The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may look into the issues raised by stock brokers over the new merchant discount rate (MDR) for large fund transfers via the unified payments interface (UPI), Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Thursday.

The US House of Representatives passed a bill that would authorise President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russia and steep tariffs on its trading partners in oil and gas, including India and China.

The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, passed by the US Senate last month, was approved by the House in a 262-159 vote on Wednesday evening and will now go to Trump to be signed into a law.

Telangana has been the country's most inflation-hit state in every single month of the year, an unbroken run at number one from January through August, an analysis of data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed. Its rate climbed steadily through the first half — from 4.92 per cent in January to a peak of 6.36 per cent in June — before easing only fractionally to 6.27 per cent in August.

Digital payments platforms like Paytm and Mobikwik saw a sharp rally of up to 7 per cent in intraday deals on Wednesday, as the introduction of a merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI transactions is seen as making the payment business structurally self-sustaining and resilient.

Paytm shares rallied 7 per cent to a fresh 52-week high of ₹1,856.50 on the BSE. Mobikwik stock rose by 6 per cent to ₹214. However, Pine Labs slumped 6 per cent to ₹182 per share.

Flipkart, the Walmart-owned e-commerce firm, said it has created more than 250,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities, including for gig workers, for the festive season.

Nearly 75,000 of these opportunities, close to 30 per cent, are for people entering the workforce for the first time, creating pathways into employment across communities in India.

Calling upon the "Gen Z" and "Gen Alpha" generations to assume leadership and shoulder responsibility, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday urged young graduates to put the nation first and ask what they can contribute to the country rather than asking what the country has done for them.

India's trade deficit eased to $26.86 billion in August from $27.22 billion a year ago and $31.98 billion recorded in July, data released by the Department of Commerce showed on Tuesday.

The trade deficit eased as the growth in goods exports in August outpaced the rise in merchandise imports by a significant margin.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - the country's central bank and banking regulator - has pre-emptively approached ​the courts seeking to be heard in any ​matter filed related to the listing of Tata Sons, a source ‌directly familiar with the matter said.

The move follows the RBI's rejection of Tata Sons' application to deregister as a non-banking financial company (NBFC), a decision that pushes the holding company closer to a stock market listing.

India's payments authority is talking to lenders and payments firms on Tuesday to discuss ​levying charges on large transactions in the world's largest retail ​fast-payment system, three sources familiar with the plans told Reuters.

The consultations ‌come after India changed its payments legislation on Monday, allowing firms to charge transactions of more than ₹2,000 (about $20).

Former President Barack Obama voiced support for federal laws and regulations governing artificial intelligence safety, saying that the technology could unleash “potential catastrophe” if not properly managed.

In a statement Monday, Obama said that AI policy “should be at the center of our public debate” and said that Washington policymakers must “get proactive” in crafting proposals.

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