THE HEADLINES::
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address Post Budget Webinar on “Technology, Reforms and Finance for Viksit Bharat” this morning.
- President Droupadi Murmu to witness Indian Air Force’s Exercise ‘Vayu Shakti’ in Jaisalmer today.
- Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar unanimously elected as NCP national president; Party announces Ajit Pawar’s son Parth as Rajya Sabha candidate.
- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to arrive in Mumbai today on a 4-day visit to India.
- Afghanistan launches retaliatory strikes against Pakistan; 55 Pakistani soldiers killed, two bases and 19 posts captured.
- In ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, India beat Zimbabwe by 72 runs in Super Eight match in Chennai.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Post Budget Webinar on “Technology, Reforms and Finance for Viksit Bharat” at 11:30 this morning through video conferencing. The webinar will deliberate on key themes including public capital expenditure, infrastructure development, banking sector reforms, financial sector architecture, deepening of capital markets and ease of living through tax reforms. The event is part of a series of Post Budget Webinars being organised on priority areas emerging from the Union Budget 2026-27.
“The webinar is the first in a series aimed at facilitating effective and outcome-oriented implementation of the Budget announcements for the financial year 2026-27. It is designed to draw lessons from past experiences and obtain structured feedback from stakeholders to further strengthen policy execution and governance mechanisms. The discussions will see participation from representatives of industry, financial institutions, market participants, government departments, regulators and academia. The deliberations are expected to focus on enhancing public investment efficiency, strengthening financial systems, expanding access to capital and promoting reforms that improve ease of living for citizens. Through these consultations, the government seeks to ensure coordinated action across sectors and accelerate progress towards the goal of Viksit Bharat. Rohan, Akashvani News, Delhi.”
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to New Delhi after concluding his two-day official visit to Israel. Mr Modi concluded his historic visit to Israel after productive discussions, a range of positive outcomes, and a momentous decision by both the countries to elevate the bilateral relationship to the level of Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, Innovation and Prosperity. In a heartwarming gesture, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with his wife Sara Netanyahu came to see off Prime Minister Modi at the airport.
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President Droupadi Murmu will witness the Indian Air Force’s Exercise ‘Vayu Shakti’ at the Pokhran Field Firing Range in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan this evening. President Murmu reached Jaisalmer last evening on a two-day visit to the state. The Defence Ministry has informed that prior to the exercise, the President will fly a sortie in indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) – ‘Prachand’. The mission will be undertaken as a two aircraft LCH formation, with Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Amarpreet Singh, flying in the second LCH. Notably, the LCH ‘Prachand’ is India’s first indigenously designed and developed combat helicopter, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The helicopter has been designed to operate across diverse terrains, ranging from deserts to high-altitude regions. After this, the President will attend the Indian Air Force’s mega demonstration ‘Vayu Shakti’ at the Pokhran Field Firing Range near the India-Pakistan border. During the event, various aircraft of the Indian Air Force will showcase their operational capabilities. Besides the President, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma will also be present at the programme.
“Vayu Shakti is the Indian Air Force’s premier combat exercise, showcasing the strike capability, precision targeting, and operational readiness of fighter aircraft, helicopters, transport planes, and missile systems. During the exercise, coordinated air operations will be demonstrated under simulated war-like conditions, both during the day and night. A total of 77 fighter jets and 43 helicopters will participate in this mega event, including the Rafale, Sukhoi-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, Jaguar, and the indigenously developed Tejas. Jitendra Dwivedi, Akashvani News, Jaipur.”
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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the national president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at the party’s national convention held in Mumbai yesterday. She took over the reins following the death of her husband, Ajit Pawar, in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28.
She will also contest the bypoll for the Baramati assembly constituency, which was represented by her husband for eight consecutive terms.
“The announcement was made by the party’s working president, Praful Patel, at the party’s national convention held in Mumbai yesterday. Praful Patel proposed Sunetra Pawar’s name, which was seconded by Sunil Tatkare, and she was elected as the National President. Praful Patel also announced Parth Pawar’s candidature on behalf of the Nationalist Congress Party for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Bhavana Akashvani News ,Mumbai.”
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On the instructions of the Supreme Court, the incomplete final voter list of West Bengal will be published tomorrow, including the names of those voters whose documents and information are still under judicial verification in the SIR process. According to commission sources, at the beginning of the SIR process, the state had more than 7 crore 66 lakh voters. About 58 lakh names of deceased, relocated, missing, and fake voters have already been excluded from the draft list. The names of the remaining 7 crore 8 lakh voters in the draft list will appear in the final list.
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Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney will arrive in Mumbai today on a 4-day visit to India. This will be Prime Minister Carney’s first official visit to India. Over the next two days, he will participate in separate business engagements, interact with Indian and Canadian CEOs, industry and financial experts, innovators, educators as well as Canadian Pension Funds based in India.
”Prime Minister Carney will arrive in New Delhi on 1st of March. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart will hold delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House on 2nd of March. Both leaders will review the progress achieved till date across diverse areas of the India-Canada Strategic Partnership. They will also take stock of ongoing cooperation in key pillars including trade and investment; energy; critical minerals; agriculture; education, research, and innovation; and people-to-people ties. The two leaders will also exchange views on regional and global developments. Mr Modi and Mr Carney are also scheduled to attend the India-Canada CEOs Forum scheduled later in the day. The visit comes at an important juncture in normalization of India-Canada bilateral relations. The two Prime Ministers have earlier agreed to pursue a constructive and balanced partnership grounded in mutual respect for each other’s concerns and sensitivities, strong people-to-people ties, and growing economic complementarities. The forthcoming meeting between the leaders will provide an opportunity to reaffirm the positive momentum and shared vision of India and Canada in building a forward-looking partnership. Renuka, Akashvani news, delhi.”
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Afghanistan launched a retaliatory attack against Pakistan last night following Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border regions earlier this week. In a press statement, Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defense said that the posts of the Pakistani troops were captured under heavy attacks on the Durand Line. It stated that a total of 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, two bases and 19 posts were captured. The ministry said that these attacks targeted Pakistani military forces along the Durand Line, near the provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost, Nangarhar, Kunar, and Nuristan.
Afghanistan further claimed that the assigned objectives were achieved as planned in these operations. During the four hour operation, dozens of light and heavy weapons, ammunition, and military supplies were seized by the Afghan forces.
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Artificial Intelligence is playing a transformative role across multiple sectors by enhancing automation, precision, and operational efficiency. The recently concluded India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi highlighted how robotic systems are reshaping industries ranging from manufacturing and healthcare to agriculture and logistics. AI-powered robots are now capable of performing complex tasks such as precision assembly, medical assistance, warehouse automation, and field operations with minimal human intervention.
Talking to Akashvani News, Karthik Pandya, representing Yongovator, said that his team had presented Madhya Pradesh’s first 3D-printed humanoid robot.
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The 57th Convocation of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) will be held in New Delhi today. The ceremony will be attended by the Vice President CP Radhakrishnan. Chancellor of IIMC, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw will preside over the function.
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In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, India defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs in a crucial Super Eight match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai last night. Chasing a huge target of 257 runs set by India, the Sikandar Raza led Zimbabwe managed to score 184 runs at the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. Opening batter Brian Bennett’s unbeaten innings of 97 runs went in vain. For India, Harshdeep Singh bagged highest 3 wickets. Earlier, Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bowl. Batting first, the Suryakumar Yadav led Men in Blue scored 256 for 4 in the stipulated 20 overs. Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten at 50 runs, while Tilak Verma also made 44 runs to give India a strong finish. Returning to form, Opening batter Abhishek Sharma made 55 runs.
India will next face West Indies in their last Super Eight clash on Sunday at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The result of this match will decide India’s fate in the tournament.
In another match yesterday, South Africa defeated West Indies by 9 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. South Africa comfortably achieved the target of 177 runs by only losing 1 wicket in 16.1 overs. Earlier, after being invited to bat first, West Indies scored 176 for 8 in stipulated 20 overs.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE,
- Papers have covered the Prime Minister’s visit to Israel, Supreme Court ordering seizure of NCERT class 8 books containing defamatory content on the judiciary along with US Commerce secretary’s visit to Delhi along with other stories in the newspapers today.
- ‘India, Israel elevate ties: trade deal on anvil says Prime Minister’ writes Hindustan Times while The Tribune headlines, ‘India, Israel seal special strategic partnership, ink seventeen pacts in technology, agriculture push.’ The paper also carries a picture of Prime Minister Modi with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, at the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem. The Pioneer notes in its top headline, ‘India’s UPI set to go live in Israel’.
- The Asian Age headlines, ‘Supreme Court ban on NCERT book, says its a bid to defame judiciary.’ ‘Supreme Court bans Class 8 textbook, orders seizure of copies.’
- The Hindu writes, ‘DGCA revises norms for air tickets, extends cancellation window.’ Financial Express notes, ‘DGCA rolls out 48 hour free cancellation.’
- The Indian Express on US commerce secretary’s visit headlines, ‘Days after adverse US court ruling, Lutnick in Delhi for trade talks.’
- And finally, Hindustan Times writes ‘Platforms must share revenue with publishers’ adding that digital platforms rethink revenue sharing policies and share revenue with content creators, says Union Information and Broadcasting minister, Ashwini Vaishnav.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN,
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address Post Budget Webinar on “Technology, Reforms and Finance for Viksit Bharat” this morning.
- President Droupadi Murmu to witness Indian Air Force’s Exercise ‘Vayu Shakti’ in Jaisalmer today.
- Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar unanimously elected as NCP national president; Party announces Ajit Pawar’s son Parth as Rajya Sabha candidate.
- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to arrive in Mumbai today on a 4-day visit to India.
- Afghanistan launches retaliatory strikes against Pakistan; 55 Pakistani soldiers killed, two bases and 19 posts captured.
- In ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, India beat Zimbabwe by 72 runs in Super Eight match in Chennai.
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