Business, Economy & Banking Current Affairs MCQs

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Recently, Mumbai International Cruise Terminal (MICT), India’s largest world-class cruise terminal, was inaugurated. It is developed under the Cruise Bharat Mission 2024 to promote India as a top global cruise destination. Cruise Bharat Mission aims to double cruise passenger traffic by 2029 and cruise ship calls from 254 in 2024 to 500 by 2030. The mission supports India’s vision to become a global hub for cruise tourism. It will be implemented in three phases from 2024 to 2029. MICT is a key step in enhancing infrastructure and boosting the cruise tourism economy in India.

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The State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public sector bank, has launched the ‘Grahak Mitras’ initiative. It is a customer-friendly step taken to reduce crowding in bank branches and encourage digital banking. Trained staff known as Grahak Mitras will be deployed to help customers with banking services. These personnel come from SBI’s subsidiary called State Bank Operations Support Services (SBOSS). They will assist customers across nearly 4,500 branches across India. This move is aimed at improving customer experience and speeding up basic services in busy bank locations.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory for all banks, financial institutions, and regulated entities to submit applications through the PRAVAAH portal from May 1, 2025. PRAVAAH stands for Platform for Regulatory Application, Validation, and Authorization. It is a secure, web-based digital portal launched by RBI on May 28, 2024. The portal serves as a single-window system for applying for RBI permissions, licenses, and approvals. This step aims to improve transparency, reduce paperwork, and speed up the approval process. It ensures faster communication between applicants and the RBI.

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Tunnel No. 8 (T-8) is set to become India’s longest railway tunnel at 14.57 km, overtaking Tunnel No. 50 (T-50), which is 12.77 km long on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link. It is part of the Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Broad Gauge Rail Link Project in Uttarakhand. T-8 is a twin tunnel located on the Devprayag–Janasu stretch of this 125-km rail line. The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Broad Gauge Rail Link Project is being implemented by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways.

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The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched the “Niveshak Shivir” initiative to help investors reclaim unclaimed dividends and shares. This nationwide program offers direct support to investors, making it easier to recover unclaimed assets. IEPFA provides a digital tool for tracking shares and filing claims. The initiative includes on-ground helpdesks for investors to interact with company representatives. It aims to reduce reliance on intermediaries, increase transparency, and improve financial literacy. The program also speeds up the resolution of investor grievances.

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Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced on July 1, 2017, to simplify and unify India’s complex tax system. It merged multiple central and state taxes into a single tax, making compliance easier and improving transparency. In 2024, India’s total GST revenue collection reached ₹21.36 lakh crore, the highest since the GST launch, showing an 8.86% rise from the previous year. In April 2025, gross GST revenue was ₹2.36 lakh crore, marking a 12.6% year-on-year growth, as per the Ministry of Finance. Maharashtra topped GST collections for FY 2024 and April 2025 but saw slower growth at 11% in April. Gujarat showed the highest growth, with a 13% rise and ₹14,970 crore collection in April 2025. Gujarat’s total GST revenue for FY 2024–25 stood at ₹1.74 lakh crore, the highest ever, according to GST Council data shared via Forbes.

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Recently, Google launched the AI First India 2025 Startup Accelerator to support AI-based startups in India. The program is designed for startups in the Seed to Series A funding stages. It focuses on emerging areas like Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Multimodal Artificial Intelligence (AI). Selected startups will get mentorship from Google experts and access to Cloud Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). They will also receive advanced AI development tools and help in using AI models like Gemini and Gemma. This initiative highlights Google’s strong commitment to building innovation and AI talent in India’s technology ecosystem.

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The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, launched the first cluster of Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) testbeds in India. The focus is on the cement sector, a major carbon emitter, supporting India’s net-zero goal by reducing emissions in hard-to-abate industries like cement, steel, and chemicals. Five testbeds have been set up with leading institutions and companies. This initiative advances India’s climate goals by promoting cutting-edge CCU technologies in key sectors.

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Tamil Nadu has received the highest funds from the Central government under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the current financial year 2025–26. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which is heading for elections, are next in line. Karnataka, governed by the opposition, is also among the top 10 recipients. MGNREGS is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) aimed at providing rural employment with shared funding by the Centre and states. This comes amid political debates over fair fund distribution under CSS. These fund allocations highlight the Centre’s continued focus on rural job security.

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The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) to help detect mobile numbers linked to fraud. FRI is a risk-based system that classifies mobile numbers as Medium, High, or Very High risk based on fraud-related activity. It gathers data from multiple sources like the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), DoT’s Chakshu platform, and alerts from banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platforms. When a number is flagged, FRI uses advanced analysis to assess its fraud risk. This data is shared with financial institutions through the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP). It helps banks and UPI providers take extra steps to protect customers or block risky transactions.