Business, Economy & Banking Current Affairs MCQs

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State Bank of India (SBI) received two awards from Global Finance, New York at the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings 2025: World’s Best Consumer Bank 2025 and Best Bank in India 2025. The recognition highlights SBI’s commitment to innovation, financial inclusion, and customer excellence. SBI serves 520 million customers, adding 65,000 new customers daily. Its digital-first strategy includes the YONO platform, with over 9.04 crore registered users and 10 million daily active users. SBI is the largest commercial bank in India by assets, deposits, branches, and customers.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched HaRBInger 2025 – Innovation for Transformation, its fourth global hackathon. It aims to use emerging technologies to create innovative, secure, and user-friendly financial solutions. The main goal is to protect customer identity and build trust in the financial system. The theme for HaRBInger 2025 is “Secure Banking: Powered by Identity, Integrity, and Inclusivity.”

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 2024-25 census on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) on October 29, 2025. The census covered Indian entities’ cross-border assets and liabilities. Out of 45,702 entities, 41,517 reported Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) in their March 2025 balance sheets. The United States and Singapore together contributed over one-third of India’s total FDI. Other major contributors were Mauritius, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Total FDI stood at ₹68.76 lakh crore, higher than ₹61.88 lakh crore in 2023–24. The share of FDI was 20 percent from the United States, 14.3 percent from Singapore, 13.3 percent from Mauritius, 11.2 percent from the United Kingdom, and 9 percent from the Netherlands.

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On November 7, 2025, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) launched a revamped Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) portal and a new Foreign Venture Capital Investor (FVCI) portal in Mumbai. The portals were inaugurated by Dr. Ruchi Chojer, Executive Director, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), during NSDL’s 9th Designated Depository Participants Conference. The unified digital platform merges FPI and FVCI registrations into a single interface, replacing earlier multiple logins and manual procedures. FPI refers to foreign entities investing in Indian equities, bonds, and mutual funds, while FVCI focuses on venture capital and unlisted Indian startups. The initiative aims to simplify compliance, enhance transparency, and ease market access for global investors.

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India’s unemployment rate declined to 5.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, down from 5.4 per cent in the first quarter. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) reported this based on monthly labour force and unemployment data. Rural unemployment rate stood at 4.4 per cent during July to September 2025. Urban unemployment rate was higher at 6.9 per cent in the same period. Female participation in the labour force rose to 33.7 per cent from 33.4 per cent. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) increased marginally to 55.1 per cent from 55 per cent. The data reflects gradual improvement in employment and workforce engagement in India.

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The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed overall unemployment for 15+ years stayed at 5.2% in October 2025. Urban unemployment rose to a three-month high of 7%, while rural unemployment dipped from 4.6% to 4.4%. Female unemployment fell slightly to 5.4%, driven by a rural decline from 4.3% to 4%. Male unemployment stayed stable at 5.1%, with rural dip offset by urban rise to 6.1%. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) reached a six-month high of 55.4%, rising from 54.2% in June. Female workforce participation (LFPR 34.2%) and rural worker growth drove the increase in Worker Population Ratio (WPR 52.5%).

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The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation launched the National Industrial Classification (NIC) 2025 during the 75th anniversary of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in Udaipur. NIC-2025 is a new six-digit system replacing the five-digit NIC-2008 to classify all economic activities in India. It updates earlier versions from 1962 to reflect India’s changing economy and aligns with the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Revision-5. It adds new sectors like cloud services, blockchain, renewable energy, waste management, platform services, and AYUSH. It also includes new classes for logistics, real estate, food services, and environmental remediation.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced interlinking the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with fast payment systems of other countries to improve cross-border payments. This move supports the G20 Roadmap to make international remittances cheaper, faster, transparent and easier. RBI and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) are working with the European Central Bank to link UPI with TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement), the Eurosystem’s instant payment platform. The UPI–TIPS link will enable cross-border money transfers between India and the European Union, benefiting users on both sides.

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National Industries Research and Development Council (NIRDC), an autonomous body under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, launched InDApp, India’s indigenous digital platform for MSMEs. InDApp is a single-window, integrated platform improving speed, transparency, and efficiency of MSME engagement It provides access to government approvals, real-time market information, financial subsidies, export schemes, technology upgrades, and business opportunities. It combines physical outreach with digital enablement for seamless entrepreneur support. It supports micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across sectors and regions.

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IIT Bombay’s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) has launched India’s first incubator-linked deep-tech venture capital fund, named the Y-Point Venture Capital Fund, with a total corpus of ₹250 crore. The fund aims to provide early-stage risk capital to India’s deep-tech startups, especially those emerging from IIT Bombay and other top research institutions across the country. It will invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies, helping them translate cutting-edge research into commercially viable technologies. The fund plans to support 25–30 startups, offering investments of up to ₹15 crore to each selected company.