The week in charts: India-New Zealand FTA, railway budget plan, Johnson & Johnson penalty

From India and New Zealand wrapping up trade talks in record time to the Centre planning a higher outlay on rail safety, a drop in overseas education remittances, shifts in the rural job guarantee burden, and a record US court payout in the Johnson & Johnson talc case—here's a compilation of this week's news in numbers.The Centre is likely to announce an outlay of over ₹1.3 trillion in FY27 on rail safety in the Union budget, about 12% higher than the current fiscal’s amount of ₹1.2 trillion, Mint reported. Funds would be used for rolling stock maintenance, track renewals, and expanding Kavach—India’s automatic train protection system.This marks a shift in the government’s focus towards railway safety: the outlay was up only 2% in FY26.

Data shows that the railway’s capital and revenue spending on safety has roughly accounted for a fifth of the total Budget over the years. The renewed focus comes against the backdrop of a train collision in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, last month, which led to 11 deaths and around 20 injuries.India and New Zealand have concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) in just nine months, making it one of the fastest trade negotiations in recent years.

The pact—set to be formally signed later—will grant duty-free access to all Indian exports by eliminating tariffs on 100% of tariff lines.India, in turn, will liberalize duties on 70% of tariff lines, covering 95% of New Zealand’s exports to India. New Zealand has also committed to facilitating $20 billion of investments into India over 15 years across manufacturing, infrastructure, services, and innovation.Bilateral trade with New Zealand stood at $1.3 billion in FY25, making up just 0.1% of India’s total trade.