In the Indian Constitution 'the abolition of untouchability' provision is mentioned in _______.

The correct answer is D, Puducherry. Puducherry is a Union Territory with a legislature of its own, which is why it is said to have partial statehood. Article 239A, added in 1962, allowed Parliament to create a legislature and a council of ministers for such a territory, and the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 gave Puducherry an Assembly and a Chief Minister, while an administrator styled Lieutenant Governor still represents the President. Delhi has a similar arrangement under Article 239AA, and Jammu and Kashmir became a Union Territory with a legislature in 2019. A is wrong because Chandigarh is administered directly, with the Governor of Punjab acting as its administrator. B and C are wrong because Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, merged into a single Union Territory in 2020, have no legislature and are run by an administrator. Exam tip: the Union Territories with legislatures are Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.

The correct answer is C, Police. The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution divides subjects into three lists, and public order and police are the first two entries of the State List, so each state makes its own laws on them and runs its own force. That is why policing is called a state subject, and why central armed police forces go into a state mainly at its request or in a Union Territory. A is wrong because banking is in the Union List, which is why the Reserve Bank and the regulation of banks rest with the Centre. B is wrong because defence is the first entry of the Union List. D is wrong because forests, which were once a State List subject, were moved to the Concurrent List by the 42nd Amendment of 1976, along with education, weights and measures, and the protection of wild animals and birds. Exam tip: police and public order are State List subjects; forests and education moved to the Concurrent List in 1976.

The correct answer is D, Conduct local elections. Article 324 places the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, to the State Legislatures and to the offices of President and Vice-President in the hands of the Election Commission of India. Elections to panchayats and municipalities are not on that list. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of 1992 added Articles 243K and 243ZA, which give that work to a State Election Commission headed by a State Election Commissioner appointed by the Governor. Local body polls are therefore run by the states, and the ECI has no role in them. A, B and C are wrong as answers here because controlling, supervising and directing elections are the very words Article 324 uses for the Commission's own duties, so each of them is a main duty rather than an exception. Exam tip: ECI under Article 324 for Parliament, Assemblies, President and Vice-President; State Election Commission under Article 243K for panchayat and municipal polls.

The correct answer is C, Article 165. The Governor appoints as Advocate General a person qualified to be appointed a judge of a High Court; the Advocate General advises the State Government on legal matters, holds office during the pleasure of the Governor, and receives such remuneration as the Governor determines. Article 177 gives him the right to speak in and take part in the proceedings of either House of the State legislature, though he cannot vote. Option A, Article 76, is the corresponding provision for the Attorney General of India, who is appointed by the President and must be qualified to be a judge of the Supreme Court. Option B, Article 163, provides for the Council of Ministers to aid and advise the Governor except where he acts in his discretion. Option D, Article 167, lists the duties of the Chief Minister to furnish information to the Governor about administration and legislative proposals.

The correct answer is C, Article 213. It allows the Governor to promulgate an Ordinance when the State legislature, or either House where there are two, is not in session and he is satisfied that circumstances exist which make immediate action necessary. Such an Ordinance has the same force as an Act of the legislature but must be laid before the House when it reassembles, and it ceases to operate six weeks from that date unless approved earlier. Option A, Article 123, is the matching power of the President at the Union level, and swapping the two numbers is the commonest error in this question. Option B, Article 200, is about assent to Bills, where the Governor may assent, withhold assent, return a Bill that is not a Money Bill, or reserve it for the President. Option D, Article 356, deals with President’s Rule, which follows a report from the Governor.