1. ESAF small finance bank gets RBI nod to operate as scheduled bank

• ESAF small finance bank which received the first banking license in Kerala since independence has got RBI approval to operate as scheduled bank.
• This makes Thrissur-based ESAF small finance bank (SFB) the fifth scheduled bank from Kerala. ESAF micro finance institution, started in 1992, was one among the ten applicants to receive approval from RBI to start banking operations in 2016.
• The bank has established a network of 432 banking outlets spread across 13 States and has a customer base of 2.6 million.

2. Sudhir Bhargava Appointed New Chief Information Commissioner

• The government has appointed Sudhir Bhargava as new Chief Information Commissioner along with four new Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC) which had been functioning with just three of them as against a sanctioned strength of 11, including the Chief Information Commissioner.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the appointment of former IFS officer Yashwardhan Kumar Sinha, former IRS officer Vanaja N Sarna, former IAS Neeraj Kumar Gupta and former Law Secretary Suresh Chandra as Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission.
• The Supreme Court had asked the centre and states to maintain transparency in appointments of Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners and upload the details of search committees and applicants on website.

3. TB Radhakrishnan takes oath as first Chief Justice of Telangana High Court

• Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnansworn in as the first Chief Justice of Telangana High Court, which came into existence on New Year’s day more than four and a half years after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
• Justice Radhakrishnan was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan at a simple ceremony in Raj Bhavan at 8.30am.
• Last week, the central government issued a notification for the bifurcation of the high court between the two states with effect from January 1.

4. Sheikh Hasina wins third term as PM in Bangladesh

• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to return to power for an unprecedented third consecutive time after the ruling alliance emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections.
• Hasina’s Awami League won 287 of the 298 seats, while the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) managed just seven seats.
• Bangladesh - Capital: Dhaka, Currency: Taka

5. India's Smriti Mandhana named ICC women's cricketer of the year

• India's Smriti Mandhana was crowned women's cricketer of the yearby the sport's world governing body, capping off a prolific run-scoring season for the opener.
• The left-handed batswoman was also named ODI cricketer of the year for accumulating 669 runs off 12 one-day internationals. She scored 622 runs in 25 T20 matches this year.
• Mandhana, 22, is only the second Indian woman to win an International Cricket Council award after fast bowler Jhulan Goswami who was named the women's player of the year in 2007.

6. Banks recover Rs 40,000-crore from defaulters : RBI

• 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, the RBI data showed.
• In the fiscal year 2018, banks recovered Rs 40,400 crore worth of bad loans as against Rs 38,500 crore in FY17.
• Besides recovery through various resolution mechanisms, banks are also cleaning up theirs balance sheets through sale of doubtful/ loss assets to assets reconstruction companies (ARCs) and other banks/NBFCs/financial institutions by taking haircuts, the report said.

7. Swachh Surveksahan award for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation

• The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation was awarded Best Capital City in the Solid Waste Management in the Swachh Survekshan 2018 rankings.
• According to a press release, the Swachh Survekashan survey ranks cities on various sanitation parameters.
• The GHMC was also at the 27th place among 4,041 cities.