Daily Current Affairs: 8 March 2026

Lt Gen Pushpendra Pal Singh to assume charge as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Western Command.

[Western Command (India)]

Key Updates:

• Lt Gen Pushpendra Pal Singh will take over as GOC-in-C of Western Command at Chandimandir at month-end upon the retirement of Lt Gen M K Katiyar.
• He is currently serving as Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS) since 31 July 2025.
• He was commissioned into the 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment on 19 December 1987.
• He has participated in Operation Pawan (Sri Lanka), Operation Meghdoot (Siachen Glacier), Operation Rakshak (counter-insurgency) and Operation Orchid.
• He commanded a Special Forces Unit in the Kashmir Valley and along the Line of Control, an Infantry Brigade, a Mountain Division along the Line of Actual Control, and 9 Corps at Yol, Himachal Pradesh.
• He has served as Chief of Staff, Central Command and Director General, Operational Logistics & Strategic Movement at Army Headquarters.
• He is an alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Depali Das receives Indian citizenship certificate under Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)

Key Updates:

• Depali Das, a 60-year-old resident of Cachar district in Assam, received a certificate of naturalisation under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
• The citizenship was granted on the grounds that she entered India from Bangladesh in February 1988 due to religious persecution.
• She had previously been declared a foreigner by a Foreigner’s Tribunal (FT) in February 2019 and spent over two years in a detention camp at Silchar Central Jail.
• The naturalisation certificate was issued through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) CAA citizenship portal.
• The proof of her Bangladeshi nationality was established using an official inquiry report prepared by a sub-inspector of the Assam Police.
• The police report identified her original address as Parani Baniachung, Sylhet, in Bangladesh.

KV Subramanian receives Alumni Award for Professional Achievement from University of Chicago

[University of Chicago]

Key Updates:

• The University of Chicago has honoured Professor Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian with the Alumni Award for Professional Achievement, making him the first Indian economist to receive the distinction in the award's 85-year history.
• Subramanian served as the 17th Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India from 2018 to 2021 and as an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• The university citation credited his Economic Surveys of India as landmark documents providing the intellectual foundation for India's self-reliance and noted his articulation of a V-shaped economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• With this honour, he has now received distinguished alumnus awards from all three of his alma maters: the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta, and the University of Chicago.
• He currently serves as a Professor of Finance at the Indian School of Business (ISB) and is the author of the book India@100.
• The award, established in 1941, has previously been conferred upon 14 Nobel laureates and global thought leaders including Paul Samuelson, Gary Becker, Claudia Goldin, Carl Sagan, and Philip Kotler.

Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari Appointed Chief Justice of Madras High Court

Key Updates:

• The President of India appointed Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court following the recommendation of the Supreme Court (SC) Collegium.
• The SC Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, recommended the appointment in a meeting held on 26 February.
• Justice Dharmadhikari succeeds Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, who retired from the position on 5 March.
• He is currently serving as a judge of the Kerala High Court, having been transferred there from his parent Madhya Pradesh High Court in April 2025.
• The transfer to the Kerala High Court was approved by the President under Article 222 of the Constitution of India.
• Justice Dharmadhikari was first appointed as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in April 2016 and took oath as a permanent judge on 17 March 2018.
• Born on 9 July 1966 at Raipur, he practised law in civil, criminal, and constitutional branches for 24 years in the Madhya Pradesh High Court before his elevation to the bench.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to purchase ₹1 lakh crore bonds via two OMO auctions.

[Reserve Bank of India (RBI)]

Key Updates:

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct two open market operation (OMO) purchase auctions of ₹50,000 crore each on March 9 and March 13.
• The OMO purchases aim to infuse liquidity into the banking system ahead of mid-March advance tax outflows of approximately ₹2 lakh crore.
• Banking system liquidity averaged a daily surplus of ₹2.63 lakh crore in March, up from ₹2.53 lakh crore in February.
• The RBI purchased ₹12,715 crore of bonds on-screen in February and likely bought additional bonds in the first week of March.
• State Bank of India (SBI) saw its liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) fall to 125% in Q3 from 144% in Q2 due to strong credit growth outpacing deposit accretion.
• Vedanta Ltd plans to raise about ₹3,000 crore through domestic three-year and five-year non-convertible debentures offering coupons around 8.75% and 9% respectively next week.
• Bank of Baroda raised ₹10,000 crore via green infrastructure bonds.

Hurun Research Institute ranks India third globally with 308 billionaires in 2026.

Key Updates:

• India’s billionaire count rose to 308, an increase of 24 from the previous year, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2026.
• Indian billionaires added 57 new entrants and saw 27 drop out during the year.
• Total wealth of Indian billionaires grew 10% year-on-year to ₹112.6 trillion.
• Mukesh Ambani retained his position as India and Asia’s richest person with a net worth of ₹9.8 trillion, up 9%.
• Gautam Adani remained the second richest Indian despite a 14% decline in wealth to ₹7.5 trillion.
• Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairperson of HCL Technologies, was third with wealth of ₹3.2 trillion and the only woman among India’s top 10 richest.
• Healthcare sector produced 53 new billionaires, industrial products 36, and consumer goods 31.
• Energy sector, with eight billionaires, accounted for ₹18.3 trillion or about 16% of India’s cumulative billionaire wealth.
• Cyrus S Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India added nearly ₹0.91 trillion, the largest absolute gain.
• Mumbai hosts 95 billionaires, adding 15 new entrants, but lost its status as Asia’s billionaire capital to Shenzhen which has 133.
• India’s youngest billionaire is Ritesh Agarwal, founder of Oyo, aged 32 with net worth of ₹14,440 crore.
• 23 Indian women billionaires collectively hold wealth of ₹9.8 trillion.

SBI General Insurance appoints Pankaj Tripathi as brand ambassador to promote financial fitness.

[SBI General Insurance]

Key Updates:

• SBI General Insurance has appointed actor Pankaj Tripathi as its brand ambassador.
• The company launched the campaign ‘Chuniye Bharosa, Apno Sa’ to build trust through consistent care.
• A new health insurance film features Tripathi as a quiet, dependable family presence.
• The campaign aims to make healthcare in India more accessible through product innovation and transparent claim settlements.
• The integrated campaign will be amplified across Print, TV, OOH, OTT and social media platforms.

Yes Bank launches YES Essence Women's Salary Account ahead of International Women's Day.

[Yes Bank]

Key Updates:

• Yes Bank unveiled YES Essence Women's Salary Account, an exclusive salary account for working women.
• Account offers complimentary locker facility for the first year.
• Provides complimentary top-up health cover of ₹5 lakh for one year.
• Includes annual preventive health check-up once a year.
• Account holders receive complimentary Elegance Debit Card with 5% cashback up to ₹6,000 annually on select categories.
• Yes Bank detected unauthorised transactions worth USD 280,000 (₹2.5 crore) on its Multi-Currency Prepaid Forex Card issued in partnership with BookMyForex.
• Fraudulent transactions were attempted on specific BIN numbers at 15 merchants based in a Latin American country on 24 February 2026.
• Bank's monitoring systems declined 688 unauthorised transaction attempts, safeguarding approximately USD 100,000.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) directs BARC to withhold TRP reporting for news channels.

[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) (India)]

Key Updates:

• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) ordered the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to immediately stop reporting Television Rating Points (TRPs) for news channels for four weeks or until further orders.
• The directive invoked Clause 24.2 of the policy guidelines which mandates compliance with Ministry orders.
• The order cited unwarranted sensationalism and speculative content on the Israel-Iran conflict by certain TV news channels that may create public panic.
• BARC, established in 2010, is the sole body authorised to measure and publish television audience data in India.
• A similar suspension of TRP ratings for news channels was imposed in 2020 over data manipulation allegations.

Maharashtra Budget 2026-27: Crop loan waiver up to ₹2 lakh and Ladki Bahin Yojana to continue

[Maharashtra]

Key Updates:

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis presented the state Budget 2026-27, becoming the first CM to do so.
• Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karjmafi Yojna will waive crop loans up to ₹2 lakh for farmers with arrears up to September 2025.
• Farmers who are regular in loan repayments will receive a ₹50,000 incentive under the scheme.
• Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana for women will continue with adequate government funding.
• The budget aims to make Maharashtra a $5 trillion economy by 2047.
• A memorial will be built for late NCP leader and former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who died in an air crash near Baramati in January.
• Concrete roads will be provided in villages with a population of over 1,000.

SWAYATT Initiative Completes Seven Years of Promoting Inclusive Public Procurement

Key Updates:

• Government e-Marketplace (GeM) celebrated the seven-year anniversary of its flagship initiative, SWAYATT (Startups, Women and Youth Advantage through e-Transactions).
• Launched on 19 February 2019, the initiative aims to democratise public procurement for startups, women entrepreneurs, youth, Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), and Self Help Groups (SHGs).
• The initiative focuses on addressing three critical challenges for emerging enterprises: access to markets, access to finance, and access to value addition.
• Cumulative order values for women entrepreneurs on GeM rose from ₹1,265.62 crore in FY 2018–19 to ₹83,323 crore by FY 2025–26.
• Order volumes for women-led enterprises increased from 1,01,530 to 44,48,894 over the seven-year period.
• Startup participation saw cumulative order values increase from ₹497.24 crore in FY 2018–19 to ₹54,005.8 crore by FY 2025–26.
• Order volumes for startups expanded from 17,434 to 5,30,578 during the same period.
• GeM has established dedicated storefronts, including Startup Runway and Womaniya, to enhance the discoverability of these sellers among government buyers.

Sulphuric Acid Plant–3 (SAP–III) inaugurated at IFFCO Paradeep unit in Odisha

[Odisha, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) (India)]

Key Updates:

• Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah dedicated the newly commissioned Sulphuric Acid Plant–3 (SAP–III) at the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) unit in Paradeep, Odisha.
• The new plant has been established at an estimated cost of around ₹700 crore and has a production capacity of about 2,000 metric tonnes per day.
• IFFCO bought the Paradeep plant in 2005 for ₹2,577 crore and its production capacity has increased from 7.5 lakh metric tonnes to about 22 lakh metric tonnes.
• IFFCO benefits nearly five crore farmers across the country and has a turnover of over ₹41,000 crore, profit exceeding ₹3,800 crore, and net worth of more than ₹28,000 crore.

Maharashtra Government inks MoU with Finnish firms to modernise Sassoon Dock

[Maharashtra, Finland]

Key Updates:

• Maharashtra Government signed an MoU on 7 March 2026 with three Finnish companies—Helvar, Mirasis, and River Recycle—to modernise Sassoon Dock.
• The agreement was signed by the Maharashtra Fisheries Development Corporation with the Finnish firms at an event in Mumbai.
• Sassoon Dock has around 1,560 registered mechanised fishing boats and records an average annual fish production of 50,000 to 60,000 metric tonnes.
• The modernisation includes construction of net-mending sheds, workshops, underground water tanks, water pipelines, pump houses, protective walls, and renovation of public facilities.
• Work on ice plants, strengthening of the jetty wall, fish workers’ restrooms, and a modern auction hall is underway.
• The tie-up will focus on improving waste management, recycling plastic waste and discarded fishing nets, and strengthening the net repair system through capacity building.

Tamil Nadu Women Entrepreneur Empowerment Scheme (TWEES) targets one lakh women entrepreneurs in five years.

[Tamil Nadu]

Key Updates:

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched the Tamil Nadu Women Entrepreneur Empowerment Scheme (TWEES) designed by the MSME Department.
• TWEES aims to encourage one lakh women to take up entrepreneurship within five years.
• The scheme was launched during an event at the Secretariat on Wednesday.

Karnataka Social Media Ban for Children Under 16

[Karnataka]

Key Updates:

• Karnataka government proposed a ban on social media usage for children under 16 years during the state budget presentation.
• Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the ban to prevent adverse effects of increasing mobile usage on children.
• The ban was part of the 17th state budget with a total outlay of ₹4,48,004 crore.
• Karnataka IT Minister Priyanka Kharge had earlier indicated the state was exploring restrictions on social media access for children.
• Andhra Pradesh government had earlier considered banning mobile phone usage in schools.
• Goa IT minister stated the state is examining restricting social media use for children below 16 years due to digital addiction and cyberbullying concerns.

Upgraded Indian Culture Portal launched with AI chatbot 'Bharti'

Key Updates:

• Ministry of Culture (MoC) Secretary Vivek Aggarwal launched the upgraded Indian Culture portal in New Delhi on 06-03-2026.
• The portal features an AI-powered chatbot named 'Bharti' integrated with the Government of India's Bhashini platform to respond in 22 Indian languages.
• It offers 46 curated cultural categories and new sections such as Iconic Battles of India, Folktales of India, Healing Through the Ages, Legendary Figures of India, and Classical Dances of India.
• The upgraded portal functions as a Progressive Web App (PWA) enabling app-like access across devices without app store downloads.
• It includes 3D walkthroughs and 360-degree virtual tours of heritage monuments and interactive cultural games, quizzes, puzzles, and crosswords for all age groups.

United States announces tactical shift to precision gravity bombs in Iran military campaign

[United States, Iran]

Key Updates:

• United States (US) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a tactical pivot from standoff munitions to precision gravity bombs in the ongoing campaign against Iran.
• The US military will deploy the Mark 80 series of conventional gravity bombs, specifically the 500-pound Mk 82, 1,000-pound Mk 83, and 2,000-pound Mk 84 variants.
• Gravity bombs are unpowered munitions that are converted into precision weapons using Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) and steerable fins.
• The shift follows the degradation of Iranian air defences, allowing the use of gravity bombs which cost approximately $25,000 to $30,000 per unit compared to more expensive standoff missiles.
• Previous operations utilised standoff munitions such as Tomahawk cruise missiles and Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones to dismantle radars and missile batteries.
• The Mark 80 series can be deployed by various aircraft, including the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-35 stealth jets, and B-52 Stratofortress heavy strategic bombers.
• While the current campaign uses conventional bombs, the US arsenal also includes nuclear gravity bombs like the B61 and B83 series, which require explicit authorisation from the US President.
• India link not mentioned in the article.

United States tests Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base

[United States]

Key Updates:

• The United States Air Force Global Strike Command launched an unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile at 11:01 p.m. Pacific Time on 3 March from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
• The missile, designated GT 255, carried two test re-entry vehicles that traveled thousands of miles to a pre-determined target at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
• The test launch was scheduled years in advance and was not conducted in response to current world events, according to the Office of Public Affairs of the Air Force Global Strike Command.
• The LGM-30G Minuteman III is a silo-launched, surface-attack intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 9,650 kilometers and a speed of approximately 24,000 kilometers per hour at burnout.
• The current force structure comprises 400 Minuteman III missiles assigned across three missile wings: the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming; the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana; and the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
• The Air Force plans to replace the Minuteman III with the LGM-35A Sentinel to modernize the land-based leg of the US nuclear triad.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia leads India’s engagements at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona

Key Updates:

• Mobile World Congress 2026 is being held from March 2–5, 2026 at Fira Barcelona Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain.
• Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia delivered the Closing Keynote at the GSMA Ministerial Programme session themed 'Breaking the Cost Barrier'.
• He addressed the MWC Main Stage keynote session titled 'Built for What’s Next'.
• The Bharat Pavilion was inaugurated by the Minister, with 40 Indian companies showcasing telecom solutions.
• India Mobile Congress 2026 was announced to be held from 7th–10th October 2026 in New Delhi.
• Tejas Networks launched the TJ1600-D3 Hyper-scalable DCI Platform engineered in India.
• Shri Scindia met ITU Secretary General Ms Doreen Bogdan-Martin during the visit.
• Bilateral meetings were held with Eutelsat and Viasat to advance connectivity frameworks for India.
• Interactions took place with Bharti Group led by Sunil Bharti Mittal.
• Demonstrations were witnessed at booths of Meta, Rakuten, VVDN Technologies, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, Cisco and Qualcomm.
• MWC 2026 is organised by GSMA and themed 'The IQ Era'.
• India’s participation is organised by Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC), supported by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, Government of India.

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan propose inclusion of Striped Hyena in CMS Appendices I and II

[Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)]

Key Updates:

• Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have submitted a proposal to include the Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena) in Appendix I and II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
• The proposal will be considered during the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CMS COP15) scheduled for March 23-29 in Campo Grande, Brazil.
• According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the Striped Hyena is classified as Near Threatened globally and Vulnerable within the Mediterranean region.
• The global population of mature Striped Hyenas is estimated to be between 5,000 and 9,999 individuals.
• The Striped Hyena is one of four species belonging to the family Hyaenidae, which also includes the Spotted Hyena, the Brown Hyena, and the Aardwolf.
• The species is found across North and Sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia (Middle East), and Central and South Asia, including India.
• Listing under both Appendices would obligate member states to implement measures to safeguard the species and its habitats through coordinated transboundary conservation actions.
• Major threats to the species include habitat loss, fragmentation due to urbanisation and agricultural expansion, illegal hunting, and human-wildlife conflict.

Study warns of surging metabolic diseases in Asia-Pacific region

[Asia-Pacific]

Key Updates:

• A study published in the journal Metabolism, based on Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 data, warns of rapidly rising metabolic diseases across the Asia-Pacific.
• High blood pressure is the largest disease burden in the region, responsible for over 6.2 million deaths and 138 million years of healthy life lost in 2023.
• Approximately 310 million people in the Asia-Pacific live with type-2 diabetes, resulting in more than 1.1 million deaths last year.
• In India, type-2 diabetes accounted for over 21 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and nearly 5.8 lakh deaths in 2023.
• Obesity was linked to around 55 million DALYs and approximately 1.3 million deaths across the region in 2023.
• India, China, and Indonesia carry the largest shares of the metabolic disease burden in the region.
• The burden of metabolic conditions has grown between 1.7 and nearly four times across different diseases since 1990.
• Most metabolic risks are projected to continue rising across the Asia-Pacific region until at least 2030.

MeerKAT telescope detects most distant hydroxyl megamaser 8 billion light-years away

Key Updates:

• Astronomers using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa detected the most distant hydroxyl megamaser ever observed, located in a galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away.
• The discovery paper was accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters and a pre-print is available on arXiv.
• The megamaser’s intensity qualifies it as a gigamaser, the brightest class of space lasers produced when hydroxyl molecules in merging galaxies collide and amplify radio emissions.
• A foreground galaxy, perfectly aligned with the distant megamaser, acts as a gravitational lens, further amplifying the radio signal during its journey to Earth.
• Dr. Thato Manamela, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pretoria, is the lead author of the study.
• Prof. Roger Deane, Director of the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) and professor at the Universities of Cape Town and Pretoria, is a co-author.
• MeerKAT’s centimeter-wavelength sensitivity and advanced computational pipelines processed terabytes of data to enable the discovery.
• Systematic surveys led by the University of Pretoria aim to find hundreds to thousands of similar systems ahead of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) era.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal lays foundation for India's first river lighthouses in Assam

[Assam]

Key Updates:

• Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) Sarbananda Sonowal laid foundation stones for four river lighthouses on the Brahmaputra in Assam, the first such infrastructure on an inland waterway in India.
• The lighthouses are located at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh, Pandu in Kamrup Metropolitan, Silghat in Nagaon, and Biswanath Ghat in Biswanath along National Waterway-2 (NW-2).
• The project has a combined outlay of ₹ 84 crore, with each 20-metre-high lighthouse powered entirely by solar energy.
• Each structure will have a geographical range of 14 nautical miles and a luminous range of 8–10 nautical miles to enable 24x7 safe navigation and accommodate weather observation sensors.
• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project in April 2025.
• The DGLL, under the MoPSW, is the statutory authority responsible for providing aids to navigation across India's 11,098 kilometre coastline and inland waterways.
• The initiative follows a 53 per cent surge in cargo movement on the Brahmaputra waterway recorded by IWAI in the financial year 2024–25.

IBM launches first Infrastructure Innovation Centre in India at Bengaluru ISDL campus

[IBM]

Key Updates:

• IBM opened the Sangam Infrastructure Innovation Center inside its India Systems Development Lab (ISDL) campus in Bengaluru on 5 March 2026.
• The centre will co-create secure, scalable enterprise AI solutions with clients, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Global System Integrators (GSIs), Global Capability Centers (GCCs) and ecosystem partners.
• A recent IBM Institute for Business Value study found 58% of Indian organisations have raised infrastructure investments due to rising AI demand and projected a 19% growth in infrastructure budgets in 2025.
• 43% of Indian organisations are establishing or planning AI Centers of Excellence as enterprises shift from experimentation to scaled AI deployment.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bellatrix Aerospace sign MoU to develop Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellite technologies.

[Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bellatrix Aerospace]

Key Updates:

• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bengaluru-based Bellatrix Aerospace signed an MoU on Thursday to collaborate on design, development and manufacturing of satellite systems and payloads for Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) operations.
• VLEO altitude ranges between 100 and 450 kilometres, enabling higher-resolution images, faster communications and better atmospheric science.
• Bellatrix Aerospace, founded in 2015, specialises in satellite propulsion technologies and satellite subsystems.

India defeats England to reach 2026 T20 World Cup final

Key Updates:

• India secured a seven-run victory over England in the second semi-final of the 2026 T20 World Cup held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
• Jasprit Bumrah became the 44th bowler in history to reach 500 international wickets, achieving the feat by dismissing England captain Harry Brook.
• Bumrah established a new world record for the best bowling average among players with 500 international wickets at 20.62, surpassing Glenn McGrath's average of 21.76.
• The Indian pacer's career wicket tally includes 234 wickets in 52 Test matches, 149 in One Day Internationals (ODI), and 117 in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I).
• Bumrah recorded a career strike rate of 33.2, the second-best among bowlers with 500 wickets, trailing only Lasith Malinga who holds a strike rate of 32.8.
• The list of bowlers with the best averages at 500 wickets includes Allan Donald (22.04), Richard Hadlee (22.1), and Curtly Ambrose (22.11).
• India will face New Zealand in the tournament final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Lakshya Sen defeats Victor Lai to reach All England Open Badminton final

Key Updates:

• India's Lakshya Sen, ranked world number 12, defeated Canada's Victor Lai (world number 16) in the men's singles semifinal of the All England Open Badminton Championships 2026.
• The match lasted one hour and 37 minutes (97 minutes) with a final score of 21-16, 18-21, 21-15.
• This victory marks Lakshya Sen's second final appearance at the tournament, having previously finished as runner-up in 2022.
• The tournament is held in Birmingham, England, and is sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
• Lakshya Sen will face Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei in the final, who advanced after defeating world number two Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
• During the event, Lakshya Sen also secured victories against world number one Shi Yuqi, Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus, and China’s Li Shifeng.

Chhattisgarh to host first-ever Khelo India Tribal Games from March 25 to April 6.

[Chhattisgarh]

Key Updates:

• The inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games will be held from 25 March to 6 April 2026 in Raipur, Jagdalpur and Sarguja, Chhattisgarh.
• Seven medal sports are athletics, football, hockey, weightlifting, archery, swimming and wrestling; demonstration sports are mallakhamb and kabaddi.
• Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Dr Mansukh Mandaviya stated the Games expand opportunity under PM Modi’s Viksit Bharat vision.
• Logo, theme song and mascot 'Morveer' were unveiled on 23 December at Late B. R. Yadav Sports Stadium, Bilaspur, by CM Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy CM Arun Sao.
• The event is jointly managed by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Sports Authority of India (SAI), Indian Olympic Association, National Sports Federations and Chhattisgarh state committee with international-level technical standards.
• Khelo India Games were declared an 'Event of National Importance' in 2020 under the Sports Broadcasting Signals Act, 2007.

Balen Shah frontrunner for Nepal Prime Minister after 2026 election

[Nepal]

Key Updates:

• Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, is contesting for the post of prime minister after serving three years as the mayor of Kathmandu.
• He resigned as Kathmandu's mayor in January to contest the Jhapa 5 seat in the Nepal elections 2026.
• Balen Shah is 35 years old and is seen as the frontrunner for the prime minister’s post.
• His party, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), finished fourth in the 2022 general election and was ahead in 38 seats as per initial trends.
• The RSP has promised to create 1.2 million jobs, curb forced migration, raise Nepal’s per capita income from $1,447 to $3,000, and double the country’s GDP to $100 billion within five years.
• Balen Shah gained fame as a rapper; his 2020 track 'Balidan' has over 11 million YouTube views.
• He pursued a master’s degree in structural engineering at Visvesvaraya Technological University in Karnataka.