Asia Current Affairs One-liners — Last 12 months

Mon, 09 Mar 2026

• The Rajasthan government on 9 March 2026 set up a six-member committee under Law Minister Jogaram Patel to draft a law protecting the Khejri, the state tree, within a month.
• Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met a New Zealand delegation led by Chris Bishop in New Delhi on 9 March 2026 to expand sports cooperation in the centenary year of ties dating to the 1926 Indian Army hockey tour.
• Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh released the Ministry of Defence's new Manual of Security Instructions 2026 at South Block, New Delhi, on 9 March 2026.
• India's women's hockey team drew 2–2 with Scotland in Hyderabad on 9 March 2026 and stayed top of Pool B of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers on goal difference.
• The International Malaria Conference 2026, organised by ICMR's National Institute of Malaria Research, concluded in New Delhi on 9 March 2026 after three days of deliberations on malaria elimination.
• NITI Aayog held the Regional Best Practices Seminar (South) under the Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks Programmes in Visakhapatnam on 9 March 2026 and released a Best Practices Compendium.
• The Technology Development Board under DST announced on 9 March 2026 financial support to BabyCue Pvt Ltd, Cuttack (Odisha), to commercialise DiaCue, a paper-based kit that tells bacterial from non-bacterial diarrhoea in children.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the post-Budget webinar on health under the theme 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas – Fulfilling Aspirations of People' on 9 March 2026, where Health Minister J.P. Nadda set a target of one lakh skilled allied healthcare professionals.

Sun, 08 Mar 2026

• India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on 8 March 2026, becoming the first team to defend the title, the first to win it at home and the first to win it three times.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth about ₹33,500 crore in Delhi on 8 March 2026, including two Metro corridors that complete the Pink Line as India's first fully operational ring metro.
• Iran's Assembly of Experts chose Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new Supreme Leader at a session on 8 March 2026, about a week after his father was killed in a US–Israeli strike.
• President Droupadi Murmu addressed the national International Women's Day event organised by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in New Delhi on 8 March 2026, saying India is moving rapidly towards women-led development.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Delhi on International Women's Day, 8 March 2026, that the national resolve to create 3 crore 'Lakhpati Didis' had been fulfilled and set a new goal of 3 crore more.
• Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented the state Budget 2026–27 in the Assembly in Chandigarh on 8 March 2026, International Women's Day, announcing the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dhiyan Satikar Yojana with ₹1,000 a month for women and ₹1,500 for Scheduled Caste women.
• The Union Government released over ₹299 crore of Fifteenth Finance Commission untied grants to Assam's rural local bodies, including three Autonomous District Councils, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj said on 8 March 2026.
• Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil launched Jal Mahotsav 2026 from Rahej village in Navsari district, Gujarat, on 8 March 2026, observing Jal Arpan Diwas, as rural drinking water assets were handed over to gram panchayats under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• The Income Tax Department surveyed 62 restaurants across 46 cities in 22 states on 8 March 2026 and found suppression of sales of about ₹408 crore, and launched the SAKSHAM NUDGE campaign asking 63,000 restaurants to update their returns.
• Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan interacted with women's Self-Help Groups at the International Trade & Fair Centre, Hapania, Tripura, on 8 March 2026 and noted Tripura's target of 1.35 lakh Lakhpati Didis.
• India's women's hockey team beat Uruguay 4–0 at the G.M.C. Balayogi Hockey Ground in Hyderabad on 8 March 2026 in their opening Pool B match of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development held the 'Shakti Walk #SheLeadsBharat' on Kartavya Path, New Delhi, on 8 March 2026, with over 3,000 women from about 200 ministries and organisations walking from India Gate to Vijay Chowk.
• Minister of State for Sports Raksha Khadse launched a nationwide ASMITA athletics league for girls at 250 locations from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, on International Women's Day, 8 March 2026.

Sat, 07 Mar 2026

• The 8th Janaushadhi Diwas was observed on 7 March 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, where Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and MoS Anupriya Patel gave awards to 13 Jan Aushadhi Kendras.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by video message, laid the foundation stone of the Kota–Bundi airport at Shambhupura in Rajasthan on 7 March 2026; the airport will cost about ₹1,500 crore and serve the Hadoti region.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated and laid foundation stones of projects worth over ₹1,132 crore in Haridwar on 7 March 2026, marking four years of the Pushkar Singh Dhami government in Uttarakhand.
• Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on 7 March 2026 that India has made significant progress in four years towards the Chips to Startup (C2S) target of training 85,000 semiconductor engineers in 10 years.
• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the 1,155.40-metre Perumbalam bridge across Vembanad Lake in Alappuzha district on 7 March 2026, giving Perumbalam island its first road link to the mainland.
• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh reviewed NIOT's ocean-based desalination projects at Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, on 7 March 2026, including LTTD plants on eight islands and an upcoming OTEC-powered desalination plant.
• The Punjab Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on 7 March 2026 approved a Sri Guru Teg Bahadur World Class University at Sri Anandpur Sahib, the Industrial & Business Development Policy 2026 and recruitment of 1,158 college teachers and librarians.
• President Droupadi Murmu attended the 9th International Santal Conference at Darjeeling, West Bengal, on 7 March 2026, recalling the Santal Hul of 1855 and the inclusion of Santali in the Eighth Schedule in 2003.
• Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inaugurated the Ukai reservoir-based Tapi-Karjan Link Pipeline Lift Irrigation Scheme in Umarpada, Surat district, on 7 March 2026; it will irrigate 53,750 acres in 73 tribal villages.