In this week’s wrapup, we talk about how India can become a shipping superpower, SEBI’s circular on life cycle funds replacing ‘solution oriented schemes’, India’s revised GDP measurement framework, the NSE International Exchange’s new platform that lets Indians invest overseas, and why AI doesn’t have guardrails like nuclear weapons and biological warfare.

Also, in this week’s Markets edition, we break down the Unnati Foundation Social Stock Exchange (SSE) IPO, which opened for subscription last week and closes on Monday (March 9th, 2026). You can read it here.

With that out of the way, let’s look back at what we wrote this week.

How can India become a global shipping superpower?

Over 80% of global trade moves by sea. But the humble freight container decides whether that trade actually flows. During COVID, container shortages pushed freight rates up as much as ninefold, disrupting supply chains and driving up prices worldwide.

The catch is that over 95% of these containers are made in China. Decades of state support, integrated supply chains, and massive scale helped Chinese firms dominate a low-margin industry others struggled to enter.

Now India wants to build its own ecosystem through subsidies and a state-backed shipping line. How will this work?

Find out in our Monday newsletter.

Life cycle funds explained

For years, investors assumed that mutual funds meant for long-term goals like retirement or a child’s education would automatically become safer as the goal approached. But under rules introduced in 2017, many of these “solution-oriented” mutual funds didn’t actually have to reduce risk over time. Two investors saving for the same milestone could therefore end up in funds with very different risk levels.

This created a mismatch between what investors expected and how these funds actually worked. A retirement fund, for instance, could still hold a large portion of equities even when the investor was close to retirement, exposing them to market volatility at a time when stability might matter more.

In our Tuesday newsletter, we break down how Life Cycle Funds have stepped in to replace this and how they’re different from your former ‘solution-based schemes’.

India's new GDP measurement explained

India’s GDP estimate just dropped from ₹357 lakh crore to ₹345 lakh crore in barely a month. That seems alarming and suggests the economy suddenly shrank. But is that really what happened?

Well, not quite.

The government has simply changed the way it measures GDP by introducing a new framework and updating the base year from 2011–12 to 2022–23. In other words, we’re now using a better ruler to measure the economy.

But what exactly changed, and how does this reshape the numbers?

Find out in Wednesday’s newsletter where we explained what really happened to India’s GDP and why it matters.

NSE IX will soon let you invest in global stocks

For decades, India tightly controlled the flow of money out of the country. Even after the 1991 reforms, capital movements remained cautious, with limits like the Liberalised Remittance Scheme still shaping overseas investments.

Now, the NSE’s international arm at GIFT City, NSE IX, is offering Global Access, a platform that lets Indians invest directly in foreign markets. But this isn’t just about encouraging investments outside India. Investors are already buying global stocks through overseas platforms. 

It is also about the ambition of positioning GIFT City as a genuine international financial centre. But how are they doing that?

Read our Thursday newsletter to find out.

The race to regulate AI in warfare

Last week, Anthropic stepped away from a $200 million deal with the US Department of Defense, bringing a new question into debate: How far should AI be allowed in modern warfare?

For centuries, whenever dangerous weapons and war tactics emerged, the world eventually wrote rules around them through the Geneva Convention. But artificial intelligence presents a new kind of challenge. Modern militaries are already experimenting with systems that can analyse vast amounts of battlefield data in seconds, and some technologies could eventually identify and attack targets on their own.

In Friday’s story, we talk about what this means for new guardrails on using autonomous systems in defense.

Finshots Weekly Quiz v2.0 🧠

Hey folks! As you probably already know, the Finshots Weekly Quiz has a new avatar. If you missed out on it in the last couple of months, don’t worry. Click here to check out the rules and set a reminder to participate consistently starting next month!

Next, let’s move on to the top scorers from our previous weekly quiz. There were a whole bunch of you who participated, and many of you ended up with the same scores. So we’re calling you Bulls, Bears, Unicorns, Blue Chips, and Rising Stars. Here’s how the leaderboard looks right now:

As you can see, we have fifteen top scorers fighting for the merch. But unfortunately, there’s just one merch box to be won every month.

So to break the tie, we’ll be sending a tie-breaker question to all the “Bulls” via email. Keep an eye on your inbox! The one who gets it right the fastest wins the exclusive Finshots merch for February 2026, and we’ll reveal the winner’s name next week.

And to the rest of you whose names made it to the leaderboard, congratulations! You may not have won the merch this time, but you showed up consistently and earned a spot on Finshots’ weekly leaderboard. That’s pretty cool. So don’t lose hope. Hit the reset button this month and keep answering all the weekly quizzes. Who knows? You might just be the winner this time around.

Click on this link to take this week’s quiz, which is open till 12 noon, Friday, 13th of March, 2026. The more answers you get right, the better your chances of appearing on the Finshots Weekly Quiz leaderboard. We’ll publish it every Saturday in the Weekly Wrapup. And the winner will be announced in the first week of April.

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📅 Tomorrow (Saturday), 7th March at 11:00 AM: Life Insurance
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How hospitals process claims, common deductions, the mistakes buyers usually make, and how to choose a policy that won’t disappoint you when you need it most.

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