16 February 2026

• AI Impact Summit opens: First global AI summit in the Global South opens at Bharat Mandapam; India launches the MANAV governance framework.
• Trade: India-US trade deal fallout: farmer groups escalate protests over cotton duty removal; MSP gap at ₹2,365 per quintal.
• Death penalty: India's death row population reaches 574 persons; zero Supreme Court confirmations in three years.
• Bangladesh: India-Bangladesh ties formally reset following Tarique Rahman's swearing-in.

GS area: Science and Technology (AI governance), International Relations

The AI Impact Summit 2026 opened at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 16 February. It is the first global AI governance summit hosted in the Global South.

• Dates and venue: 16-20 February 2026. Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Expected participants include representatives from approximately 20 countries and over 3,000 speakers.
• New Delhi Declaration: The summit's core outcome is a voluntary, non-binding framework called the "Charter for the Democratic Diffusion of AI." The guiding principle is "Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaya" (for the good of all, for the happiness of all).
• MANAV framework: India's proposed AI governance model. Five pillars: Moral/Ethical Systems, Accountable Governance, National Sovereignty, Accessible/Inclusive AI, Valid/Safe Systems.
• IndiaAI Mission: ₹10,372 crore allocation. India's Tata–OpenAI partnership announced a HyperVault data centre scaling from 100 MW to 1 GW. Anthropic partnered with Infosys for enterprise AI deployment.
• India's positioning: The MANAV framework positions India between the EU's strict compliance approach and the US laissez-faire model. India emphasises democratic diffusion and equitable access for the Global South.
• Seven chakra working groups: Human Capital; Inclusion for Social Empowerment; Safe and Trusted AI; Science; Resilience, Innovation and Efficiency; Democratising AI Resources; AI for Economic Development and Social Good.

Static linkage: AI governance, IndiaAI Mission, G20, digital diplomacy (S&T/IR).

GS area: Economy (Agriculture, Trade), International Relations

Farmer protests against the cotton duty removal under the India-US interim trade deal intensified on 16 February.

• Samyukt Kisan Morcha demand: Dismissal of the Commerce Minister. The SKM argues the deal surrenders India's agricultural sovereignty.
• Cotton MSP gap: Current MSP is ₹7,710 per quintal against the CACP-recommended ₹10,075. The gap of ₹2,365 per quintal means cotton farmers already sell below the recommended remunerative price.
• US cotton surge: US cotton exports to India rose 95.5 per cent in 2024-25 following duty concessions in the earlier trade framework. Full duty removal will deepen this trend.
• WTO agricultural subsidies comparison: The US government provides large subsidies to domestic cotton farmers under its farm bill. Indian farmers compete with US cotton that carries hidden subsidy support. WTO disciplines on domestic support allow this under the "green box."
• Apple and corn protection: Farmers' groups have specifically demanded continuation of the apple and maize tariff regime. Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir are directly affected.

Static linkage: MSP, WTO Agreement on Agriculture, farm policy (Economy).

GS area: Governance, Science and Technology

A proposal for an Indian Scientific Service (ISS), a permanent all-India cadre of scientists for governance integration, received editorial attention.

• Rationale: Currently scientists in government operate under CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964, the same rules as all civil servants. Scientific independence is undermined by administrative hierarchy.
• Constitutional basis: Article 312 of the Constitution allows Parliament to create new All-India Services. An ISS would be created under this authority.
• The gap it fills: Senior IAS officers without scientific backgrounds head many research departments. The ISS would create a dedicated cadre with scientific expertise, career progression and policy influence.
• Article 51A(h): The fundamental duty to develop and spread the scientific temper. An ISS would institutionalise this duty at the governance level.

Static linkage: Article 312, All-India Services, science policy (Polity/Governance).

GS area: Polity (Judiciary), Social Justice

Data from Project 39A (National Law University Delhi) as of December 2025 confirms zero Supreme Court death sentence confirmations in three years.

• Trial court pendulum: Trial courts imposed 1,310 death sentences in the last decade. High Courts confirmed only 8.31 per cent (70 of 842 reviewed cases). The Supreme Court confirmed zero in the last three years.
• High Court acquittals: 34.65 per cent of those on death row were acquitted by High Courts, revealing severe unreliability in the original trial court process.
• Gender dimension: 24 women (of 574 total on death row). The proportion of women on death row is much lower than their share of crime rates.
• Bachan Singh criteria reiterated: The "rarest of rare" doctrine applies when the offence is heinous, pre-planned or involves targeted killing of multiple persons. Indian courts have significantly narrowed the category of eligible cases.

Static linkage: Article 21, death penalty jurisprudence, Supreme Court (Polity).

GS area: Economy (Fiscal federalism), Governance (Elections)

The 16th Finance Commission's warning about cash transfers (20.2 per cent of state subsidies) is compounded by pre-election data:

• Tamil Nadu - KMUT scheme: Chief Minister Stalin distributed ₹5,000 to 1.31 crore women under the KMUT scheme in a single day, a total expenditure of ₹6,550 crore.
• Bihar: ₹10,000 distributed to 75 lakh women weeks before elections.
• Maharashtra: Ladki Bahin scheme accelerated disbursements in the election quarter.
• Model Code of Conduct (MCC): The MCC applies from the date of election announcement. Schemes announced before the MCC's commencement are generally not restrained. The Election Commission's inconsistent enforcement of the MCC's "level playing field" provisions is the governance concern.
• Article 324: Vests superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission. The ECI has limited tools to restrain pre-announcement spending that uses state government funds.

Static linkage: MCC, Article 324, ECI, fiscal federalism (Governance/Polity).

• Trump revokes EPA Endangerment Finding: The US administration revoked the EPA's 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health. This finding was the legal foundation for US domestic GHG regulation. The 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA Supreme Court ruling had established GHGs as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
• 112 countries have abolished death penalty: As of February 2026. This covers both legal abolition and de facto abolition (no executions in 10 years).