Popcorn maize collaboration boosts domestic production via hybrid agreements, contract farming, export readiness, and aatmanirbhar goals.
ICAR-IIMR and Gourmet Popcornica entered formal agreements for IIMR-bred popcorn hybrids to translate research into commercial cultivation, improving yields, kernel quality and pest resistance. Through structured contract farming, capacity building for over 17,500 farmers, mechanisation and responsible sourcing across tens of thousands of acres, the partnership reduced import dependence (domestic production now ~65% of demand) and aims to develop export readiness and an aatmanirbhar popcorn maize value chain.

Kisan Credit Card scheme revised to standardize crop seasons, extend tenures, align drawing limits, and add tech expense eligibility.
Revised Directions propose an updated Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme consolidating guidelines for multiple bank types, standardizing crop seasons into short (12 months) and long (18 months) durations, extending KCC tenure to six years, aligning drawing limits with the scale of finance for each crop season, and adding specified technological and certification expenses within a 20% additional component as eligible. The draft is open for public and regulated entity comments by March 6, 2026 through prescribed online and email channels.

MedTech startups urged to go global leveraging trade pacts and 80% IP fee rebate to scale affordable exports.
MedTech startups are urged to capitalise on India's trade agreements that secure market access to about 70% of global GDP, with support including an 80% rebate on IP fees, 24x7 Startup India assistance, facilitation of delegations and mission support, regulatory progress enabling exports, expansion of NIPERs and a new NID, infrastructure plans for manufacturing clusters, and public-private grant and incubation awards to accelerate commercialization.

Rupee rises on foreign fund inflows and RBI liquidity support while equities fall amid trade-deal concerns.
The rupee appreciated to 90.61 against the US dollar as foreign fund inflows and RBI liquidity support lifted sentiment, while concerns over India-US trade fact sheet terms and sector sensitivities coincided with equity market declines and continued foreign institutional purchases.

Kiteskraft's The Power List spotlights mentors and change makers driving ethical leadership, innovation, and community impact.
Kiteskraft Productions LLP published The Power List, a compendium recognizing mentors and change makers across education, healthcare, arts, finance, and social enterprise, highlighting their leadership, ethical practices, mentorship roles, public service initiatives, professional achievements, and contributions to community empowerment; the release frames Kiteskraft as an events and recognition organiser and presents the profiles descriptively under a PRNewswire arrangement.

Gold price surge boosts borrowers' collateral value; lenders advise leveraging higher LTV for debt consolidation.
Rising gold prices have increased the collateral value of pledged jewellery, raising the absolute loan amount available within the RBI Loan-to-Value cap. Borrowers may leverage higher valuations for liquidity needs such as debt consolidation or business expansion. Lenders should ensure transparent, real-time appraisal processes and borrowers are advised to use RBI-regulated lenders and bank-grade custody standards to secure peak market valuation and potentially access improved credit terms and lower long-term borrowing costs.

MSMEs sustainability adoption rises: willingness and implementation increase despite awareness dip, but funding and technical gaps persist.
The SPeX Q3 2025 shows an overall score of 62 driven down by falling awareness while willingness and implementation rose-especially recycling and sustainable packaging-with 54% of MSMEs now classed as integrators. Implementation improved 18% QoQ led by medium and 10-25 year firms, but funding, technical expertise and limited sustainability budgets remain key constraints. SIDBI and Dun & Bradstreet stress targeted finance, policy and capacity support to scale MSME green transitions. The index tracks Awareness, Willingness and Implementation across a 0-100 scale based on a survey of MSMEs in 22 states.

Deepak Pandit nominated as ICA representative to MCA Governing Council to liaise on player welfare and contracts.
Deepak Pandit has been nominated as the Representative of the Indian Cricketers' Association to the Mumbai Cricket Association Governing Council, tasked with acting as the primary liaison between players and the MCA, participating in policy formulation affecting contracts, playing conditions, welfare schemes and grievance redressal, and promoting transparency, accountability and the ICA's constitutional and ethical framework within MCA governance.

Vijay Mallya must state whether he will return before his challenge to the fugitive economic offender tag is heard.
The admissibility of a challenge to the Fugitive Economic Offender designation and the constitutional validity of the FEO Act is made contingent on a petitioner's clear affidavit stating whether he will return to the jurisdiction; the court treated this return requirement as essential to prevent abuse of process while extradition and enforcement actions, including property attachment under money laundering and loan default proceedings, are pending.

Free Trade Agreements encourage exporters to expand markets; tariff rollback and Export Promotion Mission boost export competitiveness.
FTAs are presented as the primary tool to expand exporters' access to developed markets, with industry urged to improve quality and competitiveness to use preferential access. The recent elimination of an additional 25% US tariff is identified as restoring competitive market access for priority sectors. The Export Promotion Mission provides operational support through Interest Subvention for export credit, Collateral Guarantee for MSME export credit and targeted market access measures, with further trade finance, logistics, compliance and branding interventions to be phased in.

Financial inclusion roadmap to expand banking access, formal credit, insurance and pensions, and boost digital payments nationwide.
A national roadmap, Financial Inclusion 2.0, will expand banking access, augment village banking infrastructure, extend formal credit to women and vulnerable groups, and achieve insurance and pension coverage for all by 2047, while promoting digital financial products and transactions and strengthening financial/digital literacy and fraud awareness.

NSSTA celebrates 18th Foundation Day focused on reimagining capacity building for official statistics, AI readiness, and data harmonization.
NSSTA will celebrate its 18th Foundation Day on 13 February 2026 under the theme Reimagining Capacity Building for Official Statistics to achieve Viksit Bharat@2047, emphasizing institutional capacity building, AI/ML and big data adoption, data harmonization for AI readiness, and training for Central, State/UT and international participants to strengthen evidence-based governance.

Base year revision for GDP, CPI and IIP announced with new methods, surveys and scheduled 2026 releases.
The Ministry has proposed base year revisions: GDP and IIP to 2022-23 and CPI to 2024, with methodological improvements, new data sources and updated survey weights. The exercise uses PLFS, HCES and ASUSE survey results, is overseen by Technical Advisory Committees/Expert Groups and informed by consultative workshops. New series releases are scheduled for 27 February 2026 (GDP), 12 February 2026 (CPI) and May 2026 (IIP). Transparency and accuracy measures include digital data collection with validation, an Advance Release Calendar, the e-Sankhyiki portal for unit-level data, regular stakeholder dialogues and a National Meta Data Structure.

PAIMANA centralises large project monitoring, using API integration for automatic reporting and reduced manual data entry.
The Ministry has deployed the PAIMANA portal to centralise monitoring of projects costing Rs.150 crore and above, replacing OCMS-2006 and implementing One Data One Entry via API integration with the DPIIT portal so that ministries and implementing agencies automatically feed project updates into a centralized repository for automated analytical reporting and reduced manual entry.

Evidence-based policymaking strengthened via statistical modernization, digital surveys, revised macroeconomic indices, and state capacity building.
The Ministry modernised official statistics to strengthen evidence-based policymaking by digitising National Sample Surveys with CAPI integrated into e SIGMA, initiating short duration high frequency surveys, revising macroeconomic series (GDP, CPI, IIP), implementing NMDS 2.0 and SQAF for harmonisation, and enhancing dissemination via web, mobile, portals and APIs while supporting state statistical capacity and training through the SSS Sub Scheme and NSSTA.

MoSPI reforms modernise national surveys with digital CAPI, district-level sampling and state capacity support for policymaking.
MoSPI modernises the National Sample Survey through digital platforms-CAPI integrated with e-SIGMA, validation checks, AI chatbots and multilingual interfaces-and revises sampling to adopt district as the basic stratum for district-level estimates. It also promotes state statistical capacity via the Support for Statistical Strengthening sub-scheme to improve collection, compilation and dissemination of reliable official statistics.

Free trade agreement expands market access for organic food, reduces tariffs but requires harmonised certification to realise export gains.
The India-EU free trade agreement will expand market access for organic food by eliminating and reducing import duties on hundreds of goods, creating substantial export opportunities estimated at USD 60 billion and opening a market of about 140 crore consumers. Realisation of these trade gains depends on resolving certification and compliance burdens; industry calls for harmonised organic certification recognition and strengthened testing laboratories, with APEDA positioned to support exporters and promote organic supply capacity.

Rupee rises as foreign inflows and suspected RBI intervention boost liquidity amid oil price and trade-policy uncertainty.
The rupee rose to 90.40 per US dollar, supported by foreign fund inflows and suspected RBI intervention that kept systemic liquidity near Rs 3 trillion, while elevated crude prices and US-India trade-framework uncertainty restrained risk appetite and influenced market sentiment.

US-India trade framework commits India to buy $500 billion of US goods and reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural products.
The bilateral framework commits India to eliminate or reduce tariffs on US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products and obliges India to purchase USD 500 billion of US products over five years, specifying energy products, aircraft and parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal, while reaffirming continuation of broader Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations to secure additional market access and supply chain resilience measures.

IRCTC scam case: prosecution says later-obtained sanction preserves charges if no prejudice to accused is shown.
The prosecution argued that absence of prior official sanction did not bar framing of charges because a sanction can be obtained later without causing prejudice; sanction was in fact taken during pre-trial proceedings and defendants have not shown specific prejudice, while the question whether immunity from prosecution affects cognisance is a matter for trial.