Religious minority status to Jews in Gujarat

Gujarat Govt. granted religious minority to Jews living in the state.

• It shall become 3rd state in India to do that after West Bengal and Maharashtra

Key Facts:

• As religious minority members professing faith of Judaism, Jews in the states will get religious minority rights envisaged in the Constitution of India and Various acts and rules of the state government.
• They will also get benefits of welfare schemes formulated for religious minority communities within the jurisdiction of Gujarat.

BACKGROUND:

• Gujarat has small Jewish Community with no more than 170 members and majority of them are located in Ahmedabad
• Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, during his official visit to Israel has announced that this govt. was in process of granting religious minority status to the community.
• Gujarat also had hosted Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu during his 6-day India visit in January 2018

JUDAISM:

• One of the oldest religions in the world, evolved in Egypt about 3,700 years ago.
• It believes the unity and oneness of universal creator. 
• Judaism is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people. 
• Jews have been living in India for over 2000 years ever since they first landed on West Coast of India.
• Indian Jews are known as a peace-loving community
• They follow Hebrew calendar.
• They have special thanks giving ceremony known as Eliyahoo-ha-Naboir i.e. Gratitude to Elijah the Prophet, on the festive occasions .

Indian Jews fell into 5 categories

Bene Israel -  Meaning, Children of Israel. Marathi speaking. Arrived in Maharashtra 2,100 years ago.

Cochin Jews -  Arrived in India 2,500 years ago and settled down in Kerala as Traders.

 Baghdadi Jews -  Jews who come to India as traders from West Asia, mainly from Baghdad. They are settled in mainly Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata.

Bene Menashe -  Manipur Jews Constitute  a community which sees itself as decendents of Manasseh (Menashe) tribe (Which is one of the 10 lost tribes of Jews.)

Bene Ephraim -  Also called "Telugu Jews." They are a small group who speak Telugu. Their observance of Judaism dates to 1981.

IoE is granted to 3 public and 3 private institutes

Abbreviations:

IoE - Institute of Eminence

CEC - Chief Election Commissioner

HRD - Human Resource Development

IISc - Indian Institute of Science

IIT - Indian Institute of Technology

UGC - University Grants Commission

MEA - Ministry of External Affairs

MHA - Ministry of Home Affairs

NIRF - National Institutional Ranking Framework

BITS - Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences

Union HRD Ministry granted IoE to 6 educational institutions

• 3 are private and 3 are public
• Selected by Empowered Expert committee headed by Former CEC N. Gopalaswami.

Selected Institutions:

Public Sector: 

1. IISC, Bangaluru
2. IIT Bombay
3. IIT Delhi

Private Sector:

1. BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan
2. Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipa, Karnataka
3. Proposed Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation in Pune (Maharashtra) under green field Project

IoE:

• The scheme of IoE was rolled out by UGC
• Aims to help 20 higher education (10 Public and 10 Private) Institutions from Country break into top 500 global rankings in 10 years and then eventually break into top 100 over time.

Benefits:

• These selected institutions have greater autonomy compared to other higher educational institutions.
• They will be free to decide their fee for domestic and foreign students and have flexible course duration and structure.
• They will be exempted from approvals of Government or UGC for academic collaborations with foreign institutions , except institutions in MEA and MHA's list of negative countries.
• 10 Government institutions selected will also get Rs. 1000 crore each from HRD Ministry to achieve world class status.
• There will be no financial assistance to the private institutions.

Performance:

• Once identified, IoE are targeted must target break into top 100 bracket in one internationally reputed ranking framework in 10 years.

Eligibility:

• Only Higher education institutions, currently placed in the top 500 of global rankings or top 50 of NIRF, are eligible to apply for eminence tag.
• The private IoE can also come up as green field ventures provided sponsoring organization submits convincing perspective plan for 15 years.

Bamboo straws

In Andaman and Nicobar Island, Botanical Survey of India at Portblair scientists propose to use Bamboo straws.

• Reusable straws cost only 50 paise each, cheaper than plastic straws.
• Bamboo species "Schizoslabhyum Andnamanicum", endemic to these islands look ideal for this purpose.This bamboo is characterized by the large hollow erect culm (stem) with long internodes
• Solid nodes are removed and the stem part between modes is made straw.

Fish samples in Chennai Tested positive for FORMALIN

11 out of 30 fish samples in Chennai were tested positive Formalin

• Formaldehyde is either sprayed or injected or the fish is immersed in the solution
• In Kerala, the problem was there initially
• Generally a fish is tested whether it is fresh or not by checking the gills, if the gills are red, the fish is considered as fresh.
• Formaldehyde keeps that red color. Some fishermen use Kumkum to keep that red.

FCRA Amendments - Supreme Court intervention

Supreme Court Sought response from Government on amendments made in Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), receiving BJP and Congress Foreign funds from Vedanta, UK Based company in 2014.

• The petition was filed by an NGO
• Amendment was passed as money bill with retrospective effect from 1976.
• Representation of People's Act bars political parties from receiving foreign funds.
• Petitioners claim was that the amendment opened doors to unlimited political donations from foreign companies, thereby legalizing financial contribution received from foreign sources.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao - Hyderabad City

Hyderabad became first city to make additional nutritional Support under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme.

• Girls shall be intramuscular injections and weekly Iron-folic acid supplements to improve their Hemoglobin count faster.
• 7 Lakh iron-folic acid tablets are being redieid for distribution 
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Mumbai Victorian and Art Deco buildings - World Heritage tag

Effort of architect, Abha Narain Lambah for 14 years

• Elephanta caves, Chhatrapati sivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai are now in UNESCO world Heritage site list.
• City's Victorian and Art Deco ensembles were also given green light by International Council for Monuments and sites
• India is 37th World Heritage site and Maharashtra is its fifth.
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Prosopis Juliflora : Invasive tree, A friend rather than a foe

Thoothukudi farmers use Prosopis Juliflora, a thorny invasive tree in various ways which support their livelihoods.

• Prosopis Juliflora in local Tamil language : 'Seemai Karuvelam' 
• The wood of the tree provides the people their sustenance during non-monsoon days.
• Court recently ordered that they can be cut down because of their invasive nature.
• The farmers are preparing charcoal out of it.
• Most of the farmers use traditional method, while two entrepreneurs have set up burners with modern technology.
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Rohingya Issue

World's largest refugee settlement.

• Located in Southeast Bangladesh.
• Mahji - Camp leader for Hindu Rohingya Families