Spain's government has approved an amnesty programme that could allow up to 500,000 undocumented immigrants to regularise their status, positioning the country as a clear outlier against the dominant restrictionist trend across Europe. The programme opens a formal application pathway for undocumented residents, though the article does not specify duration thresholds, eligibility criteria, or implementation timelines in detail. Spain's move is politically significant: most EU governments are tightening border controls and reducing asylum pathways in response to electoral pressure from right-wing and far-right parties. By contrast, Madrid is expanding legal residency access at scale. The practical mechanism is regularisation through application, meaning qualifying individuals gain documented status rather than facing removal proceedings, which directly affects labour market participation, tax contribution potential, and social service access. Observers should watch whether the programme draws political backlash domestically, how the EU responds given ongoing negotiations over migration burden-sharing, and whether the scale of uptake matches the 500,000 projection.
India's government plans to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act to restore UPI merchant discount rates, ending the zero-MDR regime in place since January 2020.
India's government has introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposing changes to payments regulation, income tax, and the Finance Act to attract FDI and support Make in India. The Bill's final shape will depend on parliamentary debate and committee review.
The government's Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposes to replace the blanket UPI MDR ban with a system allowing the Centre to notify which payment modes stay fee-free.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Rs 5,000 crore Bhogapuram greenfield airport in Andhra Pradesh, built under a public-private partnership model. He also laid foundation stones for infrastructure projects worth nearly Rs 18,000 crore in the state, signalling a broad investment push for the region.
