**💹 Economy/Policy**
– CEA says US penal tariffs on Indian goods may lapse post **Nov 30**, easing export worries.
– Net direct tax collections turn **positive in Sept** after four months, signalling revenue stability.
– Flexi staffing industry projected to touch **₹2.58 lakh cr by FY27**, led by formalisation.
– NITI Aayog flags risks from **China’s monopoly on critical minerals**, urges diversification.
– India’s **pharma industry** projected to grow **7–9% in FY26**, though US-linked uncertainties remain (ICRA).
– Govt shortlists **8 players under IndiaAI Mission** (Tech Mahindra, Fractal, BharatGen, Avataar AI, etc.) to build LLMs.
**📈 Equity Markets**
– Nifty50 closed **flat at 24,235**, while Sensex slipped **0.1%** amid IT drag.
– US markets ended mixed: **Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq +0.4%** as investors await Fed cues.
– Asian markets opened higher today, with **Nikkei +0.8%**, **Hang Seng +1.2%** on tech rebound.
**🏦 Companies**
– None major today (reclassified to Economy/Policy).
**🌍 Global/World**
– China’s **DeepSeek AI** claims breakthrough: trained a competitive LLM for just **\$294k**.
– Nvidia takes **\$5B stake in Intel**, offering chip tech lifeline to struggling rival.
– Google **Gemini** and **OpenAI** win global coding contests, outperforming humans in key benchmarks.
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