Business, Economy & Banking Current Affairs MCQs

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The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority has introduced StAR NPS, a new digital onboarding platform for the National Pension System (NPS). The platform has been developed by BSE Technologies Private Limited. It enables fully digital NPS account opening and contribution processing through Points of Presence (PoPs). The platform aims to simplify subscriber onboarding, reduce paperwork, and improve digital access to retirement savings.

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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the North East’s largest organic spice processing unit at Bhoirymbong, Meghalaya. The facility has been established under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCD-NER). It is operated by the Eastern Ri-Bhoi Organic Farmer Producer Company Limited. It is the first organically certified spice processing unit in North-East India.

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National Payments Corporation of India launched Drunix, an open-source blockchain platform. The purpose of this is to build and scale tokenisation platforms, support digital asset ecosystems and enable multi-organisation blockchain networks. Drunix is a high-performance distributed ledger platform designed for enterprise and public infrastructure adoption. Drunix is NPCI’s second major open-source blockchain contribution after Falcon.

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The Union Cabinet approved an additional ₹30,000 crore investment in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). NIIF is a Government of India-backed fund created to enhance infrastructure financing in the country.
It is India’s first sovereign wealth fund (SWF). NIIF was registered with SEBI as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) in 2015. It serves as a collaborative investment platform for Indian and international investors. NIIF invests in infrastructure, private equity, and other diversified sectors, including greenfield, brownfield, and stalled projects.

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The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has recently completed a nationwide database consolidation under the CITES project. The Centralised IT-Enabled System (CITES) is a major digital modernization initiative of EPFO. It replaces a decentralised, fragmented legacy system with a centralised national database and automated processing system. The project is managed by EPFO under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. It has been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). CITES aims to allow any EPFO office in India to process any member’s request, removing dependency on regional offices.

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The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched the Amnesty Scheme, 2026 to provide a one-time opportunity for establishments operating exempted Provident Fund (PF) Trusts to regularise their status under the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. The scheme, introduced by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, will remain open for six months from 29 June 2026. The scheme provides relief by waiving certain eligibility conditions, allowing retrospective regularisation, and withdrawing pending assessments related to PF dues, damages, and interest, subject to prescribed conditions.

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As Digital India completes 11 years, eSaras has emerged as a major digital platform empowering rural women entrepreneurs and Self-Help Groups (SHGs). eSaras is a government-backed digital commerce platform developed by the Digital India Corporation (DIC) under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). The platform connects SHGs, women entrepreneurs, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), and producer collectives directly with customers across India.

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Bloomberg introduced the first electronic trade in Indian Government Bonds (IGBs) through its terminal by directly connecting with the Negotiated Dealing System–Order Matching (NDS-OM) platform. NDS-OM was launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for secondary market trading of government securities. It is a screen-based electronic anonymous order matching system owned by RBI that improves transparency in bond transactions. Membership is available to banks, primary dealers, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other eligible entities. The platform allows trading in central and state government securities and treasury bills through direct bids/offers and Request for Quote (RFQ) facility.

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National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) launched Gramodyam, a rural entrepreneurship development programme, on its 45th Foundation Day. The programme is implemented in collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). Gramodyam aims to identify, train, mentor, and support aspiring rural entrepreneurs by providing industry-relevant skills, entrepreneurship training, credit facilitation, market linkages, and mentoring. It seeks to promote sustainable rural enterprises, employment generation, and inclusive economic growth.

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Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) amended its Share Transfer Regulations in 2026. The reforms aim to strengthen transparency, regulatory oversight, and corporate governance in the insurance sector. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) was established based on the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee. The Malhotra Committee (1993), chaired by R. N. Malhotra, recommended opening the insurance sector to private players and creating an independent insurance regulator. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 led to the establishment of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).