 Pakistan’s cabinet has approved the issuance of first-ever renminbi-denominated ‘Panda Bonds’ to raise loans from China’s capital markets, as the country moved a step forward to give the Chinese currency status at par with the US dollar. The Finance Ministry did not seek the Cabinet’s nod for the size of the bond, but it expects to raise $500 million to $1 billion in various tranches. The Philippines has also raised RMB1.46 billion through renminbi-denominated bonds. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s alliance won Bangladesh’s election with a thumping majority, the country’s Election Commission announced. It gave her a third straight term following a vote that the opposition rejected as rigged. The win consolidated Hasina’s decade-long rule over Bangladesh. The alliance dominated by her Awami League, seen as close to regional power India, won 287 of the 298 seats for which results have been declared, the commission said. There are 300 constituencies in the country. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which boycotted the last poll in 2014, won just six seats. |
| Source- The Economic Times |
 ESAF small finance bank has got RBI approval to operate as a scheduled bank. This makes ESAF small finance bank (SFB) the fifth scheduled bank from Kerala. ESAF microfinance institution, started in 1992, was one among the ten applicants to receive approval from RBI to start banking operations in 2016. |
| Source: The Economic Times |
| Banks have seen a significant improvement in recovery of stressed assets helped by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and amendments in the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act, during FY18, according to the RBI data. In the fiscal ended March 2018, banks recovered Rs 40,400 crore worth of bad loans as against Rs 38,500 crore recovered in FY17. The various channels through which lenders recovered their bad loans include the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), SARFAESI Act, debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) and Lok Adalats. While banks recovered Rs 4,900 crore of bad loans through the IBC, the amount recovered through SARFAESI was Rs 26,500 crore in FY18, the RBI said in its annual report on Trends and Progress of Banking in 2017-18. |
| Source- The Economic Times |
 The government has appointed Sudhir Bhargava as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), along with four information commissioners. Mr. Bhargava was Information Commissioner in the CIC. An alumnus of St Michael’s High School in Patna and St Stephen’s College in Delhi, Mr. Sinha is a 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer who was the High Commissioner of India in the United Kingdom. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation was awarded Best Capital City in the Solid Waste Management in the Swachh Survekshan 2018 rankings. The GHMC was also at the 27th place among 4,041 cities. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 Norman Gimbel, the Oscar and Grammy-winning lyricist, has passed away at the age of 91. Gimbel’s work included Killing Me Softly With His Song – recorded by Roberta Flack, the Fugees and others – and the theme to TV series Happy Days. Norman Gimbel was born in Brooklyn. His early successes included the lyrics to Andy Williams’s 1956 hit single Canadian Sunset. In 1984 Gimbel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. |
| Source- BBC News |
 Legendary filmmaker Mrinal Sen passed away at the age of 95 in Kolkata. He was a Padma Bhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee. A recipient of 12 international film awards including Cannes Film Festival, Mrinal Sen was also a member of the Indian People’s Theatre Association. |
| Source: News on AIR |
 Croatia captain Luka Modric was named Balkan Athlete of the Year, becoming only the second soccer player to scoop the prize after Bulgaria’s former European Footballer of the Year Hristo Stoichkov in 1994. Ballon d’Or winner Modric won the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup with his Spanish club Real Madrid as well as being instrumental in helping Croatia reach the World Cup final in Russia. He was awarded the tournament’s Golden Ball Award. |
| Source- BBC Sports |
 The Union government declared the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) a banned organization. A Home Ministry order stated the decision was taken under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 for the outfit’s alleged involvement in the killing of innocent people and police officers and several bombings on civilian targets in India. The KLF and all its manifestations have been declared outlawed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. |
| Source- AIR World Service |
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