Digital innovation collaboration to prototype and scale cloud and AI solutions for public sector healthcare, agriculture and infrastructure.
NITI Aayog, AWS and Intel have launched an experience studio at the NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center to accelerate sectoral digital innovation by convening government stakeholders, startups, enterprises and experts to prototype, demonstrate and scale cloud, AI, IoT, AR/VR, blockchain, drone and robotics solutions for healthcare, agriculture and smart infrastructure using hybrid physical and virtual workspaces and collaboration with incubation and capacity building programs.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme extension increases collateral-free credit access for eligible businesses with revised percentage caps and deadlines.
ECLGS timeline and disbursement deadlines extended to continue support for businesses impacted by the second COVID-19 wave; NCGTC to issue operational guidelines. Existing ECLGS 1.0/2.0 borrowers may obtain additional credit up to 10% of credit outstanding measured at the revised cut-off. Previously unaided businesses may access up to 30% of credit outstanding, while specified sectors may access up to 40%, subject to a per-borrower ceiling. Incremental support is available where outstanding at the revised cut-off exceeds the earlier reference, all within the scheme's overall guarantee cap.

Regulatory Impact Assessment urged to evaluate costs and benefits of revised Accounting Standards for small companies.
Regulatory Impact Assessment required for revision of Accounting Standards for companies outside Ind AS, after ICAI submitted an Approach Paper and proposed 18 revised ASs. NFRA noted affected entities are mostly privately held micro, small and medium companies with limited public interest and low audit fees, and that many proposed Revised ASs are overly complex for those users. NFRA directs transparent nationwide consultation with preparers and small practitioners, a comprehensive study of compliance costs and capacity versus stakeholder benefits, and reconsideration of the structure, form and content of Revised ASs to align them with the size, commercial needs and compliance capacity of AS Companies.

Cartelisation findings show coordinated price and supply restrictions, triggering penalties and individual liability under competition law.
The Commission found three beer producers and an industry association engaged in cartelisation through price coordination, supply restriction and market sharing across multiple jurisdictions, supported by evidence from searches and lesser-penalty disclosures. The association facilitated coordination; selected executives were held individually liable. Companies received graduated leniency reductions as lesser-penalty applicants, and the order imposed monetary penalties and a cease-and-desist directive for violations of prohibitions on horizontal anti-competitive agreements.

Startup ecosystem promotion through coordinated state initiatives to boost intellectual property, investment readiness, and procurement access.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is coordinating a national week-long initiative with multiple states and union territories to advance the Startup India agenda through events, state policy launches, and capacity-building programs. The activities focus on practical themes-intellectual property (trademarking and patents), investment, marketing, mentorship, regulatory compliance, and public procurement-to equip startups for scaling and to align state-level actions with national startup promotion objectives.

Digital public procurement praised as award winning platform driving transparency, efficiency and inclusiveness in government procurement.
Government e Marketplace (GeM), a 100% government-owned Section 8 Company under the Department of Commerce, operates an end-to-end e marketplace that replaces a fragmented public procurement ecosystem by offering a cashless, contactless and paperless procurement experience. GeM's digital design and business processes prioritize transparency, efficiency and inclusiveness, supported by outreach and training, and have been recognised through international awards and shortlistings for procurement project and supplier diversity initiatives.

Patent fee concession for educational institutions enables reduced official costs to encourage institutional patenting and commercialization.
An amendment to the Patents Rules implements a significant fee concession for patent filings by educational institutions by reducing official fees payable under the Patents Rules, 2003, through the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021, effective 21 September 2021; the reduction aims to remove financial disincentives to patenting institutional research and to align institutional fee treatment with prior concessions extended to other applicant categories.

FDI inflows growth follows policy reforms, boosting equity investments concentrated in automobile sector and select states.
Foreign Direct Investment inflows rose substantially in the first four months of 2021-22 following measures on FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business: total FDI inflow increased 62% year on year and FDI equity inflow grew 112%, with the Automobile Industry the top sector and Karnataka the largest recipient state.

National Single Window System centralizes investor approvals, enabling end-to-end online facilitation and tracking across ministries and states.
The National Single Window System centralizes investor approvals and registrations through an online platform offering Know Your Approval guidance, a Common Registration Form, State registration access, an Applicant Dashboard, a Document Repository and E-Communication, providing end-to-end facilitation, reducing duplication and enabling application tracking; the KYA is advisory only and phased onboarding of central departments and states is in progress following stakeholder consultations and system testing.

Competition approval for acquisition of stake in Gangavaram Port by Adani Ports secures clearance under merger control.
The Competition Commission granted approval under merger control to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Limited's proposed acquisition of a minority equity stake in Gangavaram Port Limited from the State, triggering statutory notification and review; GPL operates a deep water port under a Build Own Operate Transfer concession agreement with an initial concession period and potential extensions, and a detailed CCI order will follow.

Repayment of government securities at par requires bank account details for electronic credit; otherwise tender discharged securities to paying offices.
Repayment of the Government Security is at par on the maturity date with no interest thereafter; if that date is a State holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, payment occurs on the previous working day. Payment to registered holders in Subsidiary General Ledger or by stock certificate shall be by pay order with bank account particulars or by electronic credit. Holders must submit bank particulars in advance, or otherwise tender duly discharged securities at Public Debt Offices, Treasuries/Sub Treasuries or specified bank branches twenty days before maturity to obtain repayment.

Public Stockholding protections sought to safeguard food security, alongside calls for SSM and fair Domestic Support outcomes.
India urged the G-33 to secure a permanent solution to Public Stockholding for food security, finalize a Special Safeguard Mechanism quickly, and achieve a balanced outcome on Domestic Support; members should strengthen coalition cohesion, reach out to like-minded developing groups, and press for a development-centric agriculture outcome with Special And Differential Treatment for developing countries and LDCs.

Laboratory Excellence Award launched to recognise labs meeting national and international quality and safety standards.
Launch of a national Laboratory Excellence Award named for Prof. S.K. Joshi to promote and recognise laboratories, proficiency testing providers and reference material producers in India that demonstrate commitment to national and international quality systems including health, safety and environment. Eligible currently operational testing, calibration and medical laboratories are assessed in separate categories (Testing, Medical, Calibration) with Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies and cash awards. A five-stage Technical Expert Committee process-document evaluation, presentation, site assessment/verification, reference check and jury evaluation-applies. There is no application fee and applicants are directed to the award website for forms and criteria.

Production-linked incentive scheme for white goods expands domestic component manufacturing capacity and incentivizes incremental sales.
The Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for White Goods creates a targeted incentive on incremental sales to promote domestic manufacturing of specified AC and LED components (excluding mere assembly), prioritizing components lacking sufficient domestic capacity. The Scheme covers the majority of Bill of Material items for the products, aims to raise domestic value addition, and sets an application and selection timetable with an incentive period following a base and gestation year, intending to attract investment, scale component production, and generate employment.

Digitisation of tax administration drives BRICS authorities to coordinate strategies for enforcement, service orientation and voluntary compliance.
Heads of BRICS tax authorities met virtually under India's chairship to tackle COVID 19 and digital era challenges by redefining tax administration business processes, prioritising digitisation of tax administration, using technology to combat tax evasion, shifting toward a service oriented model to bolster voluntary compliance, and enhancing preparedness and cooperation; the meeting followed expert sessions and ended with a communique .

Enhanced stakeholder engagement: NFRA finalises conclusions after public consultation supporting proactive engagement with audit and reporting stakeholders.
NFRA identified stakeholder engagement as central to improving financial reporting for Public Interest Entities, issued a Consultation Paper based on a TAC report, received and analysed multiple comment letters broadly supporting proactive engagement, and published its conclusions and the submitted comments on its website to guide implementation of an enhanced engagement strategy.

Financial fraud awareness: common scam tactics and clear precautions to protect money and credentials.
The booklet catalogues major digital and offline fraud vectors-phishing, vishing, UPI request money scams, malicious apps, screen sharing, ATM skimming, SIM swap, QR and QR scan scams, juice jacking, impersonation, lottery and job frauds-and prescribes core precautions: do not click unknown links, never share OTPs/PINs/CVVs, avoid unverified apps or public charging ports, cover ATM keypads, enable two factor authentication, verify lender authenticity and refuse upfront fees.

Household asset and debt profile reveals urban asset concentration and higher rural indebtedness, informing national debt investment assessment.
The All India Debt & Investment Survey (NSS 77th round, reference date 30.06.2018) measured household assets, liabilities and fixed capital formation to produce indicators-Average Value of Assets, Incidence of Indebtedness, Average Amount of Debt and average Fixed Capital Expenditure-based on national sample coverage across rural and urban sectors. Key findings include near-universal asset ownership, higher urban asset values with land/buildings dominating total asset value, greater rural incidence of indebtedness with varied institutional versus non-institutional credit reliance, and reported fixed capital expenditure and bank deposit account penetration statistics.

Minimum Support Price increases for rabi crops raise producer returns and encourage crop diversification and oilseed expansion.
The Cabinet approved increases in the Minimum Support Prices for all mandated Rabi crops for RMS 2022-23 to ensure remunerative prices and encourage crop diversification. The MSPs are differentially raised with the largest absolute increases for lentil and rapeseed & mustard, producing estimated returns over comprehensive cost of production highest for wheat and rapeseed & mustard and substantial returns for lentil, gram, barley and safflower. The revision aligns with the objective of setting MSPs at least 1.5 times the weighted average cost and is supported by complementary schemes including the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm and PM-AASHA (PSS, PDPS, PPSS).

Protection of Genetic Resources agreed with mandatory origin and consent disclosures, advancing coordinated BRICS action on misappropriation.
Ministers endorsed a Framework for Cooperation in Trade in Professional Services to boost domestic capacity, intra BRICS professional mobility and trade in services; achieved first time consensus to jointly protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge and cultural expressions through mandatory disclosure of source of origin and evidence of prior informed consent and access and benefit sharing; and agreed a common action plan to strengthen consumer protection in e commerce while urging a development sensitive multilateral trading system, a permanent solution for public stock holding for food security, and early progress on the TRIPS waiver for health technologies.