Daily Quiz 5 August 2024

Answer: B
Explanation:
• Option (b) is correct:The Constitution lays down the following conditions for the the governor’s office:
1. He should not be a member of either House of Parliament or a House of the state legislature. If any such person is appointed as governor, he is deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as the governor.
2. He should not hold any other office of profit.
3. He is entitled without payment of rent to the use of his official residence (the Raj Bhavan). 4. He is entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by Parliament.
5. When the same person is appointed as the governor of two or more states, the emoluments and allowances payable to him are shared by the states in such proportion as determined by the president.
6. His emoluments and allowances cannot be diminished during his term of office.
Additionally, two conventions have also developed in this regard over the years. First, he should be an outsider, that is, he should not belong to the state where he is appointed, so that he is free from the local politics. Second, while appointing the governor, the president is required to consult the chief minister of the state concerned, so that the smooth functioning of the constitutional machinery in the state is ensured. However, both the conventions have been violated in some of the cases.

Answer: D

Explanation:

Statements 1,2 and 3 are correct: Critical minerals are mineral resources, both primary and processed, that are essential inputs in modern technologies, economies, and national security. The risk of supply chain disruption characterises them due to non-availability and price volatility. These minerals play a crucial role in various industries and sectors and have limited substitutes, making them strategically important. Government has released a list of 30 critical minerals for India which are both metallic and nonmetalic.  These minerals are Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanium, Graphite, Hafnium, Indium, Lithium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Nickel, PGE, Phosphorous, Potash, REE,Rhenium, Silicon, Strontium, Tantalum, Tellurium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium,Zirconium, Selenium and Cadmium. The Central Government has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957 through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023, whereby Central Government has been empowered to auction 24 critical and strategic minerals in part D to the Schedule-I of the MMDR Act, 1957. So far, 14 critical mineral blocks have been successfully auctioned having minerals

Answer: C

Explanation:

Statement (c) is correct: Scientists have found an unknown process generating oxygen deep in the ocean, where sunlight does not reach and photosynthesis cannot occur. The oxygen discovery was made in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area off Mexico’s west coast with a high concentration of polymetallic nodules. Polymetallic nodules, which are lumps of iron, manganese, and other materials found on the ocean floor, might be creating electric charges that split water molecules, releasing oxygen. It was observed that oxygen levels increased at depths of 4 km, where sunlight cannot reach. This new oxygen source, termed ‘dark oxygen,’ is crucial for marine life survival, however it depends on the voltage generated by the nodules.

Answer: D

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect:The right to be forgotten can be loosely described as the right to remove one’s digital footprint (from Internet searches, etc.) where it violates the right to privacy. In May 2014, the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the highest court in matters concerning the application and interpretation of EU law, affirmed that there exists a right to be forgotten. Informational self-determination — an individual’s right to control and limit her personal information — is now widely recognized in EU law.

Statement 2 is incorrect: In India, there is no statutory framework that prescribes the right to be forgotten. In several isolated pleas, mostly asking the court’s permission to take down information in court rulings, courts have passed orders with regard to this right. Recently, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case whose outcome will likely shape the contours of the “right to be forgotten”, known in European information privacy regulation as the “right to erasure”, in India.

Answer: C

Explanation:

Statements 1 and 2 are incorrectwhile statement 3 is correct: Royalties refer to the fees paid to the owner of a product in exchange for the right to use that product. India’s states have the power to tax mining activities, and collecting “royalties” from mining leaseholders is entirely separate from, and does not interfere with, the power to impose taxes, a nine-judge Constitution Bench ruled recently. The majority held that a royalty is not a tax because there is a “conceptual difference” between royalties and taxes. Royalties are based on specific contracts or agreements between the mining leaseholder and the lessor (the person who leases the property) who can even be a private party. Under the State List, states are given the exclusive power to make laws relating to “Taxes on mineral rights subject to any limitations imposed by Parliament by law relating to mineral development” (Entry 50). However, Entry 54 of the Union List gives the Centre the power over “Regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent to which is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest”.