take over a state's administration under Article 356.

Answer: C

The Directive Principles of State Policy are in Articles 36 to 51, forming Part IV of the Constitution.

They are not enforceable in court, but Article 37 declares them fundamental to the governance of the country and makes it the state's duty to apply them in making laws.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Article 32

Article 32 lets a citizen move the Supreme Court directly for the enforcement of fundamental rights, and Ambedkar called it the heart and soul of the Constitution. Article 226 gives the High Courts a wider but non-fundamental writ jurisdiction.

Answer: C

B.R. Ambedkar called the right to constitutional remedies the heart and soul of the Constitution.

Article 32 gives every person the right to move the Supreme Court directly for the enforcement of a fundamental right - and being itself a fundamental right, it makes the others real rather than declaratory.

Answer: B

The president dismisses a minister on the recommendation of the prime minister.

Article 75 says ministers hold office during the pleasure of the president, but that pleasure is exercised on the prime minister's advice. This is what makes the council of ministers a team the prime minister can reconstitute at will.

Answer: A

Correct answer: The first hour of a sitting, when members question ministers

Question Hour is the first hour of a parliamentary sitting, in which members put questions to ministers and ministers are obliged to answer. It is one of the sharpest instruments of executive accountability, and much of the information that reaches the public about administration emerges from it. Questions are of three kinds. A starred question is answered orally and admits supplementary questions, which is where the real scrutiny happens. An unstarred question receives a written answer and no supplementaries. A short notice question concerns an urgent matter and may be asked at less than ten days’ notice. It is immediately followed by Zero Hour, an Indian innovation not found in the rules of procedure: from noon, members raise matters of urgent public importance without prior notice. The name arose because it begins at twelve o’clock. Question Hour can be suspended by the presiding officer, and its suspension is usually contested by the opposition for that reason.