#India

CBSE Class 10 and 12 board exams launched February 17 for 43 lakh students with historic changes: Class 10 exams now twice yearly, Class 12 adopts digital on-screen marking for the first time.

Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films are no longer 'regional' — they are setting national records, challenging Bollywood's dominance, and forcing multiplexes to rethink screen allocation.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act is now being enforced with operational rules. Here's what changes for citizens, startups, and the apps you use every day — explained without jargon.

For the first time, India's flagship economic document flags 'digital addiction' not just as a social ill, but as a threat to national productivity and mental capital.

Viral posts claim petrol and diesel prices were slashed by ₹15 nationwide. The reality: a ₹2 central excise cut that translates differently in every state — and some states haven't passed it on at all.

The G20's latest climate finance roadmap isn't just about saving the planet — it's about who pays, who profits, and whether developing nations like India will get the capital they need before it's too late.

The five-day India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi saw PM Modi advocate AI democratisation for the Global South, while IndiaAI Mission 2.0 pledges 20,000 additional GPUs for startups and researchers.

After $15 billion in announced investments, three approved fabs, and a global chip shortage that rewrote supply chains, India's semiconductor mission faces its defining test in 2026: can announcements become silicon?

Between February 10–18, at least seven women were murdered by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners across India. An ISRO employee, a chartered accountant, and an MBA student are among the accused. None of these cases made national headlines.

IMD's early forecast calls the 2026 monsoon 'normal.' But behind that reassuring average lies a pattern of extreme regional variation that could devastate some districts while flooding others — and neither farmers nor policymakers are ready.

Skyroot, Agnikul, Pixxel, and Dhruva Space are no longer science projects — they are commercial ventures with paying customers, ISRO-backed launch windows, and a combined valuation exceeding $1 billion.

A 15-year-old Dalit girl abducted and gang-raped at a hotel. A 15-year-old gang-raped by five men. An NCC cadet raped on a train. Three cases from one state in one week that mainstream media treated as regional stories.

India's UPI is now live in 7 countries for merchant payments. But the real prize — replacing Western Union in the $100 billion remittance corridor — requires solving problems that no QR code can fix.

A female journalist covering student protests at Delhi University's North Campus alleges physical assault between February 14-17. The NHRC takes cognizance and demands an action report from Delhi Police.

India issues 72-hour notice to X over Grok's non-consensual image generation while OpenAI accuses DeepSeek of model distillation. A week that exposed AI's darkest fault lines.

Two cases that test India's justice system: the CBI investigates a 17-year-old NEET aspirant's suspicious death in Patna, while a court hands death sentences to three men who gang-raped and murdered an Israeli tourist.

Micron Technology's ATMP facility in Sanand, Gujarat becomes India's first semiconductor production line, focusing on high-bandwidth memory for AI computing.

Three girls — all aged six — were raped in separate incidents in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar between late January and February 2026. One was gang-raped by boys aged 10-14. One was murdered by her uncle. The youngest barely survived.

UPI now accounts for 57% of all transactions in India, surpassing cash for the first time. A DFS report details the socio-economic transform while ₹230 trillion in transaction value sets new records.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accuses West Bengal of losing ₹10,000 crore in central funds by rejecting NEP 2020. The state fires back, claiming its own education policy surpasses the national framework.

Both Houses pass the Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill 2026 after brief debate, while opposition disruptions over India-US trade deal and border disputes lead to no-confidence motion against Speaker.

The Union Budget 2026-27 raises the income tax exemption to ₹12 lakh, commits ₹11.2 lakh crore to infrastructure, and signals the 'Viksit Bharat' roadmap with manufacturing and defence modernisation.

CUET UG 2026 reduces subjects from 63 to 37, mandates computer-based testing, and standardises exam duration to 60 minutes. The changes are the biggest since CUET's 2022 launch.