♦ SBI Card, the country's second-largest credit card issuer and Etihad Guest, the loyalty programme of Etihad Airways have tied up to launch a travel-specific Visa credit card for members and Indian travelers.

♦ This is the first international co-brand partnership of SBI Card.

♦ It has been launched in order to confront the constraints of International travel.

♦ It is an appealing programme through which its clients can start collecting reward points instantly.

♦ Bharat Ratna is the Highest Civilian Award in India. 

♦ The award is conferred to the people who make a great contribution in the field of art, literature and science and social service.

♦ President Ram Nath Kovind announced the recipient of Bharat Ratna, they are B Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumously), Singer Dr. Bhupen Hazarika (posthumously), and former president Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi.

♦ Nanaji Deshmukh died at the age of 94 in 2012,  was a member of the Lok Sabha and represented the Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh and also served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 1999 to 2005.

♦ Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, legendary singer-composer from Assam, He died in November 2011 at the age of 85.  He was a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padmashri, and Padmabhushan and was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012, the country's second-Highest Civilian Award

♦ Pranab Mukherjee was 13th President of India and served from 2012 until 2017.

♦ Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) has been ranked as 3rd most-valued Information Technology(IT) service brand globally in 2018-19 according to report by Brand Finance.  

♦ The report by Brand Finance was released at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

♦TCS brand value increase by 23% to USD 12.8 billion over the previous year.

♦ Accenture took the title of the world's most- valued IT services brand, its brand value at $26.3 billion. The tag was previously held by IBM, which now occupied the 2nd place with a brand value of USD 20.4 billion.

♦ Wipro entered the top-10 list for the first time this year.

♦ Four Indian IT services firms- TCS, Infosys, HCL and Wipro entered in the top-10 global tally.

♦ Wasim Jaffer became the first batsman to score 1000 runs in a season twice in Ranji Trophy.

♦ He is a highest capped player in Ranji Trophy cricket, surpassing Amol Muzumdar (presently batting coach for Rajasthan Royals).

♦ The 40-year-old Jaffer had already scored over 1260 runs while playing for Mumbai in 2008-09.

♦ Wasim now has scored 1003 runs in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.

♦ West Indies captain Jason Holder has become the 1st cricketer since Garfield Sobers to be named as the world's leading all-rounder.

♦ Jason Holder surpassed Garfield Sobers with 202 not out off 229 balls in West Indies against England match.

♦ India's Kartik Sharma won the New South Wale men's Amateur Golf Championship in Australia.

♦ He won by defeating Australia's Nathan Barberie in the scheduled 36-hole final.

♦The Gurgaon golfer has been playing for India as a part of Nation Squad since the age of 10.

♦ Kartik had also won the Indian golf union western India Amateur Golf Championship 2018

♦ Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been reappointed as Regional Director of World Health Organization South-East Asia, for a second five-year term.

♦ Her second term of office will begin from 1 February 2019.

♦ She is the 1st woman to become Regional Director of World Health Organization South-East Asia.

♦ The Southern Railway bagged number one position for cleanliness in the country according to IRCTC Cleanliness Survey.

♦ Duronto trains are the least clean among premium, while Tejas and Shatabdi are the cleanest.

♦ Last year, Southern Railway also had a hike in their gross earning of more than six thousand crore rupees.

♦ Southern Railway also introduced 54 trains in the past four years.

♦ Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated four-lane Cable Bridge named 'Atal Setu' across river Mandovi in Panaji, Goa.

♦ This bridge is 5.1-kilometer long.

♦ This is the third bridge across Mandovi River.

♦ This bridge would overcome the bottlenecks and curb traffic jams at Panaji Circle and Panaji entrance.

♦ South India based private sector lender Federal Bank has appointed Dilip Sadarangani as the part-time Chairman.

♦ He has been in the board of Federal Bank since 2013

♦ The appointment of Sadarangani has been cleared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

♦ Federal Bank is a scheduled commercial bank in India with of 70 years.

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