February 2026

In short: India's governance, law & order and appointments this month — distilled for SI/Constable Prelims.

Current Affairs — India › Polity & Governance · 26 min read · Free to read · English & Telugu

Bilingual study notes for the Andhra Pradesh Police SI & Constable exams (SLPRB AP) by AP Police Hub, a product of Anvil Academy.

20+ governance, judiciary and diplomacy stories from February 2026 — the no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker, the menstrual-hygiene fundamental-right ruling, PM Modi's Israel visit and the Israel-US strike on Tehran, PRAHAAR (India's first counter-terror strategy), the AI Impact Summit's New Delhi Declaration, and Bangladesh's BNP returning to power.

Portrait of Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha — Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha — the presiding officer at the centre of February 2026's no-confidence-motion story · IAEA Imagebank (Dean Calma) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

February 2026 — At a Glance

February 2026 opened with a rare institutional crisis — a no-confidence motion against a sitting Lok Sabha Speaker, only the third such motion ever. The Supreme Court delivered two major rulings (menstrual hygiene as a fundamental right; a stay on the ED's PMLA attachment powers) and reconsidered its own 2023 gender-stereotype handbook. On the world stage, PM Modi's Israel visit elevated ties to a Special Strategic Partnership days before Israel and the US jointly struck Tehran; India hosted the AI Impact Summit and released PRAHAAR, its first public counter-terrorism strategy; and Bangladesh's BNP swept back to power after Sheikh Hasina's 2024 ouster.

Headlines of the month

LS Speaker Om Birla steps back from presiding pending a no-confidence motion moved by 118 Opposition MPs — debate/voting fixed for 9 March; only the third such motion in parliamentary history.
Supreme Court rules menstrual hygiene part of the Right to Life (Article 21); separately stays a Delhi HC ruling that limited the ED's PMLA attachment powers.
PM Modi's Israel visit elevates ties to a "Special Strategic Partnership"; within two days, Israel and the US jointly strike Tehran ("Operation Epic Fury"), triggering Iranian retaliation on Gulf bases.
India hosts the AI Impact Summit 2026; 88 countries adopt the New Delhi Declaration on AI; Home Ministry releases PRAHAAR, India's first publicly articulated national counter-terrorism strategy.
Bangladesh's BNP (Tarique Rahman) sweeps elections after Sheikh Hasina's 2024 ouster; French President Macron's fourth India visit elevates ties to a "Special Global Strategic Partnership".
Domestically: proposal to bar non-Hindus from Char Dham shrines, Denotified Tribes demand a separate Census column, and the SC criticises WhatsApp-Meta's data-sharing as a "decent way of committing theft".

1. Parliament & the Speaker

No-Confidence Motion Against the Lok Sabha Speaker

What — LS Speaker Om Birla decided, on moral grounds, to stop presiding over House proceedings until a no-confidence motion moved by 118 Opposition MPs against him is resolved.
Date — Debate and voting scheduled for 9 March, when the second phase of the Budget Session reconvenes.
Why — Opposition alleges partisan conduct — denying LoP Rahul Gandhi the floor, suspending 8 Congress MPs, allegedly telling PM Modi to skip the House (4 Feb), and defamatory remarks against women MPs.
Legal basis — Article 94(c) — the Speaker may be removed by a resolution passed by an effective majority of the House, with ≥14 days' prior notice (Rule 200), the notice must be specific, free of imputations (Rule 200A); ≥50 members must rise for the House to grant "leave" (Rule 201); speeches capped at 15 minutes (Rule 203). Under Article 96, the Speaker cannot preside while the resolution is pending, but may speak and vote (not to break a tie).

PMO Says PM CARES / PMNRF / NDF Questions Are Inadmissible in Lok Sabha

What — The PMO informed the LS Secretariat that questions on the PM CARES Fund, PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and National Defence Fund (NDF) are inadmissible, since these are voluntary public contributions, not Consolidated Fund allocations.
Who decides — Admissibility is decided solely by the Speaker under Rule 41 — question-by-question, not by a general executive directive; a body pre-emptively asking to block questions is unusual.

2. Judiciary & Rights

Menstrual Hygiene Declared a Fundamental Right

Case — *Dr. Jaya Thakur v. Government of India (2026)*
Ruling — Access to menstrual hygiene is part of the Right to Life (Article 21) and Right to Education (Article 21A).
Directions — Every school (govt/private, urban/rural) must provide gender-segregated toilets, free ASTM-compliant biodegradable napkins, safe disposal, and curriculum reform; non-compliant private schools risk de-recognition under the RTE Act.

Can ED Seize Assets Related to Non-Scheduled Offences Under PMLA?

What — The Supreme Court stayed a 2025 Delhi HC ruling that had limited the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) power to attach "proceeds of crime" under the PMLA, 2002.
Background — Case arose from an ED probe into hawala-linked online cricket betting (Betfair) — a ₹20 crore provisional attachment (2015). Betting is not a scheduled offence under PMLA; ED linked it to forgery (a scheduled offence) to claim jurisdiction.
Effect — By staying the Delhi HC ruling, the SC keeps open the possibility that ED can provisionally attach assets even where the core activity is non-scheduled, if linked anywhere in the chain to a scheduled offence.

Supreme Court Reconsiders Its 2023 Gender Stereotype Handbook

Trigger — A *suo motu* hearing on an Allahabad HC ruling that had termed acts like grabbing a victim's clothing mere "preparation" rather than "attempt to rape" — SC had already stayed and set aside that judgment.
CJI's view — CJI Surya Kant called the 2023 *Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes* (issued under then-CJI D.Y. Chandrachud) "too Harvard-oriented" and directed the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal to draft practical, ground-level training guidelines instead.

WhatsApp-Meta Privacy Policy Case

What — SC bench (CJI Surya Kant + Justices Bagchi, Pancholi) criticised WhatsApp's data-sharing with parent Meta, calling it a "decent way of committing theft" of citizens' privacy.
Background — CCI (2024) fined Meta ₹213.14 crore for abuse of dominance over the 2021 "take-it-or-leave-it" privacy update; NCLAT upheld the finding/penalty but set aside a 5-year data-sharing ban.
Now before SC — Meta appealed to the SC; a broader 2016 data-sharing challenge (post Facebook acquisition) is also pending before a Constitution Bench since 2017.

Does the "Right to be Forgotten" Apply to Online News?

What — SC issued notice on a plea by The Indian Express (online) challenging a December 2025 Delhi HC ruling that upheld removal of news reports naming a banker who was later discharged.
Legal basis — India has no codified Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF); the closest equivalent is the Right to Erasure under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which is not absolute (yields to free expression, public interest, legal claims).
Core question — Can true, accurate public records/court proceedings be erased in the name of dignity — or does that risk rewriting history and chilling press freedom (Article 19(1)(a) vs Article 21)?

Annual Statistics Report on Death Penalties (2016-2025)

10 years of the death penalty in India — key numbers
Metric	Figure
Report publisher	The Square Circle Clinic (ex-Project 39A, NLU Delhi → now at NALSAR, Hyderabad)
Death row population (Dec 2025)	574 (550 men, 24 women) — highest since 2016
SC confirmations since 2023	Zero — no death sentence confirmed
Wrongful convictions found & later acquitted	364 people, average ~9.4 years on death row before acquittal

3. Governance, Federalism & Administration

Proposal to Ban Non-Hindus from Entering Char Dham

What — The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) is considering barring non-Hindus from Char Dham premises (Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Uttarakhand), citing priests' demands.
Cited precedent — The Madras HC's Madurai Bench (2024) held non-Hindus may be barred beyond a temple's flagpole (kodimaram), reasoning temples are religious spaces, not tourist sites.
Critics' argument — A religion-based entry bar fails the Essential Religious Practices (ERP) test — Hinduism does not mandate excluding non-Hindus (cf. the 2018 Sabarimala verdict on the ERP doctrine) — and risks arbitrary religious profiling.

Denotified Tribes Seek a Separate Census Column

Who — Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNT/NT/SNT) — once labelled "criminal tribes" under the colonial Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 (repealed 1952) — seek constitutional recognition via a distinct Schedule, like SC/ST.
Why now — India's next caste enumeration is February 2027 — the first since 1931. The Idate Commission (2017) identified 1,200+ such communities, 267 never classified as SC/ST/OBC.
Scheme — SEED scheme (2022, ₹200 crore) provides exam coaching, health insurance, housing aid — but only ₹69.3 crore spent as of Dec 2025, slowed by unclear DNT classification.

Seva Teerth — the New PMO-Kartavya Bhawan Complex

What — PM inaugurated Seva Teerth in Delhi — an integrated complex housing the PMO, Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Council Secretariat alongside Kartavya Bhawan 1 & 2, under the Central Vista Project.
Meaning — Seva (service) + Tirtha (a sacred crossing) — symbolically redefining governance from "satta" (power) to "seva" (service).

'Kerala' is Now 'Keralam'; Judiciary Diversity & Bar Council Disclosure

Kerala → Keralam — The Kerala Assembly's resolution to officially rename the state "Keralam" — sent to the Centre for a constitutional amendment, following Odisha's 2011 renaming precedent (from Orissa).
Judiciary diversity — A private member's bill (DMK MP P. Wilson) seeks mandatory representation of SC/ST/OBC/minorities/women in higher judiciary appointments, citing skewed representation in HC/SC benches.
Bar Council disclosure — A push for lawyers to disclose familial ties to sitting judges before that judge, to guard against conflict of interest, following a Delhi voter-list disclosure dispute.

Other domestic governance developments — quick facts
Development	Key fact
Satire / Wire cartoon blocked	A PM cartoon video blocked under Section 69A, IT Act, 2000; new IT Rules 2026 cut takedown time to 2-3 hours (from 24-36 hrs)
AI Content Labelling Norms	MeitY amends IT Rules 2021 to mandate labelling AI-generated content; 5mn+ user platforms must verify before publishing
PM RAHAT Scheme	Cashless road-accident treatment up to ₹1.5 lakh/victim for 7 days; linked to 112 ERSS (see Economy lesson)
Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026	Parliament passed it to fix a repeal-clause drafting gap in the 2020 Code; retrospective from 21 Nov 2025
MP as Special Public Prosecutor	Mumbai court allowed RS MP Ujjwal Nikam to continue as SPP — an SPP post is not an "office of profit" under Art. 102(1)(a)
Vibrant Villages Programme-II	₹6,839 crore, launched in Assam; saturation-based border-village infrastructure (road/telecom/TV/electrification)
Public Trust Doctrine	AP HC (Sankula Nagarjuna v. State of AP, 2026): banks/bunds of water bodies are part of the water body; State holds natural resources in trust
Sound-Mark	Kingfisher's jingle "Oo la la la le o" gets sound-mark trademark registration (Rule 26(5), Trade Marks Rules 2017)
Substantive Motion	A self-contained, independent motion (not tied to another proceeding) — used in a Nishikant Dubey vs Rahul Gandhi Parliament dispute

4. India's World — Diplomacy, Defence & Security

French President Macron's Visit — a "Special Global Strategic Partnership"

What — President Emmanuel Macron's fourth visit to India (first official Mumbai visit) elevated ties from "Strategic" to "Special Global Strategic Partnership"; he joined the AI Impact Summit and the 6th India-France Annual Defence Dialogue (Bengaluru).
Outcomes — India-France Year of Innovation launched; Airbus H125 helicopter assembly line (Vemagal, Karnataka) inaugurated; Rafale-fleet component manufacturing expanded in India; ISRO-CNES TRISHNA satellite for climate/thermal monitoring.

India-Israel Special Strategic Partnership

What — On a two-day state visit (PM Netanyahu's invitation), PM Modi elevated ties to a "Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, Innovation and Prosperity" — 27 outcomes, 17 agreements.
Includes — Critical and Emerging Technologies Partnership (AI, quantum, cyber, critical minerals), an Indo-Israel Cyber Centre of Excellence, FTA progress, and cooperation on the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC).

Israel-US Joint Strike on Tehran

What — Under two days after PM Modi's Israel visit, Israel and the US jointly struck Tehran ("Operation Epic Fury") to stop Iran's nuclear programme, after Oman-mediated US-Iran talks collapsed in Geneva; Iran retaliated on US-linked Gulf bases.
India's stance — With ~10,000 Indians in Iran, 41,000+ in Israel, 8-9 million across the Gulf, and ~60% of India's energy imports from West Asia — India urged restraint while maintaining strategic autonomy.

After BNP's Victory — a New Phase in India-Bangladesh Relations

What — BNP (Tarique Rahman) won a decisive mandate after Sheikh Hasina's August 2024 ouster; PM Modi congratulated Rahman; BNP's tone was moderate ("Bangladesh Before All").
Issues ahead — Sheikh Hasina's continued presence in India, sustaining trade (Bangladesh is India's largest South Asian trade partner), border security, and averting a strategic drift toward Pakistan/China.

AI Impact Summit 2026 — the New Delhi Declaration

What — India hosted the AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam — 4th in the series after Bletchley Park (2023), Seoul (2024), Paris (2025); next is Geneva, 2027.
Outcome — 88 countries/organisations adopted the voluntary, non-binding New Delhi Declaration on AI; India joined the US-led Pax Silica initiative on critical-mineral supply chains.

PRAHAAR — India's First National Counter-Terror Strategy Document

What — Ministry of Home Affairs released PRAHAAR — India's first publicly articulated national counter-terrorism strategy, an eight-page framework on a "seven-pillar" approach (intelligence-led prevention, proportionate response, capacity aggregation, rule of law, de-radicalisation, international alignment, recovery/resilience).
Key point — Explicitly rejects religious profiling; recognises drones/encrypted platforms/crypto-financing as emerging threats; unlike US/UK frameworks, sets no measurable benchmarks or independent oversight.

Other world-affairs & defence developments — quick facts
Development	Key fact
End of New START Treaty	The last US-Russia nuclear arms-control treaty (2010) expired without renewal — raises global proliferation concerns
India-Malaysia Relations	11 MoUs signed during a Kuala Lumpur visit — trade, defence, digital economy
India-Brazil Partnership	Rare-earth mining agreements deepen ties, ahead of/around President Lula da Silva's engagement with India
India Joins Trump's "Board of Peace"	As an observer — a US-led international body tied to Gaza/Middle-East peace efforts
Pakistan-Afghanistan Tensions	Border/Durand-Line frictions escalate between Pakistan and the Taliban government
US SC Curbs Trump's Tariff Powers	Ruling limits use of IEEPA (emergency powers law) for imposing sweeping reciprocal tariffs — relevant to India's own trade talks
Myanmar Elections 2026	First elections since the 2021 military coup — closely watched by India as a neighbour
European Legal Gateway Office	EU opens an office in New Delhi to ease legal-mobility/visa processes for India-EU professional exchange
India-Seychelles Relations	Ties strengthened further — part of India's SAGAR/Indian Ocean outreach
India's IEA Membership Bid	India seeks full membership of the International Energy Agency for greater voice in global energy governance
39th African Union Summit	India's Africa outreach continues in the summit's sidelines/context
UN Road Safety Financing Framework	A new global framework India engages with, alongside its own PM RAHAT scheme
Munich Security Conference 2026	India participates in the annual global security dialogue
Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority	A tripartite MoU (Centre-Nagaland-Eastern Nagaland groups) sets up a special autonomous body for eastern Nagaland districts
India Assumes Command of CTF 154	First time; a Combined Maritime Forces (47-nation, Bahrain-HQ) training task force
IAF to Train British Fast-Jet Pilots	Historic first — 3 IAF instructors deployed to RAF Valley, UK, under UK-India Vision 2035
Key defence exercises	Vayu Shakti (IAF firepower demo), MILAN (multinational naval), Konkan (India-UK navy), Ajeya Warrior (India-UK army), Cobra Warrior (IAF-multinational air)