Afcons secures 100+ million road infrastructure project in Uganda funded by a multilateral development agency.
Afcons Infrastructure Limited has been awarded a road infrastructure contract in Uganda financed by a multilateral development agency, described as reinforcing its export-led growth strategy and supporting regional economic development through delivery of high-quality, sustainable infrastructure as part of its international EPC project portfolio.

VASVIK Annual Industrial Research Awards recognise Indian scientists for innovation, economic impact, and independent committee selection.
VASVIK's Annual Industrial Research Awards recognise Indian scientists for research that advances industrial innovation and economic growth; selection is conducted by seven advisory committees chaired by respected scientists who assess nominations on a merit basis despite limited submissions.

Union Budget FY27 prioritises investment, raises STT on F&O to deter speculation, and targets a 4.3% fiscal deficit.
The Budget pegs the fiscal deficit at 4.3 per cent of GDP while advancing disinvestment and asset monetisation, with IDBI Bank strategic privatisation continuing. It raises Securities Transaction Tax on derivatives-futures to 0.05 per cent, options premium to 0.15 per cent and exercise of options to 0.15 per cent-to deter speculative F&O trading, citing investor losses identified by market regulator studies.

Mutual funds provide pooled, professionally managed investment exposure with diversification, costs, and market-linked risks over time.
Mutual funds are collective investment vehicles pooling investor capital into equity, debt, or hybrid portfolios aligned to a scheme's objective; unit values vary with market prices. Key structural elements include diversification across industries or issuers and investment methods such as lump sum or systematic investment plans. Returns reflect asset allocation, market movement, and the expense ratio, with performance measured against benchmarks over multiple time frames. Time horizon and cost differences between direct and regular plans affect outcomes, and illustrative calculators do not predict future performance.

India Digital Awards: Albinder Dhindsa named Digital Person of the Year; Sarvam AI wins Digital Startup of the Year.
India Digital Awards 2026 honoured leadership and innovation in the digital sector: Albinder Dhindsa was named Digital Person of the Year for transformative contributions to quick commerce and digital retail, and Sarvam AI was awarded Digital Startup of the Year for pioneering artificial intelligence solutions with strong innovation and execution.

JM-1 loitering munitions delivered to Indian Army under Emergency Procurement, indigenously made and operationally deployed in Operation Sindoor.
Johnnette Technologies completed delivery of a third batch of JM-1 loitering munitions to the Indian Army under the Emergency Procurement procedure, adding to over one thousand drones previously supplied. The JM-1 has been operationally employed in precision strikes during Operation Sindoor and was showcased at the 77th Republic Day Parade. The company states platforms use over eighty percent indigenous components and are fully non-Chinese, stressing domestic content, supply-chain security, and continuing development of longer-range combat UAVs and MALE UCAVs for future procurement.

Bihar aims to double per capita income by 2030, targeting one crore jobs and major public-investment measures.
The government aims to double average per capita income by 2030 by increasing employment from about 50 lakh to one crore and implementing programmatic measures under "Saat Nishchay 03." Core interventions include grants and follow-on support for women entrepreneurs through the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, expansion of self-help group networks, large-scale recruitment and regularisation of teachers, and major investments in healthcare and education infrastructure. Enabling measures cited include strengthening police capacity, emergency response services, communal-protection fencing, and accelerated road and expressway construction.

Union Budget focuses on exports by boosting manufacturing, services, trade facilitation, logistics and MSME finance to cut export costs.
The Budget advances an exports-led strategy by scaling strategic and labour-intensive manufacturing through flagship missions and cluster rejuvenation, enhancing services and digital infrastructure with tax and regulatory relief to attract global capability centres, and strengthening trade facilitation, SEZ reforms, logistics investment and MSME finance-including a Rs.10,000 crore SME Growth Fund-to reduce export costs, improve predictability, and integrate firms into global value chains.

Survey on Migration to collect detailed data on internal migration patterns, reasons, and employment profiles for policy planning.
The National Statistics Office proposes a Survey on Migration for July 2026-June 2027 to gather detailed data on rural-urban and inter state migration, reasons for migration, return and seasonal movements, and migrants' employment profiles, building on PLFS 2020-21 findings and intended to inform policy on labour mobility, remittances, urban planning and related social and economic interventions.

PAIMANA portal automates monitoring of central infrastructure projects over the cost threshold via API integration, reducing manual entry.
PAIMANA replaces OCMS-2006 to centralize monitoring of Central Sector infrastructure projects meeting the central monitoring cost threshold by ingesting IPMP data via APIs under the One Data One Entry principle, enabling automated updates from Ministries and implementing agencies, producing web-generated analytical reports, reducing manual entry for a substantial subset of projects, and supporting evidence-based monitoring through stakeholder onboarding and report/analytics enhancements.

Stock markets rebound on value buying and lower oil prices after Budget-driven volatility and a securities transaction tax hike.
Stock markets rebounded after a Budget-day sell-off due to selective value buying in large-cap sectors and a sharp decline in global crude oil prices. The initial volatility was driven by a hike in securities transaction tax on equity derivatives and the government's higher borrowing plan, while Budget measures offering tax incentives for data centres and commitments to manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure spending provided medium- to long-term policy support.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code amendments to be tabled to speed resolution timelines and align with global practices.
The government intends to introduce the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the second half of the Budget session beginning March 9, incorporating parliamentary committee suggestions to shorten timelines and improve the effectiveness of insolvency resolution, aligning the regime with global best practices; the Bill, first introduced August 12, 2025, was referred to a select committee that submitted its report in December 2025, and this proposed amendment will be the seventh legislative intervention since the IBC's 2016 enactment.

Kadhal Kadhai Sollava stars Rittika Sen in a character-driven love mystery shaped by Vijay Sethupathi.
Kadhal Kadhai Sollava, releasing February 6, 2026, stars Rittika Sen as a guitarist whose bubbly exterior masks a layered emotional journey; the film combines a romantic puzzle with a developing mystery and emphasizes character-driven storytelling shaped by creative collaboration with Vijay Sethupathi and Jayaram. The account presents the production as a pivotal career moment for Sen and is provided as a press release under arrangement with the producing entity.

Indian rupee gains as RBI defends the 92 level; budget borrowing and tax changes affect markets.
The Reserve Bank appeared to defend the 92-per-dollar level as the rupee strengthened to 91.51, aided by retreating crude prices, large forex reserves and suspected corporate dollar selling, while near-term USD INR was forecast to consolidate within a tight range. Concurrently, the Union Budget's large borrowing plan to fund a 4.3% of GDP fiscal deficit and changes increasing securities transaction tax on derivatives and altering buyback taxation dampened investor sentiment, triggered equity market weakness and prompted foreign institutional selling.

Competition Commission power to probe patent-linked disputes to be examined; Supreme Court stayed NCLAT jurisdictional findings.
The Supreme Court will examine whether the Competition Commission of India has jurisdiction to probe anti competitive conduct arising from the exercise of patent rights, having stayed parts of an NCLAT ruling that held the Patents Act to displace the Competition Act; the stay is confined to the jurisdictional question and does not address the merits of the underlying competition dispute.

Manipur MLAs in Delhi as President's rule nears expiry; decision on forming government or seeking extension.
President's rule in Manipur is nearing expiry and the BJP central leadership has summoned NDA MLAs to Delhi to assess whether a party-led popular government can be formed before the deadline. Inter-community divisions-particularly the reluctance of Kuki MLAs tied to a demand for a Union Territory with a legislature-are the main barrier to recovery of a state administration. Failing formation, a statutory resolution in both Houses of Parliament will be required to extend the President's rule.

Air India plane crash probe examines technical, organisational and human factors, including near simultaneous fuel supply loss to engines.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is conducting a time bound, comprehensive probe into the June Boeing 787 8 crash, examining technical, operational, organisational and human factors; the preliminary factual report notes a near simultaneous fuel supply cut to both engines and the inquiry continues to inspect components, cockpit voice recordings and crew actions while keeping all causal hypotheses open.

Karnataka Hate Bill defines hate speech with seven-year minimum jail and fines, prompting objections over chilling political expression.
The bill defines hate speech as any public expression made with intent to cause injury, disharmony, enmity, hatred or ill-will against persons or groups, and prescribes a minimum seven-year jail term and up to one lakh rupees fine, creating a punitive enforcement framework; opponents argue the law was rushed, may chill political expression, and could be selectively applied against dissenting actors.

Pakistan's sports boycott won't affect India, says J-K deputy CM, urging separation of politics and sports.
Pakistan's boycott of an ICC T20 match is described as having no effect on India and exemplifies the need to keep politics separate from sports. The deputy chief minister also pressed for clarification on the pledge to restore statehood, supported establishment of a National Law University demand, defended the revival of the Darbar Move as boosting commerce, and identified restoration of statehood, protection of land rights, local employment safeguards, and a state-model budget and special package as priority policy concerns for Jammu and Kashmir.

Budget 2026-27 increases securities transaction tax on futures and options to deter speculation and raises expected revenue.
The Budget 2026-27 raises the Securities Transaction Tax on derivatives-futures to 0.05% (from 0.02%), options premium to 0.15% (from 0.10%) and exercise of options to 0.15% (from 0.125%)-as a deterrent to speculative retail participation and to increase receipts, with estimated STT collections of Rs 73,700 crore for FY27.