Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Maharashtra was the first state to constitute the Lokayukta institution, under its Act of 1971, which began to function in 1972, so (C) is the key.

Karnataka, Kerala and Rajasthan set up their Lokayuktas later, and Karnataka's became widely known only after its 1984 Act. Odisha passed an Act in 1970 but it did not become operative, which is why Maharashtra is taken as the first.

The Maharashtra Lokayukta and Upalokayuktas Act was passed in 1971 and brought into force in 1972, and it served as a model that other states, such as Rajasthan and Karnataka, followed.

Answer: A

Article 243-I provides for the State Finance Commission, which reviews the financial position of the Panchayats every five years and recommends principles for sharing and assigning funds.

Article 243-B defines Panchayats' constitution, 243-C their composition and 243-E their duration, so none of them deals with a review of finances.

The State Finance Commission is appointed by the Governor every five years under Article 243-I, and it was brought in with Part IX by the 73rd Amendment of 1992.

Answer: D

Items (i) and (ii) are among the functions of municipalities listed in the Twelfth Schedule: regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries and safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society.

Small-scale industries including food processing industries and technical training and vocational education are items of the Eleventh Schedule, which lists the functions of Panchayats. So (i) and (ii) are correct, option D.

The Twelfth Schedule, added by the 74th Amendment, lists eighteen functions of the municipalities and Article 243W allows the state legislature to devolve them.

Answer: B

The key marks pairs 1 and 2 as correct: the Fifth Law Commission headed by K.V.K. Sundaram and the Tenth Law Commission headed by Justice K.K. Mathew, as printed.

Pairs 3 and 4 are rejected: Justice M. Jagannadha Rao did not head the Nineteenth Commission, and B.S. Chauhan headed the Twenty-first, not the Twentieth. The pair 2 is taken from the key. So 1 and 2.

Law Commissions are non-statutory bodies of the Government of India, set up for three years each, and they report on reforms of law, which is why each has its own number and chairman.

Answer: A

The correct matching is audit and accounts of Panchayats with Article 243 J (2), reservation of seats with Article 243 D (3), elections to the Panchayats with Article 243 K (4) and Gram Sabha with Article 243 A (1), the code 2 3 4 1.

These articles are in Part IX of the Constitution inserted by the 73rd Amendment. The other codes swap the articles.

Article 243A defines the Gram Sabha, 243D deals with reservation of seats, 243J with audit and 243K with elections to the Panchayats.

Answer: D

The Cabinet Secretary ranks Eleventh in the table of precedence.

The Warrant of Precedence issued by the President's Secretariat places the Cabinet Secretary at article 11, alongside officers such as the Attorney General, Chief Election Commissioner, Comptroller and Auditor General and the Chiefs of Staff holding the rank of General or equivalent.

Ninth and Tenth belong to constitutional and judicial office holders above them, such as judges of the Supreme Court and the Chairpersons of the UPSC and other bodies, and Twelfth to officers below. The Cabinet Secretary is the senior-most civil servant but does not rank above them.

Answer: B

The Tripura Public Service Commission came into existence in 1972.

Tripura became a full state on 21 January 1972, and its own Public Service Commission was constituted the same year under Article 315 of the Constitution to conduct recruitment to the state's civil services.

1973, 1974 and 1977 all come after statehood and the Commission's founding.

Answer: C

The Chairman of NITI Aayog is the Prime Minister.

NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was set up on 1 January 2015 to replace the Planning Commission, which the Prime Minister had also chaired. The Prime Minister is its ex officio Chairperson; day-to-day work is led by a Vice-Chairperson and a Chief Executive Officer.

The President and the Vice-President have no role in NITI Aayog, and since the Prime Minister chairs it, 'None of these' is wrong.

Answer: B

The first state to implement a Uniform Civil Code by law is Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand's legislature passed the Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand Act in February 2024, and it came into force on 27 January 2025. It applies common rules on marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships to residents of all religions, except the Scheduled Tribes.

Goa has long had a common civil code, but it is the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 inherited at liberation, not one enacted by a state legislature. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have not implemented a UCC.

Answer: A

The first Governor of Tripura was B. K. Nehru.

Tripura became a full state on 21 January 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. Until then it had been a Union Territory run by a Chief Commissioner and later a Lieutenant Governor, so it had no Governor. B. K. Nehru, already Governor of Assam and Nagaland, was made Governor of the new states of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya as well, and so became Tripura's first Governor.

L. P. Singh succeeded him as Governor of the north-eastern states in 1973, so he came later, not first. The other names belong to the Union Territory period or other posts rather than to the first governorship.