Polity & Governance
Constitutional bodies, Parliament, judiciary and governance reforms
Biennial Elections to the Council of States to fill the seats of members retiring in April, 2026
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced biennial elections to fill 37 seats in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), as the terms of 37 members from ...
Maharashtra scraps Muslim quota, opposition protests
The Maharashtra government formally cancelled the 5% reservation for Muslims in government and semi-government jobs as well as educational institutions throu...
Power Minister Shri Manohar Lal inaugurates Ministry of Power Pavilion at AI Impact Summit 2026
Union Power Minister Manohar Lal inaugurated the Ministry of Power Pavilion at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi (16-21 February ...
Tamil Nadu report wants governors 'defanged'
A high-level committee led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph submitted a 387-page report to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on 16 Feb...
Opposition targets govt over Chinese robot row, slams IT Minister
Galgotias University (Greater Noida) was ordered to vacate its pavilion at India's AI Impact Summit 2026 after one of its representatives publicly claimed a ...
Gujarat govt presents Rs 4.08 lakh crore Budget; big push to tourism, sports infrastructure
Gujarat Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai presented the state's Budget for 2026-27 with a total outlay of Rs 4,08,053 crore — an increase of Rs 37,803 crore (1...
Decision on J&K statehood soon, says Union Minister; Omar cautions: ‘Been waiting for a year and a half’
Union Minister Arjun Meghwal stated in February 2026 that a decision on restoring Jammu & Kashmir's statehood would come "soon," referencing the Centre's ass...
9 senior engineers arrested after early-morning raids in ‘Rs 960-crore Jal Jeevan Mission corruption case’
Rajasthan's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted early-morning raids and arrested nine senior engineers of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) ...
Why the new Digital Personal Data Protection Act faces a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court
On February 16, 2026, the Supreme Court issued notice in The Reporters Collective Trust v. Union of India, admitting a constitutional challenge to the Digita...
Watch: Ashwini Vaishnaw on deepfakes: ‘We need much stronger regulation’
Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that India needs "much stronger regulation" to address the growing threat p...
Cities of debt: On the Urban Challenge Fund
The Union Cabinet approved the Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) with a total Central Assistance outlay of INR 1 lakh crore, expected to leverage an aggregate inves...
Amit Shah chairs Manthan meeting to boost cooperative reforms and rural economy
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah chaired the 'Manthan' meeting of Cooperation Ministers from all States and Union Territories on February 17, 20...
Tamil Nadu FM presents interim budget, attacks Centre for ‘artificially inflating’ state’s debt
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu presented the state's interim budget on February 17, 2026, using it as a platform to challenge Centre-state fi...
Kerala CM flags fiscal concerns, calls for fair federalism
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan publicly raised concerns about what he termed unfair intergovernmental fiscal arrangements, highlighting the state's s...
Why Kerala declared tidal flooding a State-specific disaster | Explained
Kerala became the first Indian state to officially declare tidal flooding a "State-specific disaster," making victims eligible for financial assistance from ...
Arjun Meghwal signals imminent call on Jammu & Kashmir statehood
Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal stated in February 2026 that a decision on restoring statehood to Jammu & Kashmir would come "soon," citing Home Minister Am...
Supreme Court says political leaders must foster fraternity, declines plea for speech guidelines
The Supreme Court, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking guidelines for political leaders and media on communally sensitive speeches, decl...
Sovereign AI models available at summit, huge response to event: Vaishnaw
At the India AI Impact Summit 2026 (Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, February 16–21, 2026), IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that India's sovereign AI model...
Need much stronger regulation on deepfakes, talks on with industry: Vaishnaw
At the AI Impact Summit 2026 (February 16–21, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi), the Union IT Minister stated that India needs "much stronger regulation on deepfak...
NGT clears Great Nicobar infrastructure project, says adequate safeguards provided
A six-member special bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ruled on February 16, 2026, that it found "no good ground" to interfere with the environmenta...