Banking Awareness of 20, 21, 22 and 23 October 2025

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. India’s core sector output growth slowed to 3 per cent in September 2025.

• This was a decline from the 6.5 per cent growth recorded in August.
• According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry, production of steel, cement, electricity, and fertilizers showed positive growth during September 2025.
• The combined output of eight major infrastructure industries had grown by 2.4 per cent in September 2024.
• These eight sectors together contribute 40.27 per cent to the Index of Industrial Production.
• The slowdown marked the weakest expansion in three months.
• It was mainly due to reduced production of coal, crude oil, refinery products, and natural gas.
• Fertilizer output growth eased to 1.6 per cent.
• Cement production rose by 5.3 per cent. This was lower than its growth rate in the same month last year.
• Steel production grew by 14.1 per cent year-on-year.
• Electricity generation increased by 2.1 per cent in September.
• During the April–September 2025 period, the core industries expanded by 2.9 per cent.
• This was lower than the 4.3 per cent growth recorded in the corresponding half of the previous fiscal year.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. Retail inflation for agricultural labourers dropped to -0.07 per cent in September 2025.

• This was down from 1.07 per cent in August.
• Rural workers also experienced a decrease in retail inflation. It fell to 0.31 per cent in September from 1.26 per cent in August.
• Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Agricultural Labourers fell by 0.11 points to 136.23 in September. For Rural Labourers, it declined by 0.18 points to 136.42.
• In August 2025, the CPI was 136.34 for Agricultural Labourers. For Rural Labourers, it stood at 136.60 in August.
• The Food Index saw a reduction of 0.47 points for Agricultural Labourers. It dropped by 0.58 points for Rural Labourers during the same period.
• Food inflation in September was negative at -2.35 per cent for agricultural labourers. For rural labourers, food inflation was -1.81 per cent.
• These figures come from data collected from 787 sample villages. These villages span 34 States and Union Territories.

Topic: Appointments

3. Justice Prathiba M. Singh of the Delhi High Court has been named chairperson of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Advisory Board of Judges for the 2025–2027 term.

• India’s United Nations Mission in Geneva called her appointment a significant achievement for the country.
• As chair, Justice Singh will lead a panel of international judges. This panel advises World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on judicial matters related to intellectual property.
• She also co-chairs the WHO’s Working Group on Regulatory Considerations on Artificial Intelligence in Health.
• The Advisory Board has ten members, including Justice Singh.
• Justice Singh previously chaired the first Intellectual Property Division of the Delhi High Court during 2021-2022.
• She was recognized among the top 50 most influential intellectual property figures worldwide in 2021 and 2022.

Topic: Appointments

4. Nirmal Kumar Minda has become the President of Assocham.

• Nirmal Kumar Minda is the Executive Chairman of Uno Minda Group.
• Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank, is set to join Minda’s team as Senior Vice-President.
• This appointment is pending RBI approval.
• Minda is known for his pivotal role in shaping the auto industry’s supply chain over the past five decades.
• He has been instrumental in promoting self-reliance in the auto component sector.
• Before his tenure at Axis Bank, Amitabh Chaudhry served as MD & CEO of HDFC Life.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

5. The Centre launched a Rs 600 crore ‘Kapas Kranti Mission’ to promote high-yield cotton cultivation.

• The ₹600 crore ‘Kapas Kranti Mission’ has been launched by the Centre to promote high-yield, long-staple cotton cultivation through research, technological innovation, and extension services
• Farmers in Maharashtra, particularly in Akola, have successfully adopted High-Density Plantation (HDP) methods, resulting in significant yield increases.
• The practices are planned to be replicated in Telangana, with farmers being taken to Maharashtra for first-hand observation, provided with appropriate seeds, and encouraged to adopt HDP techniques.
• A post-harvest exposure visit to Akola will also be organized for Telangana farmers to observe successful HDP practices.
• Currently, about 24 lakh farmers in Telangana are engaged in cotton cultivation, making the State India’s top cotton producer.
• 122 procurement centres are scheduled to open post-Diwali, with committees led by District Collectors to address grievances and prevent exploitation.
• A dedicated mobile application, “Kapas Kisan App,” will also be launched to enable farmers to book slots for selling cotton, avoid middlemen, and ensure transparency and fair pricing.
• A total of 345 ginning centres have been notified in Telangana, with agreements finalized with the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to streamline procurement.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

6. ‘We Rise’ Initiative launched by NITI Aayog and DP World to empower women entrepreneurs.

• On 17 October, NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) and DP World have launched a joint initiative called ‘We Rise - Women Entrepreneurs Reimagining Inclusive and Sustainable Enterprises’.
• The programme has been announced under WEP’s Award to Reward (ATR) initiative, focusing on mentorship, trade facilitation, and strategic partnerships for women entrepreneurs.
• The Statement of Intent (SoI) was signed by Ms. Anna Roy, Mission Director of WEP, in the presence of Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO of NITI Aayog, formalizing the collaboration.
• Under ATR, women-led Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will be identified and mentored to enhance export readiness and strengthen business capacity for global trade.
• DP World will collaborate with WEP to create interventions that will enhance the export readiness of 100 women entrepreneurs, enabling them to meet global trade requirements and strengthen their business capabilities.
• Selected entrepreneurs will also have the opportunity to showcase their products at India Mart in Dubai – a global B2B and B2C marketplace within the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza).
• This marketplace provides Indian businesses access to international buyers.
• With over 90,000 women entrepreneurs engaged on the WEP platform, the partnership represents a significant public-private collaboration to expand trade access and unlock growth opportunities for women-led businesses.
• WEP, which was incubated as an aggregator platform at NITI Aayog in 2018, transitioned to a public-private partnership in 2022.
• It serves as the national aggregator to strengthen India's women entrepreneurship ecosystem and make women-led growth a reality.
• Launched in 2023, the Award to Reward (ATR) initiative institutionalizes WEP's partnership framework by bringing together ecosystem stakeholders to address the specific needs of women entrepreneurs and celebrate their success stories

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

7. The 100th session of the Network Planning Group under PM GatiShakti was convened to assess key infrastructure initiatives.

• These initiatives aim to boost multimodal connectivity.
• The review focused on aligning transportation projects with the objectives of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan.
• The goal is to improve logistics efficiency across the country.
• Five major proposals were examined during the session.
• These included two railway lines, two highway upgrades, and one metro expansion project.
• One proposal is the planned quadrupling of the Hosapete–Ballari railway line in Karnataka.
• Another is the doubling of the Gondia–Jabalpur route, which runs through Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• Highway upgrades include the expansion of the Mahwa–Mandawar stretch in Rajasthan.
• Another project involves constructing a six-lane elevated corridor between Anisabad and Deedargunj in Bihar.
• The Jaipur Metro Phase 2 project was also discussed. It proposes a 42.8-kilometre north-south line with 36 stations.
• The meeting was led by DPIIT Joint Secretary Pankaj Kumar. It reflected a cross-sectoral approach to infrastructure planning.

Topic: Miscellaneous

8. Google Cloud and AR Rahman collaborated to create AI-powered musical avatars.

• A partnership has been announced between Google Cloud and music composer AR Rahman to develop AI-driven digital music avatars under the project Secret Mountain.
• The collaboration has been designed to leverage Google Cloud’s AI models and infrastructure to power hyper-realistic, AI-generated ‘synthetic avatars’ for immersive music and storytelling experiences.
• Secret Mountain is conceptualised as an immersive entertainment venture that creates digital avatars capable of moving, expressing, and performing like real humans in real time.
• The project features a culturally diverse lineup of six metahuman avatars, including Cara (Irish singer-songwriter), Zen Tam (Tamil rapper), and Blessing (African percussionist and vocalist).
• Google Cloud’s advanced tools, such as ITS Veo 3, will be used for avatar embodiment and video generation, while Imagen with Gemini Flash 2.5 Image (Nano Banana) will handle high-quality visual creation.
• The avatars’ intelligence and interactive abilities will be powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro, trained on custom datasets to act as a multimodal “conversational brain” for real-time engagement with fans.
• AR Rahman said that Secret Mountain aims to reimagine the fusion of music, storytelling, and technology, creating new forms of audience interaction.