Current Affairs February 2026 Study Guide

Important Days - February 2026

February 2 – World Wetlands Day: This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, which was signed in $1971$ in the Iranian city of Ramsar. * What is the total number of Ramsar sites as on February $2026$ ? * Why are they called Ramsar sites? * Which are the first Ramsar sites in India? * What is the $2026$ theme for World Wetlands Day? * Which state has the largest number of Ramsar sites in India? * Largest Ramsar Site in India: * Smallest Ramsar Site in India: * Which country has the largest number of Ramsar sites?
February 11 – International Day of Women and Girls in Science: * What does this day intend? * What is the $2026$ theme?
February 13 – National Women’s Day: Observed on the birthday of India’s first woman governor (Uttar Pradesh), Sarojini Naidu.
February 20 – World Day of Social Justice: * What is the background for the observance of this day?
February 28 – National Science Day: * Why is February $28$ chosen as the National Science Day? * What is the $2026$ theme?

National Infrastructure and Development Projects

Adampur Airport Renaming: Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially renamed the Adampur Airport in Punjab to “Shri Guru Ravidass Maharaj Ji Airport.”
Great Nicobar Island Transformation: The Indian government approved a $₹72,000$ -crore project for Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost point of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. * Objective: To transform the island into a transshipment and defence hub. * Implementation: Spearheaded by NITI Aayog and implemented by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation. * Coverage: Approximately $166\text{ sq. km}$ ( $18\%$ of the island). * Key Components: * International container terminal at Galathea Bay. * A dual-use airport. * A township expected to grow the population from $8,000$ to $3.5$ lakh over $30$ years. * A $450\text{-MVA}$ power plant. * Strategic Importance: The island overlooks the Strait of Malacca, through which approximately $40\%$ of global trade passes. Currently, nearly $75\%$ of India's transshipment cargo is routed through foreign ports. * Strait of Malacca Question: Which two water bodies does the Strait of Malacca connect?
Environmental and Human Concerns of the Great Nicobar Project: * Ecological Impact: Destruction of leatherback turtle nesting beaches at Galathea Bay, felling of an estimated $9.64$ lakh trees, displacement of endemic species like the Nicobar megapode, and damage to over $20,000$ coral colonies. * Assessment Criticisms: The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was based on a single season of data. Forest clearances, including denotification of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, were granted rapidly. * Indigenous Groups: The semi-nomadic Shompen tribe (a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group) faces habitat loss and disease exposure. Scholars warn of potential "genocide." The Nicobarese indigenous group is also affected. Tribal leaders have alleged coercion in signing land surrender certificates.
National Green Tribunal (NGT) Ruling: The NGT briefly stayed the project in $2023$ but allowed it to proceed after a high-powered committee review conducted in a sealed cover (drawing criticism for lack of transparency). * Bench: The six-member special bench was headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava. * Ruling: On February $16, 2026$ , the bench found no "good ground" to interfere in the environmental clearance granted to the project. * NGT Question: What is the function of the NGT? Who is its current chairperson?

National Governance and Economics

16th Finance Commission: A constitutional body established under Article $280$ of the Constitution and appointed every five years to decide the sharing of central tax revenues. * Recommendation: The Commission recommended retaining the vertical devolution ratio (States' collective share in the divisible pool) at $41\%$ for the period $2026–31$ , consistent with the previous Commission. * States' Demand: States demanded an increase to $50\%$ , arguing they bear the larger burden of welfare spending while cesses and surcharges (which fall outside the divisible pool) are kept entirely by the Centre. * Finance Commission Questions: * Who is the Chairperson of the $16\text{th}$ Finance Commission? * What was the term of the $15\text{th}$ Finance Commission and who headed it? * What is the function of the Finance Commission? * What is the Consolidated Fund of India? * Which are the other two funds with the Central government?
New Ramsar Sites in India: Patna Bird Sanctuary (Etah, Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand (Kutch, Gujarat) were designated as Ramsar wetlands of international importance. * India's Total: These become India’s $97\text{th}$ and $98\text{th}$ Ramsar Sites. * Chhari-Dhand Characteristics: A seasonal wetland in Kutch that forms a shallow water body during the monsoon and dries during the summer.
Gujarat Renewable Energy Leadership: Gujarat became the largest contributor to India’s Renewable Energy (RE) capacity. It ranks first in total installed RE capacity, first in wind power, second in solar power, and first in rooftop solar installations.
Wings India 2026: The Ministry of Civil Aviation inaugurated Asia’s largest civil aviation event at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad, Telangana.
Labour and Federalism Disputes: * Karnataka: The Legislative Assembly passed a resolution opposing the replacement of MGNREGA with the Centre's new VB-G RAM G [Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)] Act, $2025$ . They cited a unilateral hike in states’ financial share from $10\%$ to $40\%$ , calling it "anti-federal" and "economic terrorism." * Kerala: The assembly demanded the withdrawal of VB-G RAM G and the restoration of the original MGNREGA framework.
Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA): A tripartite agreement was signed between the Centre, Nagaland government, and the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO). It grants administrative and financial autonomy to six eastern districts to address dominance by western Naga tribes since $1963$ . It will exercise power over $46$ subjects while preserving Article $371(A)$ .

National Socio-Political and Legal Updates

Insurance For All by 2047: Alwar (Rajasthan) became the first district in India to achieve $100\%$ insurance coverage under this joint initiative by the Government of India and IRDAI.
Bird Atlas of Goa: Goa published its "Bird Atlas of Goa," becoming the $2\text{nd}$ state after Kerala to produce such a comprehensive document.
2025 Corruption Perceptions Index: Released by Transparency International. India improved its ranking by $5$ places to the $91\text{st}$ spot out of $182$ countries. Denmark remained the least corrupt country for the eighth consecutive year.
Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL): Set to become the first Indian airport to operate hydrogen-powered buses. * Previous Achievement: CIAL is also a pioneer in what?
Operation Shastra: Launched by Delhi Police to curb the use of social media for spreading fear and criminal posturing, specifically targeting those posting pictures with weapons.
Surajkund International Crafts Mela: Held in Faridabad, Haryana. * Theme: ‘Vocal to Global’. * Theme States: Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya. * Partner Nation: Egypt.
IT Rules Amendment 2026: Amendments to the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code now require social media platforms to label photorealistic AI-generated content (audio/video). The window for removing illegal content was reduced from $24–36$ hours to just $2–3$ hours.
Gen. M.M. Naravane’s Memoir: His unpublished memoir, "Four Stars of Destiny," caused controversy after its manuscript leaked. The Caravan magazine published excerpts regarding the $2020$ India-China border standoff. Rahul Gandhi used these excerpts in the Lok Sabha. The Delhi Police registered a case under the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita regarding the leak. New pre-publication clearance guidelines are being drafted for retired officials.
Wool Production: Rajasthan is the top producer ( $47.5\%$ of national output), followed by Jammu & Kashmir ( $7,770\text{ thousand kg}$ ) and Karnataka.
Vande Mataram Protocols: The government issued instructions that all $6$ verses ( $3\text{ minutes and } 10\text{ seconds}$ ) must be played before Jana Gana Mana at formal events. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) pushed back, citing religious concerns and the $1950$ consensus to use only the first two stanzas. * Questions: Who is the author of the National Song and in which book/year did it appear? When was the National Anthem written and how many stanzas are sung in what time? Which $1986$ law does the AIMPLB invoke?
One Nation One Election: Former CJI B.R. Gavai told a Parliament Joint Committee that simultaneous elections do not violate the Basic Structure or federal framework. The proposed Constitution ( $129\text{th}$ Amendment) Bill, $2024$ seeks to align cycles. * Question: Which committee was set up to study its feasibility?

Union Budget 2026-2027 Highlights

Presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February $1, 2026$ (a Sunday).
Theme: "Yuva Shakti" driven budget.
Public Capital Expenditure: Raised to over $₹12.2$ lakh crore.
Fiscal Deficit: Anchored at approximately $4.3\%$ of GDP.
Defence Allocation: $₹7,84,678$ crore (highest allocation, $15\%$ of total expenditure).
Gender Budget Statement: $₹5.00$ lakh crore ( $11.36\%$ increase over FY $2025–26$ ).
SHE Marts: Self-Help Enterprise Marts proposed for women SHG members.
Employment Schemes: * VB-G RAM G: Allocated $₹95,692.31$ crore. Aims for $125$ days of assured employment per year. * MGNREGA: Allocated $₹30,000$ crore for the transition period.
Budget Questions: * When was the date of Budget presentation advanced to February $1\text{st}$ ? * What is the financial year? * Which consecutive budget was this for Nirmala Sitharaman? * Who was the first Finance Minister of independent India?

Science, Technology, and Education

Bodhan AI: Launched by Dharmendra Pradhan. An open-source "Bharat EduAI Stack" by the Education Ministry.
White Revolution 2.0: A cooperative-led initiative for the dairy sector and women's empowerment. * Question: Which original movement inspired this and who started it?
India's First Musical Path: A $500$ -metre stretch of Mumbai’s Coastal Road (Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road) named Sangeet Marg. Rumble strips play the song ‘Jai Ho’ at speeds of $60–80\text{ kmph}$ . India is the fifth country to have this.
Henley Passport Index February 2026: * India's rank improved to $75\text{th}$ ( $56$ destinations visa-free). * Singapore ranked $1\text{st}$ ( $192$ destinations). * Japan and South Korea tied for $2\text{nd}$ ( $187$ destinations).
Central Secretariat Projects: PM Modi inaugurated 'Seva Teerth' (new PMO) and 'Kartavya Bhavan $1$ and $2$ .' Race Course Road was renamed Lok Kalyan Marg.
Small Satellite Bus as a Service (SBaaS): IN-SPACe selected Astrome Technologies, Azista Industries, and Dhruva Space to develop indigenous satellite bus platforms. A satellite bus is the main frame carrying power, control, and communication systems.
Guwahati Bridge: PM Modi inaugurated a $₹3,030$ crore, $1.24\text{ km}$ six-lane bridge over the Brahmaputra River. Named after King Kumar Bhaskar Varma, it is the first extradosed bridge in the Northeast.
Sthree Suraksha Scheme: Kerala government launched a monthly pension of $₹1,000$ for unemployed women and transwomen aged $35–60$ from economically backward backgrounds.
NCERT Textbook Controversy: The Supreme Court (Justice Surya Kant) banned an NCERT Class $8$ Social Science textbook due to passages regarding corruption in the judiciary, calling it an attempt to undermine the institution.

International Events and Geopolitics

New START Treaty Expiry: On February $5, 2026$ , the treaty between the US and Russia expired. President Trump rejected a one-year extension. This marks the first time since $1969$ that no treaty constrains the nuclear arms race.
International Space Station (ISS): Scheduled to retire in $2030$ . China's Tiangong will become the only orbiting station.
AI and Market Impacts: Anthropic's 'Claude Cowork' triggered a global tech selloff wiping out $285$ billion USD. India’s Nifty IT fell $5.87\%$ . Jefferies termed this the "SaaSpocalypse."
Anthropic vs. Pentagon: Anthropic refused the Department of Defense unfettered access to its models for autonomous weapons, leading the DoD to strike a deal with OpenAI instead.
Walmart Trillion-Dollar Valuation: Walmart became the first retail company to reach a $1$ trillion USD market cap, joining Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, and Meta.
Spain Social Media Ban: Imposed a nationwide ban on social media for children under $16$ , following Australia’s example.
US-Iran Conflict: The $2015$ JCPOA unravelled. The US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in a $12$ -day war. On February $18, 2026$ , the US and Israel launched a major military attack. Iran retaliated with strikes on Israel and US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz ( $20\%$ of global oil) shut.
Bangladesh Elections: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman from exile, won a landslide victory. This follows the August $2024$ ousting of Sheikh Hasina and an interim government under Muhammad Yunus.
US-India Interim Trade Deal: The US reduced tariffs on Indian goods from $50\%$ to $18\%$ . India committed to purchasing $500$ billion USD worth of US energy, aircraft, and technology over five years. The US issued a $30$ -day waiver for India to purchase Russian oil due to Middle Eastern supply disruptions.
US Critical Mineral Strategy: * Project Vault: $12$ billion USD initiative to stockpile $60$ critical minerals. * FORGE: Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, a $54$ -country grouping. * Pax Silica: Secure supply chains for AI resources (minerals/semiconductors). India is a full member.
US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Ruling: Ruled $6–3$ that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs was unconstitutional, as the power to tax belongs to Congress.
Takeshima/Dokdo Dispute: Ongoing territorial flashpoint between Japan and South Korea.
Chagos Archipelago Dispute: A bill to implement the UK-Mauritius treaty is paused. The treaty recognizes Mauritius's sovereignty while granting the UK a $99$ -year lease on Diego Garcia. President Trump has since opposed the deal.
Hong Kong Continuity: Jimmy Lai was convicted under the National Security Law. This follows the $2014$ Umbrella Movement and $2019$ Extradition Bill protests.

Summits and Conferences

Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2026: Held in Munich with the theme "Under Destruction." External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India, emphasizing multipolarity and IMEC.
India AI Impact Summit 2026: Held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. * MANAV Framework: Moral/Ethical, Accountable, National Sovereignty, Accessible/Inclusive, Valid/Legitimate. * New Delhi Declaration: Signed by $85$ countries, guided by the principle "Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaya."
Board of Peace: Inaugural meeting at the Trump Institute of Peace (Washington DC). The Board aims to manage international "hot spots." Members include Donald Trump (Chairman), Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Tony Blair.

Persons and Appointments

Yumnam Khemchand Singh: Sworn in as Manipur’s Chief Minister, ending President’s Rule.
Uday Kotak: Appointed Chairman of GIFT City.
Sachin Tendulkar: UN Global Champion for Road Safety.
Nidhi Chhibber: IAS officer given additional charge as CEO of NITI Aayog.
Sanae Takaichi: Won a historic two-thirds majority in Japan's lower house.
Elena Rybakina & Carlos Alcaraz: Winners of Australian Open $2026$ Singles titles.
Yoon Suk Yeol: Former South Korean President sentenced to life for insurrection.

Military Exercises

Agni Pariksha: Joint exercise by Indian Army and ITBP in Arunachal Pradesh.
KHANJAR-XIII: India-Kyrgyzstan joint exercise in Assam.
VAJRA PRAHAR: India-USA joint special forces exercise in Himachal Pradesh.
MILAN 2026: Multilateral Naval event in Visakhapatnam with over $50$ navies. Theme: ‘Camaraderie, Cooperation, Collaboration.’", "title": "Current Affairs February 2026 Study Guide"}