1. Consider the following statements with respect to Swachh Bharat Mission.
1. The second phase of this will be implemented on a mission mode between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
2. This programme was started on October 2, 2015, when the sanitation coverage in the country was reported at 38.7 per cent.
3. The second phase will focus on ODF sustainability and solid and liquid waste management (SLWM).
4. The ODF Plus programme will converge with MGNREGA, especially for grey water management, and will complement the newly launched Jal Jeevan Mission.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 4 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
- Answer-b
Explanation
Swachh Bharat Mission second phase gets nod
Key focus is to end open defecation
The Centre on Wednesday approved the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural), focussed on sustainability of ODF and management of solid and liquid waste.
The second phase will be implemented on a mission mode between 2020-21 and 2024- 25 with an estimated central and State budget of Rs. 52,497 crore.
The rural sanitation programme was started on October 2, 2014, when the sanitation coverage in the country was reported at 38.7 per cent. More than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed since the launch of the mission and as a result, rural areas in all states have declared themselves open defecation free (ODF) as on October 2, 2019.
The second phase will focus on Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF Plus), which includes ODF sustainability and solid and liquid waste management (SLWM), the statement said.
The ODF Plus programme will converge with MGNREGA, especially for grey water management, and will complement the newly launched Jal Jeevan Mission.
The program will also work towards ensuring that no one is left behind and everyone uses a toilet.
Under the program, provision for incentive of Rs.12,000/- for construction of Individual Household Toilet (IHHL) to the newly emerging eligible households as per the existing norms will continue.
The fund sharing pattern between Centre and States will be 90:10 for North-Eastern States and Himalayan States and UT of J&K; 60:40 for other States; and 100:0 for other Union Territories, for all the components.
The SLWM component of ODF Plus will be monitored on the basis of output-outcome indicators for four key areas:
1. Plastic waste management,
2. Bio-degradable solid waste management (including animal waste management),
3. Grey water management.
4. Fecal sludge management.
Objectives of the mission are as follows
To bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas, by promoting cleanliness, hygiene and eliminating open defecation.
To motivate communities to adopt sustainable sanitation practices and facilities through awareness creation and health education.
To encourage cost-effective and appropriate technologies for ecologically safe and sustainable sanitation.
To develop community managed sanitation systems focusing on scientific Solid & Liquid Waste Management systems for overall cleanliness in the rural areas.
To create a significant positive impact on gender and promote social inclusion by improving sanitation especially in marginalized communities.
2. Consider the following statements regarding the Law Commission.
1. The first such Commission was established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 under the Chairmanship of Lord Macaulay which recommended codification of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and a few other matters.
2. A retired Supreme Court judge or Chief Justice of a High Court becomes the head the Commission.
3. The recommendations of the commission are binding on the government.
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
2. Answer-b
Explanation
Law Commission
Law Reform has been a continuing process particularly during the last 300 years or more in Indian history. In the ancient period, when religious and customary law occupied the field, reform process had been ad hoc and not institutionalized through duly constituted law reform agencies. However, since the third decade of the nineteenth century, Law Commissions were constituted by the Government from time to time and were empowered to recommend legislative reforms with a view to clarify, consolidate and codify particular branches of law where the Government felt the necessity for it.
The first such Commission was established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 under the Chairmanship of Lord Macaulay which recommended codification of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and a few other matters. Thereafter, the second, third and fourth Law Commissions were constituted in 1853, 1861 and 1879 respectively which, during a span of fifty years contributed a great deal to enrich the Indian Statute Book with a large variety of legislations on the pattern of the then prevailing English Laws adapted to Indian conditions.
The Indian Code of Civil Procedure, the Indian Contract Act, the Indian Evidence Act, the Transfer of Property Act etc. are products of the labour of the first four Law Commissions.
Post-independence Developments
After independence, the Constitution of India with its Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy gave a new direction to law reform geared to the needs of a democratic legal order in a plural society.
Though the Constitution stipulated the continuation of pre-Constitution Laws (Article 372) till they are amended or repealed, there had been demands in Parliament and outside for establishing a Central Law Commission to recommend revision and updating of the inherited laws to serve the changing needs of the country.
The Government of India reacted favorably and established the First Law Commission of Independent India in 1955 with the then Attorney-General of India, Mr. M. C. Setalvad, as its Chairman. Since then twenty one more Law Commissions have been appointed, each with a three-year term and with different terms of reference.
The recommendations of the commission are not binding on the government. They may be accepted or rejected. Action on the said recommendations depends on the ministries/departments, which are concerned with the subject matter of the recommendations.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to set up the 22nd Law Commission. The Law Commission advises the government on complex legal issues. The term of the previous law panel ended last August.
The Law Ministry will now notify the new panel, which will have a three-year term. Apart from having a full-time chairperson, the commission will have four full-time members, including a member-secretary.
Law and Legislative Secretaries in the Law Ministry will be the ex-officio members of the commission. It will also have not more than five part-time members.
A retired Supreme Court judge or Chief Justice of a High Court will head the Commission.
The Law Commission shall, on a reference made to it by the Central Government or suo motto, undertake research in law and review of existing laws in India for making reforms and enacting new legislation. It shall also undertake studies and research for bringing reforms in the justice delivery systems for elimination of delay in procedures, speedy disposal of cases, reduction in cost of litigation, etc
Originally formed in 1955, the commission is reconstituted every three years and so far, 277 reports have been submitted to the government.
Working papers
The last Law Commission, under Justice B.S. Chauhan (retd.), had submitted reports and working papers on key issues such as simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies and a uniform civil code.
While it supported simultaneous polls, the Commission had said the time for a common code was not yet ripe. In 2015, a proposal was mooted to make the law panel into a permanent body either through an Act of Parliament or an executive order (resolution of the Union Cabinet). The move was, however, shelved after the Prime Minister’s Office preferred the existing system to continue.
In 2010 as well, the then UPA government had prepared a draft Cabinet note to give statutory status to the Law Commission but the idea did not take off.
3. Consider the following statements regarding the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020.
1. The Bill provides for a national Board which will lay down a code of conduct to be observed by those operating clinics.
2. The States and Union Territories will have to form State Boards and State authorities within six months of the notification of the proposed legislation.
3. The Bill will also ensure confidentiality of intending couples and protect the rights of the child.
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
3. Answer-d
Explanation
ART Bill proposes national registry of clinics
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020 to monitor medical procedures used to assist people to achieve pregnancy.
The Bill provides for a national Board which will lay down a code of conduct to be observed by those operating clinics. It will also formulate minimum standards for laboratory and diagnostic equipment and practices to be followed by human resources employed by clinics and banks. The States and Union Territories will also have to form State Boards and State authorities within three months of the notification of the proposed legislation.
Under the proposed law, a national registry and registration authority will maintain a database to assist the national Board to perform its functions.
Strict punishment
The Bill also proposes stringent punishment for those who practise sex selection; indulge in sale of human embryos or gametes and those who operate rackets.
India has one of the highest growths in the number ART centres and ART cycles performed every year. India has become one of the major centres of this global fertility industry, with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity.
This has also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues; yet, there is no standardisation of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.
Confidentiality clause
The Bill will also ensure confidentiality of intending couples and protect the rights of the child.
The Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2020, the government was looking to restrict the maximum age of surrogates from “above the marriageable age” to 50 years.
4. Consider the following statements regarding the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
1. It provides comprehensive risk coverage for agricultural crops from pre-sowing to post harvest losses due to non preventable natural risks.
2. The balance of actuarial (estimate of loss incurred) premium is shared by the Central and State Government on 50: 50 basis.
3. It is also extended to commercial and horticultural crops.
4. Enrolment under this scheme has also been made voluntary for all farmers.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 3 and 4 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
4. Answer-a
Explanation-
Centre cuts its share in crop insurance
The Centre has almost halved its contribution to its own flagship crop insurance, slashing its share of the premium subsidy from the current 50% to just 25% in irrigated areas and 30% for unirrigated areas from the kharif season of 2020.
The Cabinet approved the revamp of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme on Wednesday.
In another significant step, enrolment in the two schemes has also been made voluntary for all farmers.
Farmers pay a fixed share of the premium: 2% of the sum insured for kharif crops, 1.5% for rabi crops and 5% for cash crops. Currently, the Centre and State split the balance of the premium equally. However, the revamp now reduces the burden on the Centre and increases the share of States.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with One Nation – One Scheme theme. It incorporates the best features of all previous schemes and at the same time, all previous shortcomings / weaknesses have been removed.
The PMFBY replaced the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS.
Objectives
1. To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
2. To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
3. To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
4. To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.
Highlights of the scheme
There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%. The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.
There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy. This capping has now been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
PMFBY is a replacement scheme of NAIS / MNAIS, there will be exemption from Service Tax liability of all the services involved in the implementation of the scheme. It is estimated that the new scheme will ensure about 75-80 per cent of subsidy for the farmers in insurance premium.
Farmers to be covered
All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.
Compulsory coverage: The enrolment under the scheme, subject to possession of insurable interest on the cultivation of the notified crop in the notified area, shall be compulsory for following categories of farmers:
• Farmers in the notified area who possess a Crop Loan account/KCC account (called as Loanee Farmers) to whom credit limit is sanctioned/renewed for the notified crop during the crop season. and
• Such other farmers whom the Government may decide to include from time to time.
Note- In another significant step, enrolment in the two schemes has also been made voluntary for all farmers.
Voluntary coverage: Voluntary coverage may be obtained by all farmers not covered above, including Crop KCC/Crop Loan Account holders whose credit limit is not renewed.
Risks covered under the scheme
Yield Losses (standing crops, on notified area basis). Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado. Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
In cases where majority of the insured farmers of a notified area, having intent to sow/plant and incurred expenditure for the purpose, are prevented from sowing/planting the insured crop due to adverse weather conditions, shall be eligible for indemnity claims upto a maximum of 25 per cent of the sum-insured.
In post-harvest losses, coverage will be available up to a maximum period of 14 days from harvesting for those crops which are kept in “cut & spread” condition to dry in the field.
For certain localized problems, loss / damage resulting from occurrence of identified localized risks like hailstorm, landslide, and Inundation affecting isolated farms in the notified area would also be covered.
Unit of Insurance
The Scheme shall be implemented on an ‘Area Approach basis’ i.e., Defined Areas for each notified crop for widespread calamities with the assumption that all the insured farmers, in a Unit of Insurance, to be defined as “Notified Area‟ for a crop, face similar risk exposures, incur to a large extent, identical cost of production per hectare, earn comparable farm income per hectare, and experience similar extent of crop loss due to the operation of an insured peril, in the notified area.
Defined Area (i.e., unit area of insurance) is Village/Village Panchayat level by whatsoever name these areas may be called for major crops and for other crops it may be a unit of size above the level of Village/Village Panchayat. In due course of time, the Unit of Insurance can be a Geo-Fenced/Geo-mapped region having homogenous Risk Profile for the notified crop.
For Risks of Localised calamities and Post-Harvest losses on account of defined peril, the Unit of Insurance for loss assessment shall be the affected insured field of the individual farmer.
5. Consider the following statements with respect to the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946.
1. The prime objective of this mission was to formulate a constitution-making body (the Constituent Assembly of India) for the framing of a constitution for India.
2. Lord Wavell was also the member of the Cabinet Mission.
3. The Dominion of India would be granted independence, without any partition and this was one of the main reasons for the failure of the Cabinet Mission.
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
5. Answer-c
Explanation-
Cabinet Mission Plan
Clement Atlee (British Prime Minister) decided to send a mission to India for the transfer of powers from the British Indian government to Indian leaders.
The mission had three members-
You should know that Lord Wavell was not a member of the Cabinet Mission but was involved.
Objectives of Cabinet Mission
To obtain an agreement with the Indian leaders as to the framing of a constitution for India
To formulate a constitution-making body (the Constituent Assembly of India)
To establish an Executive Council with the support of the major Indian parties
Why did the Cabinet Mission fail?
The main reasons for the failure of the Cabinet Mission are given below:
The Congress Party wanted a strong centre with minimum powers for the provinces.
The Muslim League wanted strong political safeguards for the Muslims like parity in the legislatures.
Since both parties had many ideological differences and could not find common ground, the mission came up with its own set of proposals in May 1946.
The Dominion of India would be granted independence, without any partition.
The provinces would be divided into three groups/sections:
1. Group A: Madras, Central Provinces, UP, Bihar, Bombay and Orissa
2. Group B: Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Baluchistan
3. Group C: Bengal and Assam
The Muslim-majority provinces were grouped into two groups and the remaining Hindu-majority in one of the groups.
The central government at Delhi would have powers over the defence, foreign affairs, communications and currency. The rest of the powers would be vested with the provinces.
A constituent assembly would be set up for writing a new constitution for the country.
An interim government would be established until a new government was formed on the basis of the constitution written by the constituent assembly.
The Congress was not keen on the idea of the groupings of provinces on the basis of Hindu-Muslim majority and vying for control at the centre. It was also against the idea of a weak centre. The Muslim League did not want any changes to the proposals.
Since the plan was not accepted, a new plan was proposed by the mission in June 1946. This plan proposed the division of India into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority India later to be renamed Pakistan.
A list of princely states was also made that could either join the union or remain independent.
The Congress Party under Jawaharlal Nehru did not accept the second plan. Instead, it agreed to be part of the constituent assembly.
The Viceroy invited 14 men to form the interim government. There were 5 from the Congress, 5 from the League, 1 member each representing the Sikh, Parsee, Indian Christian and scheduled caste communities.
Both the League and the Congress were given the right to nominate 5 members to the Viceroy’s interim council. The Congress nominated Zakir Hussain as one of the members to which the League objected saying only it represented Indian Muslims and no other party. The Muslim League did not take part in it.
The Congress leaders entered the viceroy’s interim council and thus Nehru headed the interim government. The new government began the task of framing a constitution for the country.
Congress-led governments were formed in most provinces including the NWFP. In Bengal and Sind, the League formed the governments.
Jinnah and the League objected to the new central government. He geared to agitate for Pakistan and urged Muslims to demand Pakistan by any means. He called for ‘Direct Action Day’ on 16 August 1946.This call led to widespread communal rioting in the country with 5000 people being killed on the first day in Calcutta. Communal riots spread to many other areas notably Noakhali and Bihar.
There was a call for the partitioning of the country on account of the riots. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the first Congress leaders to acknowledge the inevitability of the partition as a means to stop the brutal violence.
By agreeing to Partition, Congress kept India unite
Moreover, documentary evidence, especially the resolution of the Muslim League Council in June 1946 that accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan, proves that the Muslim League’s acceptance was premised on the belief that the Plan was a stepping stone towards the ultimate formation of Pakistan, which to quote the resolution was its “unalterable objective”. The League inferred this from the Cabinet Mission Plan’s provision that said that “any Province by majority vote of its Legislative Assembly could call for a reconsideration of the terms of the Constitution after an initial period of ten years and at ten-yearly intervals thereafter.” Hence the Plan did not rule out the dissolution of the Union if provinces made a demand.
Furthermore, the working of the interim government formed in September 1946 made it clear that the Muslim League was bent on thwarting its smooth functioning. It was the feeling that the interim government was like a chariot being pulled in two different directions that convinced Patel that Partition was the only way to save India from becoming a totally dysfunctional state. In his own famous words, “In order to keep India united it must be divided.” It was Patel who convinced Nehru that Partition was better than an eternally fragmented India.
Nehru, whose opposition to Partition was based on his unstinted commitment to secularism, which refused to encounter the idea of India bring divided on communal lines, finally realised that his vision of a modern and strong Indian state could not be achieved with the Muslim League, in power in Bengal and Punjab, thwarting it at every step. With Patel and Nehru convinced of the necessity for Partition, the rest of the Congress Working Committee, except Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who voted against it, and Maulana Azad, who abstained, accepted the plan.
Historical evidence based on impartial scholarship demonstrates that had the Congress Party not accepted the Partition plan, India today would have been a weak state and a divided polity barely able to keep itself together and constantly teetering on the brink of collapse. The Congress did a favour to the country by accepting its division in order to save it from collapse or dismemberment. This is a historically verifiable fact that cannot be refuted by partisan propaganda.