March 17, 2026
98 articles published on this date
India’s wholesale inflation rises to 11-month high of 2.13% in February
India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation rose to 2.13% in February 2026 (year-on-year, provisional), up from 1.81% in January 2026 — the highest r...
EXCLUSIVE | Centre looks to empower more ministries to block social media content
The Centre is exploring amending the IT Rules framework to allow ministries beyond MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) to directly iss...
Flashpoint at WTO: India set to oppose US proposal seeking permanent ban on e-transmission duties
At the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon (March 26–29, 2026), the United States is pushing for a permanent ban on customs duties on...
U.N. says more than 36,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli settlement drive
The UN Human Rights Office released a report (March 17, 2026) covering the 12 months to October 31, 2025, documenting the displacement of over 36,000 Palesti...
On scientific collaborations in BRICS
BRICS has progressively built a structured science, technology, and innovation (STI) collaboration framework that now spans 13 thematic working groups, joint...
PM Modi speaks to UAE President, both agree on ensuring safe navigation through Strait of Hormuz
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on March 17, 2026, as the second telephonic conversation between the...
HPV vaccination drive gathers pace, 3 lakh girls covered in two weeks
Approximately 3 lakh girls aged 14 years have been vaccinated under India's nationwide HPV vaccination campaign within just two weeks of its launch on 28 Feb...
Ayushman Bharat crosses 43 crore cards, digital health records surge
India's flagship health insurance programme has crossed the milestone of 43.18 crore Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY cards created as of early 2026, covering the bott...
Woman entitled to maternity leave even if child isn't biological: SC
In a landmark ruling delivered on March 17, 2026, a Supreme Court bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan struck down Section 60(4) of the Code on ...
Macro impact of crude oil price of up to $90/bbl ‘almost insignificant’: CEA to Parliamentary panel
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran, appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on 2 March 2026, stated that crude oil p...
A bit of a blur over India’s new carbon credit plan
India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), notified in June 2023 under the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act 2022, has drawn criticism for lacking strate...
Low on gas: Fertilizer shortage looms ahead of India’s kharif season
India faces a potential fertilizer supply crunch ahead of the kharif season (June–September) as LNG flows from West Asia have been disrupted, forcing several...
Climate change could drive millions globally into physical inactivity by 2050: Lancet study
A peer-reviewed modelling study published in The Lancet Global Health (March 2026) found that rising temperatures driven by climate change could significantl...
PM Modi speaks to UAE President, agree on keeping Strait of Hormuz safe
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with both leaders agreeing on the critical importance of ensuring s...
Saudi Arabia takes Indian startup’s help for satellite images
Bengaluru-based space-tech startup Pixxel has signed a data agreement with Saudi Arabia's national Earth observation platform, NSG UP42 — a platform owned by...
Why heirs of dead depositors can’t be told about unclaimed funds, SC asks govt.
The Supreme Court questioned the Union Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on why information about money held in dormant or inoperative accounts ...
UGC-like funding mechanism to be adopted under Shiksha Adhishthan: Education Ministry
The Ministry of Education clarified before a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that the proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) will adopt a UGC-l...
India salutes maritime heroes for safeguarding critical energy supplies
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (Ports, Shipping and Waterways) publicly commended Indian seafarers aboard LPG carriers Shivalik and Nanda Devi for safely ...
India engaged with US, working with industry to mitigate tariff impact: Govt to Parliament
The Indian government informed Parliament that India remains actively engaged with the United States on trade negotiations and is working with industry stake...
Kharge seeks meet as govt moves to delink women's quota from census
The central government is preparing a constitutional amendment to delink the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Constitution 106th Amendment...
Maharashtra legislature passes Freedom of Religion Bill to check conversions through coercion, fraud
The Maharashtra legislature passed the Freedom of Religion Bill 2026, which prohibits religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, allurement, ...
Amid confusion over internal reservation, Karnataka SC/ST commission holds deliberations
The Karnataka State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes convened deliberations with senior officials, former Karnataka Public Service Commis...
Parliament Watch: Panel flags oil shock risks, CPSE crisis; govt updates on US tariffs, repo, Panama leaks
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, tabled its report on Demands for Grants (2026-27) of the Mi...
Parliamentary panel recommends prioritising drone acquisition in border guarding forces
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, chaired by BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, recommended prioritising and fast-tracking the acquisition o...
India urges BRICS cohesion amid Iran crisis, flags need for UN reform
India called for BRICS cohesion as the grouping faced its most significant internal stress test — an active war involving Iran, a full BRICS member, pitted a...
Crude oil prices shoot above $103 per barrel as Iran war supply disruption continues; India’s petrol, diesel prices stable
Crude oil prices have surged above $103 per barrel — the first time in four years Brent has crossed the $100 threshold — as the US-Israel war on Iran (commen...
Centre writes to states to help expedite piped natural gas network expansion amid LPG supply squeeze
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has written to state governments and Union Territories urging them to expedite approvals and remove procedural bott...
Pakistan strike kills 400 in Kabul: Where is this war headed, what it means for region
Pakistan conducted airstrikes on Kabul on the night of March 16, 2026, targeting what it described as "military installations and terrorist support infrastru...
Watch: At UN General Assembly, India slams Pakistan’s ‘air-bombing campaigns’ during Ramadan
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, addressed the UN General Assembly during the commemoration of the International D...
Himalayan fire shift: Tale of flames and ice unfolding across the range
Forest fires in the Indian Himalayas are occurring at historically unprecedented elevations, with fires above 2,500 metres having quadrupled over the past de...
CEA warns $130 crude could cut India’s GDP growth by 1%
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on March 2, 2026, and warned that if crude...
Watch: US-China summit delayed: Trump cites War, Hormuz tensions
President Donald Trump has sought to delay a planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping — originally scheduled for late March/early April — as the Unit...
The quiet battle over the right to dying with dignity
India's Supreme Court authorised the country's first-ever passive euthanasia in the Harish Rana vs. Union of India case (March 2026), marking the practical r...
WTO MC14: India opposes US bid for permanent ban on e-commerce duty
At the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14), being held in Yaoundé, Cameroon (March 26–29, 2026), India opposed the United States' bid for a permanent ban ...
FAC allows KFDC to continue tree felling operations
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved the Kerala Forest Development Corpora...
West Asia conflict: Sharp drop in flight services to Dubai
Flight services to Dubai have fallen sharply as the UAE has repeatedly imposed temporary airspace closures in response to Iranian missile and drone strikes t...
Punjab ‘inflating’ numbers of households with tap water access, groundwater very contaminated—CAG report
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India's audit of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Punjab found that the state has been "inflating" the number of ...
Indian Navy steps up vigil to escort oil tankers, unlikely to join US coalition
The Indian Navy has deployed two warship task forces to escort Indian-flagged LPG tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz and moving through the Gulf of Oman...
India in talks with Iran for safe passage of 2.7 lt LPG via Strait of Hormuz
India is conducting diplomatic negotiations with Iran to secure safe passage for six LPG carriers idling in the Persian Gulf west of the Strait of Hormuz, co...
Hormuz disruption: CBIC allows BTT clearance for cargo loaded at one port, offloaded at another
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) issued an emergency circular allowing "Back to Town" (BTT) clearance for export cargo that was origina...
Parliamentary panel rebukes Ministry of Planning, Niti Aayog for poor financial management
The Standing Committee on Finance, headed by BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, formally rebuked the Ministry of Planning and Niti Aayog for "amateur planning" — spe...
Indian Navy joins U.S.-led drill ‘Sea Dragon’ in Guam
The Indian Navy joined Exercise Sea Dragon 2026, a US-led multinational anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise conducted at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in ...
Use LPG judiciously, consider alternatives wherever possible—Govt amid supply crunch & shipping delays
The Union government has issued a public advisory urging households to "use LPG judiciously, consider alternatives wherever possible" as 22 Indian-flagged ve...
India aims for universal health insurance by 2033, says Finance Minister
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reiterated that achieving universal health insurance coverage is a government priority, with a target year of 2033. I...
Create strategic energy mitigation framework to protect economy from oil shocks: Panel to FinMin
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance tabled its report on Demands for Grants (2026-27) of the Ministry of Finance, recommending that the Department ...
India, Indonesia come together to preserve shared heritage with restoration of 9th-century temple
India and Indonesia have joined forces to undertake the restoration of the Prambanan Temple complex, a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in the Special Regio...
Switching to electric power has saved Railways ₹6,000 crore: Vaishnaw in Lok Sabha
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, responding to a debate on Demands for Grants for the Railway Ministry in Lok Sabha, stated that the switch from diesel to ...
India calls Pakistan’s strike on Kabul hospital ‘barbaric, unconscionable’, urges international action
Pakistan's military conducted airstrikes on Kabul, Afghanistan on March 16-17, 2026, targeting what it described as "terrorist support infrastructure." Afgha...
Ukraine seeks immediate release & access to 6 nationals arrested in India on terror conspiracy charges
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested seven foreign nationals — six Ukrainians and one American citizen — on charges of conspiring to carry out te...
India needs clear foreign policy roadmap, says parliamentary committee
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, presented its Twelfth Report on the Ministry of External Aff...
Ali Larijani, Iran’s security chief, killed in overnight attacks: Israel Defence Minister
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on March 17, 2026 that Ali Larijani — secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and one of...
Taliban calls Kabul hospital strike ‘crime against humanity’, Pakistan says it only hit ‘military infra’
The Taliban government's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned Pakistan's March 16, 2026 aerial strikes on Kabul, calling the targeting of a drug rehabilita...
CMFRI launches deep-sea expedition to study seamount fisheries in Arabian Sea
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), under ICAR, has launched a two-year deep-sea research programme worth Rs 4.986 crore to explore fish...
Government Ensures Seamless Grid Integration for Renewable Energy Through Strong ISTS Framework
The Ministry of Power affirmed that the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) framework, governed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) un...
U.S. does ‘not need’ help from allies on Iran, says Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump declared that the United States does "not need" the help of allies to manage the Iran conflict, even as he simultaneously pressured...
March taken out to Lok Bhavan in protest against Bill on transgender persons
Members of the transgender, intersex, and gender diverse community marched to Lok Bhavan (seat of the state government) in protest against the Transgender Pe...
LPG consumption slumps 17% in March on war-related shortages
LPG consumption in India fell to 1.147 million tonnes in the first fortnight of March 2026 — a 17.3% decline from the 1.387 million tonnes consumed in the sa...
No evidence of increased efficiency due to mechanisation of sewer cleaning, Centre tells LS
The Central government informed the Lok Sabha that 622 deaths from hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning have been reported since 2017, and that there is ...
Doctors warn against rising trend of using AI for diagnosis and self-prescription
Doctors and public health experts have raised alarms about an accelerating trend of patients using AI tools — particularly large language models (LLMs) like ...
Government Takes Steps to Promote Domestic Recycling Capacity and Circular Economy in Solar Sector
With support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), a government-backed think tank has estimated that cumulative solar panel waste in India co...
Health insurance priority for government, to cover all by 2033: Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that health insurance is a government priority and that India aims to achieve universal health insurance coverage ...
Supreme Court strikes down age cap on maternity leave for adoptive mothers
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court struck down Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code, 2020, declaring it unconstitutional for restricting maternity ...
Pensioners’ demands echoed: Parliamentary panel seeks hike in minimum EPS payout, say Rs 1000 insufficient
A Parliamentary Standing Committee has urged an immediate review of the minimum monthly pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995, calling the ...
Govt gets Parliament nod for Rs 2.01 lakh crore additional spending in FY26
Parliament gave its approval for ₹2.01 lakh crore in additional net expenditure for Financial Year 2025–26 when the Rajya Sabha returned the Appropriation Bi...
Rs 39.48 lakh cr sanctioned so far under PM-MUDRA, NPAs at around 2 pc: FM Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha on March 17, 2026, that a cumulative ₹39.48 lakh crore has been sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri ...
Second LPG tanker reaches India from war zone; efforts on to get back 22 stranded vessels
A second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, MV Nanda Devi, reached Kandla port in Gujarat after safely transiting the Strait of Hormuz — the first vessel, MV Shivali...
Oil shock: Panel urges Finance Ministry to craft strategic energy mitigation framework
The Standing Committee on Finance, headed by senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, has recommended that the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the Fi...
Availability of generic medicines under PMBJKs
The Government highlighted the progress of the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), which provides quality generic medicines at prices 50–...
What's key to India's forex defence? Patra suggests it's $1 trillion buffer
Former RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra, in an article published on BasisPoint Insight, advocated that India should build its foreign exchange (forex) reser...
Maharashtra legislature passes Freedom of Religion Bill to check conversions through fraud
The Maharashtra legislature passed the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, making it one of the most comprehensive anti-conversion laws enacted by an...
India growth outlook dims as oil tops $100, gas crisis deepens
Goldman Sachs cut its India growth forecast for the fiscal year starting April 2026 (FY2027) by half a percentage point to 6.5%, becoming the first major age...
'Unconstitutional': SC rules adoptive mothers can't be denied maternity leave if child is older than 3 months
The Supreme Court struck down Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code, 2020, which had restricted maternity benefits to adoptive mothers only when the adop...
Issue of high trade margins in essential medical devices
The government acknowledged the problem of high trade margins in medical devices included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), where the NPPA ...
Passive euthanasia: How Harish Rana's case revived memories for Aruna Shanbaug's long, silent fight for dignity in death
The Supreme Court of India approved passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, a 32-year-old from Uttar Pradesh who has been in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) ...
Affordable medicines and regulation of private hospitals
The government reaffirmed that drug prices in India are regulated under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO 2013), issued under the Essential Commod...
Census 2027 offers historic opportunity to record data on disabilities: Athawale
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale described Census 2027 as a "historic opportunity" to capture accurate data on all ...
India oilmeal exports hit by US-Iran conflict, Red Sea disruptions
Escalating US-Iran military tensions in 2026 — including effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran — are severely disrupting India's oilmeal exports,...
Parliamentary panel urges a 'golden share' strategy to protect PSU autonomy if state stakes fall below 51%
A Parliamentary Standing Committee urged the government to finalize a "golden share" strategy to protect Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) autonomy when govern...
India at UN slams Pakistan for ‘fabricating’ Islamophobia narratives, flags Ahmadiyya repression, Afghan bombings
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, delivered a strong rebuttal at the UN General Assembly, accusing Paki...
Safe Reuse of Treated Water Gains Momentum; Policy Notified in Uttarakhand
Amid growing pressure on freshwater resources, Safe Reuse of Treated Water (SRTW) has emerged as a national priority in India's water security strategy. Utta...
National Integrated Policy for Fishing Community
The Department of Fisheries affirmed in Parliament that it is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) as the flagship scheme for a "Blu...
Biopharma SHAKTI Scheme
The Government has formally launched the Biopharma SHAKTI scheme with a total outlay of ₹10,000 crore over five years, announced initially in Union Budget 20...
“Guarantee of both income and security for farmers”: Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan tells in Lok Sabha
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare informed the Lok Sabha that the government has accorded highest priority to farmers' income and security t...
Trade deficit with China tops $100bn
India's trade deficit with China has crossed $100 billion for the 2025-26 fiscal year, with the full calendar year 2025 deficit reaching a record $116.12 bil...
Gujarat UCC report, draft law to be submitted today; follows Uttarakhand template
Gujarat's state government submitted its Uniform Civil Code (UCC) committee report and draft law, modelled closely on the Uttarakhand UCC template — the only...
India slams Pakistan over air-bombings against Afghanistan in UNGA
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, raised Pakistan's aerial bombardment of Afghanistan at the UN General...
US assets are under Iran attack, but here’s why NATO doesn’t have to answer Trump’s call
Despite US forces being targeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks across multiple Gulf states, NATO has not formally invoked Article 5 — the collective d...
Iran-Israel war LIVE: Debris from intercepted Iranian missile kills one in Abu Dhabi
On March 17, 2026, debris from an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile killed one person in Abu Dhabi, marking one of the most direct civilian casualties fr...
India's outsourcing industry is worth $300bn. Can it survive AI?
India's IT outsourcing industry, valued at approximately $300-315 billion and employing around 6 million people, is facing an existential reckoning as artifi...
UAE briefly closes airspace as West Asia conflict escalates
The UAE briefly closed its airspace on March 17, 2026 as an "exceptional precautionary measure" after Iran intensified missile and drone strikes across Gulf ...
Supreme Court nine-judge Constitution Bench commences hearing on definition of 'industry'
A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court commenced hearing on March 17, 2026 to definitively settle the meaning of "industry" under Section 2(j) ...
Oil prices up 2% amid escalating war in West Asia, closure of Strait of Hormuz
Crude oil prices surged over 2% on March 17, 2026, as fears grew over a prolonged disruption to the Strait of Hormuz — the world's most critical oil transit ...
India condemns Pakistan airstrikes on Kabul hospital
Pakistan's military conducted an airstrike on the night of March 16, 2026 targeting the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul — a 2,000-bed civilian fac...
MeitY failed to convince finance ministry for funds for key tech initiatives, says parliamentary panel
A parliamentary standing committee has warned that India's push in artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors is being undermined by MeitY's failure t...
FDI from China: From Thailand to Brazil, global lessons for India’s cautious playbook
India's Union Cabinet (March 10, 2026) approved amendments to the FDI policy for land-bordering countries — effectively liberalising aspects of Press Note 3 ...
India underreported rice, wheat price support: US, others to WTO
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) filed its fourth counter-notification against India at the WTO Committee on Agriculture, co-sponsored by Aus...
India-US trade deal to be signed after new US tariff framework is finalised
India's Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal confirmed on March 16, 2026, that India will sign the bilateral trade deal with the United States only after Washin...
Trade deficit nearly 2x in Feb; exports face battlefield ahead
India's merchandise trade deficit widened to $27.1 billion in February 2026, up sharply from $14 billion in February 2025 — nearly double year-on-year. Total...