The Department of Posts will launch a new premium delivery offering, ‘24 Speed Post’, from March 17, aiming to provide faster and more reliable parcel and document delivery across major cities.

Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia and Minister of State for Communications Chandrasekhar Pemmasani will formally launch the service at an event in New Delhi.

The service will initially cover six metro cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad—with a guaranteed next-day (D+1) delivery timeline for consignments booked between these locations.

Historian William Dalrymple has been awarded the 2026 Mark Lynton History Prize for his book "The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World" for combining "literary grace, commitment to serious research and social concern".

The Mark Lynton History Prize is an annual USD 10,000 award given to a book "of history, on any subject, that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of expression".

The other finalist in the category was Siddharth Kara for "The Zorg: Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery".

The jury comprised Scott Reynolds Nelson (chair), Geraldo Cadava, Ann Fabian, and Manisha Sinha.

The sudden resignation of HDFC Bank part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty on ethical concerns has adversely impacted the bank’s share prices besides putting pressure on the management and board to clarify doubts on lapses if any.

On Thursday (March 19, 2026), the stock crashed 4.45% on BSE soon after opening even as the benchmark index the Sensex fell over 2% owing to developments in West Asia.

On Wednesday (March 18), the HDFC Bank stock had closed lower despite the indices being in the positive territory before the resignation news came out, raising speculations wherever there was insider trading at the bank.

The second edition of the Indian Ocean Ship (IOS) SAGAR commenced on March 16, reaffirming India’s commitment to collaborative maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region.

The latest edition assumes greater significance as the Indian Navy took over the chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in February 2026. Reflecting this leadership role, the programme includes participation from 16 IONS member nations across the Indian Ocean Region.

IOS SAGAR is a key initiative aligned with India’s strategic vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), while also contributing to the broader MAHASAGAR framework — Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security Across the Regions.

The Indian-flagged tanker ‘Jag Laadki’, carrying around 80,886 metric tonnes (MT) of crude oil, arrived at Mundra Port in Gujarat on Wednesday (March 18, 2026) amid the West Asia conflict, officials said.

A day earlier, the LPG carrier ‘Nanda Devi’ arrived at Vadinar port in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district, carrying 46,500 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and navigating through the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday (March 16, 2026), another vessel — ‘Shivalik’ — carrying LPG docked at Mundra Port.

Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the country’s first Samriddhi Centre at Umri village in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district, aimed at providing healthcare, education, banking and agriculture services under one roof, officials said.

The initiative was an important step towards digital empowerment and improved service access for rural India, Scindia said during the inauguration of the centre on Saturday.

The initiative, under the Department of Telecommunications’ Samriddh Gram Phygital Services, aimed to promote holistic development in rural areas through an integrated platform combining digital and physical services, an official statement said.

Project Nanhi Kali was honoured with the Sports for Social Good award at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2026, recognising its long-standing work empowering girls from underserved communities through education and sport.

The award was presented by Nirmala Lakshman, Chairperson of The Hindu Group, and K. C. Vijaya Kumar, Sports Editor of The Hindu. It was received by Sheetal Mehta, Trustee and Executive Director of K.C. Mahindra Education Trust, Swati Srivastava, VP, Partnerships, Project Nanhi Kali and Farida Balsara, Senior VP and Group Head, CSR, Business and Legal Governance. Ten beneficiaries of the programme were also present at the ceremony, a reminder of the young lives the initiative continues to shape.

“We are deeply honoured that Project Nanhi Kali has been recognised alongside icons from the sporting world at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2026,” said Sheetal. “For our girls, football is much more than a sport; it is a powerful platform to build leadership, resilience and the confidence to shape their own futures. Receiving the Sports for Social Good Award is therefore both a rewarding and humbling moment for all of us.”

Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), winning seven straight points to rally from a 4-0 deficit in the second-set tiebreak and claim the title without dropping a single set.

The No. 2-ranked Italian beat Medvedev for the ninth time in their last 10 matches to claim his first title at the California desert tournament. Medvedev handed top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz his first loss of the year in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open.

Sinner congratulated fellow Italian Kimi Antonelli, who won Formula One's Chinese Grand Prix earlier Sunday.

A tiny crab displaying both male and female biological traits on the same body has been discovered in the Western Ghats. Discovered from the forests of the Silent Valley National Park, this freshwater crab belongs to the species Vela carli and is both male and female at the same time. The dual-sex condition was observed in three crabs found in tree holes in Silent Valley.

Vela carli is an endemic freshwater crab found only in the forests and streams of the Central Western Ghats. The study documents the first instance of gynandromorphy (a rare condition in which individuals exhibit both male and female characteristics) in Vela carli. This phenomenon is rare in crustaceans and has never before been reported in the freshwater crab family Gecarcinucidae, according to the researchers.

The study was carried out by K.S. Anoop Das and K.T. Fahis from the Centre for Conservation Ecology, MES Mampad College, in collaboration with scientist and crab specialist Sameer K. Pati and Purnima Kumari from the Zoological Survey of India. Their findings were recently published in the international journal Crustaceana.

In a stunning display of strength and athletic ability, a female strongwoman has set a new record with Guinness World Records after lifting and throwing 10 men in just 37.44 seconds. The remarkable feat, which has since gone viral online, showcases the athlete's extraordinary power, speed, and technique. In the challenge, the woman had to individually lift each participant and throw them over her shoulder in rapid succession, completing the task within a strict time frame.

According to Guinness World Records officials, the attempt required not only physical strength but also precise coordination and endurance. Each participant had to be lifted safely and thrown using controlled movement to ensure the challenge met official safety standards.