Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has reported that India remains the world’s second-largest arms importer after Ukraine, and the only major economy importing weapons on such a scale.

According to the think tank, Russia, France and Israel remain India’s top arms suppliers, accounting for 40 per cent, 29 per cent and 15 per cent of its imports respectively.

Data from SIPRI show that India accounted for 8.3 per cent of global arms imports between 2021 and 2025, placing it second worldwide. Ukraine, currently engaged in a war with Russia, topped the list with a 9.7 per cent share during the same period.

Scientists have discovered a new ancient reptile species that once lived in what is now the United States. The creature existed between 225 and 201 million years ago, during a time when some ancestors of modern crocodiles were able to walk on two legs, reported Newsweek. The discovery was shared by paleontologists from the University of Washington and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle.

Researchers reported that this newly identified species belongs to a group of reptiles called shuvosaurid. Fossils of this creature were found in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, a region renowned for its large deposits of fossilized wood.

These reptiles existed during the Late Triassic period. Members of the shuvosaurid group closely resembled the ostrich-like ornithomimid dinosaurs of that time.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has dismantled a pan-India drug distribution network operating under the name ‘Team Kalki’ through the darknet since January 2025. Two accused, identified by the agency as Anurag Thakur and his associate Vikas Rathi, have been arrested so far.

During the operation, the NCB seized 2,338 LSD blotters; 160 MDMA (Ecstasy) pills weighing over 77 gm; 73.61 gm of charas (hashish); 3.64 gm of amphetamine; and 3.6 kg of liquid MDMA from 13 domestically intercepted parcels, and two parcels originating from the Netherlands and linked to the network.

‘Team Kalki’ was being operated by the two accused, who are “habitual offenders and were previously arrested in cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act”, the agency said.

An Indian Armed Forces contingent has arrived at Seychelles to participate in the Eleventh edition of Joint Military Exercise LAMITIYE-2026 with the Seychelles Defence Forces. The Joint Exercise will commence at the Seychelles Defence Academy from today and will continue till the 20th of this month. The exercise will enhance synergy in the domains of sub-conventional operations in a semi-urban environment and cooperation and interoperability between both sides during peacekeeping operations. It will also build and promote bilateral military relations, along with exchanging skills, experiences and good practices between both the armies. The 12-day-long Joint Exercise will include field training exercises, combat discussions, case studies, lectures and demonstrations, culminating with two days of Validation Exercise.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya today chaired a high-level meeting with a sports delegation from New Zealand in New Delhi to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation in sports. The meeting focused on strengthening collaboration between the sporting ecosystems of India and New Zealand.

This year will mark 100 years of sporting ties between the two countries, tracing back to the historic 1926 Indian Army hockey tour to New Zealand. The Indian delegation included Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao and senior officials from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Sports Authority of India and the Indian Olympic Association.

The New Zealand delegation was led by Associate Minister for Sport and Recreation Chris Bishop and included New Zealand High Commissioner to India Patrick John Rata and former international cricketer Ross Taylor. During the meeting, both sides discussed launching the India-New Zealand Centenary Sports Cooperation Programme 2026. They also explored joint training camps, coaching exchanges and knowledge sharing in sports science and athlete performance systems.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kerala and Tamil Nadu on March 11, where he will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth around ₹16,450 crore across key sectors including petroleum and natural gas infrastructure, highways, rural connectivity and railways.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, PM Modi will first attend a programme in Ernakulam at around 1:30 pm, where he will launch projects worth about ₹10,800 crore. Later in the evening, he will travel to Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for projects valued at about ₹5,650 crore.

The Maharashtra Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Saturday (March 7, 2026) with three Finnish companies to modernise Sassoon Dock. The agreement was signed by the Maharashtra Fisheries Development Corporation with the Finland-based Helvar, Mirasis, and River Recycle at an event held in Mumbai.

Sassoon Dock currently has around 1,560 registered mechanised fishing boats, and records an average annual fish production of 50,000 to 60,000 metric tonnes, making it an important economic centre for the fishing community, and a priority for the Maharashtra Government, State Fisheries Minister Nitesh Rane said, speaking on the occasion.

Construction of net-mending sheds, workshops, underground water tanks, water pipelines, pump houses, and protective walls, along with renovation of public facilities, has been undertaken in recent days. Work related to ice plants, strengthening of the jetty wall, fish workers’ restrooms, and a modern auction hall are being undertaken, he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday inaugurated the sulphuric acid plant-III at IFFCO’s Paradip unit, built at a cost of Rs 750 crore.

Addressing the gathering, Shah said the expansion would support India’s push towards self-reliance in fertiliser production. He noted that IFFCO, owned by around 36,000 cooperatives, benefits nearly five crore farmers across the country.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of self-reliance not only means manufacturing fertilisers, but also producing all the raw materials required for fertiliser production within the country,” he said.

In All England Open Badminton Championships, Lakshya Sen has entered Men’s Singles Final. World number 12 Lakshya defeated Canada’s Victor Lai in the semifinal match 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in Birmingham this evening. Lakshya had defeated China’s Li Shifeng 21-13, 21-16 in the quarterfinal match last night.

A woman in southern Assam’s Barak Valley has become the first to get Indian citizenship after spending two years in a detention camp for people declared non-citizens by Foreigners’ Tribunals, a quasi-judicial body that settles nationality disputes.

The Bangladesh-born Dipali Das, 60, was granted a certificate of naturalisation on Friday (March 6, 2026) for fulfilling the conditions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019. The certificate has been signed by Biswajit Pegu, the Director of Census Operations.

Dharmananda Deb, a Silchar-based lawyer, told The Hindu that Ms. Das was born in Dippur village in Bangladesh’s Sylhet district on December 3, 1966. She married Abhimanya Das in January 1987, a little more than a year after she and her husband fled religious persecution to enter India.