Current Affairs 2nd January 2019

Current Affairs 2nd January 2019 - Important Points

• Pakistan to issue Panda Bonds to raise capital in - China
• India to achieve 100 percent electrification before -  2019 Republic Day
• Telangana to have separate High Court from -  1st January 2019
• Panel suggests not to allow new Engineering colleges from - 2020
• Veteran Bollywood actor-writer Kader Khan passed away on -  1st January 2019
• Females’s wall for Gender Equality in Kerala on - 1st January 2019
• Reserve Bank of India launched - SRPHi
• Samwad with Students by - ISRO
• Indian Bridge Management System by - The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

Current Affairs 2nd January 2019 - Details

Pakistan to issue Panda Bonds to raise capital in - China

The government of Pakistan has finalised to issue Panda Bonds to increase loans from Chinese capital markets. Launching of Panda Bonds is part of Pakistan’s strategies to move towards issuing the Chinese money, a status at par with that relished by the United States dollar. The interest rates & the size of the bonds would be finalised at a later stage.
The Finance Ministry of Pakistan has informed that the Panda Bonds are part of its multi-pronged
approach for linking the foreign financing necessities & building foreign exchange capitals. Panda Bonds
will benefit Pakistan to diversify the investor base of capital market issuance & deliver a source of raising renminbi.
China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner. Pakistan has the highest trade shortfall with China. The
floating of capital in Chinese currency will benefit Pakistan to bridge the deficit.
Panda Bonds

• Panda bonds are Chinese renminbi-denominated bonds from a non-Chinese issuer, retailed in
  the People’s Republic of China.
•  The 1st 2 Panda bonds were released in October 2005 on the by the International Finance Corporation & the Asian Development Bank on the same day.
• The Philippines released its inaugural Panda bonds in 2018. It was the 1st ASEAN member to release Panda bonds.

India to achieve 100 percent electrification before -  2019 Republic Day

India is likely to attain 100% family electrification earlier to 2019 Republic Day. India has already issued
electricity access to 2.39 crore out of the aimed 2.49 crore families under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli
Har Ghar Yojana, Saubhagya scheme.
Status of Electrification

• India has attained the 100% electrification of the families in 25 states by December 2018. Around 10.48 lakh families are remained to be electrified in Four states of Assam, Rajasthan, Meghalaya 
  Chhattisgarh.
•  The electrification got overdue in these states due to elections & Maoist issues.
• These  states are now preparing concerted efforts to attain 100% family electrification in their respective states.
  Saubhagya scheme
• The centre had released the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, Saubhagya scheme to
  deliver electricity to all families by December 2018.
• The families identified via the Socio-economic & Caste Census of 2011 are delivered with free electricity connections & others were charged a minimal  fee of Rupees 500.
• The scheme intends at providing last mile connectivity & electricity connections to all remaining families in rural and urban areas.

Panel suggests not to allow new Engineering colleges from - 2020

The Panel led by IIT-Hyderabad chairman B.V.R.Mohan Reddy has proposed All India Council for
Technical Education- AICTE, not to permit formation of new Engineering colleges from 2020.
Recommendations of the Panel

• To stopover formation of new colleges from 2020 & review the creation of new capacity every 2 years after that.
• No added seats should be approved in traditional engineering areas including mechanical, electrical, civil & electronics & advises that institutes should be fortified to convert current capacity in traditional disciplines to developing new technologies.
• To introduce under-graduate engineering programs exclusively for artificial intelligence, blockchain,
  robotics, quantum computing, data sciences, cybersecurity and 3D printing & design.
  Reasons for recommendations
• Present capacity utilisation in traditional disciplines is just 40 percent as opposed to 60 percent seat occupancy in branches such as computer science & engineering, aerospace engineering & mechatronics.
• According to the reports, there were no takers for 51 % of the 15.5 lakh B.E/B.Tech seats in 3,291
  engineering colleges in 2016-17.

Telangana to have separate High Court from -  1st January 2019

Separate High Courts will initiate working for the states of Telangana & Andhra Pradesh from January
1st, 2019. The High Court for Telangana is the 25th High Court in the nation.
Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 & the 2 states continued to have a common high court in Hyderabad.
Separate High Courts

• The High Court for Telangana will work from the present High Court building in Hyderabad.
• The High Court for Andhra Pradesh will initiate working from a temporary building at Amaravati until it gets a permanent structure.
• 16 judges have been assigned to Andhra Pradesh High Court &10 have been assigned to Telangana High Court.
• Justice T.B.N.Radhakrishnan will took oath as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.

Veteran Bollywood actor-writer Kader Khan passed away on -  1st January 2019

Veteran Bollywood actor, director and scholar, Kader Khan decreased on January 1st, 2019 after a prolonged illness in Toronto, Canada. He was 81 years old and is survived by his wife Hajra, son Sarfaraz, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.
He had been hospitalised for about 4 months due to various old-age related ailments including progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a degenerative disease that results into loss of balance, difficulty in walking and dementia.
He was well-known for his comic roles in movies including Dulhe Raja, Aakhein, Coolie No.1, Haseena Maan Jayegi, and various others.
More about Kader Khan

• He was a professor, scholar, writer, producer and actor.
• Kader Khan was born on October 22nd, 1937 in Afghanistan to a Pashtun family, and did his education in a  municipal school and later graduated from Mumbai's Ismail Yusuf College, Jogeshwari.
• He was an engineer by training & a civil engineering professional who taught the theory of structure, hydraulics, strength of material, & RCC steel.
• He began his career as an actor with the film ‘Daag’ in 1973. In his acting career of more than 35 years, he acted in above 300 movies in memorable roles.
• Despite being an actor, he was also a prolific writer and wrote the story/dialogues for above 250 movies in Hindi & Urdu, starting with Randhir Kapoor & Jaya Bhaduri starrer ‘Jawani Diwani’ in 1972.
• He penned the story-dialogues for movies including Jawani Diwani, Benaam, Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Suhaag, Mr. Natwarlal, Yaarana, Lawaaris, Desh Premee, Sharaabi, etc.
• He also produced a movie ’Shama’ in 1981. He will be last seen in movie ‘Hera Pheri-3’ in the role of a doctor.
• The movie is expected to release this year.

Females’s wall for Gender Equality in Kerala on - 1st January 2019

Around 30 lakh females, on 1st January, stood shoulder to shoulder to make Vanitha Mathil, ‘female’s
wall’ that ran across the length of Kerala. The wall overextended from Kasaragod in the North to
Thiruvananthapuram in the south for around 620 Kilometres.
More about Vanitha Mathil, Females’s Wall

• The programme was planned by the Government of Kerala with the help of several political, religious and social groups.
• The members at the Female’s Wall resolved to sustain the values of Kerala’s renaissance, ensure gender justice, & counter initiatives to turn the state into a lunatic asylum.
• The programme was also a counterdemonstration against the agitations avoiding females of
  menstruating age from entering the Sabarimala shrine in violation of the Supreme Court’s governing.
• During the programme, participants took an initiate to safeguard the values of social reformation
  movement, to support the idea of gender equality as perceived by the Constitution to clash with any efforts to turn Kerala into “a lunatic asylum”.

Reserve Bank of India launched - SRPHi

The RBI has launched Survey on Retail Payment Habits of Individuals- SRPHi. The Survey will collect
payment habits of individuals in cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru & Guwahati.

More about the Survey

• Sigma Research & Consulting Pvt Ltd has been affianced by Reserve Bank of India to demeanour the fieldwork of the survey. Approximately 6000 persons from various socio-economic backgrounds across six cities would be counted under the survey.
• The survey pursues qualitative responses from entities on their payment habits.
• The findings of the survey will deliver insights into awareness & usage habits of digital payment products.

Samwad with Students by - ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation has released an outreach programme known as Samwad with
Students. During Samwad with Students on 1st January, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Sivan interacted with 40 students & 10 teachers from choice of schools.

Important Highlights

• Indian Space Research Organisation’s outreach programme was intended at motivating young India & tapping their scientific potential. During the interaction the Indian Space Research Organisation
• Chairmen engaged with students on a series of subjects ranging from rockets, satellites, Chandrayaan, Gaganyaan and other space applications.
• Further, Indian Space Research Organisation will be planning guided tours thrice in a year, especially during summer & winter holidays for students of class 11 & 12.
• The students would be taken to Indian Space Research Organisation facilities in Thiruvananthapuram & Bengaluru & the launch centre at Sriharikota.
•  Students would also be taken to space laboratories & would be permitted to make small satellites.

Indian Bridge Management System by - The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has inventoried 172517 bridges or structures under Indian Bridge Management System. It includes 134229 culverts, 32806 minor bridges, 3647 major & 1835 extra-long bridges.
More about IBMS

• Indian Bridge Management System was released by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to
  develop an inventory of all bridges in the nation & rate their structural condition so that in-timely repair & rehabilitation work can be accomplished based on the criticality of the structure.
• Lack of clear aim database on bridges in the nation has pushed to a situation where the authorities were neither clear about the precise number and location of the bridges nor they were able to uphold this asset in proper working condition.
• Indian Bridge Management System has been brought-in to address this anomaly.
• Under the Indian Bridge Management System, each bridge is allocated a unique identification
  number/National Identity Number based on the state, RTO zone and whether it is located on a National Highway/State Highway/district road.
• The exact location of the bridge in terms of latitude-longitude is gathered through GPS & based on these, the bridge is allocated a Bridge Location Number.
• Engineering characteristics like the design, materials, type of bridge, its age, loading, traffic lane, length, the width of carriageway etc are collected & are used to assign a Bridge Classification Number to the structure.
• The Engineering characteristics are then used to do a structural rating of the structure on a scale of 0 to 9, and each bridge is assigned a Structural Rating Number.
• Socio-Economic Bridge Rating Number will be assigned based on the importance of the structure in
  relation to its contribution to the daily socio-economic activity of the area in its vicinity.