Current based PRELIMS QUESTION 14 August 2020 – The Core IAS

Current based PRELIMS QUESTION 14 August 2020

1. Consider the following statements with respect to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
1. It was the largest organisation in India conducting periodic socio-economic surveys.
2. The NSSO recently merged with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to form the National Statistical Office (NSO).
3. It used to work under the Ministry of Statistics of the Indian government until May 2019.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)
The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), formerly called the National Sample Survey Organisation was the largest organisation in India conducting periodic socio-economic surveys.
The National Sample Survey Office used to work under the Ministry of Statistics of the Indian government until May 2019.
On 23rd May 2019, the NSSO merged with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to form the National Statistical Office (NSO).
The NSSO was set up in 1950 to conduct large-scale sample surveys throughout India.
The employees of the NSSO are from the Indian Statistical Service (appointed through the UPSC) and the Subordinate Statistical Service (appointed through the Staff Selection Commission).
http://mospi.nic.in/national-statistical-office-nso

2. Consider the following statements about the CHAPEKAR BROTHERS.
1. The Chapekar brothers were Indian revolutionaries involved in the assassination of W. C. Rand, the British plague commissioner of Pune.
2. Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Bal Gangadhar Tilak were the supporters of Chapekar Brothers.
3. The three brothers were heavily inspired by conservative ideologies and a sense of rebellion against the British.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) All of the above
Answer-d
Explanation-
Chapekar Brothers
On 22 June 1897, Brothers Damodar Hari Chapekar and Balkrishna Hari Chapekar assassinated a British official W. C. Rand and his military escort Lieutenant Ayerst at Pune, Maharashtra. This was the first case of militant nationalism in India after the 1857 Revolt.
Chapekar brother’s case
In 1896, the dreaded disease of plague had struck Pune and by early 1897, the disease had spread critically.
In February 1897 alone, there were 657 deaths reportedly due to plague. About half of the city’s population had left it.
The government set up a Special Plague Committee in March that year to handle the menace and control the spread of the disease. It was chaired by an Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer W. C. Rand.
Even though the government had given explicit orders that the religious sentiments of the people should be taken care of while inspecting and taking adequate measures, and that the people should be especially informed about the good intentions of taking the various strict measures, the commission under Rand paid scant regard to the directions.
The commission appointed more than 800 officers and soldiers on duty in Pune rather than employing doctors for the job of implementing the measures. The measures included entry into houses forcefully, examination of its occupants including women, taking them to segregation camps and preventing people affected with plague from leaving or entering Pune.
There were reports that troops indulged in vandalising personal property including religious symbols in the name of controlling the epidemic.
People were denied permission to conduct the funerals of their loved ones unless the deaths were registered. If plague was the cause of death, the dead had to be cremated in special grounds designated by the government.
People who broke these regulations were subjected to criminal action.
Supporters of Chapekar Brothers
Gopal Krishna Gokhale stated that he had reliable reports which said that two women were raped by British soldiers in the pretext of controlling the disease.
He claimed that the soldiers were ‘let loose on the town’. Rand denied that there were any cases of women being molested by soldiers.
The high-handedness of the British authorities in dealing with the epidemic led to a lot of frustrations and anti-government sentiments among the people.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote, “Her Majesty the Queen, the Secretary of State and his Council, should not have issued the orders for practising tyranny upon the people of India without any special advantage to be gained.”
Important Events Associated with Chapekar Brothers case
The Chapekar brothers Damodar Hari, Balkrishna Hari and Vasudeo Hari planned to assassinate Rand against whom there was a lot of hatred among the local population.


3. Consider the following statements about the DR. SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJEE.
1. He served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet.
2. He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in October 1951 in Delhi, becoming its first president.
3. He became the youngest vice-chancellor of Calcutta University in 1934.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian politician, barrister, and academician, who served as Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet.
Mukherjee quit the Indian National Congress and founded the right-wing nationalist political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a predecessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in 1951.
He was also the president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha from 1943 to 1946. Mukherjee was strongly opposed to Article 370 seeing as a threat to unity.
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was born in a Bengali Hindu family on 6 July 1901 in Calcutta (Kolkata). His father was Ashutosh Mukherjee, a judge of the High Court of Calcutta, Bengal, who was also ViceChancellor of the University of Calcutta. His mother was Jogamaya Devi Mukherjee.
He enrolled in Bhawanipur’s Mitra Institution in 1906.
In 1914, he passed his matriculation examination and was admitted into Presidency College.
He stood seventeenth in the Inter-Arts Examination in 1916 and graduated in English, securing the first position in the first class in 1921.
He completed an M.A. in Bengali, being graded as first class in 1923.
He enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court in 1924. In 1934, at the age of 33, he became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta; he held the office until 1938.
Mukherjee started his political career in 1929 when he entered the Bengal Legislative Council as an Indian National Congress (INC) candidate representing Calcutta University. However, he resigned the next year when the INC decided to boycott the legislature.
In 1937, he was elected as an independent candidate in the elections which brought the Krishak Praja Party-All India Muslim League coalition to power.
During his tenure, his statements against the government were censored and his movements were restricted.
He resigned on 20 November 1942 accusing the British government of trying to hold on to India under any cost and criticized its repressive policies against the Quit India Movement.
In 1946, he was again elected as an independent candidate from the Calcutta University. He was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India in the same year.
Mukherjee joined the Hindu Mahasabha in Bengal in 1939 and He was appointed as the working president of the organization in 1940.
He was elected as the President of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha in 1943. He remained in this position till 1946, with Laxman Bhopatkar becoming the new President in the same year.
Mukherjee demanded the partition of Bengal in 1946 to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan wrote a letter to Lord Mountbatten telling him that Bengal must be partitioned even if India was not.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inducted Mukherjee into the Interim Central Government as a Minister for Industry and Supply on 15 August 1947.

4. Consider the following statements about the PANDIT DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY.
1. He is best remembered for his principle of integral humanism, which has been defined as a classless, casteless and conflict-free social order.
2. He founded a publication house, Rashtra Dharma Prakashan in Lucknow and launched a magazine, Rashtra Dharma and a weekly Panchjanya.
3. He was influenced by RSS leaders Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhau Jugade.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay
Deendayal Upadhyay was born in Mathura in 1916 – the year Mahatma Gandhi engineered Congress-Muslim League pact in Lucknow – to an astrologer father and devout mother.
By the time, Deendayal Upadhyay was eight; he was an orphan and lived his life in misery and struggles.
He excelled at school examination, earned scholarships to continue his studies and secured a BA degree in English. Owing to death of a close relative, Deendayal Upadhyay could not complete his MA.
Later, he qualified the civil services examination, where he got his nickname as Panditji for appearing in the examination hall wearing tradition dhoti-kurta and cap.
Even after securing the top position in the civil services examination, Deendayal Upadhyay did not join the government service. He rather became, in 1942, a life-time volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which he had joined five years ago.
Deendayal Upadhyay as RSS volunteer
Deendayal Upadhyay was influenced by RSS leaders Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhau Jugade – both were active in Agra. As full-time volunteer Deendayal Upadhyay moved to Lakhimpur district of Uttar Pradesh as an organiser of the RSS.
At RSS, Deendayal Upadhyay founded a publication house, Rashtra Dharma Prakashan in Lucknow and launched a magazine, Rashtra Dharma. Later, he launched weekly Panchjanya – now the mouthpiece of the RSS – and a daily Swadesh.
Deendayal teamed up with Syama Prasad Mookerjee in 1950 after the latter resigned from the Jawaharlal Nehru cabinet following Nehru-Liaquat pact.
Mookerjee launched the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951 and sought help from the then RSS chief MS Golwalkar.
At the advice of Golwalkar, Deendayal was inducted into the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
He was made the general secretary of UP unit. Upadhyay later became the national general secretary of the BJS. After Mookerjee’s death in 1953, Deendayal Upadhyay was instrumental in shaping the ideology and socio-political principles of the BJS for next 15 years.
The BJP government at the Centre and in various states have launched several schemes on the lines of Antyodaya (the uplift of the last man) – a principle espoused by both Mahatma Gandhi and Deendayal Upadhyay. However, the BJP attributes this to Deendayal Upadhyay exclusively.
On philosophical front, Deendayal Upadhyay is best remembered for his principle of “integral humanism”, which has been defined as “a classless, casteless and conflict-free social order”. It talks about the integration of indigenous “Indian culture” with the social, political and economic fabric of the nation.
The nation, Upadhyay believed, is like a human being having a body, mind, intellect and soul of its own. According to Upadhyay, dharma brings peace and prosperity. However, his critics point to his lectures saying he was “biased” against Muslims. Some also criticised him for not seeing evil in caste system.
Deendayal Upadhya’s death is shrouded in mystery.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/who-was-deendayal-upadhyay-narendra-modi-1049330-2017-09-21

5. Consider the following statements with reference to the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament.
1. According to Article 106 of the Constitution, Members of Parliament are entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined by Parliament by law.
2. The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 decides on the financial entitlement of MPs.
3. The Union Cabinet recently approved an ordinance amending the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, to reduce the allowances and pension of MPs by 50 percent, starting April 1, 2020, for a year.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-b
Explanation
Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954
The Union Cabinet on April 6 approved an ordinance amending the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, to reduce the allowances and pension of MPs by 30 percent, starting April 1, 2020, for a year.
According to the latest revision to the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, which was done in 2018, an MP is entitled to receive a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month during the whole term of his/her office – five years for a Lok Sabha MP, and six years for a RajyaSabha member. In addition, the MP will get an allowance of Rs 2,000 per day.
According to a report, the Centre spent Rs 2.7 lakh on an MP per month. The Parliament has a total of 795 members – 545 in the Lok Sabha and 250 in the RajyaSabha.
Under article 106 of the Constitution Members of Parliament are entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined by Parliament by law and, until provision in that respect is so made.
The earnings of a person as an MP are tax-free.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/modi-legislators-salary-967229-2017-03-23

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