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Over the crucial week in February 2026 that hosted AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of high-level meetings with leaders from Europe, South Asia, Central Asia and Latin America, using the convergence in New Delhi to deepen trade alignments, technology partnerships and strategic supply-chain cooperation in an increasingly multipolar world. Representational Image; Via PM NaMo Across the week, Modi met leaders from Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Greece, Switzerland, Estonia, Croatia, Bhutan, Serbia, Kazakhstan and Finland, as well as UN Secretary-General António Guterres, while also hosting Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and earlier welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron during his February 17–19 visit.  The clustering of meetings underscored how technology diplomacy, trade realignment and supply-chain resilience are converging in India’s external engagement strategy. On February 20, Modi met Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara...

India’s AI Impact Summit 2026 concluded in New Delhi with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact . The pact was endorsed by 88 countries and international organisations, even as the high-profile gathering saw political disruption and exhibition-floor controversy that briefly diverted attention from its stated goals. PM NaMo during the CEO Roundtable at the AI Impact Summit. Held at Bharat Mandapam, the summit brought together representatives from over 100 countries, global technology leaders and policymakers. The declaration, structured around seven pillars including “Democratizing AI Resources,” “Secure & Trusted AI,” “Human Capital Development” and “Resilient, Efficient & Innovative AI Systems,” calls for strengthening international cooperation, respecting national sovereignty and advancing accessible and trustworthy AI frameworks.  Guided by the principle “Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaya” — welfare for all, happiness for all — it underscores that AI’s ...

A day after a brief shirtless protest disrupted the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, the Indian National Congress has publicly backed the demonstrators and escalated a political confrontation over the limits of protest at high-profile international events and the substance of India’s trade policy. Protest Screengrab; Via: Ranoj Pegu On February 20, a group of 10 to 15 young men linked to the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), the youth wing of the Congress party, entered Hall No. 5 of the summit venue using valid entry passes or QR codes, according to police statements.  Inside the exhibition hall, they removed white T-shirts printed with red graphics featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face and the words “PM IS COMPROMISED,” held them aloft like placards and chanted slogans targeting the Prime Minister and his government.  Compromised प्रधानमंत्री के खिलाफ युवाओं का 'हल्ला बोल' ✊ pic.twitter.com/FVmGjIuPYn — Congress (@INCIndia) Febr...

United States President Donald Trump on Friday lashed out at the US Supreme Court after it ruled 6–3 that he exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by imposing sweeping tariffs, calling the decision “a disgrace” and announcing plans to pursue alternative legal routes to expand import duties. File Photo of POTUS Trump; Via: The Kobeissi Times In two posts on his Truth Social account, Trump said the Court had wrongly concluded that he could not “charge even $1 DOLLAR to any Country under IEEPA,” while allowing him to “cut off any and all Trade or Business” and impose embargoes.  He argued that the ruling effectively confirmed his authority to regulate trade and impose tariffs under other statutes, citing Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s dissent, which noted that “numerous other federal statutes authorize the President to impose tariffs and might justify most (if not all) of the tariffs issued in this case,” including Section 232 of the Trade Exp...

The US Supreme Court on Friday struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs , ruling in a 6–3 decision that he exceeded his legal authority by invoking emergency powers to impose broad import levies without clear congressional approval.  Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority , said the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not grant the president unlimited authority to set tariffs, delivering a major setback to Trump’s second-term trade and foreign policy agenda. Representational Image of POTUS; Via: RepsAgainstTrump on X “The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Roberts wrote.  “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.” The court concluded that the emergency authority relied upon by the administration “falls short,” adding that “The U...

Mani Sankar Mukherjee, the celebrated Bengali writer known by his pen name Sankar, passed away on February 20, 2026, at the age of 92 after being admitted to a Kolkata hospital for age-related ailments. He had been undergoing treatment for some time and died at the hospital. He is survived by his two daughters. Indian PM and WB CM have expressed their condolences. Image Via: ImageCraft26 Born on December 7, 1933, Sankar grew up in Debdoot Sheet Nagar in Howrah, West Bengal. The son of Avaya Mukherjee, he lost his father as a teenager and began working as a clerk to Noel Frederick Barwell, the last British barrister of the Calcutta High Court. While working, he enrolled at Surendranath College, then known as Ripon College, in Calcutta.  In 1962, on a rain-soaked day at the crossing of Central Avenue and Dalhousie in central Kolkata, Sankar conceived Chowringhee, a novel set in an opulent hotel he called Shahjahan. The book became a bestseller and was adapted into a film in 1968. His...

A group of young men said to be linked to the Indian Youth Congress, a major wing of the Indian National Congress which is India's primary Opposition Party, staged a brief shirtless protest inside New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam on February 20, 2026. They disrupted proceedings at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, a high-profile event that is being attended by global technology leaders and government officials.  Shirtless Protest Snap; Via: TheIndeWire on X Police authorities have been reported saying that around 10 to 15 protesters entered Hall No. 5, which is an exhibition and conference space within the venue, using valid entry passes or QR codes.  They then began removing their shirts and chanting slogans targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. जब विदेश नीति में झुकाव, कॉरपोरेट दबाव और चुप्पी हावी हो… तो साफ है, PM मोदी COMPROMISED हैं!! 🔥 इसी सच्चाई को बेनकाब करने भारतीय युवा कांग्रेस के जाबांज कार्यकर्ता AI Summit पहुँचे और “Compromised PM” के खिलाफ विरोध प...

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday morning on suspicion of misconduct in public office as part of an investigation by Thames Valley Police into allegations linked to his past dealings with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in an unprecedented development involving a senior member of Britain’s royal family. Almost tweleve hours after his arrest, the authorities said they had released ex-Prince Andrew "under investigation." The probe centers on allegations he shared confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein; Via: Meidas Touch Police said that at approximately 8am (GMT) on February 19 they arrested “a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office” and carried out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.  Photographs showed unmarked police vehicles and plainclothes officers at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, as well as searches at his former residence at Royal Lodge in Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor wa...

Iran held annual military drills with Russia this week in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean as a second U.S. aircraft carrier moved closer to the Middle East, with both Washington and Tehran signaling readiness for conflict if long-stalled talks over Iran’s nuclear program collapse. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he believes “10 to 15 days” is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal, while warning that failure to secure what he called a “meaningful deal” would bring consequences. “It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” Trump said. U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wing 8 aircraft fly in formation; Via: US Navy The drills came amid mounting U.S. military deployments and heightened rhetoric across the region. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier was near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, bolstering Trump’s ability to conduct a strike should he decide to do so, th...