Banking Awareness of 15, 16 and 17 February 2025

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. WPI based inflation declined from 2.37% in December 2024 to 2.31% in January 2025.

• Steep decline in food prices helped in fall of WPI based inflation in January 2025. 
• January 2025 WPI is more than January 2024 WPI based inflation of 0.33%. 
• Food index inflation declined from 8.89% in December 2024 to 7.47% in January 2025. This was a five-month low level. 
• Vegetable inflation decrease to 8.4%. This decrease was mainly due to fall in tomato prices by 18.9%. 
• Onion inflation increased to 28.3%. Potato inflation increased to 74.3%. 
• Manufactured products inflation increased from 2.1% in December 2024 to 2.5% in January 2025. 
• For April-January 2025 period, WPI inflation stood at 2.22%. 
• Fuel and power WPI remained in deflation, although there was slowdown in deflation. 

Topic: Reserve Bank of India

2. ₹68 lakh penalty has been imposed by RBI on two banks.

• A penalty of ₹68.1 lakh has been imposed by RBI on Nainital Bank and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank. 
• A penalty of ₹61.40 lakh has been imposed on Nainital Bank.
• This penalty was imposed for non-compliance with ‘Interest Rate on Advances’ and ‘Customer Service in Banks’ directions. 
• A fine of ₹6.70 lakh was imposed on Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.
• This was imposed for non-compliance with ‘Loans and Advances - Statutory and Other Restrictions’ directions of RBI. 
• A ₹5.80 lakh penalty has been imposed on Shriram Finance.
• This fine has been imposed for non-compliance with KYC guidelines and credit information furnishing provisions. 
• The penalties will have no effect on validity of transactions between banks and their customers. 

Topic: Reserve Bank of India

3. Registration certificates have been surrendered by 20 NBFCs to RBI. 

• RBI said 20 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) have surrendered their certificate of registration (CoR). 

• These NBFCs include Reliance Commercial Finance and IDFC Limited.
• Two NBFCs surrendered CoR after they exited non-banking financial institution business.
• These NBFCs are Manoway Investments Private Limited and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited.  
• The CoRs have been surrendered by IDFC Ltd, IDFC Financial Holding Company Ltd, and 16 other entities due to amalgamation or merger.
• The amalgamation or merger resulted into their ceasing to be legal entities. 
• The CoR of 17 NBFCs were cancelled by RBI. Their registered offices were in West Bengal. 
• The license of Kamdhenu Finance Company Pvt Ltd has been restored by RBI.

Topic: Banking System

4. RBI has given approval to Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) to establish an IFSC Banking Unit in GIFT City, Gandhinagar. 

• This International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Banking Unit will be Bank of Maharashtra’s first international branch.
• This will focus on offshore banking operations from India.    
• The IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) in GIFT City will provide Bank of Maharashtra access to international financial markets.
• IBU will also provide the bank access to foreign currency funding products for clients. 
• The products like External Commercial Borrowings can now be offered by Bank to its customers. 
• The development of the IFSC at GIFT City was started by government of India in April 2015. 

Topic: Awards and Prizes

5. NTPC Ltd. has won Forward Faster Sustainability Award 2025.

• The company has won award in the Water Resilience category.
• UN Global Compact Network India presented the award to Shri Harekrushna Dash and Shri K Karthikeyan.
• The award recognizes efforts of NTPC in water conservation and sustainable water management.
• Forward Faster Sustainability Awards recognise organizations developing and improving sustainability.
• Forward Faster Sustainability Awards recognise organizations aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• NTPC has become completely sweet water self-sufficient at its RGPPL plant.
• NTPC is India's largest integrated power utility. It contributes to one-fourth of power requirements of India.

Topic: Miscellaneous

6. With $260 million in 2024, Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest-paid athlete on the list of the top 100.

• There are no female athletes on the list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world in 2024.
• Sportico made this list. There aren't any Indian athletes in the top 100.
• Athletes in football, basketball, golf, and boxing top the list.
• Last year, the leading 100 made an estimated $6.2 billion in total income.
• The second-highest earner on the list, Stephen Curry, made $153.8 million.
• Third on the list with $147 million is British boxer Tyson Fury.
• The top 100 athletes are from 27 different countries and compete in eight different sports.
• Gauff was the highest-paid female athlete, earning $30.4 million.
• Jones came in at number 100 with a total salary of $37.5 million.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

7. SEBI launched ‘MITRA’ platform to track unclaimed mutual fund folios.

• The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has launched a new platform ‘MITRA’ (Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant).
• It will help investors to trace their unclaimed or inactive mutual fund folios.
• Many investors have lost track of their investments mainly those made in physical form with minimal KYC requirements.
• SEBI has directed Registrar and Transfer Agents (RTAs) like CAMS and KFin Technologies to associate with Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to launch the ‘MITRA’ platform.
• As per the SEBI, a mutual fund folio will be classified as inactive if no transactions have been made in the last 10 years, but a unit balance still exists.
• The Registrar and Transfer Agents (RTAs) will jointly manage the ‘MITRA’ platform.

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. Mukesh Ambani’s family topped Bloomberg's list of Asia's 20 richest families.

• The Ambani family topped the list of Asia's 20 richest families with a combined net worth of $90.5 billion.
• Thailand's Chearavanont family with a wealth of $42.6 billion is second on the list.
• Indonesia’s Hartono family with $42.2 billion is third on the list. They began the business with tobacco business.
• Fourth on the list is India’s Mistry family, with a wealth amounting to $37.5 billion. The family’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group operates across multiple sectors, including engineering and construction.
• Kwok family in Hong Kong with wealth amounts to $35.6 billion is fifth on the list. They are one of Hong Kong’s largest real estate developers.
• India’s Jindal family takes seventh place, with a net worth of $28.1 billion. It owns famous OP Jindal Group.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

9. Government is planning to revive the idea of Gross Domestic Knowledge Product (GDKP).

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme completed a session on “Conceptual Framework of Gross Domestic Knowledge Product (GDKP) Measurement” on 10 February.
• The government is planning to develop a framework to comprehensively capture the impact of knowledge on economic and social life in the country.
• GDKP will be used to measure and understand the contribution of knowledge-based activities to the Indian economy.
• NITI Aayog had proposed the idea of Gross Domestic Knowledge Product (GDKP) in 2021.
• At that time, National Statistical Commission had pointed out then that the concept note did not provide the methodology for capturing the data and computation of GDKP.
• The National Statistical Commission pointed out that the methodology for capturing the data and computation of GDKP is not clear.
• Currently, all expenditures on Intellectual Property Products (IPP) are recorded under Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF).

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. N. Chandrasekaran has received the “The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire” honour.

• Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran has been conferred with the United Kingdom’s “The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Civil Division).
• It is the prestigious honorary civilian award to foreign nationals. He receives this award for his contributions to UK-India business relations.
• The list of foreign recipients of this British honours includes other notable figures such as Dagmar Dolby, Eric Schmidt, Jason Furman and Rajinder Dhatt.
• The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) is awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions in fields such as the arts, sciences, charitable endeavours, and public service.
• Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been the chairman of Tata Sons since 2017.
• He also chairs the boards of key Tata Group companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, and Air India.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 15 16 and 17 February 2025