1.Islamabad should “look inwards” instead of pointing ngers and shifting blame, India said in its rst ocial comment after an attack on a Quetta-Peshawar train by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) left 21 passengers dead. At least 33 Baloch rebels were killed by Pakistan security forces.

2.U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his administration had “productive” talks with Russia about a ceasefire in Ukraine. Mr. Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to spare Ukrainian soldiers.

3.The first phase of metro rail project will link the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in the city here with Trisulia Square in Cuttack.As many as 20 elevated stations will be constructed for the 26-km-long metro line. The mega project will be implemented with an expenditure of Rs 6,255.94 crore, entirely borne by the state government.

4.The IMD has warned of persistent heatwave conditions across the state from March 14-18. On Friday, at least 12 locations in Odisha recorded temperatures of 40°C or above, with Angul following closely at 41.1°C. Bolangir and Titlagarh recorded 40°C each.

5.The Odisha government has reserved 25% of seats in private schools for underprivileged and economically disadvantaged children to provide them access to free education.

6.The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch presented Soumyashankar, also known as Raja Chakra, the prime accused in the Gandhamardhan Loading and Transport Cooperative Society’s alleged financial irregularities and a multi-crore scam.

7.The festival of colours, Holi, brought Odisha to life as millions of people across the state hurled vibrant powders, danced in the streets, and indulged in festive delicacies.

8.Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed solidarity with the Tamil Nadu government’s eorts to unite non-BJP-ruled States on a common platform to resist any move by the Union government for arbitrary delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies.

9.Hamas on Friday said it was ready to free an Israeli American hostage and the remains of four other dual nationals, after the Palestinian militants and Israel gathered for indirect Gaza ceasere talks.

10.Prioritising the welfare of schoolchildren, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Friday announced that the State government has allocated funds from its exchequer to compensate for ₹2,152 crore withheld by the Centre under the Samagra Shiksha scheme.

11.As many as 11 militia members of Galikonda Area Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist) Party voluntarily surrendered before the Superintendent of Police, Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district, at Paderu in Andhra Pradesh on Friday.

12.The Kerala Forest department has initiated the construction of a solar fence at Aralam farm in Kannur district to prevent wild elephants from straying into human settlements. The fencing is part of an ongoing effort to drive elephants away from the tribal resettlement area in the farm.

13.Hurriyat chairman and Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was allegedly denied permission to lead Friday prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jama Masjid, days after the Ministry of Home Aairs (MHA) banned the political party Awami Action Committee (AAC) headed by Mr. Farooq.

14.Tribal languages need more attention and funding to develop as a medium of instruction from schools to universities, Assam’s autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) chief Pramod Boro said on Friday.

15.In its Final full Budget before the 2026 Assembly election, the Tamil Nadu government led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin sought to strike a balance by catering to its core voter base — women and government employees — while addressing key sectors of the economy.

16.The Centre has sanctioned 116 new tourist destinations across the country under various schemes in partnership with State governments which would be developed at a cost of Rs4,088 crores.

17.Gold broke through the key $3,000 barrier on Friday for the firrst time as investors piled on to a historic rally in the safe haven asset to seek cover from economic uncertainty sparked by U.S. President  Donald Trump’s tariff war.

18.Dividends from Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) have surpassed the revised estimates (RE) for the current scal, FY25, by over Rs10,000 crore, marking an all-time high.

19.Israel’s premier and the head of internal security are engaged in a very public spat over reforms to the agency, accused of failing to prevent the October 7, 2023 attack.

20.Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen bowed out of the All England Championships and so did the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand after losing their respective quarternals here on Friday.