1. Jiyo Parsi Scheme

Why in News?

• Parsi population has been increased under ‘Jiyo Parsi‘ scheme of Union Government.

About Jiyo Parsi Scheme:

• It is initiated by Ministry of Minority Affairs.
• Objectives:To arrest the declining trend of the Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and structured interventions, in order to stabilize their population and thereby increasing the population of Parsis in India.
• The population of Parsi Zoroastrians fell as per the 2011 Census.
• It includes counselling for couples on the topics of fertility, marriage and family.
• It also provides creche and child care support, senior citizen honorarium for child care and assistance to elderly.
• It provides financial aid to Parsi couples for Assisted Reproductive Technology such as In-vitro Fertilization and Intra Cytoplasmic Injection, including surrogate pregnancies.
• It is a completely Central Sector Scheme.
• They are mostly found in Gujarat, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

2. Ashgabat Agreement

Why in News?

• Indian External Affairs Minister has recently mentioned about Ashgabat Agreement in his speech at Central Asia Business Forum.

About Ashgabat Agreement:

• It aims at establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor between the Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
• It was initially signed among Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman and Qatar back in 2011 and is named after capital of Turkmenistan-Ashgabat.
• It establishes international transport and transit corridor between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf countries. Pakistan is also its member.

Significance to India:

• It will enable India to utilise this existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction and ties with Central Asia and Eurasian region.
• It will synchronise India’s efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity.
• It will provide India an opportunity for reorientation of the freight traffic from the traditional sea route to Land Transcontinental Routes.

3. Brihadisvara Temple

Why in News?

• The consecration(Kumbhabhishekam) ceremony was recently held at the Brihadisvara Temple after 23 years in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

About Brihadisvara Temple

• It also known as Raja Rajeswara Temple which is dedicated to Shiva and is located in Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu)
• It was built for Shiva by Rajendra I (1014-1044 CE).
• It is one of the best examples of the Dravidian style of temple architecture built by Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I between 1003 AD and 1010 AD.
• It consists of a pyramidal spire and is adorned with sculptures and paintings inside as well as outside.
• The bronze sculptures of Bhogasakti and Subrahmanya are masterpieces of Chola metal icons.
• It entered the UNESCO World HeritageSite list in 1987 and is also a part of “Great Living Chola Temples” along with Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram.

Special Features of Brihadisvara Temple:

• The apex structure on top of the temple is believed to be carved out of a single stone carving.
• It is so designed that the Vimana does not cast a shadow at noon during any part of the year.
• Vimana: It is the structure over the garbhagriha or inner sanctum in the Hindu temples of South India and Odisha.
• It has a stepped pyramid that rises up geometrically rather than the curving Shikhara of North India.

 

4. International Intellectual Property Index

Why in News?

• Recently, India has slipped to 40^thposition on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, 2020 from the 36^th position in 2019.

About International Intellectual Property Index:

• It is released by the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center.
• The top five economies on International Intellectual Property Index are US, the UK, France, Germany and Sweden.
• It aims to create and exploit synergies between all forms of intellectual property (IP), concerned statutes and agencies.
• The indicators are nine categories of protection: patents, copyrights, trademarks, design rights, trade secrets, commercialization of IP assets, enforcement, systemic efficiency, and membership and ratification of International Treaties.

About US Chamber of Commerce:

• It is the world’s largest business of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and Industry Associations.

5. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana

Why in News?

• New pension schemes for Unorganised Sector.

Highlights:

• The Government has introduced two voluntary and contributory Pension Schemes:
• Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojna (PM-SYM):A pension scheme  for  the  Unorganised Workers
• National Pension Scheme for the  Traders and  Self Employed  Persons (NPS-Traders)under Section 3(1) of  the Unorganised  Workers Social Security  Act, 2008 to  provide  old  age  protection  to  them
• The schemes envisage for providing a minimum assured monthly pension of Rs. 3000/- after attaining the age of 60 years.
• If the subscriber dies, the spouse of the beneficiary shall be entitled to 50% of the pension as a family pension.
• Family pension is applicable only to the spouse.
• The monthly contribution ranges from Rs.55 to Rs.200/- depending upon the entry age of the beneficiary.

NPS-Traders Scheme:

• This scheme is meant for old age protection and social security of Vyapaaris (retail traders/shopkeepers and self-employed persons) whose annual turnover is not exceeding Rs.1.5 crores.
• These retail traders/petty shopkeepers and self-employed persons are mostly working as shop owners, retail traders, rice mill owners, oil mill owners, workshop owners, commission agents, brokers of real estate, owners of small hotels, restaurants and other Vyapaaris.
• The entry age for the scheme is 18-40 years and the Vyapaari should not be a member of ESIC/EPFO/PM-SYM or an income taxpayer.The schemes are being implemented through Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India and Common Service Centres. LIC is the Fund Manager and responsible for pension pay-out.

6. Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Why in News?

• Cabinet approves the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• IIITs are envisaged to promote higher education and research in the field of Information Technology.

Highlights:

• The Bill will declare the remaining 5 IIITs-PPP along with the existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership mode as ‘Institutions of National Importance’ with powers to award degrees.
• This will entitle them to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Master of Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D. degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance.
• It will also enable the Institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.
• The bill was introduced to grant statutory status to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur and declare them as Institutions of National Importance along with already existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017.
• These five IIITs are already functioning as Societies and they will now be covered under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017, similar to the other 15 IIITs established under the scheme in PPP mode.

7. Vadhavan Port

Why in News?

• The Union Cabinet has given its ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up a 13^thmajor port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra.

About:

• The Union Government is responsible for development of Major Ports whereas minor ports are under the jurisdiction of respective State Governments.
• With the development of Vadhavan port, India will break into the countries with top 10 container ports in the world.  A container port is a port which specializes in handling goods transported in containers.
• The port will be developed on ‘land lord model’. In the landlord port model, the publicly governed port authority acts as a regulatory body and as landlord, while private companies carry out port operations—mainly cargo-handling activities.
• A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner to implement the project.
• The position of Jawaharlal Nehru Port, the biggest container port in India, is 28th in the world in terms of traffic handling capacity.
• With the completion of the 4^thterminal at JN Port, its capacity will increase to 10 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) making it the 17th largest container port in the world.
• The SPV will develop the port infrastructure including reclamation, construction of breakwater, besides establishing connectivity to the hinterland. All the business activities would be undertaken under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode by private developers.