Parliament's Winter Session Concludes with High Productivity

सही उत्तर: B

Statement 1 is correct. Article 85(1) of the Constitution states that the President shall summon each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session. Statement 2 is correct. Parliamentary productivity is a multifaceted metric, typically encompassing the percentage of scheduled time utilized, the number of bills passed, the number of questions answered, and the quality of debates and discussions. Statement 3 is incorrect. The power to summon and prorogue a session of Parliament rests with the President of India, as per Article 85(1) and 85(2)(a) respectively. The Speaker/Chairman only adjourns the respective Houses.

सही उत्तर: B

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, created two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislative assembly) and Ladakh (without a legislative assembly). Statement 2 is incorrect. While Parliament has overriding powers, for UTs with a legislature (like Puducherry or J&K), the elected legislature has legislative competence over subjects in the State List and Concurrent List, except for certain reserved subjects (e.g., public order and police for J&K, similar to Delhi). Parliament can legislate on these subjects, but it does not 'retain' power over *all* subjects in the State List to the exclusion of the UT legislature. Statement 3 is correct. Article 3 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to form new states, increase or decrease the area of any state, alter the boundaries or names of any state. This power was used for the J&K Reorganisation Act.

सही उत्तर: D

Statement A is partially correct but misleading. The 'Guillotine' is applied when the time allotted for the discussion of demands for grants expires, and all outstanding demands are put to vote together, irrespective of whether they have been discussed or not. It's about voting on demands for grants, which are then incorporated into the Appropriation Bill, but the guillotine itself applies to the demands, not directly to the passing of the Appropriation Bill without discussion. Statement B is correct. A Calling Attention Motion is a procedural device to draw the attention of a minister to a matter of urgent public importance. Statement C is correct. Zero Hour is an Indian innovation in parliamentary procedure, not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure, where members can raise matters of urgent public importance after Question Hour without prior notice. Statement D is incorrect. A 'Censure Motion' can be moved against an individual minister, a group of ministers, or the entire Council of Ministers, expressing strong disapproval of their policy or action. If passed in the Lok Sabha, the Council of Ministers is not obliged to resign (unlike a No-Confidence Motion), but it indicates a loss of confidence.