Current based PRELIMS QUESTION 18 FEB 2020 – The Core IAS

Current based PRELIMS QUESTION 18 FEB 2020

1. Consider the following statements with respect to Locust Swarms.
1. They are only found in the Indian Subcontinent.
2. Locust invasions usually occur in areas that receive less than 200mm of rain annually.
3. Appearance of locusts in winter months is a new phenomenon and may be linked to climate change.
4. Recently, India and Pakistan have declared national emergency to battle locusts.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 3 and 4 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

2. Consider the following statements regarding Deoband Movement.
1. It was a movement with the twin objectives i.e. an anti-British movement and the upliftment of the Muslims through educational efforts.
2. This was started in 1867 in UP by Muhammad Qasim Nanawatawi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi as a reformist movement.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

3. He served as Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1931 to 1936. Second (1931) and Third (1932) Round Table Conferences, Relaunching of Civil Disobedience Movement, Communal Award by Ramsay MacDonald (1932), Poona Pact (1932), Government of India Act 1935 and Separation of Burma from India were the major events of his period.
Choose the correct name of Viceroy and Governor-General of India regarding above given information.
(a) Lord Irwin
(b) Lord Willingdon
(c) Lord Hardinge II
(d) Lord Reading

4. Which of the following statement is incorrect regarding the fundamental rights?
(a) Right to access Internet is a fundamental right.
(b) Right to Privacy is a fundamental right.
(c) Right to Education is a fundamental right.
(d) Right to die with dignity is a fundamental right.

5. Consider the following statements with respect to Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
1. It grants Indian Citizenship only to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis who fled Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan due to religious persecution.
2. States protected by Inner Line Permit (ILP) and tribal areas by 6th Schedule of the Constitution have been exempted from the Act’s ambit.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

1.Answer-b
Explanation-
Locust Attack
Locusts are a collection of certain species of short-horned grasshoppers that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances, they become more abundant and change their behavior and habits, becoming gregarious.
Locust Swarms, which are usually found in the Horn of Africa, West Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, have the potential to damage the livelihood of a tenth of the world’s population. Locust invasion usually occur in areas that receive less than 200mm of rain annually.
These hoppers in small numbers or groups do not cause any economic damage to crops unless they appear in swarms. A very small swarm eats as much in one day as about 35,000 people, posing a devastating threat to crops and food security. Locusts do not attack people or animals; there is no evidence that suggests that locusts carry diseases that could harm humans.
India has only one locust breeding season – from July to October. India has not witnessed any full-blown locust cycles after 1962, however, during 1978 and 1993, large-scale upsurges were observed. Recently few villages of Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana bordering Rajasthan have reported presence of locusts.
Experts believe that appearance of locusts in winter months is a new phenomenon and may be linked to climate change.
The primary method of controlling locust swarms is by spraying small amounts of concentrated insecticide using vehicle mounted and aerial sprayers.
The locusts, known as tiddis locally, have wreaked havoc on standing crops including castor, cumin, jatropha and cotton, and fodder grass in around 20 talukas.
According to local experts, the State administration has been caught napping despite an alert from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of a massive locust attack in South Asia, covering Pakistan and India.
Pakistan, which is facing its worst locust attack in decades, has declared national emergency to tackle the insects destroying crops on a large scale in Punjab province, country’s main region for agricultural production.

 

2.Answer-a
Explanation
Deoband Movement
This was started in 1867 in Deoband in UP by theologians, Muhammad Qasim Nanawatawi (1832-1880) and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (1828-1916) as a revivalist movement with the twin objectives of propagating pure teachings of Quaran and Hadis among Muslims and keeping alive the spirit of jihad against the foreign rule. It was an anti-British movement that aimed at the uplifting the Muslims through educational efforts. In contrast to the Aligarh Movement which aimed at the welfare of Muslims through western education and support of the British government, the aim of Deoband Movement was moral and religious regeneration of the Muslim community.

 

3.Answer-b
Explanation-
Lord Willingdon
He served as 22nd Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1931 to 1936. Important events of this period include:
 Second (1931) and Third (1932) Round Table Conferences
 Relaunching of Civil Disobedience Movement
 Communal Award by Ramsay MacDonald (1932)
 Poona Pact (1932)
 Government of India Act 1935
 Separation of Burma from India.
Willingdon Island
 Willingdon Island is a seaport located in the city of Kochi, Kerala.
 It is the largest man-made/artificial island of India and is surrounded by backwaters (a part of a river in which there is little or no current).
 It was carved out of Vembanad Lake and is connected via road and rail. The island is connected to the mainland by the Venduruthy Bridge.
 It is a major commercial centre and is home to the Kochi Naval Base of the Indian Navy, the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology and the Port of Kochi.
 It was named after the Viceroy Lord Willingdon and was created artificially in 1936 during his rule to improve the trade relations of British India with the rest of the world.

4.Answer-a
Explanation-
Statement-a is incorrect
Security trumps over right to use Net: Minister for Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad
‘No plans to make access a right’
On January 10, the Supreme Court, in its 130 page judgment, stated the government should “forthwith” review its orders suspending Internet services in Jammu and Kashmir. It declared that the freedoms of speech, expression and conducting business on the Internet are fundamental rights integral to Article 19 of the Constitution and subject to reasonable restrictions. Reiterating this point, Mr. Prasad said the misconception that right to access Internet was a fundamental right should be cleared. The government had no plans to amend the Constitution to include access to Internet as a fundamental right.
“While the right of use of Internet is important, security of the country is equally important. Law and order is a State subject. Can we deny that Internet, a fine creation of human mind, is not being abused by terrorists, by agent provocateurs, by giving fake news, demanding other kind of exhortation for communal violence?”
Under this unanimous judgement of a nine judge bench in Puttaswamy Case, Supreme Court of India has held that right to privacy is a Fundamental Right and it is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards. Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010.
Recently Supreme Court declared the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and passed an order allowing End of Life Care (EOLC), passive euthanasia in common parlance, in the country. Justice D Y Chandrachud, a member of the five-judge bench of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, said, “Life and death are inseparable. Every moment our bodies undergo change… life is not disconnected from death. Dying is a part of the process of living.”

5.

Answer-b
Explanation
Recently, the Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 which received the President’s assent to become an Act. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for citizenship by birth, descent, registration, naturalization and by incorporation of the territory. In addition, it regulates the registration of Overseas Citizen of India Cardholders (OCIs) and their rights. An OCI is entitled to some benefits such as a multiple-entry, multipurpose lifelong visa to visit India.

The Bill amends the Act to provide that the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, will not be treated as illegal migrants.
In order to get this benefit, they must have also been exempted from the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 by the central government. The 1920 Act mandates foreigners to carry passport, while the 1946 Act regulates the entry and departure of foreigners in India.
The Bill creates an exception for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, with regard to this qualification. For these groups of persons, the 11 years’ requirement will be reduced to five years.
On acquiring citizenship: (i) such persons will be deemed to be citizens of India from the date of their entry into India, and (ii) all legal proceedings against them in respect of their illegal migration or citizenship will be closed.
Applicability of the Amended Act- These provisions on citizenship for illegal migrants will not apply to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura, included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. These tribal areas include Karbi Anglong (in Assam), Garo Hills (in Meghalaya), Chakma District (in Mizoram), and Tripura Tribal Areas District. Further, it will not apply to the “Inner Line” areas notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. In these areas, visits by Indians are regulated through the Inner Line Permit. Currently, this permit system is applicable to Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland. Manipur has also been brought under the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime through a Gazette Notification on the same day the bill was passed in the parliament.
Cancellation of registration of OCIs: The Act provides that the central government may cancel the registration of OCIs on certain grounds. These include: (i) if the OCI has registered through fraud, or (ii) if, within five years of registration, the OCI has been sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more, or (iii) if it becomes necessary in the interest of sovereignty and security of India.
The Bill adds one more ground for cancelling the registration that is if the OCI has violated the provisions of the Act or of any other law as notified by the central government. The orders for cancellation of OCI should not be passed till the OCI cardholder is given an opportunity to be heard.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *