Banking Awareness of 12, 13, 14 and 15 October 2025

Topic: Taxation

1. Net direct tax revenue grew by 6.33% to more than ₹11.89 lakh crore so far current fiscal year.

• This is the second consecutive month of growth in net direct tax collection after a decline lasting three months.
• The growth was mainly caused by double digit growth from non-corporate taxpayers.
• A significant drop in tax refunds is another contributing factor to this growth.
• Non-corporate taxpayers include individuals, HUFs, firms, associations, and other similar entities.
• The government has targeted ₹25.20 lakh crore in direct tax collections for FY25.
• This represents a 12.35% increase over the revised estimate of ₹22.37 lakh crore for the previous year.
• Net corporate tax collections were at ₹5.02 lakh crore between April 1 and October 12.
• This is a slight growth from ₹4.92 lakh crore of the same period last year.
• Non-corporate tax revenue rose to ₹6.56 lakh crore from ₹5.94 lakh crore during the same period in the last fiscal year.
• Securities transaction tax (STT) collections stood at ₹30,878 crore from the ₹30,630 crore collected in the year-ago period.
• Gross direct tax collections, before refunds, totaled ₹13.92 lakh crore. Tax refunds issued during this period dropped by 16%.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. Wholesale price inflation fell to 0.13% in September 2025.

• This was a decline from 0.52% WPI inflation recorded in August. In September 2024, WPI inflation was at higher level of 1.91%.
• The decrease was mainly due to lower prices of food, fuel, and manufactured items.
• Some sectors still saw price increases. These included food manufacturing, non-food items, textiles, and transport equipment.
• Food items overall experienced deflation of 5.22% in September, against the 3.06% deflation seen in August.
• Vegetable prices dropped sharply. Deflation in vegetables increased to 24.41% in September, from 14.18% the previous month.
• Inflation in manufactured goods also eased. It came down to 2.33% in September, compared to 2.55% in August.
• Fuel and power saw a deflation of 2.58% during September, slightly lower than the 3.17% deflation seen in August.
• RBI kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.5% in October.
• Retail inflation, which the RBI closely monitors, also fell to 1.5% in September.
• This is the lowest retail inflation rate seen in the past eight years.

Topic: RBI

3. RBI will combine its current regulatory guidelines into 238 Master Directions.

• This step is aimed at reducing regulatory pressure and cut compliance costs for regulated entities.
• About 9,000 circulars, including previous Master Circulars and Directions, will be withdrawn.
• The RBI has released draft versions of the consolidated Master Directions.
• It has also published a list of circulars proposed for repeal.
• This consolidation is part of efforts to update and improve its regulatory framework.
• The process includes compiling all instructions issued by the Department of Regulation up to October 9, 2025.
• The new Master Directions cover around 30 functional areas. They apply to 11 different types of regulated entities.
• Removing 9,000 outdated circulars will eliminate redundant regulations.

Topic: Appointments

4. Sonali Sen Gupta has taken the role of Executive Director (ED) at RBI from October 9, 2025.

• Earlier, she was the Regional Director for Karnataka at the RBI’s Bangalore office.
• Her promotion has been done after the appointment of Shirish Chandra Murmu as Deputy Governor.
• As Executive Director, she will oversee the Consumer Education and Protection Department.
• She will also head the Financial Inclusion and Development Department, as well as the Inspection Department.
• Sanjay Kumar Hansda returned to the RBI on October 6, 2025.
• He completed his deputation as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director (India) at the IMF.
• Hansda was appointed Executive Director at the RBI on March 3, 2025.
• Currently, he heads the Department of Economic and Policy Research as Executive Director.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

5. Retail inflation was recorded at 1.54% in September, the lowest since 2017.

• India’s retail inflation was recorded at 1.54% in September 2025, marking the lowest level in eight years, as per data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• This rate was down from 2.07% in August, showing a continued moderation in inflationary trends across the economy.
• It was observed that this was the lowest year-on-year inflation rate since June 2017, indicating a strong cooling in prices.
• In rural regions, inflation was reported at 1.07%, while in urban areas, it stood at 2.04%.
• The food inflation rate, based on the All India Consumer Food Price Index, remained negative for the fourth consecutive month.
• Food inflation slipped further into deflation at 2.28%, the lowest since December 2018.
• The food inflation rate for rural areas also declined to 2.17%, while urban areas also witnessed deflation, from 2.47% last month.
• A favourable base effect and a decline in prices of vegetables, oils, fruits, pulses, and cereals were cited as key reasons for the drop.
• The ministry highlighted that the fall in both headline and food inflation reflected improved supply conditions and a stable macroeconomic environment.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

6. Google announced an investment of $10 billion for a data centre and AI hub in India.

• A $10 billion investment plan was announced by Alphabet Inc.’s Google to establish a data centre and AI hub in Andhra Pradesh.
• The project will be developed in Visakhapatnam, marking Google’s largest-ever investment in India’s technology infrastructure.
• A 1-gigawatt data centre campus will be built by Google in the port city of Visakhapatnam, where AI infrastructure, large-scale energy sources, and an expanded fibre-optic network will be combined.
• This initiative comes amid intensifying competition among global tech firms investing heavily in AI-driven data facilities.
• The state IT minister, Nara Lokesh, stated that in today’s world, where “data is the new oil”, such investments give India a strategic advantage.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

7. Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt have received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics.

• They were honoured for their groundbreaking work on how innovation drives economic growth.
• The Nobel committee recognised their efforts in explaining innovation-driven economic growth.
• Joel Mokyr studied historical patterns to understand how societies moved from stagnation to sustained growth.
• He is a Dutch-Israeli-American economic historian based at Northwestern University.
• Mokyr’s work showed how historical conditions allowed technological progress to reshape economies.
• Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt developed the theory of creative destruction.
• They presented this theory in a major paper published in 1992.
• Their model described how new innovations replace older technologies in a continuous cycle.
• This process, they argued, is central to economic progress.
• The Nobel committee said their research changed how economists view innovation.
• It also influenced how governments shape policies on technology and growth.
• Their ideas help explain how to manage shifts from old industries to emerging ones.
• Their contributions have strengthened global understanding of innovation-led development.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

8. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched the Employees' Enrolment Campaign, 2025 (EEC 2025).

• The goal is to expand social security coverage through the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
• The campaign will run from November 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026.
• It follows the success of a similar campaign held in 2017.
• The focus is on employees who joined between July 1, 2017, and October 31, 2025.
• These employees were not previously enrolled in the EPF scheme.
• Both current and new employers under the EPF Act are encouraged to participate.
• Employers are asked to voluntarily declare and enroll eligible employees.
• Only employees who are alive and working at the time of declaration can be enrolled.
• The employee’s share of provident fund contributions for the past period will be waived if it was not deducted from wages.
• Employers must pay only their own contribution for that period.
• Employers who join the campaign will pay a one-time penalty of ₹100.
• Employers who register or add employees under EEC 2025 may also benefit from the Pradhan Mantri-Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana.
• The campaign aims to increase social security enrolment across the country.
• This initiative supports ease of doing business by simplifying compliance and lowering penalties.