President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the Global Conference on Women in Agri-Food Systems 2026 in New Delhi today. The three-day conference with the theme ‘Driving Progress, Attaining New Heights’ will be held at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Convention Centre in the national capital. Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also be present on the occasion.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, Director General of ICAR, Dr M. L. Jat, said that the programme is taking place during the UN-declared International Year for Women Farmers in 2026. Referring to the theme of the event, he said Driving Progress, Attaining New Heights is perfectly aligned with the global focus on women farmers. Dr Jat said that this conference will help to promote gender-responsive policymaking, technological innovation, and inclusive agricultural development.

The Ministry informed that the conference is expected to witness participation of over 700 delegates, including scientists, policymakers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, development professionals, women farmers, start-ups, and students from India and across the world.

NITI Aayog, today, released the second annual edition of the Fiscal Health Index 2026 in New Delhi. The report highlights several policy priorities for strengthening fiscal health across states.

These include enhancing revenue mobilisation and strengthening state-owned tax capacity, rationalising committed expenditures to restore fiscal flexibility, improving the composition and quality of capital expenditure.

During the event, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Suman Bery stated that strengthening fiscal governance at the state level will be critical for maintaining macroeconomic stability and sustaining India’s growth trajectory. He noted that systematic benchmarking tools such as the Fiscal Health Index will also support states in identifying structural fiscal challenges and adopting targeted policy reforms.

Speaking on the Occasion, CEO of NITI Aayog Nidhi Chhibber highlighted that improving fiscal resilience across states will be central to sustaining long-term development, reducing regional disparities, and supporting India’s development aspirations.

Veteran actor and filmmaker Amol Palekar is set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 edition of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META). The honour recognises his decades-long contribution to Indian theatre and cinema, where he has worked as an actor, director and creative force shaping contemporary storytelling.

The 21st edition of META, instituted by the Mahindra Group and produced by Teamwork Arts, will be held in New Delhi from March 19 to March 25, 2026. The week-long theatre festival will feature performances by some of the country’s most notable stage productions before concluding with the awards ceremony.

The Forest Survey of India (FSI), the central government organisation that is responsible for the assessment and monitoring of India’s forest wealth, has stopped issuing the fortnightly alerts through which it has kept a watch on deforestation activities in near-real time for more than two years.

The data on the FSI’s Anavaran-Deforestation Alert System have not been updated since November 2025.

The portal, which has been operational since January 2024, has been using satellite data and machine learning to enable FSI to issue location alerts on the loss of forest cover to states every 15 days so that targeted field inspections can be carried out.

According to multiple sources, active monitoring through the portal was halted this January, and states stopped receiving the fortnightly deforestation alerts.

About three months after IndiGo went into an operational meltdown that led to the cancellation of thousands of flights, the airline on Tuesday announced that its chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers has resigned with immediate effect due to “personal reasons,” with promoter Rahul Bhatia set to act as interim CEO.

Bhatia, who is also managing director (MD) of IndiGo, in the “interim will assume management of the affairs of the airline until such time that the company announces the arrival of a new leader, which is expected in short order,” the airline said in a statement.

IndiGo cancelled over 4,200 flights between December 1 and December 9. The meltdown was triggered by the airline’s inability to manage its pilot duty roster after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) fully implemented stricter duty regulations in November. The regulations increased weekly rest requirements and reduced the hours pilots can fly at night.

Two oarfish, commonly known as 'doomsday fish', were reportedly spotted on a beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, sparking widespread concern and fascination on social media. The rare deep-sea creatures, which can grow up to 30 feet in length, are believed to surface before natural disasters, according to Japanese folklore. According to Newsweek, the incident occurred when two sisters noticed something "flashing" in the distance and discovered the oarfish, which normally live at depths of around 3,000 feet, struggling in shallow water.

Monica Pittenger, one of the sisters, posted the video of the ribbon-like fish on Instagram in collaboration with the account We Love Animals. However, NDTV can't verify the viral video.

"It was flashing, and it was really bright," she said. "And when we saw them up close, it was like nothing we've seen before, so we were like, 'This can't be real'".

The International Malaria Conference (IMC) 2026, organised by the ICMR–National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR–NIMR) under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), concluded successfully in New Delhi after three days of intensive scientific deliberations and global engagement. Held from 7th to 9th March 2026, the conference brought together scientists, public health experts, policymakers and researchers from India and across the world to discuss innovative approaches and strategies for malaria elimination.

The conference was organised under the theme “Discovery, Development and Delivery: Driving Malaria Elimination and Beyond.” It served as an important platform for sharing scientific knowledge, strengthening partnerships and discussing emerging challenges in malaria control and elimination.

Delivering the welcome address, Dr. Anup Anvikar, Director, ICMR–National Institute of Malaria Research, emphasised the critical importance of collaboration among research institutions, national programmes and global partners. He noted that sustained scientific innovation, combined with strong public health systems and partnerships, is essential to accelerate progress towards malaria elimination.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), in collaboration with the Gates Foundation and Dalberg Advisors, launched the National Climate Stack Innovation Challenge, a national initiative to strengthen India’s climate resilience architecture by building the foundational layers of a National Climate Stack for rural India.

A media statement said that India’s climate risks are intensifying with heatwaves, floods, droughts, and cyclones placing increasing pressure on agriculture and rural livelihoods. While climate data availability has improved, near-term hazard forecasting remains fragmented across datasets and siloed models. Existing risk management systems remain largely reactive, underscoring the need for forward-looking, interoperable, and decision-ready climate intelligence, it said.

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.