PRELIMS REVISION QUIZ (DAY-04)

FUNCTIONS OF UPSC

Under Article 320 of the Constitution, UPSC is required to be consulted on all matters relating to recruitment to civil services and posts.

The functions of the Commission under Article 320 of the Constitution are :

⦿ Conduct examinations for appointment to the services of the Union.
⦿ Direct recruitment by selection through interviews.
⦿ Appointment of officers on promotion / deputation / absorption.
⦿ Framing and amendment of Recruitment Rules for various services and posts under the Government.
⦿ Disciplinary cases relating to different Civil Services.
⦿ Advising the Government on any matter referred to the Commission by the President of India.

UPSC is not concerned with the classification of services, pay and service conditions, cadre management and training.

These matters are handled by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

BROW-ANTLERED DEER

Brow-antlered deer was first discovered in Manipur in 1839 and named Cervus eldi eldi in 1844.

It was rediscovered in the Keibul Lamjao Park area by the environmentalist and photographer E.P. Gee (also famous for his discovery of the Golden Langur - Click Here to Know More) (https://t.me/iaspanti/2251), which necessitated declaring this reserve park area as a national park to protect and conserve the deer now called Eld's deer's subspecies brow-antlered deer or Sangai in Meitei language.

It has a pride of place in the folklore and culture of the Manipur state and is the state animal of Manipur.

From a small herd of 14 deer in 1975, its population as per the wildlife census conducted in March, April 2016 has risen to 260.

SERVICES MENTIONED IN ARTICLE 312 OF THE CONSTITUTION

The All-India Services mentioned in Article 312(2) in part XIV of the Constitution are Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
and Indian Police Service (IPS).

The provision of All India Judicial Service (AIJS) was included in Article 312 of the Constitution through 42nd Constitution Amendment Act,1976.

How AIJS will be created ?

Article 312(1) of the Constitution provides for creation of All-India Services, including AIJS — the Rajya Sabha is required to pass a resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of its members present and voting.

Thereafter, the Parliament has to enact a law creating the AIJS.

ZONAL COUNCILS

Zonal Councils are statutory bodies established by States Reorganisation Act of 1956.

The Act divided the country into five zones – Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern and provided a zonal council for each zone.

Composition of Zonal Councils

➤ Union Home Minister (Chairman)
➤ Chief Ministers of all the States in the zone (act as vice-chairman by rotation, holding office for a period of one year at a time)
➤ Two other ministers from each state in the zone
➤ Administrator of each Union Territory in the zone

In addition to the above mentioned Zonal Councils, a North-Eastern Council was created by a separate Act of Parliament, the North-Eastern Council Act of 1971.

Its members include Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.

Zonal Councils are advisory bodies that make recommendations with regard to any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning between the Centre and States, border disputes, linguistic minorities, inter-State transport or matters connected with the reorganisation of States.

CABINET COMMITTEES CHAIRED BY THE PRIME MINISTER

1⃣ Cabinet Committee on Security
2⃣ Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
3⃣ Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
4⃣ Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
5⃣ Cabinet Committee on Growth and Investment
6⃣ Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development

CABINET COMMITTEES CHAIRED BY THE UNION HOME MINISTER

1⃣ Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
2⃣ Cabinet Committee on Accomodation

CAN PARLIAMENT LEVY TAXES ?

It is not the job of the Parliament (legislature) to levy taxes.

The reason being that taxation is the job of executive (centre and state governments), but these taxes have to be approved by the legislature ("No taxation without representation").

WHY PARLIAMENT CANNOT INCREASE TAXES ?

The job of the people's representatives i.e. parliament is to protect the people from undue and harsh taxation.

Hence, Parliament can only decrease or abolish a tax, but cannot increase it.