Why in news?

• The Life Insurance Corporation of India has recently launched a new non-linked, non-participating, individual savings life insurance plan called Dhan Rekha, it offers special premium rates for female lives.

About Dhan Rekha plan

• The minimum sum assured under this plan is ₹2 lakh
• The plan is also allowed for the third gender.
• The minimum sum assured under this plan is ₹2 lakh and there is no limit for maximum sum assured.
• The minimum age at entry ranges from 90 days to eight years and the maximum age at entry ranges from 35 years to 55 years depending upon the chosen policy term.
• This plan also takes care of liquidity needs through loan facility. Optional riders are available under this plan on payment of additional premium subject to conditions.

Why in news?

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) recently successfully flight-tested the indigenously designed and developed helicopter launched Stand-off Anti-Tank (SANT) missile from Pokhran range.

About Stand-Off Anti-Tank missile

• The SANT missile’s flight test is the third in the series of indigenous stand-off weapons to be tested in recent times after the Long-Range Bomb and Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW).
• The missile is equipped with a state-of-the-art millimetre wave (MMW) seeker which provides high precision strike capability from a safe distance. The weapon can neutralise targets at a range up to 10 kilometres.
• The SANT missile has been designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad in coordination with other DRDO labs and participation from industries.
• This is the third in the series of indigenous stand-off weapons to be tested in recent times, after the Long-Range Bomb and Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW), further strengthening the arsenal of the Indian Air Force.

Why in news?

• Elon Musk, who is also the founder and CEO space exploration company SpaceX, recently passed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person.

About “Person of the Year” Elon Musk

• Calling him a “clown, genius, edgelord, visionary, industrialist, showman,” Time magazine has named Tesla CEO Elon Musk as its Person of the Year for 2021.
• Musk, who is also the founder and CEO space exploration company SpaceX, recently passed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person as the rising price of Tesla pushed his net worth to around $300 billion.

Why in news?

• Maharashtra has topped the list of states with maximum number of beneficiaries under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
• As on December 4, 2021, as many as 6,49,560 beneficiaries were recorded in Maharashtra, followed by Tamil Nadu (5,35,615), Gujarat (4,44,741) and Karnataka (3,07,164), Minister of State for Labour & Employment Rameswar Teli said in written reply to Lok Sabha.

About Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana

• Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) was announced to increase the employment generation in post-COVID-19 recovery phase and to incentivise creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during COVID-19 pandemic.
• This scheme, being implemented through the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), reduces the financial burden of the employers of various sectors/industries and encourages them to hire more workers.
• Under the scheme, the government will provide subsidies for two years for new employees engaged on or after October 1, 2020, and up to March 31, 2022.
• The government will pay both 12 per cent employees’ contribution and 12 per cent employers’ contribution, which means 24 per cent of basic wages, towards EPF (employees provident fund), for new employees in establishments employing up to 1,000 employees for two years.
• However, the government will pay only employees’ share of EPF contribution — 12 per cent of wages — for new employees in establishments employing more than 1,000 employees for two years.
• An employee drawing a monthly wage of less than Rs 15,000, who was not working in any establishment registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) before October 1, 2020, and did not have a Universal Account Number or EPFO member account number prior to October 1, 2020, will be eligible for the benefit.
• The Cabinet had approved extension of scope of the scheme from June 30, 2021 to March 31, 2022. Approximately 71.8 lakh employees are likely to get benefited during the scheme period.
• The beneficiaries registered upto March 31, 2022 will continue to receive the benefits for two years from the date of registration under the scheme.

Why in news?

• Vijay Diwas on December 16, 2021, marks the 50th-anniversary celebrations of India’s glorified victory over Pakistan in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war.

About Vijay Diwas, 2021

• India on Vijay Diwas 2021 pays homage to the soldiers who fought bravely during the war which ultimately helped the Indian Armed Forces in establishing their prowess.
• Vijay Diwas in India is celebrated annually on December 16 to commemorate the country’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war leading to the creation of Bangladesh.
• India on Vijay Diwas 2021 pays homage to the soldiers who fought bravely during the war which ultimately helped the Indian Armed Forces in establishing their prowess.
• Vijay Diwas in India is not only a day of India’s victory over Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war but is also a day that played a crucial role in establishing strong relations between India and Bangladesh

Why in news?

• Kolkata’s Durga Puja has been included in UNESCO’s list of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’. PM Modi in a tweet hailed the development as a matter of pride and joy for every Indian.

About Durga Puja getting world heritage tag

• The decision to include Durga Puja in the list was taken during the sixteenth session of the annual convention of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
• An annual festival, Durga Puja is celebrated in different parts of the country, but most notably in Kolkata. It marks the ten-day worship of goddess Durga which involves artisanal sculptures of the goddess sculpted from clay pulled from the Ganga.
• Durga Puja is seen as the best instance of the public performance of religion and art, and as a thriving ground for collaborative artists and designers.

Why in News?

• Apart from identifying & protecting the product’s Geographical Indications (GI) rights, the Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) under the Central Ministry of Commerce has accepted the petition to rename Bihar Makhana as Mithila Makhana and has also suggested further changes to the brand logo to better reflect its origins.

About GI Tag to Mithila Makhana

• The development has put an end to the debate over the branding of one of the Mithila region’s most famous Makhana or Fox nut products.
• Following a review of the application for a name change, a consultation panel of experts led by Prashanth Kumar S Bhairappanavar, a senior examiner at Geographic Indication Registry (GIR), ruled that certain post-registration conditions must be completed.

What is GI Tag?

• A geographical indicator (GI) is a name or sign that appears on certain items and refers to a specific geographic area of origin.
• The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 protects products having a GI tag.

Why in news?

• The Odisha government has signed an agreement with the United Nations Capital Development Fund to empower women economically and drive gender equality in the state.

About agreement between Odisha government and UNCDF

• Under the joint initiative, the launch of Mission Shakti Living Lab was announced.
• This partnership will address barriers that limit women’s access to financial security, autonomy and financial freedom with use of digital technologies and rising e-commerce industry in India.
• It will help 3.5 million self-help groups (SHG) women members and low income individuals to have access to digital financial services and improved financial health.
• The initiative will also help 10,000 women-led micro-enterprises get better access to affordable market opportunities, capital for business promotion, and market solutions for better linkages.
• The programme will improve the ability of SHG members and households to plan, save, borrow or spend better thereby improving their women’s financial wellbeing.

Why in news?

• Recently, the 6th Edition of the India Water Impact Summit based on theme for River Resources Allocation- Planning and Management at the Regional Level
• The valedictory session was conducted in a hybrid mode by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), New Delhi and Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga), Kanpur.

About 6th India Water Impact Summit

• The session had adopted a regional level approach for the Summit and was categorized into overall basin and subsequently in upper, middle, lower and deltaic region of the Ganga basin.
• The various sessions organized included the need for identification and conducting systematic assessment and valuation of river resources, potential impact of water efficient solutions in maintaining the overall water balance of the country, implementation challenges of the river resources allocation plans, the need to inculcate a scientific understanding of rivers for developing sustainable policies and encourage the creation of circular water economy through water recycling and establishing a water trading market, amongst others.
• The summit days also had dedicated session for international collaborations. These include countries such as Norway, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and EU and its member states.
• The 5-day Summit also witnessed the signing of an MoU between C-Ganga and Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) for the development of a sludge management framework.
• Similarly, two MoUs have also been signed with Innovation Centre Denmark and UPS Hungary to encourage the sharing of knowledge and increase participation of Hungarian industry in the Ganga River Basin Restoration and Conservation Program.
• An MoU between C Ganga and British water was also signed to promote the development of 21st century infrastructure in water and the environment sector.

Why in news?

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the 6th edition of Global Technology Summit 2021.

About the 6th edition of Global Technology Summit (GTS)

• It discussed various topics including cryptocurrencies, encryption, vaccine supply chains, cloud computing, green technology, digital payments, cyber security, and science & tech cooperation in the Quad.
• According to the MEA statement, this year the Summit is organized in a hybrid format but due to the exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, physical attendance is on an invite-basis only.
• Global Technology Summit is the flagship event on geotechnology, held annually since 2016.
• It is jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India.
• The Summit convenes policymakers and domain experts to discuss policy aspects of trending technology topics.
• The theme of the 2021 Global Technology Summit is ‘Global Meets Local’.