Economy & Business Highlights
The Indian rupee experienced a significant depreciation, falling past the psychologically crucial ā¹90 mark against the US dollar, its weakest level ever. This decline is attributed to persistent foreign portfolio investment (FPI) outflows, a widening trade deficit, and strong dollar demand, leading to concerns about increased imported inflation and costlier commodities.
Despite the currency's performance, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conveyed a confident outlook on the Indian economy. The RBI cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25% to further stimulate economic momentum. The central bank also revised its GDP growth projection for FY2025-26 upwards to 7.3% from an earlier 6.8%, driven by robust domestic consumption and infrastructure spending. India's economy grew by an impressive 8.2% in the second quarter of the current financial year. RBI Governor termed the current economic phase a "Goldilocks moment," characterized by strong growth and comfortably low inflation, which was lowered to 2% from 2.6%.
Looking ahead, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the simplification of customs procedures would be the next major reform agenda for the government, ahead of Budget 2026. In banking news, Fino Payments Bank became the first payments bank to receive in-principle approval from the RBI to convert into a Small Finance Bank (SFB). Furthermore, India's retail Central Bank Digital Currency (eā¹) has seen rapid adoption, crossing 120 million transactions with a cumulative value exceeding ā¹28,000 crore. The RBI also took steps to inject liquidity into the system through Open Market Operations (OMO), purchasing ā¹1,00,000 crore worth of government securities.
International Relations
The 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit concluded, reaffirming the "Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership" between the two nations. Both countries aim to significantly boost bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030, with discussions already underway for a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.
In a move to strengthen economic ties with the West, a US delegation is scheduled to visit India from December 10-12 to engage in discussions on the first phase of a Bilateral Trade Agreement, primarily focusing on tariffs. The long-term objective is to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Defense cooperation continued with the 5th edition of Exercise Harimau Shakti, a bilateral military training exercise between the Indian and Malaysian armies, which commenced in Rajasthan. India and Indonesia also celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations, with initiatives like the "India-Indonesia Defence Industry Exhibition-cum-Seminar" highlighting growing collaboration in defense and maritime security.
Science & Technology and Social Welfare
The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), in collaboration with IBM, unveiled an ambitious roadmap aimed at positioning India among the top three quantum economies globally by 2047. This comes amidst growing public interest in Artificial Intelligence, with Google's top searches in India for 2025 indicating high engagement with AI tools such as Gemini and ChatGPT.
On the social front, India observed the 70th death anniversary (Mahaparinirvan Diwas) of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on December 6, honoring his profound contributions to constitutional governance, social justice, and economic thought. The Lok Sabha also passed the Health Security & National Security Cess Bill, 2025, which introduces a special cess on pan masala manufacturing units to generate funds for public health programs and national security needs.
A debate on "Digital Constitutionalism" was reignited after the government rolled back a directive mandating the Sanchar Saathi app due to concerns over consent, surveillance, and data misuse.
Miscellaneous
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted a one-time exemption from new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules following mass flight cancellations by a major Indian airline. The Ministry of Civil Aviation also intervened by capping airfares and directing the airline to process all pending refunds.