Adfactors PR was named Agency of the Year at the afaqs! CommuniCon Awards 2026, held on March 18 at Fairfield by Marriott. The event brought together PR leaders, corporate communications heads, and agency professionals. Now in its third edition, CommuniCon has evolved into a forum for conversations around storytelling, technology, trust, and reputation, reflecting the expanding role of communications in business strategy. Adfactors PR dominated the awards, winning 17 metals -- including nine Gold, four Silver -- and four Bronze -- across categories. The awards recognised excellence in 34 categories, spanning campaign and sector awards for reputation building, crisis management, and brand storytelling. L&T Finance, Burson India, and Weber Shandwick India followed with seven metals each, while Madison PR secured four. L&T Finance was named Brand of the Year, underscoring the growing importance of in‑house corporate communications in driving brand credibility.

Choice International Limited, in collaboration with CNBC‑AWAAZ, hosted Nivesh Nirnay – Investment Mein No Confusion on March 15 at the Sir Sayajirao Nagargruha Auditorium, aimed at helping individuals navigate India’s financial markets with clarity and confidence. The programme featured Anuj Singhal, Managing Editor, CNBC‑AWAAZ & CNBC BAJAR, Kamal Poddar, Managing Director, Choice International, and Manish Jain, Deputy CEO, Choice Mutual Fund. Discussions focused on simplifying investment concepts, long‑term wealth creation, disciplined investing, and evolving market trends, Adgully reported. Poddar highlighted India’s rising retail participation and the need for informed decision‑making, while Jain said initiatives like Nivesh Nirnay bridge the gap between expertise and individual investors. Singhal stressed the importance of focusing on long‑term wealth creation over short‑term speculation. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News,

Encyclopedia Britannica and its subsidiary Merriam‑Webster have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in Manhattan federal court, accusing the company of using their reference content without permission to train ChatGPT. Filed on March 13, the complaint alleges that OpenAI copied nearly 100,000 Britannica articles and dictionary entries, producing “near‑verbatim” reproductions that reduce traffic to Britannica platforms and mislead users into assuming endorsement. The suit also cites trademark violations and highlights instances of inaccurate AI‑generated “hallucinations.” An OpenAI spokesperson responded on March 16, saying its models are trained on publicly available data and grounded in fair use. According to StoryBoard18, the case adds to a growing wave of copyright lawsuits against AI developers. Britannica had earlier sued Perplexity AI in September 2025 over similar allegations. The publishers are seeking damages and a court order to halt the alleged

While the US-Israel-Iran war has undoubtedly shocked the global economy with the skyrocketing price of oil, drastic dip in tourism due to aviation risk and several other factors, the print media in India is also likely to suffer from the war due to an expected rise in the cost of newsprint, according to a report in exchangeformedia. Higher global energy costs and longer shipping routes are likely to be the biggest reasons behind the projected spike in newsprint costs.  On an average, India imports over 68 per cent of its roughly 2.2 million tonnes annual demand due to domestic shortage, amounting to approximately 1.5 million tonnes per annum. Key suppliers include Canada, Russia, and Australia and the import values were around ₹42 billion in FY2023, according to Statista. With global shipping lines completely disrupted due to the ongoing war, costs are expected to rise significantly besides bracing for delays in timely availability of newsprint. As local production of

Image of the Day  Preparations are on for the massive annual feast at St. Joseph’s shrine in Kannamaly, near Kochi – picture by Thulasi Kakkat – The Hindu   Border forces intercept drones almost every day In the past five years, about two-three drones were sighted every day and at least one drone incursion was reported each day along India’s international borders, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has informed a Parliamentary Standing Committee. The Ministry said that during the last five years, 4,323 cases of drone sightings were reported. However, 967 cases of drone incursions occurred, which were intercepted or neutralised, resulting in the seizure of 710 ammunitions, 75 arms and 641 kg of drugs. Though the State-wise data was not provided, drone sightings are a regular phenomenon along the Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir borders with Pakistan, writes Vijaita Singh for The Hindu. Child mortality drops sharply in India since 2000 Bindu Shajan Perappadan for

A delegation of senior journalists from Andhra Pradesh met Berasia constituency MLA Vishnu Khatri in Bhopal on the concluding day of their media outreach tour of Madhya Pradesh. The 10-member team, comprising representatives from leading newspapers and media houses, was led by R Ramesh Chandra, Assistant Director, Press Information Bureau, Vijayawada. During the visit, the delegation explored various Central government institutions, research organisations and prominent heritage sites across the state. At his residence, Khatri welcomed the journalists and held an interactive discussion with them. Speaking on the occasion, the MLA highlighted developmental initiatives in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the state has received focused attention in infrastructure and welfare schemes, leading to the effective implementation of several flagship programmes. The visiting journalists expressed appreciation for the hospitality extended to them an

Ray Shaw has soft-launched I’mTech as his new site for deep-dive reviews and technology content after departing CyberShack earlier this year. “It's information that you can't get anywhere else. It's long form, and it's objective. Everything is based on testing,” Shaw told Influencing.  Shaw has assembled a team of 10 people on the Central Coast, where he lives, to assist him in testing each gadget the new publication will cover. He is also looking to “build a community” with similar independent publishers on his new site.  “We now have half a dozen indie publishers who are going to share links with us, and so we'll have the ability for them to click through.” Shaw will self-fund I’mTech, and isn’t overly fussed if it makes money or not but he wants it to cover costs. The past month has seen Shaw build the new site and trawl through the internet to grab his past reviews from CyberShack, uploading