FDI liberalisation under Make in India expands sectoral access and streamlines investment procedures to boost inflows.
The Make in India action plan designates twenty-one priority sectors for targeted support across policy initiatives, fiscal incentives, infrastructure creation, ease of doing business, innovation and R&D, and skill development, and advances progressive simplification and liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment policy and procedures, opening numerous sectors-including defence manufacturing, food processing, telecom, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, civil aviation, space, private security, railways, insurance and pensions, and medical devices-to inbound investment.

Partial withdrawal under NPS expanded; tenure requirement reduced and capped withdrawals tied to contributions by regulation.
Partial withdrawals under the National Pension System are permitted after a reduced minimum subscription period introduced by the First Amendment to the Exits and Withdrawals regulations; withdrawals are contribution-linked and limited to a capped proportion of contributions standing to the subscriber's account at application, and a ceiling on the number of withdrawals during the subscription tenure is maintained.

Direct Benefit Transfer expands nationwide, ensuring cash transfers directly into beneficiary bank accounts across identified welfare schemes.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has been implemented nationally under the Ministry of Finance OM dated 12.12.2014, covering 366 identified cash schemes/components and channeling cumulative cash transfers of Rs. 2,64,113 crore into beneficiary bank accounts through 2017-18; PAHAL (DBTL) LPG subsidy, extended nationwide in 2015, enrolled 19.88 crore consumers with transfers of Rs. 68,020.35 crore credited to consumer bank accounts since inception.

Microcredit rollout under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana expands nationwide with statewise loan sanctions and implementation measures.
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is implemented nationwide with state/UT-wise reporting of number of accounts and sanctioned amounts for FY 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 (as on 23.02.2018), compiled in an Annexure and aggregated into overall totals. The Stand Up India Scheme's sanctioned loans to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women are recorded though some banks have not reported. Administrative measures include publicity, simplified applications, a Credit Guarantee Scheme, refinance from MUDRA Ltd, a Mudra Nodal Officer and weekly video-conference monitoring.

Geographical indication protection for Araku coffee to secure distinctive market identity and support collective marketing measures.
Registration has been pursued for Araku coffee under Geographical Indication protection to preserve the unique identity of coffee produced by tribal communities in Araku Valley. The Coffee Board's Integrated Coffee Development Project provides financial support for replanting, consolidation, water harvesting and mechanisation, plus technical assistance and capacity building. The Board promotes collective marketing through incentives to self-help groups and grower collectives, develops exclusive logos linked to geographical distinctiveness, and encourages participation in national speciality coffee competitions to enhance market recognition.

Economic growth strengthened as industry, services and government spending signal accelerating activity following structural reforms.
Third-quarter national accounts show year-on-year expansion in GDP and gross value added, with growth attributed to stronger industry and services performance and central government spending. Manufacturing PMI, Index of Industrial Production and consumer demand are cited as corroborating indicators of improving economic activity and sentiment, and the commentary links the uptick to the early effects of structural reforms expected to sustain further acceleration.

Government guarantee expansion enables procurement financing at MSP and fee waiver to prevent distress sales and support farmers.
Approval of an expanded Government guarantee to secure lender credit for NAFED procurement under the Price Support Scheme at notified Minimum Support Price, and a separate guarantee to Small Farmers Agri Business Consortium to meet liabilities and settle claims, provided for a multi year period with waiver of the government guarantee fee to enable procurement finance when market prices fall below MSP.

Employment generation programme continuation extends PMEGP to 2019-20, maintaining credit linked subsidies and targeted support across sectors.
Continuation of the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) for three years to 2019 20 aims to generate sustainable self employment by assisting micro enterprises in the non farm sector through a credit linked margin money subsidy. KVIC is the national nodal agency with KVIBs and DICs implementing at state/district level; district targets and beneficiary focused higher subsidy rates are applied. The scheme operates via an online portal for application and end to end fund flow, and includes reforms such as mandatory Aadhaar/PAN, geo tagging, concurrent monitoring, a second loan upgrade facility, and caps on working capital.

Economic and Trade Cooperation MoU enhances bilateral trade frameworks between India and Vietnam following cabinet approval.
Approval of an international MoU on Economic and Trade Cooperation authorises executive-level engagement to expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two states and enables subsequent diplomatic and administrative steps required for operationalising the cooperation framework.

Action plan for Champion Services Sectors aims to boost competitiveness and exports through sectoral plans and monitoring.
Cabinet approved an Action Plan for twelve identified Champion Services Sectors, directing line Ministries/Departments to finalize and implement sectoral Action Plans with timelines and monitoring under the Committee of Secretaries. A dedicated fund of Rs. 5000 crores has been proposed to support sectoral initiatives, while financial implications for components such as infrastructure and fiscal incentives will be detailed and approved within the respective plans. Ministries must develop sectoral visions targeting achievement by 2022.

Abuse of dominant position triggers sanction and cease-and-desist for unilateral price hikes and unfair payment clauses.
Abuse of dominant position arose from unilateral and arbitrary raising of EWS flat prices without enabling provisions in the Scheme brochure or allotment letter, and from imposing a one-sided penal interest clause on delayed payments without a reciprocal provision for delayed possession; such conduct was treated as abusive under Section 4(2)(a)(i), resulting in a financial penalty and a cease-and-desist direction to prevent recurrence.

Populist policy definition to guide fiscal devolution, with incentives for states that avoid populist spending.
The 15th Finance Commission will define a populist policy for purposes of fiscal devolution and recommend monitorable, performance-based incentives for states that avoid populist expenditures and that expand tax coverage, adopt Direct Benefit Transfer, promote ease of doing business, and manage population growth, while operating under government-prescribed terms of reference and conducting wide stakeholder consultations.

Index of Eight Core Industries shows year-on-year growth, with mixed sectoral performance and provisional data noted.
The Index of Eight Core Industries (base 2011-12) records a year on year increase in January 2018 and positive cumulative growth for April-January 2017-18. Sectoral performance was mixed: petroleum refinery products, cement, electricity and steel showed notable positive monthly growth, while crude oil, natural gas and fertilizers declined; coal rose modestly. The release includes monthly and cumulative indices and growth rates, states recent months' data are provisional, and notes renewable electricity is included and weights are scaled from the IIP.

Bilateral investment promotion strengthens trade and encourages cross border investments across infrastructure, technology and manufacturing sectors.
A government led summit combined a minister chaired CEO roundtable with targeted B2B meetings to promote bilateral economic engagement, surface investment plans, resolve operational impediments and encourage investments in infrastructure, transport, energy, electronics, IT and manufacturing by highlighting domestic reform measures and investment propositions.

Regulatory oversight failures prompt calls for tighter law and stronger enforcement to deter and address large-scale bank fraud.
Inadequate regulatory supervision, deficient internal controls and lapses by auditors and bank management facilitated fraudulent letters of undertaking from a single branch to obtain overseas credit. The commentary stresses regulatory accountability gaps and calls for tightening legal and enforcement frameworks, enhancing regulator vigilance, pursuing fraudsters through criminal and civil processes, and using insolvency and recovery mechanisms to address wilful defaults and recover diverted assets.

Request for Proposal content standards for insolvency resolution invite public comments to strengthen transparency and evaluation clarity.
RFP content standards for resolution plans under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code should provide relevant information consistent with legal limits and clearly articulate the process, evaluation criteria, and timelines to ensure transparent, efficient bidding in the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. Stakeholders are invited to submit comments identifying their name, role, and email to the designated feedback address to help standardise the RFP framework.

Memorandum of Understanding establishes programme-based research support to strengthen collaborative development research and capacity-building.
Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and Canada's International Development Research Centre establishes a framework for programme based research support to address global and local developmental challenges, committing the parties to cooperative research activities and capacity-strengthening across areas such as finance, agriculture, industry and health.

Electoral bonds: purchase and encashment rules confine donations to eligible parties through authorised bank branches.
The notification establishes an Electoral Bond mechanism allowing Indian persons and entities to purchase bearer instruments for political funding, restricts receipt to Political Parties meeting voting-strength criteria, limits issuance and encashment to designated branches of an authorised bank, requires encashment into the party's authorised bank account with same-day crediting, and imposes a short validity period after which bonds will not be paid.

Fiscal consolidation roadmap invites public input on fiscal status, GST impacts, debt and deficit management recommendations.
The Fifteenth Finance Commission seeks public and institutional suggestions to formulate a fiscal consolidation roadmap addressing Union and State debt, deficit and cash balances while promoting inclusive growth; it will assess the fiscal effects of enhanced tax devolution, the Goods and Services Tax (including transitional compensation and abolition of cesses), States' GST expansion, the necessity of revenue deficit grants, revenue mobilisation and non tax reforms such as Direct Benefit Transfers and public finance management, demographic progress toward replacement population growth, and sanitation and solid waste management measures.

NITI Aayog role in national policy expanded to mandate farmer price mechanisms, lessee credit access and a national AI programme.
Budgetary enhancement reinforces NITI Aayog's central policy role with specific mandates to ensure fair farmer prices, enable credit access for lessee cultivators without undermining landowner rights, and to launch a national programme directing artificial intelligence research and applications. The Aayog's remit spans design and implementation support through the Atal Innovation Mission, incubation funding, sectoral policy inputs, state engagement via cooperative and competitive federalism measures, and strengthened outcome based monitoring, evaluation and SDG tracking.