The Supreme Court in N.P. Ponnuswami (1952) and Kuldip Nayar (2006) held that the right to vote arises purely from statute. Article 326 merely mandates adult suffrage; it does not itself confer a directly enforceable fundamental or constitutional right. The Anoop Baranwal (2023) judgment reaffirmed this statutory status of the right to vote.
1. The RO may reject a nomination paper if the candidate is found disqualified under Articles 84/173 of the Constitution and corresponding RPA provision.
2. The RO may delay the scrutiny date beyond the one fixed under Section 30 of the RPA, 1951 if the candidate has provided an incomplete affidavit.
3. If a candidate has filed multiple nomination papers (up to the permissible limit) in the same constituency, and one is found valid, the RO cannot reject the others solely on minor defects.
Choose the correct answer from the options given:
Statement 1 – True: Section 36(2)(a) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) empowers the Returning Officer (RO) to reject a nomination if the candidate is disqualified under Articles 84/102/173/191 of the Constitution or corresponding provisions of the Act.
Statement 2 – False: Section 30 of the RPA fixes the scrutiny date, and Section 36(5) restricts adjournment except in exceptional situations like riot or open violence. The RO cannot delay scrutiny merely because an affidavit is incomplete.
Statement 3 – True: Section 36(3) provides that when a candidate files multiple nomination papers, rejection of one on minor defect does not invalidate the nomination if another paper is valid.
Thus, only Statements 1 and 3 are correct.
The Act was enacted to prevent deforestation resulting from unregulated diversion of forest land. It vests the power of approval for such diversion or dereservation exclusively in the Central Government, ensuring uniformity and ecological oversight in conservation-related decisions.
Options (a), (c), and (d) pertain to other legislations — the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (trade and revenue regulation), the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (community rights), and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (protected areas) — and hence are incorrect.
The Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, earlier called the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, is an important law passed by the Parliament of India to protect forests, manage their use, and regulate the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.
Key Features
- Objective: To prevent deforestation, maintain ecological balance, and promote sustainable forest use.
- Central Approval Required:
- For diverting forest land for non-forest activities such as roads, dams, mining, or agriculture.
- For removing the protected status of any forest area (de-reservation).
- For clear felling of naturally grown trees.
- For leasing forest land for activities not related to forestry.
- Meaning of Non-Forest Purpose: It includes agriculture, plantations (tea, coffee, rubber, palm), or horticulture. However, activities supporting forest management—such as fire lines, wildlife dams, or forest posts—are not considered non-forest use.
Penal Provisions and Amendments
- Violations: Occur when forest land is diverted or trees are felled without central government approval.
- Compensatory Afforestation (CA): Offenders must restore or afforest an area beyond what is legally required.
- Net Present Value (NPV): Monetary penalties represent the environmental loss, sometimes calculated up to five times the affected area.
- Recent Reforms: The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has proposed uniform rules for penalties to ensure fairness and consistency across cases.
Scope and Importance
- The Act applies across India (including Jammu & Kashmir after the legal changes).
- It supports India’s climate goals—creating carbon sinks by 2030 and achieving Net Zero by 2070.
- Recent amendments have tightened enforcement and streamlined penalties, aligning with current environmental priorities.
The Act remains the foundation of India’s forest governance, helping conserve biodiversity, sustain livelihoods, and balance development with ecological security.
1. The CAG has formally established two separate audit cadres—one exclusively for climate-finance audits and the other for digital-governance audits—under a constitutional amendment in 2025.
2. The CAG’s office will henceforth submit its audit reports directly to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, bypassing submission to the President or State Governors.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Statement 1 is false: While there is mention of in-principle approval for two new specialised cadres (revenue and expenditure audits) within the Indian Audit & Accounts Department (IA&AD), there is no formal constitutional amendment in 2025 establishing such cadres specifically for “climate-finance” and “digital-governance” audits.
Statement 2 is false: The constitutional framework remains that CAG audit reports are submitted to the President (for Union) or Governors (for States) and then laid before the respective legislatures; bypassing that submission to go directly to PAC is not factually correct under the current law.
Correct answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
1. The Accords were brokered by the United States to normalise relations between Israel and certain Arab states without requiring prior resolution of the Palestine issue.
2. Kazakhstan became the first Central Asian country to join the Accords, which were initially signed by Israel and a group of Gulf and North African states.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Statement 1 – Correct: The Abraham Accords represent U.S.-mediated normalisation between Israel and Arab states such as the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, without waiting for a final Israel-Palestine settlement.
Statement 2 – Correct: Kazakhstan later joined the Accords, becoming the first Central Asian nation to do so.