Banking Awareness of 22, 23 and 24 January 2026

Topic: Corporates/Companies

1. Receivables Exchange of India Ltd has declared its first-ever interim dividend.

• The dividend rate is 21.6 percent and it has been paid on shares with a face value of ₹10.
• This makes Receivables Exchange of India Ltd (RXIL) the first TReDS platform in India to distribute dividends.
• RXIL is a Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform promoted by SIDBI and National Stock Exchange of India, along with State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank.
• As per RXIL, the dividend reflects financial stability and long-term sustainability.
• RXIL has a network of more than 3,200 buyers and over 70 financiers on its TReDS platform.
• The platform facilitates receivables financing of about ₹12,000 crore every month.
• RXIL started operations in 2016. Since then, it has enabled financing worth more than ₹2.6 lakh crore.
• It has supported over 57,000 MSMEs across the country.
• The platform allows MSMEs to access working capital using buyer credit.
• This reduces dependence on the MSME’s own balance sheet.
• It connects suppliers, buyers and financiers on a single digital platform.
• RXIL turned profitable in 2023 and wiped off accumulated losses in FY24. It reported a strong profit in FY25, which enabled the dividend payout.
• RXIL recorded a net profit of around ₹52 crore in FY25.

Topic: RBI

2. Razorpay POS has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

• Razorpay POS is the offline payments arm of Razorpay.
• The approval allows it to operate as an offline payment aggregator.
• With this approval, Razorpay now holds all three major RBI licences.
• These cover online payment aggregation, cross-border payment aggregation and offline payment aggregation.
• The licence enables it to process in-store digital payments.
• Razorpay secured the cross-border payment aggregator licence in December 2025.
• The new licence supports Razorpay’s offline expansion plans. It allows the company to scale its in-store payment infrastructure.
• Razorpay entered the offline payments space in 2022. The company offers a range of payment hardware solutions.

Topic: Appointments

3. HDFC Bank has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India for the appointment of Kaizad Bharucha as a whole-time director on its board.

• Kaizad Bharucha will serve as Whole-time Director and Deputy Managing Director.
• The RBI communicated its decision on January 20, 2026.
• The re-appointment has been approved for a period of three years.
• The new term will be effective from April 19, 2026.
• HDFC Bank is India's largest private sector bank by assets and market capitalisation.
• In 2025, it became the 10th largest bank in the world by market capitalisation.
• Along with SBI and ICICI Bank, it has been identified as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) by RBI.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

4. C-DOT awarded SKOCH Award 2025 for cell broadcast solution.

• The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has been conferred the SKOCH Award-2025 for its Cell Broadcast Solution.
• The award was presented at the 104th SKOCH Summit held on the theme “Resourcing Viksit Bharat”.
• The recognition has been accorded for C-DOT’s contribution to disaster and emergency communication systems.
• The Cell Broadcast Solution has been developed as an integrated platform for disaster alert dissemination.
• The system brings agencies such as the India Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management Authority onto a single integrated unified platform.
• The solution enables real-time alert generation for weather-related and disaster-management emergencies.
• The SKOCH Award is given to individuals, projects, and institutions for outstanding work in improving governance and development, recognising excellence in sectors including finance, tech, health, and education. 
• C-DOT is a research and development centre under the aegis of the Department of Telecommunications for telecommunication technologies.

Topic: Reports and Indices

5. The Responsible Nations Index launched by India to promote ethical and responsible governance.

• On 19 January, the Responsible Nations Index (RNI) was launched by India as a global framework to assess countries beyond traditional measures of power and economic strength.
• The index has been designed to evaluate ethical governance, social well-being, environmental stewardship and global responsibility.
• The launch event was held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi under the aegis of the World Intellectual Foundation.
• Former President Ram Nath Kovind attended the programme as the chief guest and emphasised ethical governance and inclusive development.
• The index is the outcome of a three-year academic and policy research initiative led by the World Intellectual Foundation.
• Scholarly contributions were provided by Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Indian Institute of Management Mumbai.
• An expert panel discussion on responsibility-led development and global stewardship was organised during the event.
• The panel was chaired by N K Singh, Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission of India.
• The index seeks to redefine national success in an interconnected global environment.
• The programme concluded with the release of the Responsible Nations Index report, initiating a broader global dialogue.
• India has been ranked 16th among 154 countries in the Responsible Nations Index.
• The ranking reflects how responsibly nations use power for citizens, the environment and the global community.
• Singapore was ranked first in the index, followed by Switzerland and Denmark.
• India was placed ahead of major global powers such as the United States and China.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

6. The continuation of Atal Pension Yojana approved by Union Cabinet till 2030-31.

• On 21 January, the continuation of the Atal Pension Yojana till the financial year 2030-31 was approved by the Union Cabinet.
• The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Government funding support for promotional and developmental activities was also extended.
• The move aims to strengthen the sustainability and outreach of the pension scheme.
• Continued support will be provided for awareness generation and capacity building.
• Gap funding will be extended to meet the long-term viability of the scheme.
• The scheme is targeted at workers in the unorganised sector.
• Launched in 2015, APY provides a guaranteed pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 after the age of 60, depending on the subscriber’s contribution.
• Over 8.66 crore subscribers have been enrolled under the scheme as of January 2026.
• The decision supports financial inclusion and aligns with the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

7. The Union Cabinet has approved a ₹5,000 crore equity infusion into SIDBI.

• The objective is to improve the flow of credit to micro, small and medium enterprises.
• The equity support will be provided by the Department of Financial Services in three separate tranches.
• An amount of ₹3,000 crore will be infused during the financial year 2025–26, based on SIDBI’s book value as of March 31, 2025.
• The remaining ₹2,000 crore will be infused at a later stage in two equal tranches of ₹1,000 crore each.
• These tranches will be released in the financial years 2026–27 and 2027–28.
• The number of MSMEs supported by SIDBI is projected to rise significantly from about 76 lakh in 2025 to nearly 102 lakh by 2028.
• The additional MSME support will generate large-scale employment.

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. Abu Dhabi has been named the world’s safest city in the 2026 Numbeo Global Safety Index.

• This marks the 10th consecutive year the city has topped the global safety rankings.
• The 2026 index evaluated around 400 cities worldwide spread across more than 150 countries.
• Abu Dhabi secured the highest overall safety score in the 2026 safety report.
• Abu Dhabi ranked first for overall public safety, including walking alone safely during the daytime and at night as well.
• The ranking consolidates the city’s status as leader in urban security and quality of life.
• Abu Dhabi relies on advanced technologies to enhance public safety and on proactive and well-coordinated policing.
• Community engagement initiatives further strengthen safety across the city.
• Abu Dhabi has held the top safety rank continuously since 2017.
• Numbeo is a crowdsourced database. It is widely used in global cost of living and quality-of-life comparisons.
• Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates.