Week 1 (Oct 01 – Oct 07) (2026/10/01 to 2026/10/07)
Tamil Nadu batter Andre Siddarth has thrown his weight behind the state’s U-23 side, saying the squad has the depth and discipline to prolong its recent run of dominance. His comments come at a time when Tamil Nadu’s age-group cricket remains one of the most closely watched pipelines in Indian domestic cricket.
Police in Nellore have arrested a man accused of raping a minor girl with a disability inside a place of worship, in a case that has triggered outrage over child safety and the protection of vulnerable victims. Local residents intervened after a call to the 112 emergency helpline, while the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed officials to ensure the girl receives proper care and support.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the state’s guarantee schemes would help shield farmers and low-income households from the economic strain of drought. His remarks frame welfare spending as a stabiliser at a time when rural incomes remain vulnerable to erratic rainfall and crop losses. The comments also underscore the political centrality of direct benefit programmes in the state’s response to climate stress.
Seventeen-year-old Indian archer Kumkum Mohod has emerged as one of the standout names in Nagoya, converting promise into performance on a major continental stage. Her rise has added fresh depth to India’s archery campaign and underlined the growing influence of the country’s youth pipeline in elite sport.
India’s government bond market may be entering a consolidation phase after a strong run, but the broader bullish case remains intact, according to market experts. The benchmark 10-year yield, which spent much of 2015 and early 2016 trapped in an 8-7.5% range before falling below 7% on expectations of easier liquidity, could still move lower if policy support persists.
The user fee collected at Kochi’s Cochin International Airport Ltd. is drawing fresh scrutiny amid questions over whether passengers should continue paying without a clearer long-term infrastructure payoff. Critics argue the levy would be easier to justify if the airport authority were using it to finance a second runway, a project seen as central to future capacity and operational resilience.
India’s trade agreement with the European Union is expected to strengthen exports and create jobs in labour-intensive industries, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, underscoring the pact’s strategic importance for manufacturing and services. She said India has opened 92.5 per cent of tariff lines and about 97 per cent of tariff value under the deal, signalling a broad market-access commitment while preserving room for sensitive sectors.
Credit Suisse economist Neelkanth Mishra said India may be entering a phase where meaningful interest-rate cuts become possible in the coming quarters, with the repo rate potentially falling to a decade low. He added that from December onward, markets could see a broad-based pickup in activity that may lend support to equity indices.
The death of legendary filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao at 94 has renewed attention on one of Indian cinema’s most admired creative partnerships: his enduring association with Dr. Rajkumar and the Rajkumar family. From 'Halu Jenu' and 'Chalisuva Modagalu' to 'Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma,' their collaborations helped shape a distinctive era in Kannada film marked by warmth, musicality, and emotional intelligence.
State Bank of India expects to generate surplus revenue from the new merchant discount rate on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000, citing its scale in card issuance and payment gateway services. The bank will begin charging MDR from October 15 and is assessing how transaction splitting may affect volumes and system behaviour.
The Indian startup ecosystem moved further into a public-market phase in FY26, with 22 new-age technology companies debuting on domestic exchanges as investors increasingly rewarded profitability, scale and operational discipline. The shift marks a clear departure from the capital-intensive growth model that defined the last funding cycle, even as private markets remain selective and valuation resets continue to shape the sector.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav said a new training initiative will prepare 100 young people from Dharmavaram every year for Army and police recruitment. He said the effort has already shown results, with 220 of 236 candidates from the constituency clearing the recent Agniveer recruitment after coaching support.
IndusInd Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rajiv Anand said he was informed that his name had been unmapped from the electoral roll, even though he holds valid identity documents including a voter ID and Aadhaar card. The episode comes amid the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, which has led to extended deadlines for claims in Delhi and Maharashtra.
Delhi have brought Sarthak back into their Ranji Trophy squad, a selection move that underscores the team’s search for balance and form as the domestic season gathers pace. The recall is being viewed as a practical response to squad needs rather than a symbolic gesture, with the management looking to strengthen options in a competition where consistency and depth often decide outcomes.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has named Anup Kumar Saha as its next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, with the appointment set to take effect on January 1, 2027, subject to shareholder approval. The move, following Reserve Bank of India approval, places a long-serving banker with more than 32 years of experience at the helm of one of India’s most closely watched private lenders.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has moved to clarify confusion over the Merchant Discount Rate on higher-value UPI payments, saying the charge is borne by merchants and will not be transferred to consumers. She stressed that the levy is not a tax, cess or surcharge, but a payment-processing cost applied only to certain transactions above Rs 2,000.
Paramount Syntex’s Rs 82-crore initial public offering was subscribed 1.35 times by the second day of bidding on the BSE SME platform, driven overwhelmingly by institutional interest. The qualified institutional buyer segment was subscribed 119.29 times, while retail and non-institutional investor demand remained modest ahead of the issue’s October 6 close.
Excise officials seized 123 liquor bottles from two vehicles near Hyderabad’s airport zone, with consignments traced to Goa and Delhi, in a fresh enforcement action against illicit interstate transport. The operation underscores the continued vigilance of state excise teams around transport corridors that link aviation, road freight, and retail supply chains.
Dalal Street turned into a rare exit route for Indian founders in 2025, when 18 startups listed and collectively drew strong investor attention. But the next phase of the IPO cycle is likely to be more selective, with public-market scrutiny shifting from growth narratives to profitability, governance, and durable unit economics.
The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the registration certificates of five non-banking financial companies, while eight others voluntarily surrendered their licences for a range of business and structural reasons. The latest actions underscore the central bank’s continuing scrutiny of the NBFC sector, where compliance, corporate restructuring and business viability remain under close watch.
Eurozone business activity expanded in September at its fastest pace since April 2023, lifted by resilient services demand and a surge in AI-related investment. But the improvement came with a sharper inflation reading of 3.8%, driven by higher energy costs and reinforcing expectations that the European Central Bank will keep policy restrictive for longer.
Finance teams in startups are moving beyond bookkeeping and month-end reporting into a more strategic role: designing the workflows that shape how money, data, and decisions move through the business. As companies scale, the winners are likely to be those that build connected systems early, reducing manual work and improving visibility across operations.
Three Indian spacetech startups have placed AI computing and Earth observation payloads into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 mission, marking a notable step for the country’s emerging private space sector. The launch underscores how Indian startups are moving from ground-based development to in-orbit validation, a critical milestone for commercial space technologies.
India’s Under-19 side will be aiming to convert promise into control when it faces Australia in the second match of the youth series, with the focus firmly on execution after the opening contest. The visitors are expected to press for a more complete performance across batting, bowling and fielding as they look to seize early momentum in the contest.
India’s hotel industry is seeing an unusually strong wedding-led demand cycle, with bookings now extending into 2027 as families lock in venues well in advance. The surge is supporting room occupancy, banquet utilisation, and food-and-beverage revenues, giving hoteliers a broad-based lift across their core businesses.
The Reserve Bank of India is actively assessing Anup Bagchi as a leading contender for the chief executive role at HDFC Bank, and has sought views from both the insurance regulator and ICICI Bank on his suitability. The review reflects concern over Bagchi’s three-year absence from mainstream banking, even as HDFC Bank has separately proposed Kaizad Bharucha, a move that would require regulatory flexibility on tenure rules.
The Hindu’s Sunday crossword No. 76 has surfaced as a small but notable marker of India’s enduring print-culture habits, underscoring how legacy newspapers continue to command loyalty through intellectual leisure. In an era dominated by algorithmic entertainment, the puzzle’s appeal lies in its discipline, wordplay, and the ritual of Sunday readership.
Cash-flow-based lending is emerging as a critical financing model for new-age sectors such as electric mobility, where conventional collateral is often limited or absent. A senior State Bank of India executive said lenders are deepening their understanding of technology, revenue visibility and project economics to support such businesses more effectively.
The Reserve Bank of India has approved Anup Kumar Saha’s appointment as managing director and chief executive officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2027. He will succeed Ashok Vaswani, with the Kotak board now set to formalise the appointment and seek shareholder approval. The move positions a seasoned financial services executive with deep experience across lending and banking to steer one of India’s most closely watched private lenders through its next phase of growth and regulatory scrutiny.
At Artiform in Mylapore, a new exhibition brings together six Chennai artists whose works treat material not as medium alone, but as memory made visible. Kannan P, Mani Murugesan, Ramki Ravi, Ramesh N, Surya S and Yogeshwaran V use wood, metal, graphite and paper to build an exhibition that is as much about transformation as it is about form.
Balaji Tharaneetharan’s 'Baththa' is a gently observant comedy-drama that turns an encounter between a feared don and a schoolboy into a meditation on innocence, identity and the roles people are forced to perform. The film blends humour, nostalgia and emotional restraint to explore how goodness survives beneath social armour.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav said free coaching will be provided to 100 young people from Dharmavaram every year to help them prepare for Army and police recruitment. He cited the recent Agniveer selection results, saying 220 of 236 candidates from the constituency cleared the recruitment process after training support from local institutions.
The Kerala High Court has sharply criticised the Public Service Commission for failing to cooperate with the investigation into alleged irregularities in the evaluation process for the post of Chief (Industry and Infrastructure Division) in the Kerala State Planning Board. Justice A. Badharudeen orally indicated that the material before the court suggested a larger conspiracy, intensifying scrutiny over the integrity of the recruitment process. The remarks add judicial pressure to a case that has raised serious concerns about transparency in public appointments.
Shares of Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and AU Small Finance Bank rose as much as 4% after all three lenders reported robust September-quarter business updates, with healthy growth in deposits and advances. The market response reflects confidence in loan momentum, even as analysts caution that near-term margins may stay under pressure because of surplus liquidity in the banking system.
Singeetham Srinivasa Rao and Kamal Haasan built one of Indian cinema’s most adventurous director-actor partnerships, repeatedly pushing the boundaries of form, performance and storytelling. From a dialogue-free film to a dwarf protagonist and a single actor portraying four distinct roles, their collaborations turned high-concept ideas into enduring popular cinema.
India’s used-car market is increasingly being reshaped by online platforms that bundle vehicle selection with pre-approved financing, reducing paperwork and shortening purchase timelines. The shift is drawing attention to a more transparent borrowing model, where buyers can compare interest rates, processing charges and eligibility criteria before committing to a loan.
Electrical products maker Biocon Electric has filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering comprising a fresh issue and an offer for sale. The company plans to use the proceeds from the fresh issue primarily to strengthen working capital, signalling a capital-intensive growth phase ahead of a proposed listing on the BSE and NSE.
The Finance Ministry does not expect a meaningful shift back to cash after the proposed merchant discount rate on select UPI transactions, according to sources familiar with the matter. Officials believe the impact will be limited because only a small share of UPI volumes will be affected, while RuPay debit card transactions will remain free and the government will closely monitor any pass-through of charges to consumers.
Indian equities staged a broad rebound on Monday, with the Nifty and Sensex rising 0.60% and 0.66%, respectively, as investors rotated into FMCG and consumer durables while trimming exposure to healthcare and pharma. ITC emerged as the top gainer, while HCL Tech and Asian Paints were among the sharpest laggards, reflecting a market still sensitive to global rate signals, crude oil trends and sector-specific earnings cues.
Sumira Roy’s National Award-winning documentary Bhangaar has emerged as one of the most searching works in this year’s National Film Awards conversation, using the Lavate family’s demand for euthanasia to examine autonomy, ageing and the right to die with dignity. At a moment when India’s elderly population is expanding rapidly, the film has struck a nerve by framing a deeply personal plea as a wider social and ethical reckoning.
The National Company Law Tribunal has admitted Kotak Mahindra Bank’s insolvency petition against Unity Realty and Developers over an alleged default of ₹68.49 crore, marking a significant escalation in a long-running credit dispute. The case stems from financial facilities extended to Unity Infraprojects, for which Unity Realty acted as corporate guarantor, and underscores the continuing stress in parts of India’s real estate-linked borrowing ecosystem.
Ola Electric founder and chairman-cum-managing director Bhavish Aggarwal has pledged a 4.32% stake in the company to finance his participation in the electric two-wheeler maker’s rights issue, underscoring both his commitment to the business and the capital demands facing the startup. The move comes at a sensitive time for Ola Electric, which is navigating a competitive EV market, investor scrutiny and the need to preserve liquidity while supporting growth.
India’s Under-19 side will be looking to convert promise into control when they face Australia in the second game of the series, with the visitors keen to finish the job after a competitive opening contest. The match offers an early test of temperament, execution and adaptability for a young Indian squad eager to build authority against a traditionally disciplined Australian age-group team.
The World Bank has warned that automation could threaten 69% of jobs in India, underscoring the scale of disruption that artificial intelligence and machine-led processes may bring to the country’s workforce. The assessment places India among the most exposed major economies, with implications for wages, hiring patterns, and the future of manufacturing and services employment.
A visit to Flipkart’s automated fulfilment centre in Coimbatore offers a close look at how India’s festival-season commerce is being powered by warehouse automation, inventory discipline and faster dispatch systems. The operation underscores how large e-commerce platforms are using logistics infrastructure to meet a surge in consumer demand while tightening delivery timelines and reducing friction across the supply chain.
Tamil Nadu moved within touching distance of a major title after building a decisive advantage in a high-pressure contest, even as Emanjot Kaur produced a defiant, match-shaping effort for the Rest of India. The contest remained alive through individual resistance, but TN’s superior control across key phases left them firmly in command heading into the decisive stages.
Kerala Agriculture Minister T. Siddique said the second phase of house construction in the Wayanad township project will be completed by October 31, setting a firm deadline for one of the state’s most closely watched rehabilitation efforts. He added that the draw of lots for allotting homes to beneficiaries will be held later this month, signalling a move from construction toward final resettlement.
Navjot Gulati’s ‘Pooja Meri Jaan’ arrives as a socially alert drama that examines the fallout when a woman says no and the men around her refuse to hear it. Led by Mrunal Thakur, the film offers valid, timely arguments about entitlement and consent, even as its execution often feels restrained and emotionally airless.
India’s manufacturing push is moving beyond simple capacity expansion toward stronger domestic supply chains, technology development and tighter integration with global markets, the Confederation of Indian Industry said as the Make in India initiative marks 12 years. The shift, CII said, is central to improving competitiveness in sectors such as automotive, electric vehicles and mobility.
The Confederation of Indian Industry has welcomed the government’s extension of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products scheme, calling it an important signal of policy continuity for exporters. The industry body said India now needs a five-year policy horizon to help firms plan investments, manage costs and sustain export momentum as merchandise shipments rise and the government pursues a $1 trillion export target this fiscal year.