February 2026

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India has formally communicated to state governments the operational framework for India’s first-ever digital Population Census 2027, with real-time monitoring of field operations through a dedicated web-based portal called the Census Management and Monitoring System. The houselisting operations phase is scheduled to commence on April 1, 2026, across…

The Supreme Court of India is set to hear final arguments in the review petitions challenging the landmark 2018 Sabarimala judgment, which had permitted women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The 2018 decision, delivered by a five-judge bench with a 4:1 majority, had opened the doors of the temple to…

The United States Department of Commerce announced a preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) of 126 percent on solar cell imports from India on February 24, 2026, following a complaint filed by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, a coalition of leading American solar manufacturers. The duties were simultaneously imposed on Indonesia and Laos. Indian…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on February 26, 2026, marked only the second visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel — the first being his own visit in 2017. The address was notable for its unambiguous condemnation of the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, as a “barbaric…

The Supreme Court of India took extraordinary suo motu cognisance on February 26, 2026, of a section in a Class 8 Social Science textbook published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training that referenced “corruption” in the judiciary as a challenge facing the judicial system. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, visibly agitated…

India has announced the nationwide rollout of a Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme targeting girls aged 14, marking one of the most significant expansions of the Universal Immunisation Programme in recent years. The decision arrives at a particularly charged global moment — the United States is witnessing a measles epidemic across 26 states largely attributed…

The successive failures of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) have prompted the constitution of a high-level committee including former Principal Scientific Adviser K. Vijay Raghavan and former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath to investigate systemic organisational and process issues underlying the back-to-back mishaps. The PSLV-C61 failed on May 18, 2025,…

India’s global trade strategy has undergone a fundamental transformation in 2025 and early 2026. The signing of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement on January 27, 2026, described as historic by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the interim India-U.S. trade framework signed in February 2026, have positioned India as a proactive player in…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day standalone visit to Israel on February 25 and 26, 2026, is India’s most significant diplomatic engagement with West Asia in recent years. This is Mr. Modi’s second visit to Israel, coming against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, growing U.S.-Iran tensions, India’s recently concluded trade agreements with the…

The Union Health Ministry’s announcement of a nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme targeting girls aged 14 marks a landmark moment in India’s public health journey. The programme, which will use Gardasil, a quadrivalent HPV vaccine procured through a partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is voluntary and free of cost. Given that cervical cancer…