Banking Awareness of 9, 10, 11 and 12 December 2025

Topic: Reports and Indices

1. As per NABARD's Rural Economic Conditions and Sentiments Survey (RECSS), nearly 80% of households in rural Indian reported higher consumption during past year.

• This shows increasing prosperity in rural areas.
• The eighth round of NABARD's RECSS shows a broad-based revival in rural demand.
• The survey also provides evidence of rising incomes and improved household well-being during the past year.
• Rural economic fundamentals have strengthened during past year.
• The rural economy has become stronger significantly between September 2024 and November 2025, according to the survey.
• As per the survey, 67.3% of their monthly income is spent on consumption.
• This is the highest share since the starting of survey and driven by GST rate rationalisation.
• Survey shows that thisd demand is not concentrated in specific segments.
• Income growth is at its highest levels since the starting of survey.
• 42.2 per cent of households saw increase in income. Only 15.7 per cent reported decline.
• 75.9 per cent expect higher income next year. Sharp growth has been seen in rural investment activity.
• 29.3 per cent of households have increased capital investment over previous year.
• Access to formal credit has been recorded at a record high level, with 58.3 per cent of households depended only on formal sources.
• Informal credit has been recorded to account for about 20%.
• On average, welfare welfare transfers such as subsidised food, electricity, water, cooking gas, contributed about 10 per cent to monthly household income.
• For some households, transfers account for more than 20%, found the NABARD survey.
• Perceptions of inflation have decreased to the lowest level in a year.
• Average perceived inflation is now 3.77%, below 4% for the first time.
• Rural Economic Conditions and Sentiments Survey (RECSS):
  • RECSS is bi-monthly assessment. It is being conducted by NABARD since September 2024. It provides a detailed year-long dataset.
  • RECSS tracks quantitative data and household perceptions, focusing on income, consumption, inflation, credit, investment, and future expectations.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

2. About ₹2,000 crore has been given back so far to rightful owners as part of 'Your Money, Your Right' initiative.

• Government launched the initiative in October 2025 to help citizens reclaim forgotten financial assets.
• Indian banks have ₹78,000 crore of unclaimed money.
• Insurance companies have about ₹14,000 crore as unclaimed sum.
• Mutual fund companies have around ₹3,000 crore. Dividends worth ₹9,000 crore are also unclaimed.
• Dedicated portals have been created by the government and regulatory bodies to help citizens track and claim funds.
• These portals have also been created to make the reclaiming process simple and transparent. The list of different portals is provided below.
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - UDGAM Portal for unclaimed bank deposits and balances
  • Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) - Bima Bharosa Portal for unclaimed insurance policy proceeds
  • Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) - MITRA Portal for unclaimed amounts in mutual funds
• Ministry of Corporate Affairs - IEPFA Portal for unpaid dividends and unclaimed shares
• Government organised facilitation camps in 477 districts, across both urban and rural areas.
• Coordinated efforts of the government, regulators, banks, and financial institutions have made returning of nearly ₹2,000 crore possible so far.

Topic: Banking System

3. The Banker magazine has recognised Bank of Baroda as ‘Best Bank in India’ at the Bank of the Year Awards 2025 – Asia-Pacific.

• The recognition highlights Bank of Baroda’s efforts to improve customer experience.
• The bank uses phygital branches, combining digital and in-person services.
• Bank of Baroda launched a new advertising campaign featuring Sachin Tendulkar as its global brand ambassador.
• The campaign promotes four retail banking products, which include home loans, car loans, MSME loans via bob Digi Udyam, and the bob Masterstroke Lite Savings Account.
• The new campaign builds on last year’s ‘Play The Masterstroke’ platform.
• The campaign lays emphasis on the importance of making informed financial decisions.
• The campaign begun with a teaser featuring Jatin Sapru (cricket commentator) and Kamiya Jani (media entrepreneur).
• Bank of Baroda was founded in 1908. It is majority-owned by the Government of India (63.97% stake).

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

4. PaRRVA launched by SEBI to verify past returns and curb misleading claims.

• On 8 December, the Past Risk and Return Verification Agency (PaRRVA) was launched by SEBI to improve transparency.
• It is a new verification mechanism designed to authenticate past performance claims made by regulated market intermediaries.
• PaRRVA was operationalised on a pilot basis by Care Ratings in collaboration with NSE.
• PaRRVA will serve as an initial framework that will allow SEBI-registered investment advisors, research analysts and algorithmic stock brokers to present independently validated past returns to investors.
• The move aims to curb misleading claims made by finfluencers and unregistered entities.
• Under the new framework, PaRRVA will operate through a two-tier structure: a Sebi-registered credit rating agency that will function as the PaRRVA and a recognised stock exchange that will function as the PaRRVA Data Centre (PDC).
• Selective disclosure of favourable return periods will not be permitted under the framework.
• A uniform and transparent methodology will be used to independently verify past returns.
• An oversight committee will monitor both the agency and the data center, ensuring that procedures are followed and data privacy is protected.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

5. Anant Ambani has received the Global Humanitarian Award for Animal Welfare.

• He is the youngest and the first Asian to be honoured with this award from the Global Humane Society.
• The award ceremony was held in Washington DC. The award highlights his dedication to animal protection.
• The award celebrates his role in establishing Vantara.
• Vantara is an initiative for wildlife rescue, treatment, rehabilitation and species conservation.
• The Global Humanitarian Award is given only to individuals with global impact on animals and people.
• American Humane is the oldest national humane organisation in US.
• It also runs one of the world’s most rigorous Global Humane Certified programmes.
• Vantara earned Global Humane certification after a comprehensive audit.

Topic: Miscellaneous

6. India’s first incubator-linked Deep Tech VC fund has been launched by IIT Bombay’s SINE.

• India’s first incubator-linked deep-tech venture capital fund has been launched by IIT Bombay’s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE).
• The fund is called the Y-Point Venture Capital Fund. The total corpus of the fund is 250 crore rupees.
• The fund aims to supply crucial risk capital to India's deep-tech startups at early stage of their journey.
• The fund will invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies.
• These companies will be from IIT Bombay and other major research institutions.
• Around 25 to 30 startups will receive support, with investments of up to 15 crore rupees each.
• The fund will target high-impact fields such as AI and advanced computing.
• It will also focus on manufacturing, new materials, space and defence technologies, nuclear tech, climate tech, and healthcare.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

7. The National Handicrafts Awards conferred by the President in New Delhi.

• The National Handicrafts Awards for 2023 and 2024 were conferred by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi.
• The awards were presented to honour exceptional craftsmanship and artistic excellence.
• The handicrafts sector provides employment to over 32 lakh people, mostly from rural areas.
• Women constitute about 68% of the handicrafts workforce, supporting women empowerment.
• The reduction of GST on handicrafts from 18% to 5% has supported the sector’s growth.
• The government has set a target of ₹1 lakh crore in handicraft exports by 2031–32.
• A total of 12 Shilp Guru Awards and 36 National Awards were presented across both years.
• Mohammad Dilshad from Uttar Pradesh won the Shilp Guru award for 2024 in the wood carving category.
• Subhash Arora from Haryana won the Shilp Guru award for 2024 in metal craft category.
• T. Baskaran, Rupban Chitrakar and Baldev Baghmare won National Handicrafts Award for 2024 in the stone carving, painting and tribal artisans catgories, respectively.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

8. An MoU signed between NMDC and IIT Kanpur to strengthen cybersecurity.

• An MoU has been signed between India’s largest iron ore producer, NMDC, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in a landmark move aimed at strengthening industry–academia collaboration.
• The agreement was aimed at promoting digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
• The MoU was signed by senior officials of NMDC and IIT Kanpur in the presence of academic leadership.
• Collaboration will be undertaken in cybersecurity risk assessment and governance frameworks.
• AI and ML integration across NMDC’s operations will be advanced through the partnership.
• Joint efforts will cover security operations, incident response and compliance support.
• Training programmes and capacity-building initiatives will be conducted jointly.
• Research projects and pilot studies will be carried out under the agreement.
• Proof-of-concept digital solutions will be co-developed by both institutions.
• The MoU reflects NMDC’s commitment to becoming a future-ready and digitally robust mining organisation.