As the lights come up on the 98th Academy Awards, the season reaches its final act with one of the most unpredictable Oscar races in recent memory. Months of precursors — from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards to the key guilds and the BAFTAs — have shaped a volatile field where no single film has fully consolidated momentum, leaving several major categories genuinely open as the envelopes are read.

Ryan Coogler’s period horror Sinners enters the night with a record-breaking 16 nominations, the most ever received by a single film in Academy history, surpassing the previous benchmark of 14 held by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land. Its closest competitor is One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling political thriller, which follows with 13 nominations and has dominated much of the critics and guild circuit.

At the 98th Academy Awards, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ animated musical action comedy, KPop Demon Hunters won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. The award was announced at Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, California.

The film triumphed over Zootopia 2, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, Arco and Elio to win the Oscar.

KPop Demon Hunters follows K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey, who also secretly protect the world from evil spirits. After winning the award, Maggie said in her speech, “Thank you to the Academy and to all fans who got us here, and for those of you who look like me. I’m so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here. And that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing. This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere.”

About 92 inmates of Jalpaiguri Central Correctional Home (JCCH) in West Bengal were infected with the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) between August 20, 2025 and March 9 this year, with seven of the infected inmates losing thier lives due to the infection, prompting alarm among district health and correctional administration officials.

Documents accessed by The Hindu show that during this period, four inmates from the correctional home died at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, while three deaths were reported at Jalpaiguri District Hospital.

An official said that while several patients have recovered, almost half of the 92 inmates affected by HSV-1 and HSV-2 had to be either segregated or put under treatment at State-run health facilities.

Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal today participated in the 12th Asian and Pacific Regional Conference organised by the All India Prosecutors’ Association in New Delhi. In a social media post, the Minister said during the conference, discussions were held with legal experts, prosecutors and other distinguished participants.

The discussion focused on key issues, including reforms in the judicial system and strengthening the prosecution mechanism. The Minister said that the government is promoting innovation in the judicial sector through the use of technology and institutional reforms to make the justice system more transparent, accessible and effective. He added that continuous efforts are being made to ensure that justice is delivered swiftly and remains accessible to all citizens.

In the World Para Athletics Grand Prix 2026, India delivered an exceptional performance on Day 2 of the event in New Delhi, winning 12 golds and securing multiple podium finishes across track and field events, including several clean sweeps of the podium.

The highlight of the day came in the Men’s Javelin Throw, where Paralympic champion Sumit Antil led an all-Indian podium. Antil clinched gold with a powerful throw of 69.25 metres, while Pushpendra Singh secured silver with 56.91 metres and Poonam Ram won bronze with 49.48 metres. India also dominated the Men’s 400 metres Run T13, with Subodh Bhatt winning gold in 51.88 seconds, followed by Priyanshu Kaushik with silver in 53.19 seconds and Avnil Kumar claiming bronze in 56.91 seconds.

In the Men’s 400 m Run T46/T47, Bhavikkumar Din Bharwad secured gold with a time of 49.89 seconds, while fellow Indian Jasbeer finished close behind to take silver in 50.09 seconds. India continued its dominance in the wheelchair category of the Men’s 400m Run T53/T54, sweeping the podium with Manojkumar Sabapathi winning gold in 54.33 seconds, Anil Kumar taking silver in 57.57 seconds, and Manikandan Jothi securing bronze with a time of 1:01.94.

The Chhattisgarh government has approved the draft of the Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting held in Raipur yesterday evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. The proposed legislation aims to effectively curb religious conversions carried out through force, inducement, fraudulent means, undue influence or misrepresentation while converting from one religion to another in the state. The Bill will be introduced during the ongoing Budget Session of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly.

NASA said on Thursday that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, could come as soon as April 1.

"We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date," Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, told a press conference, after technical difficulties delayed a launch originally expected in February.

"It's a test flight, and it is not without risk, but our team and our hardware are ready," she said. "Just keep in mind we still have work" to do.

China passed a law on a "shared" national identity among the country's 55 ethnic minority groups on Thursday (March 13), a move critics say will ⁠further erode the identity of people who are not majority Han Chinese and risk making anyone challenging that "unity" a separatist punishable by law.

Called "Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress", the ethnic minority law aims to forge national unity ‌and advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at its core, a draft copy of the law showed.

It was passed ‌at the closing session of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, China's ‌legislature ⁠by 2,756 votes, with three opposing votes and three abstentions, according to a Reuters ⁠witness.

News Desk, News Nation 360:  Prof. Yashwant Gupta, a distinguished astrophysicist and the head of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR) in Pune, was conferred the MP Birla Memorial Award for 2025 on March 13, 2026. The event was held at the MP Birla Planetarium in Kolkata. There was a special connection for Prof. Gupta, a distinguished astrophysicist and the head of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR) in Pune, as his interest in the universe was kindled by a visit to the same planetarium during his high school days in the 1970s. After a hiatus of six years due to the pandemic, the MP Birla Memorial Award for 2025 was bestowed on Prof. Gupta for his pioneering work in radio astronomy and his contributions to international collaborations in the field. The event was initially scheduled for December 5, 2025, but was rescheduled by three months when a nationwide flight disruption prevented Prof. Gupta from attending the event. The MP Birla Memorial Award was instituted in 1993. Prof. Gupta joins a distinguished group of past laureates that includes Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prof. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, and Prof. Govind Swarup.

A professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has summited the Nevado Ojos del Salado, which is the highest volcanic peak in the world and the highest mountain in Chile.

By summitting the Nevado Ojos del Salado, which is 6,893 meters, on March 6, Arpita Patra, professor at IISc’s Department of Computer Science and Automation, became the second Indian woman to achieve this feat.