Mainland Serow

The mainland serow was recently recorded at the lowest elevation beyond Bhutan, its natural home.

• The mainland Serow is a vulnerable mammal that appears somewhere between a goat and an antelope.
• It inhabits at an elevation of 200 to 3000 metres.
• The animal is distributed from the Himalayan belt to southern China and Sumatra.
• Its populations are fragmented, isolated and rapidly declining due to poaching and habitat loss.
• The horns are only characteristic of the males and are light-coloured, approximately six inches in length, and curve slightly towards the animal's back.
• It is protected under CITES Appendix I and listed as Vulnerable (VU) in the IUCN red list.
• The three species of the animals are Japanese serow, red serow and Taiwan or Formosan serow.
• Red serow is found in eastern India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
• It was recently recorded at 96 metres above the mean sea level in western Assam’s Raimona National Park.
• The Himalayan serow is a sub species of mainland serow.
• Himalayan serow inhabits hilly forests above an elevation of 300 m, but descends to 100 m in winter.
• It is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG)

The Bornean elephant has been recently assessed as Endangered in the IUCN red list due to threats from human activities.

• The Asian Elephant Specialist Group is a global network of specialists concerned with the study, monitoring, management, and conservation of Asian Elephants in its 13 Range States across Asia.
• The 13 Asian Elephant countries include:
  • Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
• The overall aim of the AsESG is to promote the long-term conservation of Asia's elephants and aids in the recovery of their populations to viable levels.
• There are currently over 110 volunteer members from 18 countries.
• Apart from the members, the Group also has Ex-officio officials from all Range States nominated by the Ministry looking after elephant conservation in the country.
• Membership is reviewed and reappointed approximately every four years.
• The AsESG acts as the Red List Authority for the Asian Elephant, carrying out Red List assessments for inclusion in the IUCN Red List.
• Bornean Elephant – Are the smallest subspecies of Asian elephant, endemic to the island of Borneo.
• Borneo is the world’s third largest island, shared by Malaysia and Brunei in the north and Indonesia in the south.
• Borneo elephants are populations are under constant threat due to deforestation and other human activities.

Biomass Briquettes

The adoption of Biomass briquettes in the supply chain domain could revolutionize the power and electricity generation sector.

• Biomass briquettes or biomass pellets are biofuels substitute for coal that are made of biodegradable green waste with lower emissions of greenhouses and carbon dioxide than traditional fuel sources.
• It can be used for heating, cooking fuel, and electricity generation usually in developing countries that do not have access to more traditional fuel sources.
• It can be used for producing electricity from steam power by heating water in boilers.
• Environmental Benefits – Unlike traditional fossil fuels, it is Carbon-neutral.
• Reduced reliance on fossil fuels, mitigates greenhouse gas emissions.
• Utilizing the agricultural and forestry residues, aids in waste management.
• Prevent methane release from decomposing residues.
• Economic Empowerment – Create employment opportunities in rural areas.
• Stimulate local economies and reduce dependence on costly imported fuels.
• Enhance energy security and economic resilience.
• Supply Chain Resilience – To rely on locally available feedstock, theory by reducing exposure to external shocks.
• It Enhances energy access in remote areas.
• It offers scalability and adaptability due to modular production units.
• It contributes to a more agile and flexible energy supply chain.
• It can decentralize energy production and distribution.

Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF)

Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj represented India at the three day meeting of CLGF Annual Board in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

• Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) is a voluntary association of 56 independent members including India.
• It works to promote and strengthen democratic local government across the Commonwealth members.
• It was established in 1995 and has been working in Asia to support decentralization and reforms that empower local governments, improving governance and service delivery.
• CLGF Board is the main decision-making body of CLGF and meets formally, once a year.
• The CLGF Forum brings together a diverse group of local government participants, including:
  • Ministries of Local Government,
  • Elected local mayors and leaders and permanent secretaries and
  • Officials from all spheres of government, academics and development partners.
• CLGF is dedicated to supporting women’s full and active participation in public life, especially in achieving equal representation in local governance, aligning with SDG 5 goal.

SAARC Currency Swap Facility

RBI has recently announced the SAARC Currency Swap Framework for the period 2024 to 2027.

• A currency swap is a transaction in which two parties exchange an equivalent amount of money with each other but in different currencies.
• The parties involved in currency swaps are usually financial institutions, trading on their own or on behalf of a nonfinancial corporation.
• It is often referred to as a cross-currency swap.
• Advantages of currency swaps
  • It allow companies to hedge their foreign exchange exposures.
  • It can help lower financing costs, as it may be cheaper to borrow in a foreign currency.
  • They are used is to gain access to a foreign currency.
  • They are used to take advantage of interest rate differentials between two countries.
• The SAARC currency swap facility intends to provide a backstop line of funding for short-term foreign exchange liquidity requirements or balance of payments crises suffered by SAARC countries.
• It was first operationalised in November 2012.
• New SAARC currency swap framework by RBI – It is a revised framework on currency swap arrangements for countries within the SAARC grouping for the time period 2024 to 2027.
• It introduces a separate INR Swap Window with various concessions for swap support in Indian Rupee.
• The Currency Swap Facility will be available to all SAARC member countries, subject to their signing the bilateral swap agreements.
• The RBI will continue to offer swap arrangement in US dollar and Euro under a separate US Dollar/ Euro Swap Window with an overall corpus of USD 2 billion.