• Panjab National Bank (PNB) has been ranked first among all public sector banks in the implementation of 'Reform Agenda' followed by Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India, according to BCG-IBA Report-EASE Reforms for PSB.

• The report released by Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs.

• PNB with a score of 78.4 out of 100 in the EASE-Index was followed by BoB (77.8), SBI (74.6), and Oriental Bank of Commerce (69).

• PNB rapidly transformed itself into an evolving institution and after a period of 9 months in the last quarter declared a profit. It then emerged as the best performing bank in EASE reform ranking.

• The BCG-IBA Report-EASE Reforms for PSB-measures performance of each Public Sector Banks on 140 objective metrics across 6 themes including customer responsiveness, credit off-take, and digitalization.

Important Points

Panjab National Bank (PNB)

Tagline - The name you can bank upon

Headquarters - New Delhi

MD & CEO - Sunil Mehta

• IDBI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) signed a bancassurance agreement under which the lender will offer LIC's insurance products at its branches.

• As part of the agreement, IDBI Bank will become the preferred bank for LIC premium payments and also function as a premium point to boost sale of LIC products, thereby gaining from fees and float income.

• The move comes soon after the state-owned life insurer, LIC, acquired a majority stake with 51% in IDBI Bank, and the bank has also appointed LIC Chairman Hemant Bhargava as its non-executive whole-time chairman.

Important Points

IDBI Bank

Tagline - Banking for all, "Aao Sochein Bada"

Headquarters - Mumbai

Chairman - Hemant Bhargava

MD & CEO - Rakesh Sharma

LIC

Tagline - "Yogakshemam Vahamyaham" (derived from Bhagavad Gita, which means " Your welfare is our responsibility)

Headquarters - Mumbai

Chairman - Hemant Bhargava

• Non-life insurance company ICICI Lombard has entered into a strategic partnership with Hyderabad based peer-to-peer lending platform AnyTimeLoan.in (ATL) to provide insurance cover for its lenders and borrowers.

• The partnership aims to reduce the risk of exposure of its lenders and borrowers which are arising from uncertainties such as accidents, death, disability, critical illness, loss of job among others.

• ICICI Lombard will offer Group secure Mind and Group Personal Accident policies to the customers of ATL and this will cover the borrowers of all types of loans on the platform with a minimum policy term of 1 year to a maximum of 3 years.

• The insurance cover for the lenders comes with free premium for the first year on a complimentary basis, as ATL will absorb this cost on behalf of the beneficiaries.

Important Points

ICICI Lombard

Headquarters - Mumbai

MD & CEO - Bhargav Dasgupta

• State-run Bank of Baroda has tied up with Germany's KfW Development Bank for funding of USD 113 million to refinance solar projects.

• The tie-up is part of an Indo-German Solar Energy Partnership signed in 2015.

Important Points

Bank of Baroda (BoB)

Tagline - India's International Bank

Headquarters - Alkapuri Vadodara

CEO - P.S. Jayakumar

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) launched its own digital payment aggregator called 'IRCTC iPay.

With iPay, Passengers will not need any third-party platforms as all payments options like credit card, debit card, UPI, and international card.

It will provide an improved smoother digital payment experience for railway passengers and ease of doing business to passengers availing online travel-related services through the IRCTC website.

Important Points

IRCTC

Headquarters - New Delhi

India-Bangladesh a joint military exercise 'Sampriti 2019' will be conducted at Tangail, Bangladesh from 2nd March to 15th March 2019.

It will be the 8th edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.

The 14-day exercise is aimed to strengthen and broaden the aspects of inter-operability and co-operation between the Armies of both countries.

Important Points

Bangladesh

Capital - Dhaka

Currency - Taka

Prime Minister - Sheikh Hasina

President - Abdul Hamid

Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan, inaugurated the Skill Saathi Youth Conclave in Bhubaneswar which was aired live across 427 locations in Odisha.

The Skill Saathi model was created to impart information on vocational education and available market opportunities to the youth.

Important Points

Odisha

Capital -Bhubaneswar

Chief Minister - Naveen Patnaik

Governor - Ganeshi Lal

National Park

• Similipal National Park
• Bhitarkanika National Park

Folk Dance

• Ghumara

According to the US-based rating agency - Moody's, Indian economy is expected to grow 7.3% in the calendar year 2019 and 2020.

Moody's stated in its quarterly Global Macro Outlook for 2019 and 2020.

According to Moody's growth in 2018-19 fiscal, ending March 2019, India economy is estimated to have grown 7%, lower than 7.2% in 2017-18.

Former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha joined the 15th Finance Commission as its member.

He joined in place of Shaktikanta Das who had resigned as a member of the Commission after being appointed as Governor of RBI.

He is a 1982 batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre, He has also served as Secretary to the 14th Finance Commission, headed by former RBI Governor, Shri Y.V. Reddy.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Government of India signed a loan agreement of USD 455 million for financing the Andhra Pradesh Rural Road Project.

More than 2 million people living in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh stand to benefit from an improved road network connecting them with markets, school, and other services.

The project aims for construction and up-gradation of more than 6,000 km of roads connecting around 3,300 rural habitations in Andhra Pradesh.

It is the third project in Andhra Pradesh signed by the AIIB after two projects in Power Sector and Water Sector.

Important Points

AIIB

Headquarters - Beijing, China

President - Jin Liqun

India is the 2nd largest shareholder in the AIIB and its largest borrower.

Andhra Pradesh

Chief Minister - N. Chandrababu Naidu

Governor - E.S.L. Narasimhan

National Park

• Rajiv Gandhi National Park
• Papikonda National Park
• Sri Venkateswara National Park
• Mrugavani National Park
• Mouling National Park

Thermal Power Plant

• Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plan

Classicial Dance form

• Kuchipudi

Click Here to Read Daily Current Affairs

Click Here to Attempt Daily Current Affairs Quiz