Regional Rapid Transit System - NaMo Bharat

India’s first indigenous mass rapid system, RRTS covering Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut section was inaugurated recently.

• RRTS – Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is a new rail-based, semi-high-speed, high-frequency commuter transit system dedicated to regional connectivity.
• RRTS, now called as NaMo Bharat, was designed with a speed of 180 kmph.
• It is modelled on systems such as the RER in Paris, Germany, Austria and USA.

• Aim – To ensure balanced and sustainable urban development through better connectivity across the National Capital Region (NCR).
• Coverage – 8 RRTS corridors have been identified for development in the NCR.
• Phase - I – Out of 8, 3 corridors have been prioritised to be implemented in Phase-I
  • Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Corridor
  • Delhi-Gurugram-SNB-Alwar Corridor
  • Delhi-Panipat Corridor
• Construction & Implementation – National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), a joint venture of Union government and the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• NCRTC comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

U.N. Environment Programme's (UNEP) Cool Coalition

The COP28 Presidency held by the United Arab Emirates is leading the Global Cooling Pledge alongside the U.N. Environment Programme's (UNEP) Cool Coalition.

• Cool Coalition is dedicated to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action, and accelerating progress toward UN 2019 Climate Change Summit.
• The Cool Coalition is a global multi-stakeholder network that connects a wide range of key actors towards a rapid global transition to efficient and climate-friendly cooling.
• The key actors includes government, cities, international organizations, businesses, finance, academia and civil society groups.
• It is a unified initiative that links action across the Kigali Amendment, Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.
• The 3 pillars of the cool coalition includes:
  1. Advocacy
  2. Action
  3. Knowledge Exchange
• The Cool Coalition is led by:
  • UN Environment,
  • Climate and Clean Air Coalition,
  • Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program and
  • Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).
• The Cool Coalition has over 130 partners driving change in the cooling sector that includes:
  1. 26 Countries
  2. 13 cities
  3. 33 Private sector entities
  4. 20 International Organizations and Intergovernmental Organizations
  5. 36 Civil Society Organizations
  6. 5 Academia
• Cool Champions are thought leaders from government, private sector and civil society.
• They will amplify the messages of the Cool Coalition, raise awareness about the need for efficient and climate?friendly cooling and mobilize their peers to join this effort.

Agni D

The army’s forward posts in the northern sector have started testing an artificial intelligence (AI) based software Agni-D for surveillance and thwarting transgressions.

• Agni-D is a defence software that has been developed by Captain Vikas Tripathi, an electrical engineer with the army.
• The software system was showcased Aero India.
• Agni-D has been tested in internal camps and during army exercises over the last few months.
• Agni-D is a coded system that aims to automate surveillance centers and outposts.
• The system can recognize heat signatures of various types, including weapons, tanks, armored vehicles and missiles captured by surveillance cameras.
• It can also prove to be vital for security proposes of static formations of forces at peace stations across the country.
• Agni-D is deployed in the eastern Ladakh sector, a region of strategic importance due to its closeness to China.

Cyclone Tej

• The Cyclone Tej in the Arabian Sea is turning into a cyclonic storm.
• It is expected to turn into a severe cyclonic storm and move towards the south coasts of Oman and adjoining Yemen.
• Cyclone Tej was named by India.

Settlement Guarantee Fund (SGF)

Recently Settlement Guarantee Fund (SGF) have regulated norms for the Settlement Guarantee Fund in commodity derivatives segment.

• The primary objective of SGF is to have a fund for each segment to guarantee the settlement of trades executed in respective segment of the stock exchange.
• A Settlement Guarantee Fund (SGF) is a corpus used for settlement of trades during defaults.
• In the event of clearing member failing to honour his settlement obligation, the SGF is utilised to complete the settlement.
• All intermediaries such as stock exchanges, clearing corporations and brokers contribute towards SGF.
• The Clearing Corporation or the Exchange shall maintain Settlement Guarantee Fund(s) either separately or jointly.
• SGF is received in the form of cash and securities.
• Members are required to maintain a minimum of 10% of their Securities Segment margin requirements in the form of cash contributions to SGF.
• Members have the option to maintain their entire SGF contribution in the form of Cash.
• The SEBI has recently notified that excess contribution may be returned to the contributing stakeholders on a pro-rata basis, after taking due approval from SEBI.
• Pro-rata is a calculation that determines the fair distribution of a fixed amount.