Ministry of Defence, on March 03, 2026, signed contracts worth a total of Rs 5,083 crore for the acquisition of six Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) Mk-III (Maritime Role) for the Indian Coast Guard and Surface-to-Air Vertical Launch - Shtil missiles for the Indian Navy.
The contract for ALH Mk-III (MR) along with operational role equipment, an engineering support package, and performance-based logistics support, valued at Rs 2,901 crore, has been inked with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bengaluru under the Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) category.
The contract for the procurement of Surface-to-Air Vertical Launch - Shtil missiles and associated missile holding frames, valued at Rs 2,182 crore, has been signed with JSC Rosoboronexport, Russian Federation. The acquisition is intended to substantially enhance the air defence capabilities of frontline warships against a wide spectrum of aerial threats.
In a major initiative aimed at reducing human–wildlife conflict and strengthening wildlife conservation, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Forest & Environment Pawan Kalyan on March 3, 2026 launched the ‘Hanuman’ Project in Mangalagiri near Vijayawada.
The project — Healing and Nurturing Units for Monitoring, Aid and Nursing of Wildlife (HANUMAN) — has been designed as a comprehensive scientific and technological intervention to protect both wildlife and people living in forest fringe villages.
As part of the launch, over 100 specially designed rapid response and rescue vehicles were flagged off. Of these, 93 are Rapid Response and Rescue Vehicles, while seven are fully equipped ambulances to provide medical aid to injured wild animals.
Jio Platforms Limited announced the appointment of Dan Bailey as president, Jio Platforms, as it steps up its international expansion plans.
Bailey will be based in London and will lead the company’s international business initiatives, reporting to Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited.
He will also join the executive committee of Jio Platforms Limited.
Bailey comes with over 35 years of experience across consulting and investment banking, having held senior leadership roles at Schroders/Citi, Morgan Stanley and HSBC.
Most recently, he served as chairman of Deutsche Bank’s TMT practice, where he advised companies on telecom and technology transactions.
The Reserve Bank has informed us that India’s current account deficit has moderated to 30.1 billion dollars or 1% of GDP in the period of April-December 2025 from 36.6 billion dollars in the same period a year ago. The Net foreign direct investment (FDI inflow has increased to three billion dollars in April – December 2025, up from 0.6 billion dollars a year ago.
Foreign portfolio investment (FPI), however, recorded net outflows of 4.3 billion dollars as against net inflows of 9.4 billion dollars for the same period a year ago.
According to the RBI, foreign exchange reserves depleted by 30.8 billion dollars (on Balance of Payments Basis) in April-December 2025, as compared with a depletion of 13.8 billion dollars a year ago.
As per the report titled ‘Developments in India’s Balance of Payments during the Third Quarter (October-December) of 2025-26’ released by the RBI, services exports have risen on an annual basis in major categories such as computer services and other business services.
Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader K.P. Unnikrishnan, a life-long socialist and a key figure in national politics in the 80s and 90s who played an instrumental role in the massive evacuation of Indians during the Gulf war, passed away.
Mr. Unnikrishnan has the rare distinction of representing a Lok Sabha constituency for the longest period in Kerala’s political history. He was the MP for Vadakara in Kozhikode from 1971 to 1996, that too as the nominee of three political parties.
Mr. Unnikrishnan also served as a Union Minister for Telecommunications, Shipping, and Surface Transport in the V.P. Singh Cabinet from 1989 to 1990. During this time, he led the evacuation of over 1.5 lakh Indians, mostly Keralites, from Kuwait during the Gulf War.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative across the country, Mumbai’s suburban district has launched the ‘Saksham Skill Survey’, an ambitious drive to study the skills of youth between the ages of 18 and 40 and make them employable.
Through this AI-based door-to-door survey, district authorities will study each candidate’s educational qualification, skill interest and the need for necessary training for employment. Accordingly, a list of government-approved institutions and the relevant courses will be shared with the candidates.
The survey will be conducted by Sapio Analytics over the next couple of months. The information will be collected using a standard and prescribed format. Mr Shelar has informed us that this survey will try to set up India’s first decentralised, Artificial Intelligence based Workforce Intelligence model, adding that this initiative will be useful for long-term skill.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) which is acting as the agent for the Minister of Finance, Japan have signed the third Amendment and Restatement Agreement of the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) for up to 75 billion US Dollars.
The BSA, which remains unchanged (for up to $75 billion), is effective from February 28, 2026. It is a two-way arrangement where both authorities can swap their local currencies in exchange for the dollar.
India International Exchange (India INX) announced a strategic partnership between its wholly-owned subsidiary, India INX Global Access IFSC (India INX GA), and HSBC International Financial Services Centre Banking Unit (HSBC IBU) to expand structured access to global investment products for Indian investors through Gift City.
India INX GA, a Global Access Provider (GAP) registered with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), will leverage its global product offerings to broaden the range of international investment opportunities available to HSBC IBU clients.
Safeena Husain, a businessline Changemaker Award winner, has been named among TIME magazine’s Women of the Year 2026 — an honour that recognises 16 global leaders working to build a more equitable world.
In 2025, Educate Girls, the non-profit organisation she founded, became the first Indian organisation to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, widely regarded as Asia’s highest honour for community leadership.
Safeena’s work began in 50 villages of Rajasthan in 2007 to provide access to quality education to school dropout girls and has since spread to over 25,000 villages also in MP and UP.
Union Minister of Labour and Employment and Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, released a Book titled “Mahatma: A Great Communicator” at a function held at Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat, in New Delhi. The Book was written by Additional Director General Akashvani, Dr Dhiraj Kakadia.
Mr Kakadia said that Mahatma Gandhi was a hard worker who integrated the whole country through his communication skills against British rule to make the country free from British rule. The Book is based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi and the impact of his communication skills during the freedom movement.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in February fell 6 per cent in volume to 20.39 billion and 5 per cent in value to ₹26.84 trillion compared with January. This is mainly owing to the lower number of days in February.
In January, the figures stood at 21.70 billion transactions (volume) and ₹28.33 trillion (value).
In February, daily transactions increased to 728 million with a value of ₹95,865 crore against 700 million and ₹91,403 crore in January.
In December, the figures stood at 21.63 billion (volume) and ₹27.97 trillion (value), respectively.
On an annual basis, UPI transactions were up by 27 per cent in volume and 22 per cent in value from February 2025.
Immediate Payment Services (IMPS) for February was down 10 per cent to 336 million transactions (volume) against 374 million in January. In value, it declined by 4 per cent to ₹6.42 trillion in February against ₹6.73 trillion in January.
In December, this was 380 million with a value of ₹6.62 trillion.
Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Nikhil Khadse has announced a special edition of the Achieving Sports Milestone by Inspiring Women Through Action (ASMITA) League in New Delhi. The League marks the International Women’s Day on the 8th of this month.
Competitions will be organised for girls in three age categories including Under 13, 13 to 18 years and 18 years and above. The Athletics events will include 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres races.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy is retiring following India's upcoming tour, ending a 15-year international career including eight World Cup titles
The 35-year-old Healy has scored more than 7,000 runs across all three international formats with 275 dismissals following her national debut in 2010.
The wicketkeeper has won the T20 World Cup six times and the ODI World Cup twice and has been the captain since the end of 2023.
Healy's records include the highest individual score in an ODI World Cup final (170 against England in 2022), the most runs in a T20 international (148 not out against Sri Lanka in 2019),
the most dismissals in T20 internationals by a woman or man (126).
The series with India features three T20s from Feb. 15-21, followed by three one-day internationals from Feb. 24-March 1 and finishing with a test in Perth from March 6-9.
If she plays five of the matches she will reach 300 internationals.
