Important Daily Facts of the Day

Parliamentary panel report recommends 6 year term for RBI governor (GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)

Why in news?

• Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Financeheaded by BJP MP Jayant Sinha has prepared a comprehensive report on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), suggesting sweeping reforms in it.
• The Committee have suggested a six-year term for the central bank governor and increasing the number of deputy governors from four to eight.

 

Key recommendations:

• The report is said to have recommended moving state-owned banks under RBI's purview.
• Public sector banks are currently governed through the department of financial services.
• It have suggested a six-year term for the RBI Governor from the existing three years.
• Also, once the Governor's tenure comes to an end, he or she won't be appointed to any other constitutional post after that.
• It have suggested increasing the number of deputy governors from existing four to eight.Positions below that of a deputy governor can be filled through lateral entry.
• It have suggested creation of an independent debt management authority in line with international practices.

 

What’s next?

• The report is likely to be presented during the forthcoming Winter session of Parliament

 

Common Service Centre to open 500 theatres in rural areas by Mar 2023

(GS Paper 2, Governance)

 

Why in news?

• Recently, the Common Service Centre (CSC), a special purpose vehicle under the Electronics and IT Ministry, announced that it would open 500 cinema halls in rural areas by March 2023.

 

Collaboration:

• CSC e-Governance Services India Limited has partnered with October Cinemas to take the entertainment through CSC rural cinema to rural areas.
• The partnership is aimed at opening nearly one lakh small movie theatres in rural areas.

Key Highlights:

• By the end of 2023, around 1,500 cinema halls will be operational across India.
• These cinema halls with a seating capacity of nearly 100-200 people will also act as a hub of various CSC activities in rural areas.
• CSC cinema halls will open new avenues for VLEs (Village level Entrepreneur).
• Entertainment sector is booming in India and VLEs will help in the growth of the sector in rural and semi-urban areas.
• The venture will have features to control piracy of films.

Way Forward:

• It will help improve issues of mobility in villages. Mobility creates opportunities for development and growth, generating jobs and facilitating trade.
• It also enhances rural India's competitiveness by improving connectivity across local and national areas.

 

Despite differences, conservation challenges similar in Madagascar, Brazil

(GS Paper 3, Environment)

Why in news?

• Two recent studies by researchers affiliated with 50 organisations worldwide, provide a portrait of Madagascar's biological riches and the main threats to nature the conservation outlook. 

Background:

• Madagascar's nature is so unique that 82 per cent of its plant species and 90 per cent of its animals are endemic, found exclusively on the island off the coast of Southeast Africa.
• A population so impoverished that the country's Human Development Index (HDI) is one of the lowest in the world and lives among this rare biodiversity, creating the problem of balancing conservation with economic and social growth.

 

Island’s biodiversity:

• Madagascar has species that are unique in the world, but it’s far more than that. There are categories broader than species that only exist there, such as the lemurs (Lemuroidea), an entire order of birds (Mesitornithiformes) and all Mantella frog species (Mantellidae) except three. Loss of one species could mean the end of an entire lineage that took millions of years to evolve.
• Indeed, three lemur lineages (koala, monkey, and sloth lemurs) have already become extinct, as have the island's two hippopotamus species, the Grandidier's giant tortoise (Aldabrachelysgrandidieri), and the elephant bird order (Aepyornithidae). According to experts, megafauna extinctions have serious consequences for the ecosystem's functioning.
• The study includes updates that reveal 11,516 vascular plant species (82 per cent of which are endemic) and 1,215 bryophytes (28 per cent of which are endemic) have been described.
• In terms of terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates, 95 per cent of the island's mammals, 56 per cent of its birds, 81 per cent of its river fish, and 98 per cent of its reptiles are unique to the island and cannot be found anyplace else on the planet.

 

Opportunities:

• A considerable proportion of the population makes a living from woods by collecting firewood or hunting, represents an opportunity for development based on the sustainable use of biodiversity.
• Madagascar has 1,916 (5 per cent) of the 40,283 plant species used by people globally, with 595 being native to the island. With 28 million inhabitants, 10.4 per cent of the territory is legally protected.
• Given these challenges, the emphasis should be on restoring vegetation elsewhere rather than on creating additional protected areas in order to relieve the strain on current conservation units. Among the options identified for the country are reforestation and conservation based on scientific evidence and efficacy.
• They advocated for increased biodiversity monitoring and the creation of species databases. Furthermore, they emphasise the importance of increasing the efficacy of existing protection by engaging communities and giving possibilities for training and revenue-generating.

Way Forward:

• Actions to conserve forests should take into account the main causes of biodiversity loss, which include poverty and food insecurity, problems that also affect Brazil, despite the peculiarities of each country.