Banking Awareness of 12, 13 and 14 June 2025

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. Retail inflation declined to 2.82% in May.

• This is the lowest level since February 2019.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation dropped from 3.16% in April to 2.82% in May.
• Year-on-year food inflation (Year-on-year inflation rate based on All India Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)) for May was 0.99%.
• Food inflation in rural areas was 0.95%, and in urban areas, it was 0.96%.
• Food price inflation in May was the lowest since October 2021.
• In comparison to April 2025, food inflation has shown a sharp decline of 79 basis point in May 2025.  
• The decline in headline inflation and food inflation in May 2025 was due to falling prices of pulses, vegetables, fruits, cereals, sugar, and eggs.
• In rural areas, overall inflation dropped from 2.92% in April to 2.59% in May.
• Food inflation in rural areas also fell from 1.85% in April to 0.95% in May.
• In urban areas, headline inflation decreased from 3.36% in April to 3.07% in May.
• Food inflation in urban areas also dropped from 1.64% to 0.96%.
• Housing inflation rose to 3.16% in May, up from 3.06% in April.
• The housing index is compiled for urban sector only.
• Education inflation remained almost the same, at 4.12% in May compared from 4.13% in April. This applies to both rural and urban areas.

Topic: RBI

2. RBI has introduced the Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities (STRIPS) for State Government Securities (SGS).

• This applies to SGS with a residual maturity of up to 14 years and a minimum outstanding value of ₹1,000 crore at the time of stripping.
• Stripping is the process of converting SGS’s periodic interest payments into tradable zero-coupon securities.
• These zero-coupon securities usually trade at a discount and are redeemed at their face value.
• SGS will also be eligible for reconstitution, which is the reverse process of stripping.
• In reconstitution, the Coupon STRIPS and Principal STRIPS are combined back into the original security.
• Stripping will only be allowed if SGS meet statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) requirements and are transferable.
• This new STRIPS option for SGS is in addition to the stripping and reconstitution system for Central Government securities, which has been in place since April 1, 2010.
• Market participants with an SGL (Securities General Ledger) account can place their requests directly through RBI’s e-Kuber system.
• Gilt account holders must go through their custodians, who maintain CSGL (Constituent SGL) accounts, to submit stripping or reconstitution requests.
• The custodians will then process the requests via e-Kuber.

Topic: Appointments

3. Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) has recommended R Doraiswamy for CEO and Managing Director (MD) position at Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

• Doraiswamy has been serving as Managing Director at LIC since September 2023.
• FSIB interviewed four candidates for the CEO & MD role on June 11, 2025.
• The candidates included Doraiswamy, Sat Pal Bhanoo, Dinesh Pant, and Ratnakar Patnaik.
• After assessing their performance and experience, FSIB proposed Doraiswamy for the position.
• The government recently assigned Sat Pal Bhanoo to temporarily hold the CEO & MD duties at LIC for three months, starting June 8, 2025.
• Bhanoo’s appointment will last until September 7, 2025, or until a permanent CEO takes charge, or until further orders.
• Bhanoo took on these responsibilities after Siddhartha Mohanty’s term as CEO & MD ended.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

4. The 29^th meeting of the FSDC chaired by the Union Finance Minister in Mumbai.

• On June 10, the 29th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Mumbai.
• The meeting was attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary and other key FSDC members, including top officials from RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI.
• Issues related to macro-financial stability and India’s preparedness to tackle them were reviewed by the Council.
• Based on the analysis of cybersecurity regulations, sectoral preparedness, and the FSAP 2024-25 recommendations, the FSDC reviewed the need for enhanced cyber resilience.
• A sector-specific cybersecurity strategy for the Indian financial system was considered for implementation.
• The FSDC discussed issues related to formulating strategies for implementing previous decisions and budget announcements, which included:
• Establishing a regulatory framework to assess and enhance the responsiveness of rules and guidelines.
• Reducing unclaimed assets across financial sectors and ensuring timely refunds to rightful owners.
• Implementing common KYC norms and digital onboarding for NRIs, PIOs, and OCIs in the securities market.
• Analyzing financing flow trends to support a higher investment ratio.
• Expanding access to factoring services and promoting the use of account aggregator networks.
• The Union Finance Minister urged the regulators to speed up the refund of unclaimed amounts to the rightful owners by organizing district-level camps in coordination with RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, IRDA, and other agencies.

Topic: Banking System

5. A dividend of ₹8,076.84 crore paid to the government by SBI for the financial year 2024–25.

• On 9 June, a dividend of ₹8,076.84 crore was paid to the government by the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), for the financial year 2024–25.
• The dividend cheque was presented to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman by SBI Chairman C.S. Setty.
• SBI announced a dividend of ₹15.90 per share for FY25, which is higher than ₹13.70 declared last year.
• A dividend amounting to ₹6,959.29 crore had been paid to the government by SBI during the previous financial year.
• A record net profit of ₹70,901 crore was reported by SBI in FY25, reflecting a 16% increase over the previous year.
• In FY24, the bank had earned ₹61,077 crore as net profit.
• Dividends are a percentage of a company's earnings that are paid to its shareholders as a share of the profits.
• The Government of India holds around 57.54% stake in SBI Bank.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. India’s population has reached 1.4639 billion as of April 2025.

• This figure comes from a recent United Nations demographic report.
• The report is titled as “State of the World Population 2025: The Real Fertility Crisis”.
• The country’s total fertility rate (TFR) has fallen to 1.9. This is below the replacement level of 2.1.
• India’s population is expected to keep growing for the next 40 years. It could reach around 1.7 billion before beginning to decline.
• The UN report names India as the most populous country in the world. China, by comparison, currently has 1.4161 billion people.
• India’s Census, which was due in 2021, has been delayed. It is now expected to be completed by March 2027.
• Data from the 2021 Sample Registration System showed a TFR of 2.0. This suggests that India has reached replacement-level fertility.
• The TFR measures how many children an average woman is expected to have in her lifetime.
• A TFR of 2.1 is needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.
• The UN report says the real concern is not the size of the population.
• Instead, it points to the gap between people’s fertility goals and their reality.
• It emphasizes the importance of reproductive autonomy. This means individuals should be free to make informed decisions about having children.
• India still has a large young population. About 24% are under the age of 15. Another 17% are between ages 10 and 19. Around 26% are between 10 and 24.
• Roughly 68% of the population is of working age, between 15 and 64.
• Around 7% of the population is aged 65 or older. This share is expected to rise as people live longer.
• In 2025, life expectancy is estimated to be 71 years for men. For women, it is projected to be 74 years.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. India's digital economy expected to contribute 20% to GDP by 2029-30.

• As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes 11 years in office, India's digital economy is set to become the cornerstone of national growth, projected to account for nearly one-fifth of the country's income by 2029-30.
• The State of India’s Digital Economy Report 2024 revealed that India is ranked third in overall digitalization globally and 12th among G20 countries in individual digital usage.
• In the year 2022-23, the digital sector contributed 11.74% to India’s GDP, amounting to ₹31.64 lakh crore (USD 402 billion).
• This sector was found to be growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the economy, with productivity levels nearly five times higher than in other sectors.
• Under PM Modi's leadership, growth has been led by ICT services, electronics manufacturing, and communication equipment, which jointly account for 7.83% of Gross Value Added.
• Digital platforms and intermediaries contribute an additional 2% to GVA, while digitisation in traditional sectors such as banking, financial services, insurance (BFSI), retail and education contributes an additional 2%.
• Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and global capability centers are expected to drive the digital sector beyond agriculture and manufacturing.
• Platforms and intermediaries in the digital economy are projected to expand at a rate of nearly 30% annually in the coming years.
• In 2022-23, around 14.67 million individuals were employed in the sector, with over 58% working in enabling industries and women increasingly represented.

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. India fell to the 131st position in the Global Gender Gap Index 2025.

• India ranked 131st among 148 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 released by the World Economic Forum.
• A decline of two positions from the previous year (ranked 129) was recorded despite slight improvements in some sub-indices.
• The overall gender parity score for India stands at 64.1%, placing it among the lowest-ranked countries in South Asia.
• An improvement of +0.9 percentage points in Economic Participation and Opportunity was noted, reaching a score of 40.7%.
• In estimated earned income, parity rose from 28.6% to 29.9%, positively affecting India’s economic participation index.
• India’s educational attainment score improved to 97.1% due to increased literacy and tertiary enrollment among women.
• Health and survival metrics also showed progress, especially in sex ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy.
• A decline in political empowerment was reported, with women’s representation in Parliament falling from 14.7% to 13.8%.
• Ministerial positions held by women dropped from 6.5% to 5.6%, contributing to the downward movement in this category.
• Bangladesh emerged as the best-performing country in South Asia, jumping 75 places to reach 24th position globally.
• Nepal was ranked 125th, Sri Lanka 130th, Bhutan 119th, Maldives 138th, and Pakistan 148th.
• Iceland topped the list for the 16th consecutive year, followed by Finland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
• The 19th edition of the report, covering 148 economies, reveals both encouraging momentum and persistent structural barriers facing women across the world.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 12 13 and 14 June 2025