Important Facts For Prelims (26th March 2019)

Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (TReDS)

  • In the recently concluded FinTech Conclave-2019, the Reserve Bank of India Governor termed Invoice trading as another nascent area of fintech application in India.
  • The RBI has set up the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs), a financing arrangement where technology is leveraged for discounting bills and invoices which assists Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to deal with working capital and cash flow problems due to delayed payments.

Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs)

  • It is an institutional setup for facilitating the financing of trade receivables of MSMEs from corporate and other buyers, including Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), through multiple financiers.
  • It has been set up under the regulatory framework set up by RBI under Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007.

AUSINDEX- 2019

  • India and Australia will participate in the third edition of the biennial "AUSINDEX" exercise that will be held from April 2 to 16 off the coast of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
  • Focus of the AUSINDEX exercise will be “anti-submarine warfare”. This will be Australia’s largest display of its defence assets since 1947.
  • Another interesting feature of the exercise will be the deployment of Australian personnel on Indian ships and vice versa.
  • The AUSINDEX-2019 will be held as a part of Australia’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 which will see Australia conducting naval exercises with 7 countries in south and southeast Asia apparently to increase its profile as a security provider in the Indian Ocean.
  • The first edition of AUSINDEX was held in 2015 off the eastern coast of India, while the second edition was conducted off the Western coast of Australia in the year 2017.

GRAPES-3

  • GRAPES-3 muon telescope has measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014.
  • GRAPES-3 (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3) is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of air shower detectors and a large area muon detector.
    • Muon is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 e and a spin of 1/2, but with a much greater mass.
  • The GRAPES-3 experiment located at Ooty in India started as a collaboration of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India and the Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan.

Chinook Helicopter

    • Indian Air Force formally inducted the CH 47 F(I)- Chinook heavy lift helicopters into its inventory.
    • IAF had signed a contract with M/s Boeing Ltd in September 2015 for 15 Chinook helicopters. These helicopters will be deployed in the Northern and Eastern regions of India.
    • The addition of heavy-lift CH 47 F(I) helicopter is a significant step towards modernization of Indian Air Force’s helicopter fleet.
    • The helicopter has been customized to suit IAF’s future requirements and capability roadmap. The helicopter has a fully integrated digital cockpit management system, advanced cargo handling capabilities and electronic warfare suite that complement the aircraft’s performance.
    • The helicopter is capable of airlifting diverse military and nonmilitary loads into remote locations.