Week 4 (Sep 22 – Sep 28) (2026/09/22 to 2026/09/28)
Asian equities fell in cautious trade as investors absorbed sharp moves in government bonds and foreign exchange markets, with higher oil prices adding to the pressure. Attention is now fixed on upcoming US labour data, which could shape expectations for Federal Reserve policy and extend volatility across global assets.
India’s finance ministry has asked banks to share feedback on their use of artificial intelligence tools in loan collection, signalling a closer review of how quickly the technology is being adopted and how borrowers are being treated. The exercise is aimed at assessing both operational deployment and customer-protection safeguards, at a time when lenders are increasingly using AI for engagement and repayment tracking, but only a few have moved to conversational AI for collections.
The Indian rupee weakened sharply to 96.3150 against the U.S. dollar, posting its steepest decline in more than two months as rising American bond yields and a firmer dollar intensified pressure on emerging-market currencies. The move comes against a fragile domestic backdrop, with India’s benchmark equity indices enduring their longest losing streak in 25 years, underscoring broad market stress.
The Reserve Bank of India is actively assessing Anup Bagchi as a leading contender for the chief executive role at HDFC Bank, while seeking views from the insurance regulator and ICICI Bank on his suitability. The central bank is examining whether Bagchi’s three-year absence from mainstream banking should affect his return to one of India’s most closely watched lender leadership posts.
A proposed 0.4% merchant discount rate on UPI transactions could generate as much as Rs 15,000 crore in the first year, according to the NPCI chief, reviving debate over how India should fund the fast-growing digital payments ecosystem. The proposal comes as policymakers weigh the trade-off between keeping UPI free for users and ensuring a viable commercial model for banks, payment firms and merchants.
Ixigo’s journey from a travel discovery platform to a full-stack mobility company is increasingly looking like a deliberate capital strategy, not just a product evolution. By building across trains, flights and buses, the company has created a diversified demand engine that can support expansion into higher-value services and new growth bets.
Mumbai’s airport operator has told 46 airlines it plans to reduce international flight slots from October 26, a move that would affect 265 flights and has already drawn opposition from carriers. The proposed cuts, disclosed on Thursday, could reshape winter schedules at one of India’s busiest aviation hubs and intensify pressure on airlines operating long-haul and regional international services.
IndusInd Bank managing director and chief executive Rajiv Anand has said he was informed that his name has been unmapped from the electoral roll, despite holding valid identity documents including a voter ID and Aadhaar card. The development comes as the Election Commission carries out a Special Intensive Revision of voter lists and has extended deadlines for claims in Delhi and Maharashtra.
Visa used its booth at #GFF26 to present a forward-looking view of how trusted commerce and digital payments may evolve across mobility, automotive, and everyday consumer transactions in India. The display underscored the company’s push to position secure, seamless payments as core infrastructure for connected mobility and the broader digital economy.
Japanese government bond yields fell sharply on Friday, with the benchmark 10-year yield dropping to levels last seen in mid-September as global fixed-income markets stabilized. The move came even as inflation in Tokyo continued to firm, reinforcing expectations that the Bank of Japan may still have room to tighten policy further after its recent rate increase.
PSB Bank Chairman Petr Fradkov has described cross-border payments as one of the economy’s most closed and strategically sensitive sectors, underscoring how alternative infrastructure is emerging to keep transactions moving amid global fragmentation. In an interview with RBC, he outlined the operating logic of the A7 international payment system, which functions as a workaround in a market where traditional international payment channels are increasingly constrained.
Keventer Group and the Saroj Poddar Group have launched a Rs 400-crore real estate debt fund aimed at financing projects in Delhi-NCR and West Bengal through a secured lending structure. The sponsors have committed Rs 80 crore to the vehicle and are targeting a gross internal rate of return of 18% to 22%, underscoring continued investor appetite for structured credit in Indian property markets.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has revamped its Document Number Verification System, making the subject matter of a letter mandatory for authentication. The upgrade is designed to help recipients verify physical letters, notices and show-cause notices issued by the market regulator, while aligning the process with Sebi’s E-Office format.
INOX Air Products has filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering, marking a significant step toward tapping public markets for growth capital. The proposed listing underscores continued investor interest in industrial infrastructure businesses tied to manufacturing, healthcare and electronics supply chains.
Karthik Subbaraj’s ‘Dorothy’ is emerging as more than a film release: for many trans activists and queer viewers, it has become a rare mainstream work that reflects desire, vulnerability and social strain with unusual tenderness. As audiences respond strongly, the conversation around the film is widening into a broader reckoning with how Indian cinema depicts queer lives.
The GST Council is set to examine whether an 18% goods and services tax should apply to merchant fees linked to UPI transactions above Rs 2,000, according to a report. The discussion comes as the government prepares to introduce a 0.4% merchant discount rate from October 15, capped at Rs 300, with merchants expected to be able to claim input tax credit on the tax paid.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has notified its Electric Vehicle Policy 2026, setting out a six-year roadmap to expand clean, affordable and weather-resilient electric mobility across the Union Territory. The policy is aimed at lowering transport emissions, improving energy efficiency and building a more reliable EV ecosystem suited to the region’s terrain and climate.
Asset-backed borrowing is emerging as a more visible feature of India’s credit ecosystem, with gold-backed loans leading the shift as households and small businesses look for fast liquidity without liquidating long-term holdings. The trend is being accelerated by digital lending platforms that are making secured credit easier to access, quicker to process and more transparent for borrowers.
Three Indian spacetech startups — TakeMe2Space, SatLeo Labs and EON Space Labs — have launched payloads aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 mission, marking another visible step in India’s growing commercial space ambitions. The flight carried AI computing and Earth observation technologies into orbit, underscoring how early-stage companies are moving from prototype development to in-space validation.
Singaporean collector Peter Lee is drawing fresh attention to Indian textiles, arguing that fabrics such as checks and chintz are not merely decorative objects but records of movement, exchange and adaptation across port cities. His reflections place cloth at the centre of a larger story about how trade routes shaped cultural identity across the Indian Ocean world.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi is scheduled to meet sugarcane farmers on October 12, a development that comes amid renewed pressure on the Centre over cane pricing, arrears and industry distress. The meeting is expected to give farmers a direct channel to press their demands as the government navigates a politically sensitive rural issue with implications for sugar mills, state finances and the wider farm economy.
HSBC Holdings Plc is preparing a sharper expansion in India, planning to increase its branch network by 35% over the next two years as it targets stronger growth in one of the world’s most competitive banking markets. The lender is placing wealth management and transaction banking at the centre of its strategy, while courting affluent clients whose financial lives and business interests span multiple countries.
Indian judoka Inunganbi Takhellambam missed out on a bronze medal after Mongolia’s Anujin Uran-Ulzii produced a controlled and decisive Waza-ari win in a four-minute contest. Uran-Ulzii had already built momentum with two Yukos before sealing the bout with a throw at the 3:06 mark, leaving the Indian fighter to settle for a narrow but clear defeat.
India will launch its 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup campaign against Australia on October 7 before facing Pakistan on October 10 in one of the tournament’s most closely watched fixtures, according to the schedule. The group-stage route also includes Afghanistan on October 14 at Centurion, followed by a meeting with co-hosts Zimbabwe on October 24 at the newly constructed Victoria Falls Stadium.
HDFC Bank has named V.N. Srivatsan, a long-serving ICICI Bank executive, as its Chief Compliance Officer for a three-year term beginning January 4, 2027. The appointment underscores the lender’s emphasis on regulatory discipline, governance depth and continuity in a tightly supervised banking environment.
IndusInd Bank has launched a new banking vertical aimed at Global Capability Centres in India, positioning itself to serve a fast-expanding corporate segment that increasingly needs specialised treasury, employee and cross-border banking support. The move reflects how GCCs are evolving from back-office units into strategic operating hubs with more complex financial requirements.
Hyderabad-based industry leader Anil Reddy Vennam has been elected president of a national plastics industry body, marking a leadership transition in a sector central to manufacturing, packaging, and recycling policy debates. His elevation comes at a time when the plastics industry is navigating tighter environmental scrutiny, evolving compliance demands, and pressure to modernise operations.
The Prime Minister has congratulated India’s women’s hockey team after it secured a landmark Asian Games gold medal, ending a drought of more than four decades. The victory is being viewed as both a sporting breakthrough and a symbolic moment for women’s sport in India, underscoring the growing visibility of female athletes on the international stage.
Anish produced a composed late surge to finish seventh in the final, hitting four of his last five shots and ending with 11 hits from 15 attempts. The result capped India’s campaign with a total of 15 medals, underlining both competitive depth and the narrow margins that separated podium contention from near misses.
The National Payments Corporation of India has clarified that the Goods and Services Tax applied to the merchant discount rate on UPI transactions will not burden small merchants, pointing to the zero-MDR framework for payments below Rs 2,000 and the exemption for merchants with monthly receipts under Rs 1 lakh. NPCI said more than 96% of merchant UPI transactions fall below the Rs 2,000 threshold, limiting the practical impact of the tax treatment on the vast majority of digital payments.
India’s goods and services tax collections rose above ₹2 lakh crore in September for the second time, underscoring resilient domestic demand, stronger import-linked revenues and sustained compliance gains. The latest numbers arrive as policymakers prepare for the next GST Council meeting, where festive-season consumption and rate rationalisation are expected to dominate the agenda.
ixigo has announced partnerships with Uber and redBus to let train travellers book cabs and buses directly inside its trains app, expanding the platform beyond rail discovery into end-to-end trip fulfilment. The move strengthens ixigo’s position in India’s increasingly competitive online travel market by reducing friction at the first and last mile of rail journeys.
India advanced to the Asian Games 2026 final after a hard-fought win over Pakistan, preserving its title defence and setting up a decisive meeting with Malaysia. The defending champions controlled the opening half-hour with authority, though their play lacked the fluency usually associated with a top-ranked side, before doing enough to close out a tense contest.
A fresh dispute over the pace and credibility of artificial intelligence breakthroughs has reignited concern among researchers, even as India’s startup market continues to produce headline-grabbing capital raises. The tension between scientific caution and commercial exuberance is sharpening across both academia and venture capital, with OpenAI’s reported Codex advances and Moneyview’s bumper IPO ambitions symbolising two very different narratives about AI and growth.
SBI Mutual Fund has increased its exposure to Swiggy by acquiring an additional 1.18 crore equity shares through open market transactions, a purchase valued at roughly ₹300 crore. The move signals continued institutional confidence in the food delivery and quick-commerce platform as it navigates a competitive public-market environment and investor scrutiny over growth, margins and path to profitability.
Google’s latest Pixel launch has put a sharper spotlight on the trade-off at the heart of consumer AI: greater convenience in exchange for greater data exposure. As the company expands Assistant-driven features across devices, privacy advocates and market watchers are asking whether the next wave of AI tools is being built with enough safeguards for user trust.
Spiritual guru Kalki Bhagavan was laid to rest in Andhra Pradesh in a ceremony marked by public homage and official representation from the state. Minister for Endowments Anam Ramanarayana Reddy attended as the state’s representative, placing a wreath on the mortal remains and paying tributes.
Gandhi Hill in Vijayawada hosted Gandhi Jayanti observances marked by competitions for schoolchildren, organised by the Gandhi Hill Foundation and the Andhra Pradesh Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi. The event sought to reinforce Gandhian principles among younger students through civic-minded participation and public remembrance.
Navjot Gulati’s ‘Pooja Meri Jaan’ arrives as a socially aware drama that examines the fallout when a young woman refuses to conform to male expectation. The film has clear intent and several sharp observations, but its execution often feels too restrained to fully land its critique, leaving Mrunal Thakur to carry much of the emotional burden.
Kerala Minister O.J. Janeesh has accused the CPI(M) of orchestrating unrest as a diversionary tactic, alleging a coordinated political conspiracy behind the violence at a Youth Congress rally in Thiruvananthapuram. He also said his official vehicle was attacked nearly 10 times across Kannur and Kasaragod, underscoring what he described as a pattern of intimidation against political opponents.
India’s women’s hockey team enters the Asian Games with a clear competitive mission: to challenge China’s long-standing regional supremacy and convert recent progress into a statement result. The contest carries significance beyond medals, with India seeking to prove it can sustain pressure against one of Asia’s most disciplined and technically polished sides.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation stone for a proposed global horticulture hub at Madanapalle, a project pegged at about ₹1 lakh crore. Planned in three phases, the initiative is being positioned as a major agri-infrastructure bet aimed at strengthening value chains, storage, processing and export readiness in one of India’s key horticulture belts.
Delhi NCR-based NBFC Seeds Fincap has raised more than ₹100 crore in a Series B round as it looks to deepen its lending technology capabilities and broaden its credit footprint. The funding underscores continued investor appetite for fintech infrastructure and specialised lenders serving underpenetrated borrower segments in India.
India’s manufacturing push is moving beyond capacity expansion toward building domestic supply chains, technology depth and stronger integration with global markets, the Confederation of Indian Industry said as Make in India completes 12 years. The shift is especially significant for automotive, EVs and mobility, where competitiveness will increasingly depend on localisation, innovation and export readiness rather than scale alone.
US equities eased as a fresh climb in Treasury yields pressured richly valued shares and diluted enthusiasm around a resilient software sector. The pullback underscored a market still highly sensitive to interest-rate expectations, even as earnings momentum and artificial intelligence optimism continue to support parts of the technology complex.
Dhanuka Agritech has introduced Wetcit Neo, a biosolution adjuvant designed to improve spray spreading, coverage and absorption in crop protection applications. The launch targets a persistent agronomic challenge: waxy leaf surfaces that can reduce the effectiveness of conventional sprays and limit product uptake.
Indian equities extended their losses as surging US bond yields, persistent foreign selling and firmer crude prices combined to pressure risk appetite across Dalal Street. The Sensex and Nifty have now endured a prolonged decline that market participants say exceeds the severity of the Covid-era downturn in duration, underscoring the strain from a worsening global macro backdrop.
Keralam Minister O.J. Janeesh has accused the CPI(M) of engineering unrest as a diversionary tactic, alleging a coordinated political conspiracy behind the violence at a Youth Congress rally in Thiruvananthapuram. He also said his official vehicle was ambushed nearly 10 times across Kannur and Kasaragod, underscoring what he described as a widening pattern of intimidation in politically sensitive districts.
Jio Financial Services and German insurer Allianz have cumulatively invested ₹640.1 crore in their general insurance joint venture, underscoring a deeper commitment to building out a scaled presence in India’s fast-growing non-life market. The fresh capital signals that both partners are moving beyond intent and into execution as they position the venture for regulatory, operational, and product expansion.
State Bank of India is sharpening its growth strategy around digital banking, customer relationships and long-term trust, according to chairman C S Setty. The lender believes its total business could scale to Rs 200 lakh crore by 2030 as it marks its platinum jubilee, even as it stresses that technology must be matched by stronger customer protection.