March 17, 2026
98 articles published on this date
India's Wholesale Inflation Reaches 11-Month High of 2.13% in February 2026
India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation rose to 2.13% in February 2026 (year-on-year, provisional), up from 1.81% in January 2026 — the highest...
Centre Moves to Expand Content-Blocking Powers Beyond MeitY
The Centre is exploring amending the IT Rules framework to allow ministries beyond MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) to directly...
India to Oppose US Push for Permanent Ban on WTO Customs Duties on Digital Transmissions
At the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon (March 26–29, 2026), the United States is pushing for a permanent ban on customs duties...
36,000 Palestinians Displaced by Israeli Settlement Drive: UN Report
The UN Human Rights Office released a report (March 17, 2026) covering the 12 months to October 31, 2025, documenting the displacement of over 36,000...
BRICS as a Multipolar Science Force: Scientific Collaborations and the STI Framework
BRICS has progressively built a structured science, technology, and innovation (STI) collaboration framework that now spans 13 thematic working groups...
PM Modi and UAE President Agree on Safe Navigation Through Strait of Hormuz
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on March 17, 2026, as the second telephonic conversation between...
India's Nationwide HPV Vaccination Drive Covers 3 Lakh Girls in Two Weeks
Approximately 3 lakh girls aged 14 years have been vaccinated under India's nationwide HPV vaccination campaign within just two weeks of its launch on 28...
Ayushman Bharat Crosses 43 Crore Cards as Digital Health Records Surge
India's flagship health insurance programme has crossed the milestone of 43.18 crore Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY cards created as of early 2026, covering the...
Supreme Court: Maternity Leave Entitlement Cannot Be Restricted to Biological Mothers
In a landmark ruling delivered on March 17, 2026, a Supreme Court bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan struck down Section 60(4) of the Code on...
Crude Oil at $90/bbl Has Near-Zero Macro Impact; $130/bbl Would Cut GDP Growth by 100 bps: CEA
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran, appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on 2 March 2026, stated that crude oil...
India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme: Bridging Smokestack and Soil
India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), notified in June 2023 under the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act 2022, has drawn criticism for lacking...
Fertilizer Shortage Looms Ahead of Kharif Season as Natural Gas Crisis Strains Urea Output
India faces a potential fertilizer supply crunch ahead of the kharif season (June–September) as LNG flows from West Asia have been disrupted, forcing...
Climate Change Could Push Millions into Physical Inactivity by 2050: Lancet Study
A peer-reviewed modelling study published in The Lancet Global Health (March 2026) found that rising temperatures driven by climate change could...
Modi-UAE Summit: Securing Free Navigation Through the Strait of Hormuz
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with both leaders agreeing on the critical importance of ensuring...
Pixxel's Firefly Satellites Supply Hyperspectral Data to Saudi Arabia
Bengaluru-based space-tech startup Pixxel has signed a data agreement with Saudi Arabia's national Earth observation platform, NSG UP42 — a platform owned...
Supreme Court Questions Why Heirs Cannot Be Told About Unclaimed Funds of Dead Depositors
The Supreme Court questioned the Union Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on why information about money held in dormant or inoperative accounts...
Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill: UGC-Style Funding Without UGC's Regulatory Conflict
The Ministry of Education clarified before a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that the proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) will adopt a...
India Salutes Maritime Heroes: LPG Carriers Shivalik and Nanda Devi Navigate Strait of Hormuz
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (Ports, Shipping and Waterways) publicly commended Indian seafarers aboard LPG carriers Shivalik and Nanda Devi for safely...
India-US Interim Trade Deal: Tariff Cuts and Bilateral Trade Agreement Negotiations
The Indian government informed Parliament that India remains actively engaged with the United States on trade negotiations and is working with industry...
Women's Reservation Act: Government Moves to Delink Implementation from Census
The central government is preparing a constitutional amendment to delink the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Constitution 106th...
Maharashtra Passes Freedom of Religion Bill 2026 to Check Forced Conversions
The Maharashtra legislature passed the Freedom of Religion Bill 2026, which prohibits religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, allurement...
Karnataka SC/ST Commission Deliberates on Internal Reservation Amid Sub-Classification Confusion
The Karnataka State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes convened deliberations with senior officials, former Karnataka Public Service...
Parliamentary Panel Flags Oil Shock Risks, CPSE Leadership Crisis, and Critical Minerals Strategy
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, tabled its report on Demands for Grants (2026-27) of the...
Parliamentary Panel Recommends Fast-Tracking Drone Acquisition for Border Guarding Forces
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, chaired by BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, recommended prioritising and fast-tracking the acquisition...
India Pushes for BRICS Unity Amid Iran Crisis While Raising UN Security Council Reform
India called for BRICS cohesion as the grouping faced its most significant internal stress test — an active war involving Iran, a full BRICS member, pitted...
Crude Oil Surges Above $103 Per Barrel as Iran War Disrupts Hormuz; India's Fuel Prices Hold Stable
Crude oil prices have surged above $103 per barrel — the first time in four years Brent has crossed the $100 threshold — as the US-Israel war on Iran...
Centre Pushes PNG Network Expansion as West Asia Conflict Triggers LPG Supply Squeeze
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has written to state governments and Union Territories urging them to expedite approvals and remove procedural...
Pakistan's Aerial Strikes on Kabul: Escalating Afghanistan-Pakistan Conflict
Pakistan conducted airstrikes on Kabul on the night of March 16, 2026, targeting what it described as 'military installations and terrorist support...
India at UNGA: Condemning Pakistan's Air-Bombing Campaigns During Ramadan
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, addressed the UN General Assembly during the commemoration of the International...
Himalayan Fire Shift: Forest Fires Climb to Unprecedented Elevations Across the Range
Forest fires in the Indian Himalayas are occurring at historically unprecedented elevations, with fires above 2,500 metres having quadrupled over the past...
CEA Warns $130 Crude Oil Could Shave 100 Basis Points Off India's GDP Growth
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on March 2, 2026, and warned that if...
US-China Summit Delayed as Trump Presses Beijing on Hormuz Crisis Amid Iran War
President Donald Trump has sought to delay a planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping — originally scheduled for late March/early April — as the...
The Right to Die with Dignity: India's Evolving Passive Euthanasia Framework
India's Supreme Court authorised the country's first-ever passive euthanasia in the Harish Rana vs. Union of India case (March 2026), marking the practical...
WTO MC14: India Opposes US Push for Permanent E-Commerce Customs Duty Ban
At the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14), being held in Yaoundé, Cameroon (March 26–29, 2026), India opposed the United States' bid for a permanent ban...
FAC Clears KFDC's Removal of Exotic Species in Kerala Forests
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved the Kerala Forest Development...
West Asia Conflict: Sharp Drop in Flight Services to Dubai as UAE Airspace Repeatedly Restricted
Flight services to Dubai have fallen sharply as the UAE has repeatedly imposed temporary airspace closures in response to Iranian missile and drone strikes...
CAG Flags Punjab for Inflating Jal Jeevan Mission Data and Contaminated Groundwater
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India's audit of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Punjab found that the state has been 'inflating' the number of...
Indian Navy Steps Up Vigil to Escort Oil Tankers; Unlikely to Join US Coalition
The Indian Navy has deployed two warship task forces to escort Indian-flagged LPG tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz and moving through the Gulf of...
India in Talks With Iran for Safe Passage of 2.7 Lakh Tonnes of LPG via Strait of Hormuz
India is conducting diplomatic negotiations with Iran to secure safe passage for six LPG carriers idling in the Persian Gulf west of the Strait of Hormuz...
CBIC Allows BTT Clearance for Cargo Loaded at One Port and Offloaded at Another Amid Hormuz Disruption
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) issued an emergency circular allowing 'Back to Town' (BTT) clearance for export cargo that was...
Parliamentary Panel Rebukes Niti Aayog for "Amateur Planning" and Fund Under-Utilisation
The Standing Committee on Finance, headed by BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, formally rebuked the Ministry of Planning and Niti Aayog for 'amateur planning' —...
Indian Navy Joins US-Led Sea Dragon 2026: Multinational Anti-Submarine Warfare Drill in Guam
The Indian Navy joined Exercise Sea Dragon 2026, a US-led multinational anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise conducted at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in...
Government Urges Judicious LPG Use and Alternatives Amid Supply Crunch and Shipping Delays
The Union government has issued a public advisory urging households to 'use LPG judiciously, consider alternatives wherever possible' as 22 Indian-flagged...
Universal Health Insurance by 2033: Government Reforms, Digitisation, and the Road Ahead
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reiterated that achieving universal health insurance coverage is a government priority, with a target year of 2033....
Strategic Energy Mitigation Framework: Parliamentary Panel's Recommendations on Oil Shock Vulnerability
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance tabled its report on Demands for Grants (2026-27) of the Ministry of Finance, recommending that the Department...
India-Indonesia Heritage Diplomacy: Restoring the 9th-Century Prambanan Temple Complex
India and Indonesia have joined forces to undertake the restoration of the Prambanan Temple complex, a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in the Special...
Indian Railways Saves Rs 6,000 Crore by Switching to Electric Traction; Becomes World's Second Largest Cargo Carrier
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, responding to a debate on Demands for Grants for the Railway Ministry in Lok Sabha, stated that the switch from diesel to...
India Condemns Pakistan's Strike on Kabul Hospital as 'Barbaric and Unconscionable'
Pakistan's military conducted airstrikes on Kabul, Afghanistan on March 16-17, 2026, targeting what it described as 'terrorist support infrastructure.'...
Six Ukrainians and One American Arrested in India Under UAPA for Terror Conspiracy
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested seven foreign nationals — six Ukrainians and one American citizen — on charges of conspiring to carry out...
Parliamentary Committee Recommends India Publish Formal Foreign Policy Strategy Document
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, presented its Twelfth Report on the Ministry of External...
Ali Larijani Killed in Israeli Strikes: Iran Loses Top Security Official
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on March 17, 2026 that Ali Larijani — secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and one...
Kabul Hospital Strike: Taliban's "Crime Against Humanity" Claim and Pakistan's Military Infrastructure Defence
The Taliban government's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned Pakistan's March 16, 2026 aerial strikes on Kabul, calling the targeting of a drug...
CMFRI Launches Rs 5 Crore Deep-Sea Expedition to Map Seamount Fisheries in Arabian Sea
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), under ICAR, has launched a two-year deep-sea research programme worth Rs 4.986 crore to explore...
Government Strengthens ISTS Framework for Seamless Renewable Energy Grid Integration
The Ministry of Power affirmed that the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) framework, governed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)...
Trump Says US Does Not Need Allies on Iran as Strait of Hormuz Crisis Deepens
US President Donald Trump declared that the United States does 'not need' the help of allies to manage the Iran conflict, even as he simultaneously...
Transgender Community Protests Amendment Bill 2026, Calls It Unconstitutional
Members of the transgender, intersex, and gender diverse community marched to Lok Bhavan (seat of the state government) in protest against the Transgender...
LPG Consumption Slumps 17% in First Half of March Amid War-Related Supply Shortages
LPG consumption in India fell to 1.147 million tonnes in the first fortnight of March 2026 — a 17.3% decline from the 1.387 million tonnes consumed in the...
622 Deaths, No Efficiency Gains: Centre's Admission on Sewer Cleaning Mechanisation
The Central government informed the Lok Sabha that 622 deaths from hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning have been reported since 2017, and that there is...
AI for Medical Diagnosis and Self-Prescription: Risks, Regulation, and Ethical Concerns
Doctors and public health experts have raised alarms about an accelerating trend of patients using AI tools — particularly large language models (LLMs) like...
India Moves to Build Domestic Solar Panel Recycling Capacity as Waste Projected at 600 Kilotonnes by 2030
With support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), a government-backed think tank has estimated that cumulative solar panel waste in India...
India's 2033 Universal Health Insurance Goal: Coverage, Schemes, and Gaps
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that health insurance is a government priority and that India aims to achieve universal health insurance coverage...
Equal Motherhood: Supreme Court Removes Age Barrier for Adoptive Mothers' Maternity Leave
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court struck down Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code, 2020, declaring it unconstitutional for restricting maternity...
EPS-95 Minimum Pension: Parliamentary Panel Echoes Demand for Hike from ₹1,000 to ₹7,500
A Parliamentary Standing Committee has urged an immediate review of the minimum monthly pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995, calling the...
Parliament Approves ₹2.01 Lakh Crore Additional Spending in FY26 via Appropriation Bill
Parliament gave its approval for ₹2.01 lakh crore in additional net expenditure for Financial Year 2025–26 when the Rajya Sabha returned the Appropriation...
PM-MUDRA Yojana: ₹39.48 Lakh Crore Sanctioned, NPA at ~2%: FM Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha on March 17, 2026, that a cumulative ₹39.48 lakh crore has been sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri...
Second LPG Tanker Reaches India From War Zone; 22 Indian Vessels Still Stranded at Hormuz
A second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, MV Nanda Devi, reached Kandla port in Gujarat after safely transiting the Strait of Hormuz — the first vessel, MV...
Parliamentary Panel Urges Strategic Energy Mitigation Framework to Guard Against Oil Shocks
The Standing Committee on Finance, headed by senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, has recommended that the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the...
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana: Expanding Affordable Generic Medicine Access
The Government highlighted the progress of the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), which provides quality generic medicines at prices...
India's Forex Defence: Former RBI Deputy Governor Advocates $1 Trillion Reserve Buffer
Former RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra, in an article published on BasisPoint Insight, advocated that India should build its foreign exchange (forex)...
Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill 2026: Anti-Conversion Law Passed by Legislature
The Maharashtra legislature passed the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, making it one of the most comprehensive anti-conversion laws enacted by...
India's Growth Outlook Dims as Crude Tops $100 and Gas Crisis Deepens
Goldman Sachs cut its India growth forecast for the fiscal year starting April 2026 (FY2027) by half a percentage point to 6.5%, becoming the first major...
Supreme Court Strikes Down Age Cap on Maternity Leave for Adoptive Mothers
The Supreme Court struck down Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code, 2020, which had restricted maternity benefits to adoptive mothers only when the...
High Trade Margins in Essential Medical Devices: NPPA Regulation and Policy Gaps
The government acknowledged the problem of high trade margins in medical devices included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), where the NPPA...
India's First Court-Approved Passive Euthanasia: The Harish Rana Case
The Supreme Court of India approved passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, a 32-year-old from Uttar Pradesh who has been in a persistent vegetative state (PVS)...
Affordable Medicines and Regulation of Private Hospitals: DPCO 2013 and NPPA Framework
The government reaffirmed that drug prices in India are regulated under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO 2013), issued under the Essential...
Census 2027: Historic Opportunity to Capture All 21 Disability Categories for Targeted Policy
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale described Census 2027 as a 'historic opportunity' to capture accurate data on all...
India's Oilmeal Exports Hit by US-Iran Conflict and Red Sea Disruptions
Escalating US-Iran military tensions in 2026 — including effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran — are severely disrupting India's oilmeal...
Golden Share Strategy for PSU Autonomy: Parliamentary Panel's Disinvestment Safeguard Proposal
A Parliamentary Standing Committee urged the government to finalize a 'golden share' strategy to protect Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) autonomy when...
India Calls Out Pakistan's Islamophobia Narrative at the UN General Assembly
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, delivered a strong rebuttal at the UN General Assembly, accusing...
Safe Reuse of Treated Water: Uttarakhand Notifies Policy as India Mainstreams SRTW
Amid growing pressure on freshwater resources, Safe Reuse of Treated Water (SRTW) has emerged as a national priority in India's water security strategy....
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana: Blue Revolution and Integrated Fisheries Policy
The Department of Fisheries affirmed in Parliament that it is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) as the flagship scheme for a...
Biopharma SHAKTI: India's ₹10,000 Crore Push to Become a Global Biologics Hub
The Government has formally launched the Biopharma SHAKTI scheme with a total outlay of ₹10,000 crore over five years, announced initially in Union Budget...
Farmer Income and Security: PM-KISAN, KCC, and Crop Insurance Framework
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare informed the Lok Sabha that the government has accorded highest priority to farmers' income and security...
India's Trade Deficit with China Crosses $100 Billion: A Structural Challenge
India's trade deficit with China has crossed $100 billion for the 2025-26 fiscal year, with the full calendar year 2025 deficit reaching a record $116.12...
Gujarat's UCC Draft Law Follows Uttarakhand Template: Uniform Civil Code Momentum Across States
Gujarat's state government submitted its Uniform Civil Code (UCC) committee report and draft law, modelled closely on the Uttarakhand UCC template — the...
India Raises Pakistan's Airstrikes on Afghanistan at United Nations General Assembly
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, raised Pakistan's aerial bombardment of Afghanistan at the UN...
Why NATO Is Not Joining the US-Israel War Against Iran: The Article 5 Debate
Despite US forces being targeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks across multiple Gulf states, NATO has not formally invoked Article 5 — the collective...
Iranian Missile Debris Kills One in Abu Dhabi as West Asia War Enters New Phase
On March 17, 2026, debris from an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile killed one person in Abu Dhabi, marking one of the most direct civilian casualties...
India's $300 Billion IT Outsourcing Sector at an AI Crossroads
India's IT outsourcing industry, valued at approximately $300-315 billion and employing around 6 million people, is facing an existential reckoning as...
UAE Temporarily Closes Airspace as Iranian Missile and Drone Attacks Escalate
The UAE briefly closed its airspace on March 17, 2026 as an 'exceptional precautionary measure' after Iran intensified missile and drone strikes across Gulf...
Supreme Court Nine-Judge Bench Takes Up Definition of 'Industry': Revisiting a 48-Year-Old Labour Law Question
A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court commenced hearing on March 17, 2026 to definitively settle the meaning of 'industry' under Section 2(j)...
Strait of Hormuz Disruption: Oil Price Surge and India's Energy Vulnerability
Crude oil prices surged over 2% on March 17, 2026, as fears grew over a prolonged disruption to the Strait of Hormuz — the world's most critical oil transit...
India Condemns Pakistan's Airstrike on Kabul Hospital as Act of Aggression
Pakistan's military conducted an airstrike on the night of March 16, 2026 targeting the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul — a 2,000-bed civilian...
MeitY's Budget Battles: Parliamentary Panel Flags Gaps in India's Tech Funding
A parliamentary standing committee has warned that India's push in artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors is being undermined by MeitY's failure...
India Cautiously Opens Door to Chinese FDI: Global Lessons from Thailand and Brazil
India's Union Cabinet (March 10, 2026) approved amendments to the FDI policy for land-bordering countries — effectively liberalising aspects of Press Note 3...
India Faces WTO Counter-Notification Over Underreported Rice and Wheat Price Support
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) filed its fourth counter-notification against India at the WTO Committee on Agriculture, co-sponsored by...
India-US Trade Deal Awaits New US Tariff Framework After Supreme Court Ruling
India's Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal confirmed on March 16, 2026, that India will sign the bilateral trade deal with the United States only after...
India's Trade Deficit Widens to $27.1 Billion in February 2026: Gold Surge Drives Import Spike
India's merchandise trade deficit widened to $27.1 billion in February 2026, up sharply from $14 billion in February 2025 — nearly double year-on-year....