Banking Awareness of 19, 20, 21 and 22 November 2025

Topic: Reports and Indices

1. HDFC Bank has come on the top in Kantar’s BrandZ 2025 list of most valuable brands of India.

• HDFC Bank is valued at nearly $45 billion. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), with a valuation of $44.2 billion, comes at second rank.
• Airtel ($ 41.1 billion valuation), Infosys ($ 25.2 billion valuation) and ICICI Bank ($20.6 billion valuation) occupied the third, fourth and fifth ranks respectively.
• The combined value of Kantar BrandZ’s Top 100 Most Valuable Indian Brands reached $523.5 billion in 2025.
• This combined value is nearly 13% of India’s GDP.
• This year's ranking includes 100 brands and overall brand value has grown 6% year-on-year. Total 34 brands increased their value.
• HDFC Bank’s brand value has increased by 377% since release of the first BrandZ India Report in 2014.
• HDFC Bank’s brand value increased about 18% over the past year.
• State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement, Jio, HCL Tech and LIC have also found place among the top 10 most-valued Indian brands.
• Zomato was the fastest-growing brand for the second continuous year.
• It jumped by 10 places to rank 21. It nearly doubled its value to $6 billion.
• Eighteen brands have been included in the Top 100 rankings for the first time.
• These included UltraTech Cement, Hyundai, Westside and Zudio.
• Travel and hospitality brands (Taj, IndiGo and MakeMyTrip) recorded biggest gains with their value climbing 55%, 42% and 45%. Mahindra's brand value increased by 53%.

Topic: Miscellaneous

2. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has made an announcement about establishing a Centre of Excellence for Financial Audit in Hyderabad.

• The Centre of Excellence for Financial Audit aims to promote innovation, research and development in financial auditing.
• Deputy CAG A.M. Bajaj said the centre will act as a national hub for global best practices.
• It will also support skill building and standardised high-quality financial audit methods.
• The Centre of Excellence for Financial Audit is a key institutional effort to promote fiscal transparency.
• The Centre of Excellence for Financial Audit also strengthens the position of CAG as India’s apex audit authority.
• CAG of India K Sanjay Murthy made the announcement about centre during the 32nd Accountants General Conference.
• AM Bajaj, Deputy CAG, noted that the CAG is developing its own Large Language Model.
• This indigenously built Large Language Model is called CAG-LLM.
• Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG):
  • It is an independent authority established under Article 148 of the Indian Constitution.
  • He is appointed by the President of India. He is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department.
  • He is entrusted with the responsibility to audit the accounts and activities of Central, State, and local governments.

Topic: RBI

3. Seven more entities have been added by RBI to its Alert List of unauthorised forex trading platforms.

• The RBI has expanded its Alert List of unauthorised forex trading platforms by adding seven entities/platforms/websites.
• These platforms include Starnet FX, CapPlace, Mirrox, Trive, NXG Markets and Nord FX.
• With these additions, the number of entities has increased to 95.
• These entities are not authorised for forex dealings under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).
• They also lack authorisation to operate electronic trading platforms (ETP) for forex transactions.
• The Alert List also includes entities/platforms/websites which appear to promote unauthorised entities/ETPs.
• It also includes platforms that advertise such unauthorised entities or claim to offer related training and advisory services.
• The RBI said that the list is not comprehensive.

Topic: Reports and Indices

4. The report of the Sixteenth Finance Commission submitted to the President of India.

• The submission of the Sixteenth Finance Commission (XVIFC) Report for the award period 2026-27 to 2030-31 was made to the President of India on 17 November.
• The XVIFC was constituted by the Hon'ble President of India in pursuance of clause (1) of Article 280 of the Constitution.
• The Commission was chaired by Dr. Arvind Panagariya, with members Mrs. Annie George Mathew, Dr. Manoj Panda, Mr. T. Rabi Shankar and Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, and Mr. Ritwik Pandey, Secretary, XVIFC, also accompanied the Chairperson.
• A copy of the XVIFC report was also presented to the Prime Minister and to the Union Finance Minister after the formal submission to the President.
• The XVIFC was tasked with submitting a five-year report starting from April 1, 2026, recommending how the net proceeds of taxes should be shared between the Union and the States and how these shares should be distributed among the States.
• It was also mandated to propose grants-in-aid for states and review the financing arrangements for disaster management initiatives.
• During its tenure, the XVIFC conducted an in-depth analysis of the finances of the Union and States and prepared its report after extensive consultations with multiple stakeholders, including governments, experts, and institutions.
• The final report is presented in two volumes.
• Volume I outlines the recommendations as per the ToR, while Volume II contains the related annexures.
• The report will enter the public domain once it is tabled in Parliament by the Union Finance Minister under Article 281.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

5. India’s total merchandise and services exports increased to 491.8 billion USD during April–October.

• This is an increase of more than 4.8% as compared to the same period in the last fiscal.
• As per provisional data from Commerce Ministry, merchandise exports in this period grew 0.62%. Imports increased 6.37%.
• Non-petroleum exports reached 219.9 billion USD in the first seven months of 2025.
• This is a growth of 3.92%. Total imports for April–October are estimated at close to 570 billion USD (569.95 billion US dollars).
• India’s merchandise trade deficit increased by 41.68 billion US dollars in October.
• This was an increase from 32.15 billion US dollars in September.
• Increase in merchandise trade deficit was driven largely bu a rise in gold and silver imports.
• A growth of 199.2% was registered in gold imports in October.
• In October, merchandise exports decreased by 11.8% to 34.38 billion US dollars on an annual basis.
• Merchandise imports in October increased to roughly 76.1 billion USD. They grew by more than 16 percent over the previous year.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

6. Crop losses caused by wild animal attacks and paddy fields getting flooded will now be covered under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

• Under the revised policy, crop losses caused by wild animal attacks are now the fifth add-on Cover within the Localised Risk category.
• Paddy inundation (paddy fields getting flooded) has been reintroduced under localised calamity.
• The list of wild animals causing crop damage will be notified by the States.
• The States will identify vulnerable districts or insurance units based on historical data.
• Farmers must report losses within 72 hours. They must upload geotagged photos through the Crop Insurance App within 72 hours.
• The expanded coverage under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will be effective from the Kharif 2026 season.
• Farmers suffer crop losses because of attacks by wild animals such as elephants, wild boars, nilgai, deer, and monkeys.
• This is commonly seen in regions near forests, wildlife corridors, and hilly areas.
• Until now, such losses were not covered under crop insurance and were not compensated.
• Inundation during heavy rains and overflowing waterways affects farmers in flood-prone and coastal States.
• The expanded coverage under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will significantly benefit farmers in States reporting high human-wildlife conflict.
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana:
• PM Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana on 18 February 2016 as an insurance service for farmers.
• It replaced earlier two schemes National Agriculture Insurance Scheme and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme.
• This scheme aims to provide a comprehensive insurance cover against crop failure.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. India's core sector output remained stable in October.

• India’s infrastructure output for October was recorded as remaining flat on an annual basis.
• These figures were measured by the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) and released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 20 November.
• The final growth rate for September was revised upward to 3.3%.
• India's four main sectors, including production of fertilizers, steel, cement and petroleum refinery products, recorded positive growth last month.
• Fertilizer production registered growth of 7.4%, while steel output expanded by 6.7%.
• Cement production rose by 5.3%, and petroleum refinery products increased by 4.6% during the month.
• In contrast, coal production declined by 8.5% and electricity generation fell by 7.6%.
• Natural gas production contracted by 5%, while crude oil output dipped by 1.2%.
• The cumulative ICI growth rate for April–October of the current fiscal year was provisionally recorded at 2.5% compared to the same period last year.

Topic: Agriculture

8. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan released the final estimates of crop production for 2024-25.

• He said that a record growth rate of eight per cent has been seen in total foodgrain output in the final estimates of crop production for 2024-25.
• He said that India's total food grain output has seen an increase of more than 106 million tonnes.
• As per Agriculture Minister, rice production in India has been reported to reach at a record level of 1,501 lakh tonnes.
• This is higher than 1,378 lakh tonnes rice production recorded last year.
• A record growth of 46.53 lakh tonnes over the output of last year has been reported in wheat.
• Wheat output last year stood at one thousand 132 lakh tonnes.
• Other crop-wise production details are as follows:
• Nutri/Coarse Cereals and Maize – 639.21 lakh tonnes and 434.09 lakh tonnes, respectively
• Total Pulses – 256.83 lakh tonnes
• Shri Anna (millet) – 185.92 lakh tonnes; Chickpea – 111.14 lakh tonnes
• Moong – 42.44 lakh tonnes; Tur – 36.24 lakh tonnes
• Total Oilseeds – 429.89 lakh tonnes
• Soybean – 152.68 lakh tonnes (Record)
• Groundnut – 119.42 lakh tonnes (Record)
• Rapeseed & Mustard – 126.67 lakh tonnes
• Sugarcane – 4,546.11 lakh tonnes