Munich: The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has released its weekly brief, highlighting concerns over the global reach of Chinese surveillance technology and repression of Uyghurs worldwide, as policymakers and activists intensify criticism of China’s policies.

On April 1, 2026, Oliver Stirbock raised questions in the Hesse State Parliament about the use of surveillance systems from Hikvision and Dahua by local authorities. He called for clarity on guidelines addressing human rights risks linked to these technologies, which have already faced restrictions in countries like the United States. WUC welcomed the move, reiterating longstanding concerns that such tools are tied to the mass surveillance of Uyghurs in China.

Meanwhile, April 5 marked 36 years since the Baren Uprising, a pivotal moment of Uyghur resistance against Chinese rule. In 1990, around 200 Uyghurs protested in Akto County against coercive population control policies, including forced abortions.

The protest was met with a brutal military response, reportedly involving thousands of troops and resulting in widespread killings. No independent probe into the incident has ever been conducted. Commemorative demonstrations were held in Munich and Berlin, with activists demanding justice and remembrance for those killed.

At the international level, WUC Executive Committee Chair Rushan Abbas participated in the Global Counterterrorism Forum cybersecurity conference in Guatemala on April 7.

She highlighted how surveillance practices associated with the Chinese Communist Party extend beyond China’s borders, warning of a growing digital authoritarian model. Alongside Abdulhakim Idris, she also engaged students at Galileo University on what they described as technology-enabled repression.
Adding to global unease, China recently implemented a sweeping 18-point framework to secure its industrial and supply chains. Effective March 31, the policy enhances state authority over key sectors, allowing countermeasures against foreign entities deemed threatening to China’s economic stability. Measures may include restrictions, penalties, and export controls.

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Debt mutual funds witnessed record big outflows of nearly Rs 3 lakh crore in March, according to the monthly data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). These funds received an inflow of Rs 42,106 crore in February.

In March last year, these funds had recorded an outflow of Rs 2.02 lakh crore. Across the 16 sub-categories, all segments witnessed outflows in March.

Also Read | Mutual fund SIP stoppage ratio jumps to over 100% in March, even as contributions hit record Rs 32,000 crore

Nehal Meshram, Senior Analyst, Morningstar Investment Research India said debt-funds saw a net outflow in March, marking a steep reversal from the relatively healthier flows seen in January and February. The pressure was concentrated in short-term and treasury-oriented categories, which suggests quarter-end institutional and corporate liquidity adjustments were a key driver.

Nehal further mentioned that the sharp reversal in debt fund flows in March was driven largely by heavy redemptions from short-term and liquidity-oriented categories.

Liquid funds saw the highest outflow at Rs 1.34 lakh crore. Overnight funds recorded outflows of Rs 40,227 crore, followed by money market funds at Rs 29,206 crore.
Kartik Jain, MD & CEO, Shriram AMC, said debt categories, which saw inflows in February, witnessed significant outflows in March, particularly in liquid and money market funds, suggesting quarter-end treasury movements and profit booking by institutional investors.
The AMFI data showed that low-duration funds saw an outflow of Rs 25,227 crore. Corporate bond funds and gilt funds saw an outflow of Rs 15,292 crore and Rs 3,078 crore, respectively.
Commenting on the outflows from corporate bond funds and gilt funds, Nehal said corporate bond funds recorded outflows, indicating some pressure even in relatively high-quality accrual-oriented strategies, whereas gilt funds continued to see outflows, suggesting investor appetite for duration-led strategies remained limited.

Gilt funds have been witnessing continuous outflows for the last eight funds. Long-duration funds and dynamic bond funds have been witnessing outflows for six straight months each. Credit risk funds are observing outflows for the last 36 months.

The assets under management (AUM) of debt funds declined by 15% in March to Rs 16.51 lakh crore from Rs 19.43 lakh crore in February.

Also Read | Gold ETF inflows drop 57% to Rs 2,265 crore; silver ETFs see second straight month of outflows

From a broader quarterly perspective, the March pullback was large enough to drag overall debt fund flows into negative territory for Q1 2026, with short-term categories accounting for most of the weakness. Overall, the March data appears to reflect seasonal quarter-end liquidity adjustments more than any broad-based deterioration in sentiment toward fixed income, Nehal said.

Ankur Punj, MD & Business Head, Equirus Wealth said March typically witnesses a surge in outflows due to higher redemptions, particularly from debt mutual funds, as companies redeem money from liquid funds to meet year-end commitments.

However, this is just a temporary blip and industry is likely to witness a surge in inflows in the coming months backed by India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and valuations of domestic equities looking favourable, Punj further said.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and twitter handle

Sunil Singhania backed Abakkus Flexi Cap Fund increased its stake in HDFC Bank, RIL and 28 other stocks in March, according to the monthly portfolio disclosed by Abakkus Mutual Fund.

The monthly data showed that the flexi cap fund added nearly 2 lakh shares of HDFC Bank in its portfolio taking the total share count to 20 lakh in March compared to 18 lakh in February. It also added 75,000 shares of Reliance Industries and had 10 lakh shares in its portfolio of RIL in March.

Also Read | Gold ETF inflows drop 57% to Rs 2,265 crore; silver ETFs see second straight month of outflows

Apart from these two stocks, the fund raised its stake in 28 other stocks in March. Among these 28 stocks, the fund added a maximum number of shares of Tata Steel as it added 9 lakh shares in its portfolio. This was followed by net addition of 5 lakh shares of Bank of Baroda.

There were 45 lakh shares of Urban Company in the portfolio in March as around 4 lakh shares were added to the portfolio from the previous share count of 41 lakh in February. The fund added 2.50 lakh shares each of The Federal Bank and Emmvee Photovoltaic Power .

Some other stocks where the stake was increased included Aether Industries, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential AMC, Inox India, Oracle Financial Services Software, State Bank of India, and Vedanta.
Mahindra & Mahindra was added to the portfolio as a new entrant in March and the flexi cap fund had 2.35 lakh shares of M&M.
A complete exit was made from Bharat Petroleum Corporation in March by selling 16.01 lakh shares from the portfolio in March.
The exposure in 13 stocks remained unchanged in March which includes stocks such as Ajanta Pharma, DLF, Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation, Edelweiss Financial Services, Fractal Analytics, L&T, NTPC, and Supriya Lifesciences.

As of March 31, 2026 the flexi cap fund had 44 stocks in its portfolio, the same as the one in February. The portfolio of this flexi cap fund is spread across 22 sectors.

The primary investment objective of the scheme is to generate capital appreciation & provide long-term growth opportunities through equity and equity related instruments by investing in a diversified portfolio of large cap, mid cap and small cap securities and the secondary objective is to generate consistent returns by investing in debt and money market securities.

Launched on December 29,2025 the fund had an AUM of Rs 3,089 crore as of March 31, 2026. It is benchmarked against the BSE 500 Index (TRI) and is managed by Sanjay Doshi (Equity) and Abhishek K S (Fixed Income).

Also Read | Mutual fund SIP stoppage ratio jumps to over 100% in March, even as contributions hit record Rs 32,000 crore

The fund holds 43.29% in large caps, 18.47% in mid caps, 29.93% in small caps and 8.31% in cash and cash equivalents.

Sanjay Doshi, Head of Investments and Research, in the monthly release by the fund house said Abakkus Flexi Cap Fund aims to benefit from growth opportunities across market capitalizations and sectors while maintaining mindful valuation discipline. The portfolio has a balance of leaders and emerging winners and hence maintains a high active share through conviction driven positioning.

As of March 2026, the portfolio reflects our positive outlook across breadth, with a higher allocation to small cap space where medium term risk reward appears favourable, despite near-term market volatility. We remain positive on Industrials, Financial services, Consumer discretionary and Healthcare, Doshi further said.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and twitter handle