Daily Briefing: Key takeaways from RBI reforms; India’s billionaire club

On that note, let’s get to the rest of today’s edition. 👇

• No handshake at Women’s World Cup
• RSS @ 100
• The ‘mute’ diaspora, and more

🚨 Big Story

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s Monetary Policy Committee kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent on Wednesday. The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks, which in turn influences the loan rates and savings interests. Experts had expected the central bank’s cautious approach at a time when global trade tensions and tariff-related uncertainties weigh on India’s growth story. 

The RBI, instead, chose to support growth through more structural routes:

• It has allowed Indian banks to finance acquisitions by Indian companies, expanding the scope of their lending. 
• It has scrapped a decade-old framework that discouraged lending to certain borrowers or above a Rs 10,000-crore cap. 

These moves, among others, allow banks entry into the heart of corporate India. My colleague Siddharth Upasini explains.

Clout: In a fresh push to globalise the rupee, the RBI has allowed authorised banks in India and their overseas arms to lend in rupees to residents and institutions in select neighbouring countries (Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka). It has also expanded the list of currencies for benchmarks. India currently has reference rates with the US dollar, euro, pound, and yen. Crucially, US President Donald Trump has warned BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) against replacing the dollar in international trade. Against this backdrop, the RBI appears to be focused on establishing regional dominance for the rupee.

Outlook: According to RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, a series of domestic reforms, such as GST rationalisation, and favourable monsoon conditions, will offset external headwinds. The RBI has projected a sharp decline in inflation for FY26 to 2.6 per cent.

⚡Only in Express

On edge: Uttar Pradesh has been rocked by violence over the ‘I Love Muhammad’ campaign. Last week in Bareilly, protesters clashed with police after Friday prayers, with authorities alleging stone-pelting and gunfire. Local cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan is accused of “masterminding” the unrest, prompting a demolition drive against his associates. One of Khan’s aides was also shot in an alleged police encounter. The Indian Express’ Neetika Jha visited Bareilly to capture the scenes on the ground. “A palpable sense of unease pervaded lanes and markets,” she writes. Read.

📰 From the Front Page

🤝 The India-Pakistan cricket saga shows no signs of ending. After the Asia Cup controversy, where the men’s team refused to shake hands with Pakistani players, the BCCI has advised the women’s team — set to face Pakistan on Sunday in the ICC Women’s World Cup — to follow suit.

🎧 For more, tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode, where National Sports Editor Sandeep Dwivedi joins the host to discuss the handshake row and the India-Pakistan rivalry. 

DIY: For the first time, protecting India’s monuments won’t be just the ASI’s job. Private players, corporates and PSUs can now fund and directly manage conservation work at heritage sites through the National Culture Fund. The process: Donors pick a monument from an initial list of 250, hire an empanelled conservation architect and engage an implementing agency while ASI supervises. 

A first: This Vijayadashami, 16-year-old Sabari N, a Muslim girl, will don the Krishna ‘vesham’, making her the first from her community to step onto the Kathakali stage in the institute’s 125-year history. Sabari joined the course in 2023, after Kalamandalam opened its doors to girls, and two years of training later, she’s ready to take her debut bow. 

📌 Must Read

Stalemate: The US government shut down at midnight yesterday, leaving around 7.5 lakh federal employees on furlough and throwing public services into limbo. Departments like Defence and Homeland Security soldier on, but most others are stuck.  Who exactly is impacted, what services are stalled, and what does this mean for the economy? We explain. 

RSS @ 100: A newly Independent India was conflicted about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — a debate captured in the opposing views of Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru. Patel’s positive outlook took a sharp turn in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, and he banned the organisation. The ban was later lifted, but the events of those days continue to influence the Sangh’s fraught ties with the Congress. Read Vikas Pathak’s report.

Where’s your voice?: Why are Indian-Americans, with their Fortune 500 CEOs and political clout, silent as Trump targets India with tariffs, visa fees and sanctions? In his weekly column, Shashi Tharoor writes that the community risks forfeiting its “moral voice” by staying mute. Other diasporas lobby, he adds, but Indian-Americans remain caught between success and solidarity, assimilation and allegiance. 

⏳ And Finally…

Confession: As the new daughter-in-law in a lively household where food is the language of love, my colleague Sonal watched herself change – and social media made sure she noticed. Celebrity transformations, workout challenges, botox, and fillers — all packaged as self-love or ‘smart investments’ – can leave the rest of us feeling like we are constantly playing catch-up. Has social media made us obsessed with our appearances? Can we love our body the way it is? Read our latest Fresh Take.

That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Malavika Jayadeep

Business As Usual by EP Unny

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