Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate India AI Impact Expo 2026 on 16th February, 2026 at 5 PM at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The India AI Impact Expo 2026 will be held from 16th to 20th February 2026, alongside the India AI Impact Summit, at Bharat Mandapam.
The Expo will serve as a national demonstration of AI in action, where policy meets practice, innovation meets scale, and technology meets the everyday citizen.
Spread across 10 arenas covering more than 70,000 square metres, the Expo will bring together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, Union Ministries, State Governments, and international partners. The Expo will also feature 13 country pavilions, showcasing international collaboration in the AI ecosystem.
These include pavilions from Australia, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan and Africa.
The Expo will host over 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations, structured across three thematic chakras - People, Planet and Progress.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, today launched a transparent, modern, and simple Public Distribution System (PDS) based on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in the presence of Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shri Pralhad Joshi.
The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Prahlad Joshi, said that the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the Public Distribution System (PDS) marks a significant milestone towards ensuring transparency, efficiency and beneficiary empowerment in India’s food security architecture.
Launching the CBDC-based Digital Food Currency pilot in Gujarat, he emphasised that India’s PDS—the largest food distribution system in the world serving more than 80 crore beneficiaries—continues to evolve through technology-driven reforms.
Building on the success of its virtual capacity-building initiatives conducted during 2024 and 2025, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has launched the second series of its nationwide virtual capacity-building programme for Gram Panchayats across States and Union Territories.
The series was inaugurated on February 13, 2026, in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, with the objective of deepening consumer awareness and strengthening protection mechanisms at the grassroots level.
The session emphasized the critical role of Panchayats in promoting consumer rights, curbing unfair trade practices, and facilitating access to grievance platforms such as the National Consumer Helpline (1915) and the e-Jagriti portal.
In its earlier phase, the Department conducted an extensive series of virtual sensitization sessions for Panchayati Raj representatives on consumer rights, responsibilities, and redressal frameworks under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
The campaign commenced on December 20, 2024, and concluded on August 22, 2025, covering Panchayats across all States and Union Territories, except Delhi and Chandigarh, where Panchayati Raj Institutions are not constituted.
Ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, to be held from February 16–20 in New Delhi, the finalists of three flagship Global Impact Challenges — AI for ALL, AI by HER, and YUVAi were announced.
These challenges are launched to advance the adoption of novel and impactful AI solutions, aligned with global priorities.
Together, we received more than 4,650 applications from over 60 countries, underscoring strong international participation.
Following a rigorous multi-stage evaluation by domain experts and industry leaders, the top 70 teams across Challenges have been selected as finalists.
In a significant step towards strengthening biodiversity conservation and supporting local communities, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released Rs. 10.40 lakh under the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework to beneficiaries across the country.
The ABS framework reinforces India’s National and Global commitment in ensuring that communities conserving biological resources receive a fair share of benefits arising from their commercial use.
The current ABS release will benefit Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) across 24 districts spanning nine States and one Union Territory,
including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Meghalaya, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. These BMCs represent a wide range of ecological landscapes from rural villages and coastal regions to urban local bodies where local communities play a crucial role in conserving biodiversity.
In addition, one farmer holding dairy farm in Haryana received Access and benefit-sharing amount for providing India’s renowned Murrah Buffalo breed, recognising the value of indigenous livestock.
The cumulative ABS disbursements at the national level have crossed a significant amount of Rs. 145 crore (approximately USD 16 million).
India adopts a principle-based AI governance framework anchored in seven Sutras to enable safe, trusted, and inclusive AI innovation across sectors.
The guidelines recommends establishment of new national institutions including the AI Governance Group, Technology & Policy Expert Committee, and AI Safety Institute.
AI governance guidelines prioritises innovation over restraint, positioning AI as a catalyst for inclusive growth, competitiveness, and the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
Artificial Intelligence has emerged as the defining force of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, and India has articulated a clear, ambitious vision:
To advance this objective, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) constituted a drafting committee in July 2025 to develop a framework for AI governance in India. The Committee was mandated to draw on existing laws, review global developments, examine available literature, and incorporate public feedback in framing suitable governance guidelines.
Based on its deliberations, the Committee presented the AI governance framework in four parts. The first part sets out the seven sutras that ground India’s AI governance philosophy. The second part examines key issues and offers recommendations.
The third part presents an action plan, and the fourth part provides practical guidelines for industry actors and regulators to ensure consistent and responsible implementation of the recommendations.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi approved the launch of the Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) with a total Central Assistance (CA) of Rs. One lakh crore. CA will cover 25% of the project cost, subject to raising minimum 50% of the project cost from market.
This will lead to a total investment of Rs. Four lakh crore in urban sector in next five years, marking a paradigm shift in India’s urban development approach from grant- based financing to market-linked, reform-driven and outcome-oriented infrastructure creation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a series of major infrastructure projects in Assam, including the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu over the Brahmaputra River in Guwahati and the Northeast’s first Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) on a national highway in Dibrugarh district.
The projects are part of a broader development push in the region, with the Prime Minister set to inaugurate and flag off initiatives worth over Rs. 5,450 crore aimed at boosting connectivity, digital infrastructure, higher education and urban mobility.
At around 1 pm, the Prime Minister inspected and inaugurated the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu, a 2.86-km-long, six-lane extradosed Prestressed Concrete (PSC) bridge built at a cost of approximately Rs. 3,030 crore.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Northeast’s first Emergency Landing Facility on the Moran Bypass in Dibrugarh district.
In its very first decision after shifting to Seva Teerth, the Prime Minister approved the launch of the PM RAHAT (Road Accident Victim Hospitalization and Assured Treatment) Scheme, reflecting a governance approach rooted in Seva – service, compassion and protection for vulnerable citizens.
The decision underscores the Government’s commitment to ensuring that no life is lost due to lack of immediate medical assistance after a road accident.
India records a significant number of road accident fatalities every year, many of which are preventable with timely medical intervention.
Studies indicate that nearly 50% of road accident deaths can be averted if victims are admitted to hospital within the first hour. By approving PM RAHAT from Seva Teerth, the Prime Minister has prioritized life-saving intervention, financial certainty for hospitals, and a structured emergency response system for accident victims.
Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo became the first Winter Olympian to win nine gold medals when he led home his country’s 4 x 7.5 kilometre relay team on February 15, 2026.
The Norwegian quartet were so far ahead that Klaebo was able to wave to the crowd before the finish line, where he was greeted by his celebrating teammates in bright sunshine in Tesero.
Klaebo, 29, has won four of his nine golds at the Milan-Cortina Games and he has two more events still to come.
Klaebo won three golds at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, and another two four years later in Beijing. He also has a silver and bronze medal from the Beijing Games.
In the relay, France won the silver medal and Italy took the bronze.
At the Winter Olympics Milano Cortina 2026, Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen claimed gold in the Giant Slalom, securing South America’s first-ever medal at a Winter Games.
The 25-year-old delivered a powerful final run in difficult conditions, with snow and fog on the Stelvio course.
He finished with a combined time of 2 minutes and 25 seconds, beating Switzerland’s defending champion Marco Odermatt by 0.58 seconds.
Giant slalom is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline.
In the overall medal standings, Norway lead the table with a total of 20 medals, including 10 golds.
They are followed by Italy with 18 medals and the United States with 17.
For India, Arif Mohammad Khan will be competing in the slalom event of Alpine skiing tomorrow. Earlier, Cross-country skier Stanzin Lundup finished 104th in the men’s 10 kilometre race.
India’s central bank tightened rules for loans taken by firms that undertake proprietary trading in shares and commodities and offer leverage to clients, the latest measure aimed at reducing speculative market activity in the South Asian nation.
All credit facilities to securities firms will have to be backed by collateral, while lending for trading on their own account or investments by brokers will be prohibited, according to a statement published on the Reserve Bank of India’s website.
