Indian Polity GK Questions with Answers – Page 61

The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution lists 22 languages. It began with 14 languages in 1950.

The very idea of opening a constitution with a preamble came from the American Constitution of 1787, which begins 'We the People of the United States'.

Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, more than any other state, because seats are allotted in proportion to population and UP is the most populous state.

Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was the Chief Justice of India when the nine-judge bench delivered its verdict in Justice K.S.

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 added three words to the Preamble: Socialist, Secular and Integrity. With them the description of India changed from a 'Sovereign Democratic Republic' to a 'Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic', and 'unity of the Nation' became 'unity and integrity of the Nation'.

The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed by Parliament in 1961 and came into force on 1 July 1961.

K.M. Munshi called the Preamble the 'political horoscope of the Indian Constitution' because it foretells the kind of state India set out to build.

Article 164(1A) lays down that the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in a State's Council of Ministers shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of that State's Legislative Assembly, and the same clause fixes a floor of twelve Ministers so that small…

The Vice-President is not removed by the President. Article 67(b) says he may be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority of all its then members and agreed to by the Lok Sabha, and at least fourteen days' notice of such a resolution must be…

Part III holds the fundamental rights, and those rights are justiciable: a citizen may go straight to the Supreme Court under Article 32 or to a High Court under Article 226 and have them enforced.

Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister from 15 August 1947 until his death on 27 May 1964, about sixteen years and nine months, and no Indian Prime Minister has held the office for longer.

Article 21A says the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years, in such manner as the State may by law determine.

The Fundamental Duties were written into the Constitution in 1976 by the 42nd Amendment, on the advice of the Swaran Singh Committee, and the idea was borrowed from the Constitution of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Article 51A(f) actually asks citizens "to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture". The word matters: India's culture is described as composite, a blend of many traditions, languages and faiths, not a single unitary culture.

Voting is not among the eleven Fundamental Duties in Article 51A. The right to vote comes from Article 326, which provides for elections on the basis of adult suffrage, and from the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

In 1999 the Committee on the Fundamental Duties of Citizens, headed by Justice J.S. Verma, a former Chief Justice of India, looked at how the duties could be made operational.

The Supreme Court has held that when a court tests whether a law is constitutional, and finds that the law gives effect to a Fundamental Duty, it may treat the law as "reasonable" under Article 14 or Article 19 and uphold it.

Teaching people to turn kitchen waste into compost for a park reduces waste and enriches the soil, which is exactly what Article 51A(g) asks for: to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.

The tenth Fundamental Duty is clause (j) of Article 51A, which continues: "so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement".

That is the duty in Article 51A(i). It asks citizens not to damage buses, trains, roads, government buildings and other public property, and to reject violence, for example during protests.