07 April Current Affairs (MCQ)

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. The CVC an independent body which is only responsible to the Parliament.
2. The Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners are appointed by the President

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: c)

Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

● Central Vigilance Commission is the apex vigilance institution, free of control from any executive authority, monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government and advising various authorities in Central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their vigilance work.

● Vigilance means to ensure clean and prompt administrative action towards achieving efficiency and effectiveness of the employees in particular and the organization in general, as lack of Vigilance leans to waste, losses and economic decline.

● The CVC was set up by the Government in February, 1964 on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by Shri K. Santhanam.

● In 2003, the Parliament enacted CVC Act conferring statutory status on the CVC.

● The CVC is not controlled by any Ministry/Department. It is an independent body which is only responsible to the Parliament.

Composition

● Multi-member Commission consists of a Central Vigilance Commissioner (Chairperson) and not more than two Vigilance Commissioners (Member).

● The Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners are appointed by the President on the recommendations of a Committee consisting of ○ The Prime Minister (Chairperson),

○ The Minister of Home Affairs (Member) and

○ The Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People (Member).

Q2. Consider the following statements:

1. The term of office of the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners is 5 years
2. The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner can be removed from his office only by order of the Parliament

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: d)

● Term – The term of office of the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners is 4 years from the date on which they enter their office or till they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

● Removal – The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner can be removed from his office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, has, on inquiry, reported that the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be, ought to be removed.

Q3. Consider the following statements:

1. The Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.
2. The Chief Justice also decides the number of judges that will hear a case.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: c)

Appointment of the CJI

● The Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.

● As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.

● The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the Prime Minister who, in turn, advises the President.

● SC in the Second Judges Case (1993), ruled that the senior most judge of the Supreme Court should alone be appointed to the office of the CJI.

● The Supreme Court collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other senior most judges of the court.

● The collegium system is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the Supreme Court (Judges Cases), and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.

Administrative Powers of CJI (Master of Roster)

● It is common to refer to the office as primus inter pares – first amongst equals.

● Besides his adjudicatory role, the CJI also plays the role of the administrative head of the Court.

● In his administrative capacity, the Chief Justice exercises the prerogative of allocating cases to particular benches.

● The Chief Justice also decides the number of judges that will hear a case.

● Thus, he can influence the result by simply choosing judges that he thinks may favour a particular outcome.

● Such administrative powers can be exercised without collegial consensus, and without any stated reasons.

Q4. Consider the following statements:

1. The Court held that unless there are “exceptional circumstances”, disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule should be decided by Speakers within three months.
2. The Anti-Defection Law was passed in 1985 through the 52nd amendment to the Constitution.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: c)

Disqualification Powers of Speakers

● In 2020, the Supreme Court had held that disqualification petitions under the tenth schedule should be adjudicated by a mechanism outside Parliament or Legislative Assemblies.

● The Court has suggested a permanent tribunal headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a former High Court Chief Justice as a new mechanism. This would require an amendment to the Constitution.

● Currently, disqualification of members of a House/Assembly is referred to the Speaker of the House/Assembly.

● However, for the present, the court said the Speakers should decide Tenth Schedule disqualifications within a “reasonable period”. What is ‘reasonable’ would depend on the facts of each case.

● The Court held that unless there are “exceptional circumstances”, disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule should be decided by Speakers within three months.

● The Supreme Court questioned why a Speaker, who is a member of a particular political party and an insider in the House, should be the “sole and final arbiter” in the disqualification of a political defector.

● For that matter, it asked why disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule should be kept in-house and not be given to an “outside” authority.

● It reasoned that even the final authority for removal of a judge is outside the judiciary and in Parliament.

● The Court held that only swift and impartial disqualification of defectors would give “real teeth” to the Tenth Schedule.

Disqualification under the Tenth Schedule

● The Anti-Defection Law was passed in 1985 through the 52nd amendment to the Constitution. It added the Tenth Schedule to the Indian Constitution. The main intent of the law was to combat “the evil of political defections”.

● According to it, a member of a House belonging to any political party becomes disqualified for being a member of the House, if

• he voluntarily gives up his membership of such political party; or
• he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by his political party without obtaining prior permission of such party and such act has not been condoned by the party within 15 days.

Q5. Consider the following statements:

1. UN Secretariat held a “6+2+1” meeting on regional efforts to support peace in Afghanistan.
2. Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, USA, Russia attended the meeting.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: c)

6+2+1 meeting

● UN Secretariat held a “6+2+1” meeting on regional efforts to support peace in Afghanistan.

● 6 neighbors of Afghanistan (China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), 2 global players (the USA and Russia) and 1 (Afghanistan) attended the meeting.

● India was not invited in this meeting.

● It was sighted that India shares no physical boundary with Afghanistan.

● India never announced its support to the US Taliban peace process.

● India’s resistance to publicly talking to Taliban has also contributed to absence of invitation.

Q6. Consider the following statements:

1. NATO has only once invoked Article 5
2. France withdrew from the integrated military command of NATO in 1966

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: c)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949, by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
• A key provision of the treaty, the so-called Article 5, states that if one member of the alliance is attacked in Europe or North America, it is to be considered an attack on all members. That effectively put Western Europe under the “nuclear umbrella” of the US.
• NATO has only once invoked Article 5, on September 12, 2001 following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in the US.
• Since its founding, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the original 12 countries to 30. The most recent member state to be added to NATO was North Macedonia on 27 March 2020.
• France withdrew from the integrated military command of NATO in 1966 but remained a member of the organization. However, it resumed its position in NATO’s military command in 2009.

Q7. Consider the following statements:

1. The IMF was set up along with the World Bank after the Second World War to assist in the reconstruction of war-ravaged countries.
2. IMF publishes Global Financial Stability Report

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: c)

International Monetary Fund

• The IMF was set up along with the World Bank after the Second World War to assist in the reconstruction of war-ravaged countries.
• The two organisations were agreed to be set up at a conference in Bretton Woods in the US. Hence, they are known as the Bretton Woods twins.
• Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by and accountable to the 189 countries that make up its near-global membership. India joined on December 27, 1945.
• The IMF’s primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system – the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries (and their citizens) to transact with each other.
• The Fund’s mandate was updated in 2012 to include all macroeconomic and financial sector issues that bear on global stability.
• Other Reports by IMF: Global Financial Stability Report

Q8. Who among the following is appointed as the 48th Chief Justice of India with effect from April 24, 2021?

1. Justice Uday U. Lalit
2. Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman
3. Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar
4. Justice N V Ramana

Answer: d)

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution, President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Justice N V Ramana as the 48th Chief Justice of India with effect from April 24, 2021, accepting the recommendation made by the outgoing CJI SA Bobde.

• He was Additional Advocate General for Andhra Pradesh before being called to the State High Court Bench in 2001.
• Justice Ramana was the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, before his elevation to the Supreme Court on February 17th, 2014.
• As Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority, Justice Ramana was responsible for making India’s legal aid programme the largest in the world with aid provided on the basis of a ‘means test’ rather than on basis of fixed categories.
• As CJI, Justice Ramana will have a tenure of 16 months till August 26th next year.
• Justice Ramana has said one of his primary objectives would be to improve the judicial infrastructure through a special purpose vehicle called the ‘National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation’ to act as a nodal agency.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Q9. Consider the following statements:

1. Central Vigilance Commission officers will be transferred every 3 years from now onwards.

2. The tenure may be extended to three more years, albeit at a different place of posting.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• 1 only
• 2 only
• Both 1 and 2
• Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: c)

Central Vigilance Commission officers will be transferred every 3 years from now onwards.

• The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has modified the guidelines pertaining to the transfer and posting of officials in the vigilance units of government organisations, restricting their tenure to three years at one place.
• The tenure may be extended to three more years, albeit at a different place of posting.
• According to the CVC, undue long stay of an official in a vigilance department had the potential of developing vested interests, apart from giving rise to unnecessary complaints or allegations.
• In order to emphasis on the importance of the issue and to ensure transparency, objectivity and uniformity in approach, the Commission has decided to modify its earlier guidelines
• The first phase of transfer/posting has to be completed by May 31. The exercise of transferring all the personnel in question should be completed by June 30
• The order said after transfer from the vigilance unit, there would be a compulsory cooling off period of three years before anyone could be considered again for posting in the unit.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Q10. With reference to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), consider the following statements:

1. The Electronic voting machines can be transported in private vehicle.

2. All EVMs, after voting is complete, should be under cover of armed police at all times.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: b)

Last week, in Assembly elections in Assam, an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was found in a private vehicle belonging to a BJP candidate’s spouse.

• The Commission’s transport protocol for polled and reserve EVMs dictates that the voting machines, under no circumstances, should be taken in private custody or a private place.
• And also, that all EVMs, after voting is complete, should be under cover of armed police at all times.
• So, the polling party’s decision to hitch a ride in a private vehicle amounted to taking the EVM (used in Polling Station 149 of Ratabari seat) and hence was a violation of the EC’s rules.
• While saying that the seal of the EVM was intact, the EC ordered repoll for polling station 149.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.