The Editorial Page: On building public AI, governments must be tactical but remain flexible 8 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 Ishan blitz sinks Pakistan AI summit begins today, real-world solutions on table MODI TO INAUgURATE EXPO AT BHARAT MANDAPAM 104 132 163 75 Convincing win in Colombo takes India to T20 World Cup Super Eights Happening today Tech majors, leaders from across world head to India for deliberations lAS THE AI IMPACT SUMMIT begins in New Delhi, Ministry of Electronics and IT, in collaboration with Intel India, will launch a campaign to mobilise people to commit to ethical and responsible use of AI. Soumyarendra Barik New Delhi, February 15 lMICROSOfT fOUNDER BILL Gates to visit Andhra Pradesh and meet CM N Chandrababu Naidu, IT Minister Nara Lokesh and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan to explore collaborations. business as Usual Ishan Kishan on his way to a quickfire 77 during the T20 World Cup match against Pakistan in Colombo, Sunday. ANI REPORTS, PAGE 15 By EP UNNY EXPRESS IN SRI LANKA Venkata Krishna B Colombo, February 15 IT DID not rain in Colombo as was feared. But it rained sixes and fours from the mighty wil- low of Ishan Kishan, it rained wickets for the excellent seampair of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, and later the guileful spin pack, ending in a comfortable 61-run victory for India over Pakistan. Not even rain, it seems, can rain on India’s parade. Themarginofvictoryissuggestive enough of the supremacy India wields over Pakistan — a rivalry that India truly ownsandrequiresthetheatrics and shenanigans to sustain its lost charm — but does not fully capture the various layers of their domination and deception.Intalentandskillandstature and structure, India is light years ahead of Pakistan. Hence, India’s celebrations were seldom feverish. Raw joy was masked in a stone-cold exterior. Routine group stage wins don’t excite them. Only biggerfeatscaninspirewildcelebrations. India’s domination has begun to resemble a bloodless coup, devoid of resistance and drama, exuding a calm ruthlessness reminiscent of Ricky Ponting’s Australia. Put into bat, Pakistan captain Salman Agha, flashing a grin, said the surface looked tacky. He had stocked his side with spinners of all hues and took the new ball himself to shock Indians. CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 STARTING MONDAY, New Delhiwillbecometheepicentre of global discourse around artificial intelligence (AI) as India hosts the AI Impact Summit 2026, with the country looking toputforthitsprowessinbuilding real-world AI solutions, become the leading voice on AI in the Global South, and secure a seat at the high table of technological leadership. Coming to the Global South for the first time, the summit, scheduled from February 1620, will be officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 19. At 5 pm Monday, Modi will inauguratetheco-locatedIndia AI Impact Expo 2026 at Bharat Mandapam. The Expo, the Prime Minister’s Office said Sunday,willserveas“anational demonstration of AI in action, wherepolicymeetspractice,innovationmeetsscale,andtechnology meets the everyday »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Outside Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the India AI Impact Summit, in New Delhi on Sunday. ABHINAV SAHA We invite world’s data to reside in India: PM Express News Service New Delhi, February 15 AHEADOFthehigh-profilefiveday AI Impact Summit, which kicksoffonMonday,PrimeMinister Narendra Modi said that Indiaislayingthefoundationfor a thriving artificial intelligence ecosystem by expanding computing power and data centre infracapacity.Inawritteninterview to PTI, the Prime Minister emphasised that data centres will be a massive job-creator for LS Speaker Om Birla Cong-BJP clash over Tipu remark AI shakes statecraft: to attend Rahman by Sapkal; Fadnavis seeks apology Prediction markets swearing-in tomorrow EXPRESS IN DHAKA Shubhajit Roy February 15 THE GOVERNMENT Sunday decided to send Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Dhaka as India’s representative at the swearing-in ceremony of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Tarique Rahman as the country’s PrimeMinister on Tuesday. The BNP, through the interim government in Bangladesh, had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the ceremony, but he has scheduled meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai. Macron and Modi are to meet Tuesday afternoon for bilateral meetings, before the French President travels to New Delhi for the Artificial Intelligence summit. IntheearlyhoursofSunday, the BNP said Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the interim government, had invited the heads of government of 13 »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 test diplomats, spies Nine injured in stone pelting outside Congress Bhavan in Pune the Indian youth — “we invite the whole world’s data to reside in India,” he remarked. »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 EDITORIAl PAGE GLobAL SoUth mUSt SEIzE ItS AI momENt PAGE 8 C Raja Mohan New Delhi, February 15 Express News Service Pune, Mumbai, February 15 TENSIONSFLAREDinPuneon SundayafterworkersoftheBJP and Congress clashed outside theCongressBhavan,leadingto stone pelting and injuries to ninepersons,amidadeepening political row over Maharashtra CongresspresidentHarshwardhan Sapkal’s remarks, referring PM Narendra Modi In front of the Congress Bhavan during the protests. PAVAN KHENGRE to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Tipu Sultan. The violence came hours after an FIR was registered in PuneagainstSapkalonSaturday night for allegedly comparing ShivajiMaharajwithTipuSultan, »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 AS WORLD leaders gather in New Delhi this week for the AI Summit to debate how governments should deploy artificial intelligence for public good, a less-noticed but more unsettling transformation is under way. While governments discuss how to regulate the transformative technological revolution,AI-drivenpredictionmar- E. INDIA AI Impact Summit AN EXPRESS SERIES kets are beginning to constrain state behaviour — including on decisions about war and peace. »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 ‘Whether it’s Nvidia, Anthropic, OpenAI or Google, companies are looking at India to hire AI engineers’ ABHISHEK SINgH CEO of IndiaAI Mission PAGE 11 l THE OTHER 250-PLUS FAMILIES WHO LIVED ON THE PREMISES HAVE ACCEPTED COMPENSATION AND MOVED OUT Govt’s Sabarmati Ashram revamp runs into resistance — one family holds out Parimal A Dabhi government’s rehabilitation plan and resisting moving out, unlike the other 250-odd ON THE 55 acres of land where families which once lived on workersarebusyrestoringrows the premises. TheDalitfamily,comprising ofneatcottageswithterracottatiledroofsaspartoftheRs1,200 Rathod’s wife, children and crore Sabarmati Ashram Rede- otherrelatives,occupythehouse velopment Project, one cottage —locatednearastatueofBabasaheb Ambedkar — on the north-west PAGE 1 as tenants. corner stands unThe redeveloptouched. ment of the Ashram, Clotheshangona line,ascooterisparkedoutside, set up by Mahatma Gandhi on thewallsarestainedwithwater thebanksoftheSabarmatiriver leakage, the lime plaster has in Ahmedabad, is being implepeeled off at places exposing mented jointly by the Central the bricks, and the roof tiles are and state governments, under run down or broken. But the the Mahatma Gandhi Sabarfamily of the late Mohanbhai mati Ashram Memorial Trust. Rathod is holding out on the Itsmasterplanwaslaunchedby Ahmedabad, February 15 anchor Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2024, and the state governmenthopestofinishthe project by 2027. Three properties located on the Ashram premises — A, B and C — however, have been in litigation before the Small Causes Court in Ahmedabad. Property B comprises the residential area where the Rathods are now the lone residents, while Properties A and C are plots of land measuring together 6,000 sq yards. The Rathods claim that all the three properties were handed over to their ancestors by a trustee of the Ashram, sometime in 1930. They sought an order to restrain the trust The Rathod family’s house on the Ashram premises. BHUPENDRA RANA from dispossessing them of the three properties, and applied for an injunction order in 2014, while claiming tenancy rights. In 2019, the Small Causes Court granted injunction for Property B, but did not give any relief for Properties A and C. An appellate court upheld the order, after which the Rathods moved a revision application before the Gujarat HC, which too did not give them any relief in June 2025. Sources said the family has not challenged this orderyet,evenastheycontinue to occupy the house. To facilitate the project, one of the first steps taken by the BJP government was offering alternative accommodation or monetary compensation to people living on the premises, sothatthepropertiesownedby various trusts connected with the Ashram could be vacated. Officialssaidthiswas“themost sensitive” aspect of the project, with the stress being on avoiding controversy. Most of the occupants — known as “Ashramwasis” — claimedalongassociationwith the Ashram, with their forefathers having moved in along with Mahatma Gandhi in the early 1900s. An official said: “People had to be convinced to vacate their properties, and the compensation package had to be negotiated.” Official sources said that of the256familieswhichaccepted resettlementandmovedoutinclude 43 which opted for fourBHKflats,16forhomesinagovernment-built society, and 24 for a cooperative and housing society near the Ashram. Besides the above, 173 accepted monetarycompensation,amounting to between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 90 lakh, depending on the units they occupied. “Only one residential building remains to be vacated,” an officialsaid,referringtotheRathods’ case in court. Rathod’s son Krunal refused to talk about the legal issue, while other family members did not entertain any queries on it. Sources connected with the projectsaidtheywereconfident of winning the case. “We are committedtogivingeveryonea fair compensation for eviction (including the Rathods) since it has been established that they are tenants. We have moved for expediency of the proceedings in the Small Cases Court so that it does not stall the project.”