1) Foreigner’s Tribunal: these are quasi-judicial bodies established as per the Foreigners’ Tribunal Order, 1964 and the Foreigners’ Act, 1946.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals (quasi-judicial bodies) to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not. Earlier, the powers to constitute tribunals were vested only with the Centre.
- The amended order (Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 2019) also empowers individuals to approach the Tribunals. Earlier, only the State administration could move the Tribunal against a suspect.
2) Tamagotchi Generation: A new book has predicted that by the third quarter of this century, parents will have the choice of having digital offspring that will only exist in virtual world.
- This will be the ‘Tamagotchi Generation’. The virtual children of the future can be built to look like their parents, and will be able to provide a range of emotional responses.
- The name comes from the digital pet created by the Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai, which was a global rage in the 1990s and early years of this century.
3) e-Shram portal: Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the e-Shram portal.
- Aim: To register 38 crore unorganised workers such as construction labourers, migrant workforce, street vendors, and domestic workers, among others.
- The workers will be issued an e-Shram card containing a 12 digit unique number.
- If a worker is registered on the eSHRAM portal and meets with an accident, he will be eligible for Rs 2.0 Lakh on death or permanent disability and Rs 1.0 lakh on partial disability.
4) Use and File system:  Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has decided to extend the ‘Use and File’ procedure to all health insurance products.
- Under ‘Use and File’, insurers are permitted to market products without the regulator’s prior approval, thus avoiding a long wait. This means insurance firms can quickly introduce new schemes with innovative features, enabling people to participate and cover their health expenses.
- Under the existing ‘File and Use’ system, an insurer wishing to introduce a new product has to first file an application with the IRDAI and use the product for sale in the market only after getting all regulatory approvals.
5) Gig economy: In a gig economy, temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend toward hiring independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees.
- A gig economy undermines the traditional economy of full-time workers who rarely change positions and instead focus on a lifetime career. e.g Employee models of Uber, Ola, Swiggy etc
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