The news that matters from across Bharat, good and bad
Welcome to Today’s Bharat. Here is what you need to know this week, in five minutes.
1. Retail inflation crosses the RBI’s 6% limit
Retail inflation rose to 6.09 per cent in October from 5.54 per cent in September, the highest since October 2024, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Thursday. That takes it above the upper end of the RBI’s 2 to 6 per cent tolerance band.
Food drove most of the rise. Food inflation climbed to 8.94 per cent, and onion prices were up 116.22 per cent from a year ago, with garlic, ginger and lemon also sharply higher. Rural inflation, at 6.63 per cent, ran ahead of urban inflation at 5.41 per cent. The RBI raised its repo rate to 5.50 per cent in October, and its next policy meeting is on December 2 to 4.
2. Delhi’s air slips back into the ‘severe’ zone
Delhi’s Air Quality Index stood at 419 on Friday morning, in the ‘severe’ category, with 33 of the city’s 58 monitoring stations recording severe air, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. Noida averaged 474, while Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida were in the ‘very poor’ range.
GRAP Stage III restrictions have been in force across Delhi-NCR since November 6. The IMD expects air quality to stay between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ until November 16, with better winds possibly bringing some relief after that.
3. Stand-Up India loans extended for five more years
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday extended the Stand-Up India Scheme until March 31, 2031, with a credit guarantee corpus of ₹4,111 crore. The scheme helps women and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs start new businesses, with loans above ₹10 lakh and up to ₹1 crore in manufacturing, services, trading and agriculture-allied activities.
The guarantee covers 85 per cent of the loan amount, and the guarantee fee has been set at 0.5 per cent. The government aims to reach at least 2.5 lakh more entrepreneurs over five years; since its launch in April 2016, the scheme has facilitated loans to more than 2.75 lakh people.
A loan can open a shop. Customers are what keep it open. Many new businesses, from tailoring units to tuition centres, still depend on word of mouth to be found.
OpenMap gives local businesses, tutors, coaches and trainers their own page and AI agent, so people (and the AI assistants they use) can find them and send them requests. It is launching in London first.
If you know small business owners, tutors, coaches or trainers, in London or wherever your circle reaches, you can help them get found. Become an OpenMap partner
4. WHO report: TB deaths in India down 38% since 2015
India’s estimated tuberculosis death rate fell from 28 per lakh people in 2015 to 18 per lakh in 2025, a 38 per cent drop, according to the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2026 released on Thursday. The global decline over the same period was 35 per cent. The health ministry also cited a 94 per cent treatment success rate for drug-susceptible TB.
The ministry said more than 25 crore people have been brought into screening since December 2024, with over 11 crore chest X-rays leading to 48.64 lakh new cases being found, nearly 15 lakh of them without symptoms.
5. Low-pressure area forms in the Bay of Bengal
A low-pressure area formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal early on Friday and is likely to strengthen into a depression by November 15, the IMD said. It is expected to move northwest and become a well-marked low-pressure area around November 14.
Squally weather, with winds of about 50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph, is likely over the Andaman Sea and southeast Bay until November 16, rising to 55 to 65 kmph over the southwest and central Bay from November 15 to 17. Coastal residents and fishing communities should follow local IMD advisories.
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See you in the next edition.
Team Today’s Bharat