Current Affairs – February 18, 2026

{GS2 – MEITY} IndiaAI Mission 2.0 *

• Context (TH | TOI): The Union Minister for Electronics and IT announced the upcoming IndiaAI Mission 2.0 during the India AI Impact Summit.

• This second phase of the IndiaAI Mission aims to scale up Research & Development (R&D), innovation, and the diffusion of AI across sectors.
• Compute Capacity: The government plans to procure an additional 20,000 GPUs to strengthen the “common compute” infrastructure for startups and researchers.
• MSME Support: The mission aims to package AI into ready-to-use solutions for small businesses, modelled after UPI.
• Research Focus: It will focus on deep-tech R&D, indigenous innovation and application layers.

IndiaAI Mission

• It is a national initiative launched by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) in 2024 to build a robust AI ecosystem by democratising access to computing power.
• Nodal Agency: It is implemented by the ‘IndiaAI’ Independent Business Division (IBD) of the Digital India Corporation.

Seven Key Pillars of the Mission

1. Compute Capacity: Building scalable infrastructure with over 10,000 GPUs through public-private partnerships.
2. Innovation Centre: The IndiaAI Innovation Centre for developing indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and domain-specific foundational models.
3. Datasets Platform: AIKosh for providing a unified access point to high-quality, non-personal datasets.
4. Application Development: Creating impactful AI solutions for critical sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and governance.
5. FutureSkills: Expanding AI courses and setting up Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
6. Startup Financing: Providing streamlined access to risk capital and funding for deep-tech AI startups to support futuristic projects.
7. Ethical AI: Developing governance frameworks and guidelines to ensure safe, trusted AI deployment.

Read More > India-AI Mission

{GS2 – Governance} Systemic Institutional Failure in Urban Governance

• Context (TH): The recent death of Yuvraj Mehta in Greater Noida goes beyond a mere accident, highlighting systemic failures in India’s urban governance.

Key Reasons Behind Systemic Failure

• Demographic Overload: Rapid migration drives population growth beyond infrastructure capacity, forcing cities to operate at 200-300% of their designed capacity.
• Institutional Fragmentation: Governance is fragmented across multiple agencies (PWD, Jal Board, Police), creating jurisdictional silos that hinder unified accountability.
• Legal Immunity: Agencies often evade liability for operational negligence by invoking the colonial doctrine of Sovereign Immunity, leaving victims uncompensated.
• Constitutional Gaps: The 74^th Amendment remains unimplemented in spirit, as states have failed to fully devolve “Funds, Functions, and Functionaries” to local bodies.
• Regulatory Failure: A nexus between contractors and officials often results in the approval of substandard projects without mandatory safety audits.
• Ethical Erosion: A “normalisation of negligence” prioritises procedural paperwork over the moral imperative to save lives in crises.
• Disaster Management: The approach is reactive, with insufficient investment in preventive audits or resilience infrastructure until tragedies occur.

Structural Reform Pathways

• Counter-Magnet Cities: Develop Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities (e.g., Patna and Lucknow) to ease migration pressure on overcrowded metros.
• Legal Reform: Enact a “Civil Liability Act” to make government agencies financially accountable, removing the sovereign immunity shield.
• Unified Governance: Establish a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) to eliminate inter-agency coordination failures.
• Quality Assurance: Institutionalise independent third-party safety audits for all infrastructure projects, aligned with ISO 39001 standards.
• Capacity Building: Equip urban police stations with basic disaster-response kits (e.g., drones, cutters) to enable immediate action.
• Participatory Governance: Legally empower Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to conduct social audits of local hazards.

{GS2 – Governance} Front-of-Package Labelling *

• Context (TH): The Supreme Court pushes for front-of-package (FOP) labels to help consumers make healthier food choices.

Supreme Court Intervention and Regulatory Push

• FOP Directive: Supreme Court orders the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to implement front-of-package warnings and respond within four weeks for urgent consumer protection.
• Regulatory Oversight: In 2025, SC formed an FSSAI expert committee for labelling reforms; by 2026, progress was inadequate, highlighting the Court’s dissatisfaction with delays.

Rising Dietary Risks

• Health Imperative: India faces rising diet-related diseases; 101 million diabetics, 136 million prediabetics, 35.5% hypertension, 39.5% abdominal obesity, 24% high cholesterol (ICMR-INDIAB, 2023).
• Diet Link: Excess sugar, salt, and saturated fat consumption drives non-communicable diseases.
• Consumer Empowerment: Front-of-package labelling enables informed food choices.
• Disease Prevention: Proper labelling can reduce morbidity and mortality from diet-related conditions.

Impact on Consumers and Industry

• Informed Consumer Choice: Simplified labels allow consumers to quickly identify unhealthy foods.
• Consumer Empowerment: Helps reduce the prevalence of NCDs through informed dietary decisions.
• Corporate Accountability: Encourages manufacturers to reformulate products to meet healthier nutritional standards.

{GS2 – IR} India–France Ties Upgraded to a Special Global Strategic Partnership **

• Context (IE): French President Emmanuel Macron is currently on a three-day official visit to India, marking his fourth visit to the country.

Key Outcomes of President Macron’s 2026 Visit to India

• Diplomatic Elevation: The bilateral relationship was formally elevated to a Special Global Strategic Partnership to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation.
• Institutional Oversight: An Annual Foreign Ministers Dialogue was instituted to monitor the implementation of the Horizon 2047 goals.
• Defence Production: A Joint Venture (JV) between BEL and Safran was established to localise HAMMER missile manufacturing in India.
• Military Interoperability: Reciprocal liaison officers were deployed at Indian Army and French Land Forces establishments to strengthen field-level coordination.
• Human Capital: The countries signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to establish a National Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Aeronautics.
• Fiscal Alignment: Both countries signed a protocol to amend the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to ease cross-border investments.
• Digital Infrastructure: The Indo-French Centre for Digital Sciences was launched to co-develop trusted public infrastructure and emerging technologies.
• Logistics Modernisation: The Department of Posts (India) and La Poste (France) signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to co-develop e-commerce logistics and digital postal services.
• Innovation Synergy: The India-France Year of Innovation 2026 was launched to foster R&D synergy between startups and research institutions.
• Healthcare AI: AIIMS, New Delhi, will host the Indo-French Centre for AI in Health to integrate advanced AI into diagnostic processes.
• Professional Mobility: France operationalised a five-year Schengen visa for Indian Master’s alumni to streamline professional and academic travel.

Overview of India-France Bilateral Relation

• Strategic Evolution: India established its first strategic partnership with France in 1998, which was elevated to a Special Global Strategic Partnership in 2026.
• Centenary Roadmap: Both nations signed the Horizon 2047 roadmap in 2023, marking 25 years of strategic partnership across three pillars – Security, Planet, and People.
• Trade Profile: France is India’s 3^rd largest trade partner in the EU, with total bilateral trade reaching $15 billion in 2024-25; India maintains a positive trade balance.
  • Export Basket: Refined petroleum, readymade garments, electronics, etc.
  • Import Basket: Aviation equipment, electrical machinery, chemical products, etc.
• Defence Procurement: India cleared procurement of 114 Rafale jets and finalised the contract for 26 Rafale-M jets, marking its largest-ever hardware acquisition.
• Military Synergy: Regular Varuna (Naval), Shakti (Army), and Garuda (Air Force) exercises continue to strengthen tactical interoperability.
• Digital Integration: The launch of UPI at the Eiffel Tower and Galeries Lafayette marks the first major integration of Indian digital payments into the Eurozone
• Space Collaboration: ISRO and CNES are co-developing the TRISHNA thermal imaging satellite for climate monitoring, building on the success of the joint Megha-Tropiques and SARAL missions.
• Nuclear Cooperation: France became the first country to sign a Civil Nuclear Agreement with India in 2008, shortly after the NSG waiver lifted India’s nuclear isolation.
  • Nuclear Project: The Indo-French Jaitapur project in Maharashtra aims to achieve a total capacity of 9.9 GW, making it the world’s largest nuclear power park.
• Strategic Alignment: Strategic autonomy, a multipolar world order, and a free and open Indo-Pacific.
• Policy Variance: Ukraine-Russia conflict, varying approaches to China, and nuclear liability laws.

Read More> India-France Relations

{GS2 – IR} India–France Defence Cooperation Gets 10-Year Extension

• Context (TH): India and France renewed their Defence Cooperation Agreement for another 10 years during the 6^th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue in Bengaluru.

• Partnership Transition: Co-chaired by the defence ministers, the dialogue focused on transforming the buyer-seller relationship into a deep industrial partnership.
• Indigenisation Target: India formally requested that France increase the indigenous content in the proposed 114 Rafale jets to 50% and establish local MRO facilities for all French aero engines.

About Defence Cooperation Agreement

• Strategic Transition: The 2006 Defence Cooperation Agreement operationalised Indo-French relations into a comprehensive military partnership under the 1998 Strategic Partnership framework.
• Technology Transfer: It established a formal mechanism for the transfer of defence technology; India developed six Scorpene submarines under Project 75, using French technology.
• Institutional Oversight: The High Committee on Defence Cooperation (HCDC), led by Defence Secretaries, was created to oversee military, industrial, and research collaboration.
• Joint Exercises: The 2006 agreement formalised three major bilateral exercises, namely Varuna (Navy), Garuda (Air Force), and Shakti (Army; initiated in 2011).
• Security Dialogue: Both nations institutionalised a systematic exchange of views on counter-terrorism and global security threats.
• Logistics Access: The Reciprocal Logistics Support Agreement (2018) expanded the DCA by allowing the Indian Navy to use French bases in the Indian Ocean (like Reunion Island) and vice versa.

{GS2 – IR} U.S. Conducts First Air Transport of Nuclear Microreactor *

• Context (TH): The U.S. for the first time transported a nuclear microreactor to demonstrate its potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian ⁠use.

About Nuclear Microreactors

• Nuclear microreactors are a class of very small, factory-built fission reactors that generate 1 to 20 megawatts (MW) of electrical power.
• These units are approximately 100 to 1,000 times smaller than conventional nuclear reactors.
• Key Applications: They are ideal for powering military bases, disaster-affected areas, and remote communities where transporting fossil fuels is difficult.
• Key Advantages: Microreactors provide a resilient, zero-carbon energy source with “walk-away” safety features that inherently prevent meltdowns.
• Major Challenges: High costs, regulatory delays, and physical security risks limit adoption, while its fuel raises nuclear proliferation concerns.

Key Characteristics of Nuclear Microreactors

• Factory-Fabricated: Microreactors are fully factory-fabricated and assembled before shipment to the deployment site.
• Fuel Longevity: Most designs utilise High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) to ensure high energy density and core longevity; the reactors operate for 5 to 10 years without refuelling.
• Self-Adjusting: They employ passive safety systems that automatically shut down without human intervention or external power.
• Transportable: The units are compact enough to be transported by truck, ship, or aircraft to remote and off-grid locations.

{GS3 – S&T} India’s First Private Sector Helicopter Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Karnataka *

• Context (PIB): PM Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron virtually inaugurated India’s first private-sector Helicopter Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Vemagal, Karnataka.

• Strategic Partnership: It operates under a strategic partnership between Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus Helicopters to manufacture the Airbus H125 light utility helicopter.
• Milestone: The project marks the first time a private Indian company has undertaken end-to-end manufacturing, integration, and testing of advanced helicopters.
• Global Footprint: Karnataka becomes home to the world’s fourth H125 manufacturing and FAL facility, joining France, the United States, and Brazil.

About Airbus H125 Helicopter

• The Airbus H125 is a single-engine light utility helicopter optimised for peak performance in high-altitude and hot environments.
• Aviation Record: It remains the only helicopter to have successfully landed on and taken off from the summit of Mount Everest (29,029 feet).
• Operational Range: The H125 offers a range of 340 nautical miles (630 km) and a standard fuel endurance of 4.5 hours.
• Multi-Modal Utility: It is a multi-mission workhorse used extensively in law enforcement, search and rescue, air ambulance, firefighting, construction support, and power-line inspection.

{Prelims – A&C} Alexander’s Lost City ‘Charax Spasinou’

• Context (TOI): An international team of archaeologists has recently identified the ancient lost city of Charax Spasinou in southern Iraq.

• Foundation: Alexander the Great established the city as Alexandria on the Tigris in 324 BC to consolidate control of the Mesopotamian waterways.
• Location: It was strategically located at the ancient confluence of the Tigris and Eulaeus (modern Karkheh/Karun) rivers near the modern Iran-Iraq border.
• Reconstruction: Satrap Hyspaosines rebuilt the city after it was destroyed by floods and renamed it Charax Spasinou.
• Political Status: It was the capital of the Kingdom of Characene (Mesene), enabling trade between the Roman and Parthian empires.
• Economic Significance: For nearly five centuries, it was a commercial gateway connecting Mediterranean spice routes (via Palmyra) to India and China.
• Urban Planning: Geophysical surveys reveal a massive Hippodamian grid of residential blocks larger than those in contemporary Hellenistic cities.
• Decline: Its importance waned in the 3^rd century AD due to the westward shift of the Tigris river and the rise of the Sassanian Empire.

{Prelims – A&C} Ol Chiki Script

• Context (NIE): The Ministry of Culture has organised the centenary celebrations of the Ol Chiki script in New Delhi.

• The script was developed in 1925 by Pandit Raghunath Murmu, reverently known as Guru Gomke.
• It was created as a scientific script for the Santhali language, to replace borrowed scripts (Devanagari, Roman, Bengali, Odia) that failed to capture its unique phonetics.

• Script Structure: It comprises 30 letters (6 vowels and 24 consonants) and is written from left to right.
• Design: The letter shapes are inspired by nature and everyday objects, making learning easier for the local tribal population.
• Geographic Spread: The script is used across Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam, as well as among Santhali speakers in Nepal and Bangladesh.
• Constitutional Status: Santhali was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in 2003 (92^nd Amendment), recognising Ol Chiki as its script.
• Constitutional Literacy: The Constitution of India was officially translated and released in Santhali (Ol Chiki script) for the first time in December 2025.

{Prelims – MEITY} WAVES Creators’ Corner

• Context (PIB): The WAVES Creators’ Corner was inaugurated during the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

• It was established as a specialised innovation pavilion serving as a practical innovation workspace.
• It aims to highlight the potential of AI within the AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality) sector.
• This initiative directly supports the ‘Create in India’ vision, positioning the country as a global hub for digital content creation.

Key Highlights at WAVES Creators’ Corner

• AI-Powered Newsroom: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and BharatGen demonstrated an “Agentic AI” newsroom capable of automated editorial workflows.
• Cinematic Showcase: A dedicated “AI Theatre” screened over 150 AI-generated films, including the Kathāvatār series, a collection of AI short films based on Indian folklore.
• Interactive Technology: The corner showcased advanced tools such as real-time voice cloning, markerless motion capture, and face/voice re-ageing.

{Prelims – Geo} Tulbul Navigation Barrage Project *

• Context (TH): The Jammu & Kashmir government has proposed reviving the Tulbul Navigation Barrage project, as the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is in abeyance.

• The project began in 1984 but was suspended in 1987 due to Pakistan’s objection under the 1960 IWT.
• The Tulbul Navigation Barrage Project, also known as the Wular Barrage, is a strategic navigation lock-cum-control structure.
• It is located at the outlet of Wular Lake on the Jhelum River, near Sopore in Baramulla district, Jammu & Kashmir.
• It aims to maintain a minimum water depth of 4.5 feet in the Jhelum River during lean winter months.
• The project ensures year-round navigability of the river and enhances power generation for downstream projects like Uri-I and Uri-II.

{Prelims – Species} Cheetah Gamini in Kuno National Park Gave Birth to Three New Cubs *

• Context (TH): The South African cheetah Gamini gave birth to three healthy cubs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

• Total Population: This birth brings India’s cheetah population to 38, comprising 27 Indian-born cubs and 11 translocated adults.
• Conservation Milestone: Gamini was translocated from South Africa in February 2023 as part of Project Cheetah, the world’s first intercontinental large wild carnivore translocation project.
• Habitat Distribution: Kuno National Park currently houses 35 cheetahs, while 3 adult cheetahs are located at the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary.
  • Future Expansion: Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh has been designated as the third reintroduction site.

Read More> Reintroduction of Cheetahs in India

{Prelims – Defence} United Nations Fellowship Training Programme on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) *

• Context (DDN): India hosts the first UN Fellowship training on small arms control in Jabalpur, MP, bolstering global peace and disarmament efforts.

UN Fellowship Training Programme on SALW

• About: It is a 3-week capacity-building programme aimed at strengthening regional arms control, enhancing technical expertise, and promoting global peace cooperation.
• Host: Indian Army.
• Organising Institutions: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Defence (MoD), UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia-Pacific (UNRCPD).
• Participants: Officials from 13 Asia-Pacific nations.
• Focus Areas: Implementation of UN Programme of Action (PoA) and International Tracing Instrument (ITI) to prevent illicit trade and misuse of SALW.

{Prelims – Defence} Khorramshahr‑4 Ballistic Missile

• Context (OI): Rising US-Iran tensions, Tehran released striking footage of its powerful Khorramshahr‑4 missile.

Khorramshahr‑4 Ballistic Missile

• About: The Khorramshahr‑4, also known as the Kheibar missile, is a medium-range ballistic missile.
• Developed By: Iran’s state-owned Aerospace Industry Organisation (AIO).
• Target Range: Estimated 2,000 km, putting key U.S. bases and aircraft carriers within striking distance.
• Missile Size & Weight: Stands 13 m tall, 1.5 m in diameter, and weighs up to 20 tonnes.
• Payload: Can carry multiple warheads totalling 1,800 kg and strike up to 80 targets.
• Fuel & Speed: Liquid-fuelled, travels 16 Mach outside the atmosphere & 8 Mach within the atmosphere.