The 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation opened in Yaounde, Cameroon, on 26 March 2026 with a ceremonial session chaired by the Trade Minister of Cameroon. The session was attended by Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, DG, WTO, and Trade Ministers/Senior representatives of the WTO member countries.
On behalf of India, Commerce Secretary Shri Rajesh Agrawal attended the opening session. The opening session was followed by a short celebration of the entry into force of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on September 15, 2025.
On the sidelines of the first day of the MC14 meetings, Shri Goyal called on the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Cameroon, H.E. Mr. Dion Ngute Joseph and discussed bilateral and multilateral issues, including ways to further strengthen India–Cameroon cooperation.
Shri. Goyal also held bilateral meeting with Director-General of the WTO with the discussions focusing on the MC14 agenda. HCIM also held bilateral meeting with his counterparts from the Netherlands, France and Ethiopia and exchanged views on deepening bilateral trade ties.
Commerce Secretary, Shri Rajesh Agrawal also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Chile, Paraguay, US, Nepal, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, delegation of EU Parliamentarians, Mexico, Peru, Russia, New Zealand and the EU on the sidelines of MC-14. Discussions focused on MC14 agenda as well as exploring options for enhancing bilateral trade ties.
With Chile and Peru, both sides touched base on the ongoing India-Chile FTA negotiations and India-Peru FTA negotiations. With the EU and New Zealand, both sides took stock of the progress towards signing the recently concluded India-EU FTA and India-New Zealand FTA negotiations.
The National Housing Bank (NHB), the apex agency established by Government of India to promote cost effective housing finance system, has launched the Gruh Sugam Portal. The portal enables Defence / Government personnel to avail home loans with ease from the location of their posting.
This portal will accelerate digital lending adoption and financial inclusion.
It will facilitate increased home ownership through improved access to housing loans, strengthening the mission of promoting affordable and sustainable housing finance.
Biruté Mary Galdikas, a Canadian scientist who dedicated her life to the study and conservation of orangutans, has died. She was 79.
Dr. Galdikas began her fieldwork in 1971 in Indonesian Borneo, founding Camp Leakey in what is now Tanjung Puting National Park. Her research became the longest individually led field study of a single wild species in scientific history.
Over the course of her career, Dr. Galdikas received numerous international honors recognizing her contributions to science and conservation. Her research was featured on the cover of National Geographic multiple times, bringing global attention to the plight of orangutans and the urgency of rainforest preservation.
She became one of the most recognizable voices in primatology and wildlife conservation, often mentioned alongside Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey as part of a generation of women who transformed the scientific study of great apes.
Dr. Biruté Galdikas dedicated her life to ensuring that orangutans would not disappear quietly.
India secured two bronze medals at the Asia Cup 2026 archery Stage I tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, with the recurve women’s team and compound men’s team claiming podium finishes in their respective events.
Competing at the SAT Football Stadium, the Indian women’s recurve archery team of Ruma Biswas, Kirti and Ridhi beat Malaysia 5-1 in the bronze medal match.
The trio had earlier finished third in the qualifying round with a combined score of 1915. Ruma Biswas led the charge with 650, while Kirti and Ridhi contributed 638 and 627, respectively.
In the women’s recurve team event, India defeated Chinese Taipei 6-2 in the quarter-finals before going down 5-1 to the People’s Republic of China in the semis.
In the compound men’s team event, Rajat Chauhan, Uday Kamboj and world No. 4 Rishabh Yadav also claimed bronze after edging Bhutan 234-232 in a closely fought contest.
India had earlier dominated the compound men’s qualification round, finishing first with a score of 2126.
Rajat Chauhan led the field with 712, while Rishabh Yadav (708) and Uday Kamboj (706) claimed the second and third spots.
India have sent a 16-member Indian squad - eight men and eight women - across recurve and compound archery events for the Asia Cup 2026 in Bangkok.
For the first time, ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), the 121-year old premier research intensive deemed to be university institute of ICAR has achieved a landmark global recognition by entering the QS World University Rankings 2026 in the subject category of Agriculture & Forestry.
Jharkhand MLA Kalpana Soren was honoured with the ‘Women Empowerment Trailblazer Award’ at the BRICS CCI WE Annual Women Summit and Felicitation 2026 held in the capital, organisers said.
The award was presented at an event hosted by the women empowerment vertical of the BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
She also emphasised the need to amplify the voices of women from marginalised communities and ensure better access to opportunities. Referring to the state’s approach, Soren said women in Jharkhand are increasingly being seen not just as beneficiaries but as entrepreneurs and agents of change.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has entered into a strategic collaboration with Truecaller to launch a nationwide Women's Digital Safety Awareness Initiative. The collaboration was formally announced at a ceremony held at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan.
This partnership establishes a structured framework for coordinated action aimed at enhancing awareness of the evolving digital risks faced by women, while strengthening pathways to institutional redressal, including improved access to the NCW's 24x7 helpline.
As part of the initiative, NCW and Truecaller have jointly developed and launched an interactive digital safety resource titled "TrueCyberSakhi: A Digital Safety Toolkit, Created for Her." The toolkit is designed to promote informed and confident digital participation by equipping women and the wider public with practical knowledge to navigate online spaces safely.
The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), under the Digital India Corporation (DIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the initiative titled “BHASHINI for Seva / Sanchalan – A BHASHINI Sahayogi Program.”
The collaboration aims to strengthen multilingual digital capabilities within the pension fund services ecosystem through integration with the BHASHINI Platform, India’s National Language Digital Public Infrastructure.
The initiative seeks to strengthen multilingual access across all 22 languages recognised under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India within PFRDA’s operational and communication frameworks, enabling greater inclusivity for subscribers and stakeholders.
Mamta Rohit- Executive Director, PFRDA.
Amitabh Nag- CEO, Digital India BHASHINI Division.
Securities and Exchange Board of India or SEBI has launched an important investor protection measure in the form of Verified Label for stock trading apps of brokers registered with SEBI, on Google Play Store.
The proliferation of fraudulent trading apps has posed a serious threat to retail investors, with scammers impersonating genuine apps that eventually deceive gullible investors in believing that their investments done through the fake apps are directed to the regulated securities market.
SEBI, in collaboration with Google, has taken this initiative to implement a first-of-its-kind "Verified" badge on Google Play, to start with, for all stock trading apps in India that offered by entities that are registered with SEBI. Verified stock trading apps associated with Subsequently, the Verified label will also be extended to apps of other regulated intermediaries.
The Supreme Court on March 24, 2026 held in a judgment that a person professing any religion other than Hinduism, Buddhism, or Sikhism should not be considered a member of a Schedule Caste community.
The court concluded that conversion to any other religion would result in “immediate and complete loss of Scheduled Caste status from the moment of conversion, regardless of birth”.
A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan invoked Clause 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950,
which mandates that “no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste”. The Sikh religion was added to the ambit of Clause 3 in 1956. The provision was further amended in 1990 to include persons professing Buddhism.
The judgment also dealt with the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, which did not prescribe religion-based exclusion as in the case of the Scheduled Caste community. Justice Mishra said a person could claim benefits under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, only if he or she continued to belong to that particular tribe “in substance”.
The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed MoU towards strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The MoU aims to enhance bilateral trade relations and foster greater economic cooperation between India and Latvia, creating new avenues for business collaboration and investment.
The establishment of Indian Embassy in Latvia recently further underscores the growing importance of bilateral relations between the two countries. Strategically located in North-Eastern Europe, Latvia serves as a gateway to the European market.
As a member of the EU and NATO, the country offers a stable political environment, regulatory transparency and seamless access to a consumer base of over 450 million across Europe, he said.
India’s exports to Latvia currently include rubber, chemicals and vegetables, and Shah emphasised the significant potential to expand bilateral trade volumes in the coming years.
The Rajasthan Royals ownership race is over, and a consortium led by US-based entrepreneur Kal Somani has emerged as the winner. The consortium reportedly acquired 100 per cent of the franchise at a valuation of $1.63 billion (Rs 15,286 crore). Somani is the founder of IntraEdge, Academian, and Truyo.AI.
He is backed by American businessman Rob Walton, of the Walmart family, and the Hamp family, who own majority stakes in National Football League (NFL) side Detroit Lions. Sheila Ford Hamp also has roots in the Ford family, who are co-owners of the Ford Motor Company.
At the time of the deal, it was the costliest in IPL history, before being overtaken by the sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) soon after. According to reports, the change in RR's ownership will kick in after IPL 2026.
