Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposed a framework to allow retail investors to participate in algorithmic trading through stock brokers.

Algorithmic trading (Automated trading):

• It uses a computer program that follows a defined set of instructions to place a trade.

Key Provisions of Proposed regulatory framework:

• Stock Brokers’ Role: Provide algo services under strict controls, including two-factor authentication and unique vendor keys.
• API Usage: Retail investors developing their own algorithms must register them and limit usage to family members.
• Empanelment of Algo Providers: Exchanges to define eligibility and oversee empaneled algo providers.
• Stock Exchanges’ Responsibilities: Categorize algorithms as "white-box" (transparent logic) or "black-box" (opaque logic).

In Manipur's Hengbung village, a groundbreaking micro solar pumped storage facility provides 24/7 power to the village.

About solar micro hydropower

• It utilizes solar energy to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir during periods of high solar irradiance.
• This stored water can then be released through a micro-hydro turbine to generate electricity when solar power is unavailable.
• Key advantages: Grid stability, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

Recently, NASA’s Perseverance Rover climbed to the top of Jezero crater rim on Mars.

• It will now be able to access rocks (pieces of early crust) that existed in their present form much before asteroids collided with the martian surface.

About Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover:

• Objective: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible Earth return.
• Power Source: It carries a radioisotope power system (RPS). This system produces a dependable electricity flow using the heat of plutonium-238's radioactive decay as its "fuel."
• Target: Jezero Crater, Mars.
• Instruments onboard

Recently, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed a framework for Restricted Return InvITs to enhance investor security.

About Restricted Return InvITs 

• Differentiating from traditional InvITs, where returns are directly tied to full performance of the underlying infrastructure assets, in this model, returns are structured with downside protection (a floor) and/or an upside cap.
• Downside protection: If the InvIT's returns fall below guaranteed minimum, sponsors must provide funds to ensure unitholders receive a baseline return.
• Upside cap: If the InvIT's returns exceed a threshold, excess will go to the sponsor.

US EPA announces final bans on manufacture, processing, & use of trichloroethylene & perchloroethylene.

About Trichloroethylene & Perchloroethylene:

• Toxic chemicals used in stain removers, degreasers, and range of industrial processes, including dry cleaning
  • Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with significant industrial utility but raise concerns due to their environmental and health impacts.
• Health Impact: Linked to severe health issues like kidney cancer, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cardiac defects and bladder cancer.

Recently, the United States successfully tested the new Dark Eagle Anti-missile System.

About Dark Eagle Anti-missile System:

• It is a Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) jointly developed by US Army and Navy.
• It features a two-stage ballistic missile equipped with a gliding hypersonic warhead (C-HGB) capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 17.
  • Mach is associated with speed of sound and speeds of Mach 5 and above are considered to be hypersonic.
• It is designed to challenge and potentially surpass capabilities of Russia’s S-300V4, S-400, and S-500 air defense systems.

Oldest Homo Sapiens DNA ever sequenced suggests interbreeding between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals roughly 50,000 years ago.

• Some Neanderthal genes show increased frequency in humans, suggesting their importance in survival. E.g. immunity against Coronaviruses, skin pigmentation.
• Most people today have genes inherited from Neanderthals, roughly 1-2% of their DNA.

About Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis)

• Close extinct relatives to Homo Sapiens who coexisted with humans for at least some time.
• They lived from about 400,000 to 39,000 years ago across Europe and southwest and central Asia.
• Physical Features: Large nose, strong double-arched brow ridge, relatively short bodies.

RBI approved JP-Morgan-backed fintech company In-Solutions Global (ISG) to operate as a payment aggregator.

About Payment Aggregator (PA):

• Third-party service provider that enables online payment by customers and acceptance of payments by businesses and e-commerce. 
• PA is a company incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956 / 2013. 
• They simplify payment process by collecting information, processing payments, handling refunds, fraud detection and prevention.
• They enable payments through debit cards, credit cards, NetBanking, UPI, e-wallets etc.
• Unlike Bank PAs, non-bank PAs require authorisation from RBI under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.