In Tamil Nadu, the 37th edition of the ICT Academy Bridge 2019 conference was held in Chennai with theme "Fostering India for Industry 4.0".

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath launched his government's Rs 50,000-crore farm debt-waiver scheme named 'Jai Kisan Rin Mukti Yojana'. It is expected to benefit 55 lakh small and marginal farmers. The eligibility cut-off date has been extended to December 12, 2018, from March 31, 2018. Only those farmers who have not registered themselves to pay GST and income tax can avail benefits under this scheme.

The Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced various schemes in the Interim Union Budget 2019-20 on February 1, 2019. Government announced fixed yearly income for small and marginal farmers under Pradhanmantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna. This scheme will benefit about 12 crore farmers who have 2 Hectare land. Rupee 6000 per year direct cash transfer in their account. Cash transfer will be given in three equal installments of Rs 2000 each. The benefit under this yojna will be given retrospectively from December 2018. Rs. 75000 crore allotted for this scheme. It is expected to double the farmers income.

As per the World Bank, India's GDP growth is expected to accelerate moderately to 7.5% in Fiscal Year 19-20, driven by continued investment strengthening, particularly private-improved export performance and resilient consumption. The real GDP growth is estimated at 7.2% in FY18/19, the World Bank said in its latest report on South Asia ahead of the spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

For promoting the adoption of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has reduced the transaction fees up to Rs 1,000 by 60%. For UPI transactions up to Rs.1,000, the charge has been cut to 10 paise from 25 paise, and for transactions above Rs.1,000 has been retained at 50 paise. This will help the service provider banks, third-party applications and at the same time will also help the consumers in the long run as more cash backs and incentives can get offered. At present Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe are aggressively promoting UPI by offering case back and other benefits.

All India Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) by NABARD was released. According to the survey; more than 88 per cent of rural householdshave bank accounts. Only about 24per cent of the 88% of rural households use ATM services at least once in three months, 7.4per cent of these households use debit or credit card. 7.5per cent use cheque to make a payment at least once in three months.

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed custodial services in the commodity derivatives market. The move is aimed at enabling the participation of institutional investors such as mutual funds and portfolio managers in the commodity derivatives market. Under the new framework, existing custodians will be permitted to add commodities as an asset class and provide physical delivery of both the securities and commodities. Currently, the regulation on the custodian of securities provides safekeeping of securities, gold or gold related instruments, title deeds of real estate and incidental services.

The Asian Development Bank downgraded economic growth forecasts for India and Southeast Asia for 2019 as global risks from trade tensions to Brexit mount. According to the ADB's latest Asian Development Outlook report, gross domestic product in India will probably increase by 7.2 % in 2019, down from a December forecast of 7.6%.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the annual turnover for availing composition scheme to Rs 1.5 crore from Rs 1 crore effective from April 1, 2019, to provide relief to small businesses under Goods and Services (GST) regime. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemption limit has been doubled to Rs. 40 lakh annual turnover and Rs 20 lakh for northeastern states.

National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018 aims to attract USD 100 billion investment and create 4 million jobs in the sector by 2022. According to the draft of the policy, NDCP is focused on increasing high-speed broadband penetration, with use of modern technologies like 5G and optical fibres across the country at affordable rates.