1.Cheque Truncation System (CTS)

Why in the news?

• For expeditious cheque clearance, the RBI announced continuous clearing of cheques under Cheque Truncation System (CTS). 
• Under this, cheques would be cleared within hours of submission instead of the two days now. Cheques will be scanned, presented and passed in a few hours and on a continuous basis during business hours. 
• The clearing cycle will reduce from the present T+1 days to a few hours. 

About Cheque Truncation System (CTS):

• It is a process of enabling the electronically clearing of a cheque instead of clearing it physically. 
• It is also known as the Image Processing System (ICS).
• It was started by the Reserve Bank of India in 2008 for faster clearing of the cheques.
• Benefits:
  • Time, money, and efforts faced by banks to the clearing houses due to the physical clearing are almost eliminated. Since it discontinues the physical clearing of the bank documents, the burden that earlier fell upon the people of the banks and clearing houses no longer exists. It does not only reduce the burden of labor but also reduces the time consumed during physical clearing significantly.
  • Less clearing-related frauds. As we know that it is easy to commit fraud when things are being done manually. To reduce the burden on people as well as to tackle fraud, the government has already made most activities electronic. Since it is difficult to commit fraud when computers and other electronic gadgets are performing the jobs and keeping records, frauds become less plausible.
  • Several people earlier complained of their cheques being misplaced or lost. This problem has found its ultimate solution with the introduction of the cheque truncation system. Performing tasks electronically not only shares the workload and reduces the plausibility of fraud but also ensures greater efficiency.
  • It is safer and more secure. No matter how attentive or efficient, a human being can commit an error more frequently than is expected of a machine. It is programmed keeping in mind the nature of the job and its requirements.  provides quicker clearance of the cheques as compared to the physical clearing. Since manually clearing a cheque consumed more time and was considered a hindrance in the smooth rendering of the banking services, the RBI introduced this system to ensure quicker clearing of cheques.
  • It reduces the operational risk as well as the risks related to paper clearing.

2.Naf river

Why in the news?

• The bodies of 34 Rohingya refugees, who fled war-torn Myanmar only to drown when their overcrowded boat sank while crossing a river to Bangladesh, have been recovered.
• The group had fled their villages in Rakhine state and their boat sank in the Naf river. 

About Naf river:

• It is an international river marking the border of southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar.
• Its average depth is 39 m, and maximum depth is 120 m. 
• Its width varies from 1.61 km to 3.22 km.
• It flows into the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, between the Bangladeshi Cox's Bazar District of the Chittagong Division, and the Burmese Rakhine State.
• Historically, Shapuree Island, located at the mouth of the river, has played an important role territorially. It is considered one of the immediate causes for the first Anglo-Burmese War. 
• St. Martin's Island is also at the river's mouth.
• Regular incidents in which fishermen and Burmese refugees are shot at by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces), and/or refugees are escorted back to Myanmar by Bangladeshi troops have occurred on this river.