Wednesday 18 March 2026 National   The Australian Rate rise we had to have Matthew Cranston reports that the Reserve Bank’s board narrowly voted to raise interest rates, with a 5–4 split suggesting Governor Michele Bullock cast the deciding vote and hoping the hike won’t push the economy into recession. Crisis ‘needs recall of national cabinet’ Sarah Ison reports that Anthony Albanese is being urged to reconvene national cabinet and appoint a fuel security tsar to coordinate supply amid a fuel crisis. Minister leaps to fix food chain Matthew Benns; Pat Willingham reports that Woolworths has lifted its fuel surcharge arrangements by allowing independent truck drivers hauling groceries to its distribution centres to claim higher fuel levies as petrol costs rise. Israel kills security boss Larijani reports that Israel says it has killed Iran’s national security chief Ali Larijani, while Iran disputes the claim by posting what it says is proof he is alive. C

AI-generated image  The Shimla police have initiated disciplinary action against a policeman accused of manhandling a senior journalist in Kufri, about 20 km from the city, on Sunday. The incident occurred when the policeman allegedly obstructed the journalist from covering a news event and asked him to leave. The journalist resisted and questioned his actions, after which the policeman retreated. The episode was captured on camera and went viral on social media. Following the incident, a delegation of media persons met Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and demanded stern action. The Chief Minister assured strict measures and said such incidents would not be repeated. Subsequently, the police initiated disciplinary proceedings against the accused, The Print reported.

The Chennai Press Club has thanked M. K. Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, for accepting and fulfilling several key demands related to the welfare of journalists. Office bearers of the Chennai Press Club met the Chief Minister at the Secretariat in Chennai on March 13 and submitted a memorandum outlining various demands concerning journalists’ welfare. Following the meeting, the Chief Minister approved several of the requests and issued announcements to implement them. As part of the decisions, the monthly pension for journalists has been increased from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 15,000, while the family pension has been raised from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 7,500. The government has also ordered that health insurance cards be issued to all journalists. One of the major demands of the Chennai Press Club, the provision of house sites for journalists, has also been accepted. The government has announced that arrangements will be made to provide house sites to journalists in Chengalpattu distric

    The Chandigarh Press Club has strongly condemned the derogatory and inappropriate language allegedly used by Punjab MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira against senior journalist Jyoti Malhotra, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune. In a statement, the club said that while disagreement with a journalist’s reporting or opinion is a legitimate part of democratic discourse, it must be expressed in a civil and responsible manner. It termed the remark made in a tweet as “highly derogatory and unacceptable,” adding that such language undermines the dignity of individuals and weakens standards of public discourse. The club urged political leaders to maintain restraint and respect while criticising the media, stressing that differences of opinion should not descend into personal attacks, especially when directed at women journalists. Reaffirming its stand, the Chandigarh Press Club said it stands firmly with the journalistic community in defending the dignity of the media.        

For Aakriti Dhawan, journalism was never meant to stay inside neat professional boundaries. Her career has crossed continents, formats and beats -- from Indian newsrooms like NDTV to international platforms including BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle and TRT World. Today, based in the UK, she works as an international journalist while hosting her own show, the Beyond Borders Podcast, a space dedicated to conversations that often fall outside conventional media narratives. Yet the path into journalism wasn’t a meticulously planned one. “I was doing history,” Aakriti recalled during our conversation. “My mom is a historian as well, so I think it runs in our blood. But while doing that, I realised I was never inclined towards academia.” Like many journalists, her entry into media began almost accidentally. A writing opportunity at ScoopWhoop during her college years sparked the first realisation that storytelling might be more than just an interest. &l

Upendra Rai, CMD and Editor-in-Chief of Bharat Express, announced plans to restart the channels of Sahara News Network and expand Rashtriya Sahara at the broadcaster’s third anniversary conclave held on March 9. He described the move as a major expansion for the network. According to Best Media Info , Rai said all Sahara news assets would be revived, with Rashtriya Sahara likely to return within a month. The combined network is expected to operate 13 news channel licences. As per Sahara’s media page, Sahara Samay is a 24x7 national Hindi news channel, while Aalami Sahara is a 24x7 Urdu news channel, along with five regional Hindi news channels. Launched on February 1, 2023, Bharat Express debuted in the presence of Uday Shankar. Rai also outlined plans to publish the newspaper from 20 cities initially, expanding to 30 later, and to strengthen its digital platform with an AI-led news grid. However, the announcement did not specify ownership, financing, or operational det

Last week, the Supreme Court of India had agreed to examine what constitutes 'personal data' under the recently notified Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, which has been accused of using data privacy to block the citizen's legitimate right to information besides various other infringements on media freedom. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the need to define ‘public data’ and ‘personal data’ has arisen following the implementation of the DPDP Actand its corresponding Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025. The court issued formal notice to the Union government on a petition filed by The Reporters' Collective, Software Freedom Law Center among others. "We believe, the government has surreptitiously and wrongfully shrunk our rights as citizen to access information for public purpose and to hold it and other powerful people accountable to citizens through the Digital Personal Data Prote