Why in News? The Government has introduced a new Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework for UPI, effective October 15, 2026, under which charges will apply to certain merchant transactions exceeding ₹2,000. About the UPI Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) Framework, 2026 The Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is a fee charged within the merchant payment ecosystem for processing digital…
Why in News? The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi from 12–13 September 2026 under India’s chairship, with the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The summit culminated in the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration 2026, comprising 140 paragraphs covering global governance, international peace and security, trade, finance, technology, climate change, health and development. What is it? The 18th BRICS Summit marked the institutional consolidation of the expanded…
Why in News? Ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong proposed the ‘POWER’ framework for a Greater BRICS, emphasizing stronger Global South cooperation, enhanced India-China coordination, and joint efforts on AI and resilient supply chains. What does POWER stand for? P – Principle: Respect for sovereignty, sovereign equality, non-interference…
Published on : 01-09-2026 By : NEWSUPSC Editorial Subject : Indian Economy UPSC : GS III Source : The Hindu Link : https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/what-goes-on-behind-the-screen-when-you-pay-through-upi-explained/article71411087.ece Context: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has further strengthened its position as the backbone of India’s digital economy, processing 2,366 crore transactions worth nearly ₹30 lakh crore in July 2026 alone. About…
Cpntext : The Vice President of India has launched ‘Gnani Artha’, an indigenously developed sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) stack featuring the Evon 3.3 language model and the Plexus agentic AI platform. What is Gnani Artha? Gnani Artha is an end-to-end indigenous sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology stack developed for Indian enterprises and public institutions. The…
Why in News? India and Australia have announced the Australia–India Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS), replacing the 2020 Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation. The new framework seeks to deepen bilateral cooperation in cyber security, critical technologies, resilient supply chains, digital infrastructure, and defence research under the…
