Financial Markets, Money Market and InvITs/REITs

7 mentions in the news, newest first.

• 2026-09-13

  High Powered Task Force on public examination reforms invites public suggestions ahead of deadline

  India's High Powered Task Force on reforms in public examinations, chaired by former UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani and constituted after the widely criticised leak of the NEET UG 2026 undergraduate medical entrance exam paper, invited suggestions from students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders ahead of a deadline of 13 September 2026. The task force's terms of reference cover the conduct and security of public examinations, examination design and assessment methodology, governance and institutional accountability, and the prevention, detection and redressal of examination malpractice. Its constitution follows the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in Parliament's Monsoon Session to strengthen the parent 2024 Act.

• 2026-09-11

  Net SIP inflows hit a record share of gross investment in FY26 despite account closures

  Net inflows through Systematic Investment Plans reached about Rs 2 lakh crore in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, 56 per cent of the roughly Rs 3.5 lakh crore in gross SIP investments, the highest share in at least three years, according to data drawn from the Securities and Exchange Board of India's annual report. The strong net figure came even as SIP account closures rose during the year, implying outflows of about Rs 1.5 lakh crore did not translate into a sharp spike in redemptions. Mutual fund industry officials attributed the resilience to a growing long term investment mindset among retail investors, with the share of SIP investments older than five years rising to 31 per cent as of March 2026.

• 2026-09-03

  India Post Payments Bank marks 9th Foundation Day, launches DakPay Sound Box

  India Post Payments Bank marked its ninth Foundation Day on 1 September 2026 by launching the DakPay Sound Box, an audio confirmation device that lets merchants verify digital payments as they are received. The bank also introduced a Digital Insurance Technology Platform connecting customers to life, health and general insurance products, and a Digital Mutual Fund Platform for making investments digitally. IPPB, set up as a payments bank under the Department of Posts and launched on 1 September 2018, said it now serves about 13.25 crore customers across India, of whom 77 percent are in rural areas and 49 percent are women. The launches extend the postal network's role in delivering banking, insurance and investment services to underserved areas.

• 2026-09-03

  SEBI's modified nomination framework for demat accounts and MF folios takes effect

  A modified nomination framework from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, notified through a circular dated 29 May 2026, took effect on 1 September 2026. From this date, every new single holder demat account or mutual fund folio must carry either a nominee or a signed declaration opting out of nomination, while joint holdings remain exempt from the requirement. SEBI said the framework is intended to ease the transmission of investments to legal heirs and reduce the pool of unclaimed financial assets sitting in the securities market. The requirement applies to newly opened single holder accounts and folios rather than retrospectively freezing existing ones without a nominee.

• 2026-08-29

  India and Canada reiterate commitment to conclude trade deal by end of 2026

  Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Canadian Minister of Finance and National Revenue Francois Philippe Champagne issued a joint statement on Friday (28 August 2026) reiterating both countries' commitment to conclude the India Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of 2026. The statement, issued after the inaugural India Canada Finance Ministers' Economic and Financial Dialogue in Toronto, said India had expressed readiness to begin negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty at the earliest. The dialogue built on the commitment made by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting in New Delhi in March 2026 to strengthen bilateral economic and financial cooperation.

• 2026-08-28

  UPI completes 10 years, transaction volume up nearly 13,000 fold

  The Unified Payments Interface, launched by the National Payments Corporation of India on 25 August 2016, completed 10 years this week. The Union Finance Ministry said UPI's annual transaction volume rose from 1.78 crore in 2016 to 17 to more than 24,162 crore in 2025 to 26, a nearly 13,000 fold increase, while transaction value rose from about 0.07 lakh crore rupees to approximately 314 lakh crore rupees over the same period, a more than 4,000 fold rise. UPI is now operational in 11 countries, and the International Monetary Fund has recognised it as the world's largest real time payment system by transaction volume.

• 2026-08-18

  NASA invites ISRO to join its Artemis Moon Base programme

  At the 9th India US Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting held at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on 5 and 6 August, NASA invited ISRO to participate in its Artemis Moon Base programme, a lunar South Pole base being developed under the Artemis Accords framework. India became the 27th signatory to the Artemis Accords on 21 June 2023. The invitation comes as India's own human spaceflight programme progresses, with the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission carrying the half humanoid Vyommitra targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, ahead of two further uncrewed flights and India's maiden crewed orbital mission.