Descriptive Prep: Brajesh Mohan

AI agents can do your tasks: How, and how much should you let them? 🔍 🧑‍💻 RUNDOWN AI 📆August 17, 2026 at 06:22AM

India’s merchandise exports recorded strong growth in July 2026 despite West Asian disruptions. This reflects diversification of India’s trade geography and shipping routes. Key Data India’s merchandise exports stood at $44.2 billion, up 19.6% year-on-year. Merchandise imports stood at $76.2 billion, up 17.5%. Total exports stood at $80.14 billion, up 13.31%. Total imports stood at $95.16 billion, up 15.83%. The trade deficit widened to $15 billion, compared with $11.4 billion a year earlier.

Sebi is proposing to make it easier and cheaper for investors to qualify as accredited investors (AIs), while significantly widening the pool of investors eligible for the status. Accredited investors are individuals or entities deemed financially sophisticated enough to take on higher-risk investments.

IBC at 10: From Framework to Culture The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was never intended to recover debt or rescue every distressed enterprise. Its purpose was to provide India with a credible mechanism for economic exit, enabling resources to move from failing arrangements to more productive uses. Ten years on, the IBC has substantially changed incentives, strengthened credit discipline and helped unlock value that was earlier trapped in prolonged distress. Its most significant achievement may, however, be less visible: the behavioural change it has induced. Many defaults are now resolved or restructured before formal insolvency because the consequences of default are credible. But the second decade presents important challenges. Time discipline needs to be restored; liquidation must be recognised as a legitimate economic outcome; the Code must remain faithful to its resolution and value-maximisation objective; and stakeholder legitimacy needs greater attention. By M S Sahoo, Former IBBI Chair

India's 2026 population of 142.6 crores is dominated by its younger cohorts Gen Z leads at 26%, followed closely by Gen Alpha at 24% and Millennials at 23%, meaning nearly three-fourths of the country falls under 45. Boomers account for 16%, Baby Boomers 10%, while those above 80 years form just 1% of the population.

What is Sapta Dhara? Decoding the PM Modi’s Independence Day Speech https://www.affairstap.com/2026/08/what-is-sapta-dhara-decoding-pm-modis.html

Why India is struggling to acquire critical mineral assets abroad 🔍 🧑‍💻 RUNDOWN AI 📆August 14, 2026 at 02:59PM

Data centres: The watts and the water  The full version of this column can be read online - https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/data-centres-the-watts-and-the-water/article71335930.ece

Credit Rating Chart. Read here in Detail.

India's Credit Rating by Fitch.

FCRA Bill sent to JPC: What are Parliamentary committees and how do they work? 🔗 #explained_polity #express_explained #fcra #joint_parliamentary_committee

Internet Throttling vs Internet Outage

SEBI Launches GARUDA Green Channel Framework for AIFs. https://www.affairstap.com/2026/08/sebi-launches-garuda-green-channel.html

✅ All in One Regulatory Exam Course 2026 & 2027 ✅ Access ALL COURSES, ALL NOTES & ALL TESTS for ALL Regulatory Exams. ✅ Validity: 365 Days + Extendable upto 6 Months (Till December 2027). Enroll Now: https://courses.edugrade.in/learn/All-In-One-Regulatory-Exam-Couse-BM

RBI Grade A Notification 2026 Expected with 60 Vacancies. Source: Akash Jadhav Sir His information has been genuine and reliable over the years, so you can consider the RBI Grade A 2026 notification to be around the corner. As this examination would be conducted for the first time after a long gap, you should prepare along the lines of the RBI Grade B syllabus. One more thing to keep in mind is that when an examination is conducted for the first time, it often benefits candidates who are already prepared and ready to take the exam. Therefore, instead of waiting for the official notification, it would be better to start preparing now. Along with RBI Grade A, PFRDA Grade A and NABARD Grade A are also expected in coming days. There are chances of some new topics in PFRDA Syllabus such as AI, Marketing etc.

UPI Fee Debate: MDR, Costs and Free Payments, Why UPI Charges May Be Needed? The Lok Sabha passed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 recently, opening the door for banks and payment system providers to charge fees on UPI and RuPay debit card transactions. This sparked fears that merchants would pass the cost on to consumers. Responding to the controversy, the Finance Ministry “categorically” clarified that UPI will remain free for citizens, with only a nominal fee possibly applying to certain merchants. About Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is a fee merchants pay banks and payment processors for using their networks. It has four components: → Interchange fee: paid to the card-issuing bank → Processing charges: paid to payment gateways (RazorPay, PayU, CCAvenue, etc.) → Network fee: paid to payment networks (Visa, Mastercard, NPCI) → Tax: GST paid to the government Since 1st Jan 2020, the government has mandated zero MDR on UPI and RuPay debit card transactions. Other payment modes, however, do attract MDR: → 0.4-0.9% on non-RuPay debit cards, → 1.5-2.2% on domestic credit cards, → 1-1.5% on net banking, and → 3-4.5% on international credit cards. For millions of Indians, UPI has become synonymous with instant and free digital payments. But behind every QR-code scan and bank transfer lies an ecosystem of banks, payment service providers, fintech companies and technology infrastructure that has to be continuously funded. Even the RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra made this point after the August monetary policy meeting. He argued that the cost is already being borne somewhere, often through the wider economy rather than as a visible charge on the person paying. His view is that a user-pays model, where those who use a service fund it, is one honest way to make that cost transparent instead of hiding it in the Budget. The counter-view says UPI is now a public utility, like a road or a bridge, and public utilities are often funded by the state on purpose because the wider gains, in this case less cash, more tax visibility and faster commerce, are worth the public spending. On this reading, the subsidy is not a leak to be plugged but a deliberate investment. Who Pays for UPI Today? Currently Banks and payment processors absorb part of the cost and Taxpayers bear the rest through government subsidy. Under the ‘Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Low-Value BHIM-UPI Transactions (P2M)’, launched in December 2021, the government subsidizes UPI transactions below ₹2,000. This subsidy is capped at 0.15% of transaction value and shared among banks, payment service providers, and third-party apps. Read My Article: UPI Fee Debate Explained: What the New MDR Law Actually Changes, and Who Might Pay. https://www.brajeshmohan.in/2026/08/upi-fee-debate-explained-what-new-mdr.html

RBI Grade B Interview: RBI Functions, FAQs, Initiative, Prudential Norms for SCB, UCB, NBFC Glossary As I have been working on RBI Booklet covering above Areas, Today I have built Online Glossary of Terms which could help revise these topics Quickly. Online version is only for Revision, the Booklet would have detailed explanation on everything. https://www.affairstap.com/p/rbi-functions-faqs-initiative.html Note: Its First version, going forward more details would be added in any Section Required.