Working of Institutions Test - 1

A member of parliament in Lok Sabha is the representative of the Indian people in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections on the basis of the adult suffrage. Parliament of India is bicameral with two houses; Rajya Sabha (upper house i.e. Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (lower house i.e. House of the People).

The Prime Minister of India, as addressed to in the Constitution of India, is the Chief of Government, Chief Adviser to the President of India, head of the Council of Ministers and leader of the majority party in the Parliament. The Prime Minister leads the Executive Branch of the Government of India. The President of India is the head of state and the first citizen of India besides being the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces. The President's role is largely ceremonial, with real executive authority vested in the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister.

Lok Sabha has more power to handle the Union Budget than Rajya Sabha. Finance minister is responsible to lay the budget in the Parliament.
The Finance Minister of India is Nirmala Seetharaman (as in 2020).

In a democratic country, two categories make up the executive. One that is elected by the people for a specific period, is called the political executive. Political leaders who take the big decisions fall in this category. In the second category, people are appointed on a long-term basis. This is called the permanent executive or civil services, the DC is a part of the permanent executive by the virtue of being a civil servant. The PM, speaker of the Upper House are parts of political executive. FM is a part of the Cabinet and is a political executive.

Each member is elected for a term of six years. The Vice President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha. The House also elects a Deputy Chairman from among its members. Besides, there is also a panel of "Vice Chairmen" in the Rajya Sabha.

The permanent executive consists of the civil servants (Bureaucracy) from the lowest to the highest levels. It carries out the day to day administration by working in the government departments. The civil servants are politically neutral. They do not owe allegiance to any political party.
Their job is to carry out the laws and policies of the government without any political consideration. Once appointed, the civil servants remain in office till the attainment of the retirement age, usually up to the age of 55 or 60 years. They get regular and fixed salaries and are hierarchically organised into higher and lower relationships.

This is correct as the President cannot do a, b and c. Though the President is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, he cannot order attack on an enemy state as the Parliament will take a decision on this and the President can do so only on the advice of the Parliament. The President cannot dismiss the Chief Justice as the CJI can be removed only through a process of impeachment by the Parliament. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs selects a protem speaker. The appointment has to be approved by the President.

This is correct as Electoral College includes all MLAs and MPs, except the nominated members. The President is indirectly elected by means of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of the Parliament of India and the Legislative assemblies of the States of India and the Union territories of Delhi, and Puducherry.

The Civil Services refer to the career bureaucrats who are the permanent executive branch of the Republic of India. The civil service system is the backbone of the administrative machinery of the country.

The Parliament alone has the powers to amend the provisions in the Constitution of India. The amendment is done by three procedures: by simple majority, by special majority (two-thirds) or by special majority and ratification of state legislatures.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs selects a protem speaker. The appointment has to be approved by the President. The Prime Minister has no role to play in the appointment of the speaker.

Article 83(2) of the Constitution stipulates that the House of the People, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer and the expiration of the said period of five years shall operate as dissolution of the House. Under article 80 of the Constitution, the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) is composed of not more than 250 members, of whom 12 are nominated by the President of India from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service. 2 members of the Lok Sabha can be nominated by the President. Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. However, one third of the members retire every second year, and are replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years. The Vice President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

This is the correct answer choice as this statement is incorrect. The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in India. It is not the highest authority.

Option 3 is the correct answer as the Supreme Court can take up all these cases of disputes. The Supreme Court can hear appeals from the cases of jurisdiction from the High Courts. Any case from a lower court cannot be sub judice in the Supreme Court.

The Mandal Commission, or the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was established in India on 1 January 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward classes" of India. In 1980, based on its rationale that OBCs ("Other backward classes") identified on the basis of caste, economic and social indicators comprised 52% of India's population, the Commission's report recommended that members of Other Backward Classes (OBC) be granted reservations to 27% of jobs under the Central government and public sector undertakings, thus making the total number of reservations for SC, ST and OBC to 49%.