In alignment with the recognition of year 2026 as the ‘International Year of the Woman Farmer’ by the United Nations through Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited (AIC) has launched Krishi Sakhi Initiative to empower women farmers and work towards achieving inclusive growth.

Through these structured month-wise activities across its Head Office and Regional Offices, AIC aims to create sustained awareness, encourage participation of women in agriculture and crop insurance and celebrate their contribution towards strengthening the agricultural sector in India.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a scheme for small hydro power plants with a total outlay of ₹2,585 crore for five years ending 2031. The scheme, applicable to plants with less than 25 megawatt capacity, will help set up 1,500 MW capacity projects and also attract a total investment of ₹15,000 crore, the Union Cabinet said in a statement.

The scheme provides for financial assistance of ₹30 crore for each project in North Eastern States and districts with international borders, capped at ₹3.6 crore per MW or 30 per cent of the project cost, whichever is lower.

For other states, the Centre will provide financial assistance of ₹20 crore per project, capped at ₹2.4 crore per MW or 20 per cent of the project cost, whichever is lower.

India and Indonesia have partnered for the restoration of the Prambanan Temple complex in the Special Region of Yogyakarta in southern Java.

Indonesian Minister of Culture Fadli Zon met a team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Monday to discuss preservation of the temple complex within the broader cultural landscape, which includes Sewu and Plaosan temples.

In a statement, the minister said, “Prambanan is not a standalone complex but part of a wider cultural landscape with Sewu and Plaosan, so conservation must restore temples while safeguarding the entire cultural ecosystem.”

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has successfully tested an indigenously developed Floating LiDAR Buoy System off the coast of Muttom in Tamil Nadu, marking a significant step in India’s push for advanced ocean observation technologies.

A floating LiDAR buoy is a high-tech ocean-based instrument used to measure wind conditions over the sea. It combines a floating platform (buoy) with LiDAR technology, short for Light Detection and Ranging.

The newly developed system is capable of measuring wind speed and direction profiles up to 300 meters above sea level.

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.