Daily Brief

What changed since yesterday (4-6 items)

March PMI: India’s manufacturing growth slides close to 4-year lows amid rising costs due to Iran War

HSBC’s March PMI data show Indian manufacturing growth slowing sharply from 56.9 to 53.9, with new orders and output expanding at their slowest pace since mid‑2022 amid disruptions from the Iran war, tougher market conditions and broad-based cost inflation in items like aluminium, chemicals and fuel. While firms absorbed much of the cost pressure—keeping output price inflation at a two‑year low—they still increased hiring and export orders rose at the fastest pace since September, leaving overall business sentiment positive but more cautious.

Fe Businesswww.financialexpress.com1 min read

Visa Unveils New Services to Modernize Dispute Resolution Process

Visa has rolled out or upgraded six AI‑driven tools to modernize payment dispute handling, targeting a process that saw 106 million disputes in 2025—up 35% since 2019.

www.socialnews.xyz1m

Watchlist (3-5 items)

Senate wars rumble as Labor slammed for transparency failures

Known: - Coalition and crossbench senators are flooding the Senate with orders for production of documents, which the Albanese government decries as “fishing expeditions.” - Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg says Labor has not complied meaningfully with an order for modelling on its 5% housing‑deposit scheme, accusing it of secrecy and commissioning Treasury work only after announcing the policy. - A left–right alliance in the Senate has already forced release of the Briggs “jobs for mates” report and blocked the government’s FOI bill. - The Centre for Public Integrity notes high non‑compliance and frequent use of public interest immunity, and calls for an independent arbiter; it previously found this government has hidden more information than its predecessor. Unknown: - Whether escalating transparency battles will materially constrain key policies (housing, FOI reform) or primarily generate political pressure without substantive disclosure. - If Labor will accept an independent arbiter model to avoid recurring standoffs, or continue to rely on public interest immunity claims.

nick newlingWatoday1 min read