The Department of Posts is launching 24 Speed Post on 17th March 2026. The service will be launched by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of Communications, and Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State for Communications, in the presence of senior officers of the Department at Rangbhawan Auditorium, Akashwani Bhawan, New Delhi at 12:30 PM.
The 24 Speed Post introduces next day guaranteed delivery for urgent and time-sensitive consignments. In the first phase, the service will be available across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Alongside this, 24 and 48 Speed Post services will provide assured D+1 and D+2 delivery timelines, enabled through dedicated processing windows and priority air transmission.
The services will also feature OTP-based secure delivery, end-to-end tracking with SMS alerts, BNPL facility for business customers, free pickup for bulk bookings, API integration and centralized billing, along with a money-back guarantee in case of delay, further strengthening India Post’s premium express delivery capabilities.
National Highways Authority of India has announced the revision of the applicable fee for the FASTag Annual Pass from the current Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 3,075 for the Financial Year 2026–27. The increased fee will be applicable from 1st April 2026.
The revision in the fee has been carried out in accordance with the provisions of the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. With over 56 lakh users, the adoption of the FASTag Annual Pass has been growing among private vehicle owners.
The revised rate will be applicable for eligible non-commercial vehicles with a valid FASTag seeking to avail the Annual Pass facility at about 1,150 fee plazas on National Highways and National Expressways. The FASTag Annual Pass eliminates the need to frequently recharge FASTag through a one-time fee payment for one-year validity or 200 toll plaza crossings.
The pass is applicable for all non-commercial vehicles with a valid FASTag.
The annual pass gets activated within two hours on the existing FASTag linked to the vehicle after payment of the one-time fee through the Rajmarg Yatra App or the National Highways Authority of India website.
Launched on 15th August 2025, the overwhelming response to the FASTag Annual Pass underlines the greater convenience and cost-effective travel option it provides to National Highway users across the country.
Government of India has notified the Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2026, amending Rule 3 of the Electricity Rules, 2005 relating to Captive Generating Plants (CGPs).The amendments aim to remove interpretational ambiguities, improve ease of doing business for industry,and align the captive generation framework with India’s energy transition and industrial growth objectives.
Captive power generation has been a key enabling provision under the Electricity Act, 2003. The National Electricity Policy, 2005 recognised captive generation as an important mechanism for ensuring reliable and cost-effective electricity supply to industry.
The steady buzz of conversations, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and the sight of innovative food displays filled the halls of Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, as the 40th edition of AAHAR - The International Food & Hospitality Fair took place from 10-14 March 2026.
Jointly organized by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), AAHAR has emerged as one of South Asia’s most prominent B2B platforms for the food and hospitality sector.
AAHAR brings together hotels, restaurants, catering institutions, importers, distributors, and suppliers, creating a platform where interactions frequently develop into business partnerships. Over the years, the exhibition has witnessed an interesting trend: several entrepreneurs who once attended as visitors or buyers now return as exhibitors with their own brands.
Veteran actor Madhu Malhotra, best known for her work in ‘Satte Pe Satta’ and ‘Karz’, passed away following heart failure.
Malhotra died, aged 71.
Malhotra was a known actor, who appeared in several films from the 1970s to the 1990s. Some of her popular movies include ‘Kaala Patthar’, ‘Vidhaata’, ‘Sambandh’, and ‘Ghulam’ among many others.
Reportedly, Madhu Malhotra starred in over 100 films in Bollywood across several genres. However, she has mostly starred in supporting roles and cameo appearances in song. Despite not being in the lead of several hit projects, she built a reputation with her strong performance in the industry.
Tamil lyricist and author R. Vairamuthu has been selected for the Jnanpith Award, the nation’s highest literary honour. He is the third Tamil literary figure to receive the award, after a gap of 24 years. Earlier recipients include the late writers Akilan and Jayakanthan.
Mr. Vairamuthu won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2003 for Kallikattu Ithikasam.
“Until now, the two awards received by Tamil were conferred upon prose writers. Only now has the Jnanpith been bestowed upon Tamil poetry. The long-standing remark that Tamil poetry had never received the Jnanpith ends with me,” he said.
Hollywood's biggest award night—the 98th edition of the Academy Awards—took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15.
Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another ended up winning six Oscars—the highest for the night—out of 13 nominations.
Rahul Dravid, Mithali Raj, and Roger Binny will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the BCCI’s annual awards ceremony, the Naman Awards 2026. Dravid and Binny will both be awarded the Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, while Raj will be awarded the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for Women.
Binny has been selected for his contributions to Indian cricket as a player, coach, and administrator. A member of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning squad, the 70-year-old represented India 99 times as a player before serving as the coach of the U-19 team (winning the 2000 U-19 World Cup) and as national selector between 2012 and 2016.
Most recently, Binny served as President of the BCCI from 2022 to 2025, a period in which Indian cricket found significant growth.
Food regulator FSSAI said its registration certificates and licences will be valid forever and there will be no need for renewals, as part of its efforts to bring reforms towards the ease of doing business.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) informed that its nodal health ministry has approved many reforms, including an increase in turnover threshold for registration from Rs 12 lakhs to Rs 1.5 crore, effective March 10.
Street food vendors registered with municipal corporations would be considered as deemed registered with the FSSAI.
The reforms have been finalised following detailed deliberations with states/UTs and stakeholders. The reforms are aligned with the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms constituted by the Niti Aayog.
"To reduce regulatory burden, the proposal for perpetual validity of FSSAI registrations and licences has been approved. Earlier, registrations and licences were required to be renewed periodically. Under the revised framework, registrations and licences will have perpetual validity, eliminating the need for repeated renewals," the regulator said.
The Government has added seven more districts in the sixth phase of mandatory hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts (Amendment) Order, 2026. These include Rupnagar in Punjab, Banda in Uttar Pradesh and Beed in Maharashtra, along with four other districts.
The sixth phase of the mandatory hallmarking, which came into force from the second of this month, covered 380 districts under mandatory hallmarking. Since 2021, more than 60 Crore Gold Items are hallmarked with Hallmark Unique Identification- HUID so far.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in a statement said that mandatory hallmarking covers six caratages of gold jewellery and artefacts. These include 14 karat, 18 karat, 20 karat, 22 karat, 23 karat and 24 karat. BIS added that under the Indian Standard, a provision for 9 karat hallmarking is also available, which is currently a voluntary grade.
The Bureau further said that consumers can verify the authenticity and purity of hallmarked gold jewellery carrying the HUID number by using the Verify HUID feature on the BIS CARE mobile application.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the GATI (Global Access to Talent from India) Foundation to strengthen coordination across India's global skills mobility ecosystem and expand structured overseas employment pathways for Indian workers.
This partnership marks an important milestone for the GATI Foundation, representing its first Central government partnership. It is designed to strengthen engagement between the Union and State Governments and support a more coordinated approach to international workforce mobility.
A key objective of the partnership is to improve alignment between national skilling priorities and state-level implementation, ensuring that overseas employment initiatives are supported through stronger institutional collaboration.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched a pilot programme titled “Awareness Program on Digital Payments” to promote safe and widespread adoption of digital payments across the country.
The pilot will be conducted in Maharashtra in partnership with CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd, per a central bank statement issued as part of the sixth edition of Digital Payments Awareness Week (DPAW), which is being observed during March 9-13, 2026 .
The program aims to conduct in-person awareness sessions for 10 lakh participants in rural and semi-urban areas. These sessions will be carried out by Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs).
The RBI also unveiled a multi-media awareness campaign titled “Thoda Dhyan Se”, encouraging users to remain alert and cautious while making online payments and transacting online.
Jose Antonio Kast was sworn in as Chile’s new president during a ceremony at the National Congress in the coastal city of Valparaiso.
The 60-year-old leader formally assumed office in the Hall of Honor. Outgoing President Gabriel Boric attended the ceremony and handed over the Piocha de O’Higgins, a traditional symbol of the Chilean presidency, to his successor.
In 2019, Kast founded the Republican Party, saying he wanted to represent a harder political line than what he described as a moderating traditional right. After unsuccessful presidential bids in 2017 and 2021, Kast secured victory in his third attempt, defeating left-wing candidate Jeannette Jara in a runoff last December 2025.
The government has appointed Kompella Venkata Ramana Murty, a 1991-batch officer of the Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) and former Additional Controller General of Defence Accounts, as the whole-time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
In an announcement dated March 11, the Department of Economic Affairs said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved the appointment for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The other whole-time members of the Sebi board are Kamlesh Chandra Varshney and Amarjeet Singh. Varshney and Pradhan are from the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) cadre, while Singh rose to the position from within Sebi.
Murty is not new to Sebi, having earlier served as a part-time member on the Sebi board as a representative of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
At present, the board has four part-time members, including representatives from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Reserve Bank of India.
The Sebi board comprises a chairman, four whole-time members and four part-time members. The current chairman, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, took charge on March 1 2025.
