Why in news?

• A controversy erupted after Maharashtra governor’s remarks on Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule.
• Their contributions:
• They stand out as an extraordinary couple in the social and educational history of India.
• Started a school for girls, Shudras and Ati-Shudras in Poona (1848)
• Opened a care centre for pregnant widows (1853) to have safe deliveries and to end the practice of infanticide owing to social norms.
• The Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha was started in their own house in Pune.
• Established Satyashodhak Samaj (The Truth-Seeker’s Society) in 1873,that advocated for social changes that went against prevalent traditions like inter-caste marriages, eradication of child marriages, and widow remarriage etc.

Why in news?

• FM has justified the 2% equalisation levy (EL) imposed by India on the supply of services by multinational enterprises (MNEs), saying it is a sovereign right to tax revenues earned from operations in the country.
• Tech giants and e-commerce firms have been asking India to withdraw the 2% EL on non-resident companies.
• Equalisation Levy was conceptualized in 2015, as an interim measure, as one of the three measures to tackle the emerging issue from digital transactions proposed by the OECD in Pillar 1 action plan of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project.
• The equalization levy is aimed at taxing foreign companies which have a significant local client base in India but are billing them through their offshore units, effectively escaping the country’s tax system.
• BEPS refers to tax planning strategies used by multinational enterprises that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying tax.
• Subsequently OECD/G20 inclusive framework on BEPS provides a solution for global tax consists of two pillars:
• Pillar One: Applied to about 100 biggest and most profitable MNEs (global turnover above 20 bilion euros and profitability above 10%), it reallocates part of their profits to places where they sell products or provide services.
• Pillar Two: Applied to larger MNEs, i.e., companies with over EUR 750 million of annual revenue, it subjects them to the global minimum corporate tax of 15% from 2023.

Why in news?

• Preliminary findings of a study by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) suggest that the density of tigers in the Sunderbans may have reached the carrying capacity of the mangrove forests.
• All-India Tiger report (2018) put the carrying capacity in the Sunderbans “at around 4 tigers” per 100 sq km while the ongoing WII study indicates a density of 3-5 tigers.
• Carrying capacity can be defined as a species’ average population size in a particular habitat. The species population size is limited by environmental factors like adequate food, shelter, water, and mates.
• It is also an important basis for the measurement and management of human sustainable development.
• Steps required
• New perimeter of defining the peak density of forest should be revised, amidst the increase in human interference for livelihood due to CoVID -19.
• Sustainable land uses to minimize damage and adequate incentives to promote acceptance of wildlife.
• Functional connections between reserves so that tigers can have healthy intermixing of populations.
• New management strategies of wildlife should be decentralized at the local level.

About Sunderban

• It is the world’s largest mangrove delta which is home to Royal Bengal Tigers is spread across 10,000 sq km.
• More than 4,000 sq km is in West Bengal and the rest in Bangladesh.
• It is a biosphere reserve, national park and tiger reserve.
• It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Why in news?

• T Raja Kumar, a Singaporean, has been named president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the world’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing agency. His appointment is for a set two-year term, which begins on July 1. During the FATF plenary, he was chosen to succeed Dr Marcus Pleyer of Germany.
• Mr Raja’s nomination marks the first time Singapore has assumed the president of the organization.
• Mr Raja is a senior advisor at MHA and has been the leader of Singapore’s FATF mission since January 1, 2015. Since July 2018, he has also been a member of the steering group, which advises the FATF president.
• The FATF is an intergovernmental organisation set up by the G7 in 1989to prevent and combat money laundering, terrorism, and proliferation finance.

Why in news?

• 19-year-old Priyanka Nutakki has secured her final WGM-norm at MPL’s forty-seventh National Women Chess Championship. She became India’s twenty-third Woman Grandmaster. She is from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
• Priyanka Nutakki scored her first WGM-norm in January 2019 and crossed the 2300 rating criteria in the next two months. However, much like a lot of players, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed her title hopes.
• Priyanka braved the odds, resumed playing over-the-board tournaments in October 2021 at Chess Mood Open. In her third over-the-board tournament of the year, she scored her second WGM and maiden IM-norm at the 7th Sunway Sitges Open 2021.

Why in news?

• The government has approved the continuation of the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana (SSSY) and its components for the financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26, with a financial outlay of Rs 3,274.87 crore.

Overview:

• Under this scheme, freedom fighters, and their dependents are given financial benefits and pensions.
• Under this scheme, 23,566 beneficiaries are covered across the country.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs prepared the proposal for the continuation of the SSSY.
• The pension amount has been revised with time and since August 2016 Dearness Relief is also been given.

About Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana

• This is a scheme of the central government for granting pensions to freedom fighters and to their families. This grant is provided from the Central Revenues.
• As a gesture of respect for their contributions to the national freedom movement, the scheme provides a monthly Samman Pension to freedom fighters.
• After their demise, pension is given to their eligible dependents viz. unemployed and unmarried daughters, spouses, and dependent parents, as per the prescribed eligibility procedure and norms.

Why in news?

• National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) — an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to develop a sustainable model for promoting entrepreneurship at the grass roots by initiating the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP).

Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme

• SVEP is a sub-component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development.
• It aims to support entrepreneurs in rural areas to set-up enterprises at the village-level in non-agricultural sectors.
• The partnership will enable the rural community by helping them set up their trades and provide complete support till they are stabilized. This pragmatic intervention will provide knowledge, advisory and financial support to the public and will help create village-level community cadre.
• Under the partnership rural entrepreneurs will be able to access banking systems for receiving financial support for starting their enterprises, including support from MUDRA bank.
• Integrated ICT techniques and tools will also be provided for training and capacity building along with enterprise advisory services to augment the entrepreneurship ecosystem in India’s villages. The beneficiaries of the project are from the Self-Help Group (SHG) ecosystem of DAY-NRLM and the scheme not only supports existing enterprises but new enterprises as well.

Why in news?

• On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022, Union Minister for MSME, Shri Narayan Rane along with Minister of State for MSME, Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma launched a Special Entrepreneurship Promotion Drive for Women -“SAMARTH“.
• Under the Samarth initiative of the Ministry, following benefits will be available to aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs:
• 20% Seats in free Skill Development Programs organized under skill development schemes of the Ministry will be allocated for Women. More than 7500 women will be benefitted.
• 20% of MSME Business Delegations sent to domestic & international exhibitions under the schemes for Marketing Assistance implemented by Ministry will be dedicated to women owned MSMEs.
• 20% Discount on annual processing fee on NSIC’s Commercial Schemes
• Special Drive for registrationof women-owned MSMEs under Udyam Registration.
• Objective-Through this initiative, Ministry of MSME is focusing on providing Skill Development and Market Development Assistance to women and more than 7500 women candidates from rural and sub- urban areas will be trained in the FY 2022-23.  Besides, thousands of women will be getting marketing opportunities to showcase their products in domestic and international exhibitions.

Why in news?

• On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and UNICEF, launched a landmark campaign Kanya Shikhsa Pravesh Utsav to bring back out of school adolescent girls in India to the formal education and/or skilling system.
• The campaign has been launched with the objective of enhancing enrolment and retention of girls between 11-14 years of age in school.
• The initiative intends to build on the existing schemes and programmes like Schemes for Adolescent Girls (SAG),Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and National Education Policy (NEP) to work on a comprehensive system for out of school girls. The campaign will be rolled out under the umbrella of MoWCD’s BBBP initiative by targeting more than 400,000 out of school adolescent girls as primary beneficiaries.
• Over 400 districts across all states will be funded under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme for outreach and awareness generation at grassroot level to sensitize communities and families to enrol adolescent girls in schools, over and above the funding from Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and the Anganwadi workers (AWWs) will be further incentivised for counselling and referring out of school adolescent girls.

Why in news?

• Chief Minister of Sikkim has announced that the State Govt. will soon implement ‘Aama Yojna’, a scheme for helping non-working mothers & ‘Bahini Scheme’ benefitting girl students of the state.

About Aama Yojna:

• The scheme aims to inculcate the habit of saving among non-working mothers in the state and hence the Govt. will provide them Rs. 20,000 each in their bank accounts annually.
• The scheme covers only those whose names are enrolled in the electoral roll of the state and a sum of Rs.100 crores has been allocated for it in the budget.

About Bahini Scheme: 

• The aim of this scheme is to reduce the dropout rate of girl students due to lack of accessibility/availability of Sanitary Napkins & also to ensure menstrual health and hygiene.
• Under this scheme, over 18,000 girl students who study in class 9 and above are provided with free sanitary napkins in the state.
• The State Govt. also has plans to set-up sanitary napkin vending machines in schools and also increase awareness and sensitization programmes about menstrual health & hygiene.