Banknotes with star mark are legal tenders, clarifies RBI (GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- The Reserve Bank of India, in its latest release, has assured citizens that currencies with the much-debated (*) marks were legal tenders and not fake.
Details:
- Clarifying the purpose of the symbol on the notes, the RBI clarified that the “star” mark was placed before the bank note’s serial number to identify it as a reprinted or replaced note.
- A note is reprinted or replaced when it is defectively printed in a packet of 100 pieces of serially-numbered banknotes.
Star (*) marked banknote:
- A star (*) marked banknote is identical to any legal bank note, except it contains a star mark between the prefix and the serial number.
- It was initially introduced in 2006 as a part of the Annual Policy Statement for 2006-07 and was printed on Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50 denominations in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005. From 2009 onwards, the initiative was extended to Rs 100 notes as well.
- The central bank issues fresh notes that are numbered from 1 to 100. Each banknote comes with a unique serial number along with a prefix.
- The star (*) is placed between the prefix and the unique serial number. The defectively printed notes are replaced by the star series notes carrying the same number.
Jayati Ghosh won Galbraith Award 2023
(Miscellaneous)
Why in news?
- Renowned development economist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Jayati Ghosh has been named the 2023 recipient of the Galbraith Award by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA).
- Ghosh is currently professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is a member of the high-level advisory board on ‘effective multilateralism’, established by United Nations Secretary-General.
About Galbraith Award:
- The annual award, named after the influential Canadian-American economist John Kenneth Galbraith, was instituted in 2003 to honour his “capacity to integrate scholarship with statesmanship, and his unparalleled record of achievements in research, education and public service, embody the spirit and aspiration of agricultural economists”.
- Ghosh is one of just three Indian or Indian-born economists to have received the award since its inception, the other two being Sir Partha Dasgupta in 2007 and Gita Gopinath in 2021. Other awardees include Nobel prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz (2004), Angus Deaton (2009), and Dan Ariely (2017).
Her achievements:
- Ghosh’s research and writings, focusses on developmental and human-centric economics, and is increasingly important for policymaking in the post-pandemic world, according to politicians and economists alike.
- She has written a number of research papers and books on a wide variety of subjects, with recent topics including the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, the plight of women workers in the informal economy, and the fallout of the Indian government’s demonetisation decision of 2016.
Rajya Sabha passes bill with stringent provisions to curb film piracy
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Rajya Sabha passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023, that introduces stringent anti-piracy provisions, expanding the scope of the law from censorship to also cover copyright.
- It seeks to amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952, which authorises the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to require cuts in films and clear them for exhibition in cinemas and on television.
Key Highlights:
Age ratings:
- The bill has provisions to introduce three age-based certifications under the 'UA' category, namely 'UA 7+', 'UA 13+' and 'UA 16+', and to empower the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to sanction a film with a separate certificate for its exhibition on television or other media.
- The IT Rules, 2021 had implemented these graded age ratings for streaming platforms.
- A committee of experts chaired by filmmaker Shyam Benegal had in 2017 recommended amendments to the film censorship regime; the graded-age classifications are in line with the report of the committee. However, the government has not implemented the key recommendation of the committee that the CBFC’s power to require cuts be taken away.
Other provisions:
- The certificates issued by the Central Board for Film Certification which are now valid for only 10 years will be valid perpetually after the bill becomes the law.
- As the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 says that only UA category films can be shown on TV, the Bill allows for a change of category of a film from A (adult) or S (specialised groups) to UA, after making suitable alterations.
New sections:
- In a bid to curb film piracy, the bill seeks to introduce new sections in the Cinematograph Act with provisions to prohibit unauthorised recording of films (section 6AA) and their exhibition (section 6AB).
- The stringent new provision 6AA in the bill also prohibits recording of a film or any part thereof with the sole purpose of using the recording in the same device.
Penalty:
- It has provisions for up to three-year jail term and a fine of up to five per cent of the production cost of a film for persons making pirated copies of movies.
Skill factor:
- The government intends to open institutes for animation, visual effects, gaming and comic sectors to provide skilled labour to the fast-growing field.
