Top headlines: RBI setback for Paytm Payments Bank; IRDAI gets a new chief

Here are the top headlines on Friday

RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from acquiring customers, calls for IT audit

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred Paytm Payments Bank from onboarding new customers with immediate effect due to certain supervisory concerns.

The banking regulator said the bank has been directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive System Audit of its IT system. Read more here

Govt appoints ex-financial services secretary Debasish Panda as IRDAI chief

The government on Friday appointed former financial services secretary Debasish Panda as chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Panda's appointment as chairperson of the insurance regulator initially for a period of three years from the assumption of charge, sources said. Read more here

AAP's Bhagwant Mann to take oath as Punjab Chief Minister on Wednesday

Bhagwant Mann will take oath as the chief minister of Punjab on March 16 at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of iconic freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, party sources said on Friday after he met the party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.

On March 13, the party will take out a roadshow in Amritsar. Both the events will be attended by Kejriwal, the sources said. Read more here

Putin says Russia to welcome volunteers from Middle East to fight Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the green light on Friday to bring in thousands of fighters from the Middle East to fight against Ukraine.

At a meeting of Russia's Security Council, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to come to fight with Russian-backed forces in the breakaway Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Read more here