UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz: Polity and Governance MCQs on Calling Attention Motion, Eighth Schedule and more (Week 145)

UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative of daily subject-wise quizzes. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus. Attempt today’s subject quiz on Polity and Governance to check your progress.

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With reference to the ‘Calling Attention Motion’, consider the following statements: 1. It is a specific parliamentary procedure, where a Member of Parliament (MP), with the Speaker’s permission, brings an urgent public matter to a Minister’s notice to get an official statement.

2. A Calling Attention Motion involves a formal debate like an Adjournment Motion.

3. The concept of ‘Calling Attention Motion’ originated in the United Kingdom.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

Relevance: Calling Attention Motion is a unique Indian parliamentary device, often asked to test clarity on types of motions and level of debate involved. It helps eliminate traps in Polity MCQs, especially when compared with Adjournment Motion and Question Hour.

— A Calling Attention Motion is a parliamentary practice that originated in India in which a Member of Parliament (MP), with the Speaker’s permission, brings an urgent public concern to the attention of a Minister in order to obtain an official statement. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— A Calling Attention Motion does not require a formal debate. Following the Minister’s statement, only brief clarifications are permitted. Motions such as the Adjournment Motion allow for formal debate. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— The Calling Attention Motion did not start in the United Kingdom. It is an Indian parliamentary invention that does not appear in the British parliamentary system. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

1. Entry 17 of the State List in the Indian Constitution deals with Water, covering water supplies, irrigation, canals, drainage, embankments, water storage, and water power.

2. Entry 33 of the Concurrent List in the Indian Constitution empowers Parliament to legislate on the regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Relevance: This question is relevant for understanding the constitutional distribution of legislative powers over water, a frequently tested area in Indian Polity. It is especially important in the context of inter-State river water disputes, federalism, and Centre–State relations, which are recurring themes in Prelims MCQs.

— The death toll in the Indore water contamination crisis continues to climb with the death of a 64-year-old man on Monday morning, even as the administration races to meet its deadline of supplying clean drinking water in the affected Bhagirathpura area within three days.

— The Indian Constitution’s State List (List II) entry 17 is about water, and it covers water supplies, irrigation, canals, drainage, embankments, water storage, and water power. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— The Indian Constitution’s Entry 56 of the Union List (List I) authorises Parliament to legislate on the regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys, if such action is considered “expedient in the public interest” by law. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Which of the following languages are not included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India?

Relevance: Questions on the Eighth Schedule languages are a high-frequency Prelims area in Polity, often framed as multiple-statement elimination MCQs. This topic tests clarity between scheduled vs non-scheduled languages, a common source of UPSC traps.

— Starting next year, parliamentary proceedings and their related official paperwork will be available in 22 scheduled languages after being translated through Artificial Intelligence (AI), Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said Monday. This will be the first time that proceedings of both the Houses as well as their official documentation will be made publicly accessible in their entirety, said the Speaker.

— The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages:- (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.

— English, Mizo, Nicobarese and Bundelkhandi are not included in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India.

There shall be a Parliament for the Union, which shall consist of: Relevance: This question assesses understanding of the constitutional composition of Parliament (Article 79) and helps distinguish between members, presiding authorities, and support institutions.

— Article 79 of the Constitution of India provides for the Constitution of Parliament.

— There shall be a Parliament for the Union, which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People.

— Parliamentary Secretariat is an administrative body, not a constituent of Parliament, while the Vice-President of India, though the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, is not a constituent of Parliament under Article 79.

“The Supreme Court shall have such further jurisdiction and powers with respect to any matter as the Government of India and the Government of any State may by special agreement confer, if Parliament by law provides for the exercise of such jurisdiction and powers by the Supreme Court.”

Relevance: This question tests knowledge of lesser-known Articles related to the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, a common UPSC trap area.

— Article 138 of the Constitution of India provides for the enlargement of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

— The Supreme Court shall have such further jurisdiction and powers with respect to any of the matters in the Union List as Parliament may by law confer.

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