The Ideas Page: Like Nandan Nilekani for Aadhaar, India’s AI moment needs a leader 9 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com CBC 06124/13/0013/2526 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 Happening today lPRESIDENT DROUPADI Murmu will witness the International Fleet Review at Visakhapatnam. The exercise is likely to feature INS Vikrant leading a line-up of over 50 Indian vessels. lDENMARK'S KING is sched- uled to visit Greenland as the Nordic nation asserts its sovereignty over the Arctic island in response to US President Donald Trump's push to buy it. lUNION HOME MINISTER Amit Shah is scheduled to visit poll-bound West Bengal and participate in several programmes at the ISKCON temple in Mayapur. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm THE BIG PICTURE A gAmE cALLEd Footy pAgE 12 IN ‘UNPREDICTABLE’ WORLD, PARTNERSHIP FRAMED AS ‘PROGRESS, STABILITY’ India and France upgrade their ties to strategic partnership PushforRafale indigenous content,MRO facilitiesfor aeroengines Defence to critical minerals, tech to innovation: 21 major outcomes of talks between Modi and Macron in Mumbai Vallabh Ozarkar & Shubhajit Roy l BOOsTINTIEs Mumbai, New Delhi, February 17 H125 LIGHT UTILITY Helicopter Final Assembly Line in Karnataka inaugurated INDIA AND France elevated their bilateral ties to a Special GlobalStrategicPartnershipfollowing talks in Mumbai Tuesday between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. With the meeting resulting in 21 important outcomes in areas ranging from defence to criticalminerals,techandinnovation to startups, advanced materialstohealthandskilling, Modiunderlinedthat“thispartnership will provide stability andprogress”in“thiseraofunpredictable global dynamics”. Macron said India is one of the most trusted partners of France. “From Rafale jets to submarines, we are expanding defence cooperation,” he said. Thetwoleadersvirtuallyinaugurated the H125 light utility helicopter final assembly line The two leaders also launched: l India–France Innovation Forum Amrita Nayak Dutta New Delhi, February 17 lIndo-French Centre for AI in Health lIndo-French Centre for Digital Science and Technology lNational Centre of Excellence for Skilling in Aeronautics of Tata-Airbus in Karnataka. “We take pride in the fact that,together,IndiaandFrance will manufacture in India the world’sonlyhelicoptercapable of flying to the heights of Mount Everest and export it to the entire world,” Modi said. Thefacility,accordingtothe Ministry of External Affairs, will strengthen India’s aeronautical manufacturing capabilities, lead to skilling of the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM Narendra Modi with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai, Tuesday. SANKHADEEP BANERjEE RELATED REPORT, PAGE 2 THE6THIndia-FranceAnnual Defence Dialogue, held in Bengaluru Tuesday, witnessed a strong push for enhancing indigenous content — up to 50 per cent — in the Rafale fighter aircraft to be manufactured in India, and for setting up Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) facilities in India for different varieties of French aero engines, senior officials told The Indian Express. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpartCatherineVautrin,whocochairedtheannualdefencedialogue, discussed a range of bilateralsecurityanddefenceissues,includingpriorityareasfor co-development and co-production of military equipment, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 I have known Imran Meta raises concerns over 3-hr timeline from time he was 17, for takedown of social media content treat him humanely: Gavaskar urges Pak Soumyarendra Barik New Delhi, February 17 Joins cricket legends in appeal to let doctors of Imran’s choosing treat him Sriram Veera Mumbai, February 17 SOME OF cricket’s most celebrated figures, from Sunil Gavaskar to Greg Chappell, set aside old rivalries on Tuesday and signed a joint appeal demandingthatPakistan’sgovernment treat the imprisoned former prime minister and World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan with basic dignity, provideurgentmedicalcareand guarantee fair access to courts. The open letter was signed by14formercaptainsspanning sixdecadesofthegame,including Mike Atherton (England); Allan Border, and Ian and Greg Chappell (Australia); Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India); Clive Lloyd (West Indies); and John Wright (New Zealand). “Greg Chappell messaged askingifIwouldsigntheappeal along with the other former l Imran Khan has been in custody since August 2023 skippers and I agreed straightaway,” Gavaskar told The Indian Express. “I have known Imran since he was 17 years old when India wasplayingatWorcester...after the Test series win at The Oval. He was trying to qualify as an overseas player for Worcestershire then. Whatever the political differences there, we believe that he should be looked after in a humane manner and given proper medical care,” Gavaskar said. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAISING CONCERNS over India’s recently notified social media rules which prescribe strict content takedown timelines, social media giant Meta, which operates platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said Tuesday that the norms might be “challenging”tocomplywithfromanoperational standpoint. Rob Sherman, Meta vice president policy and deputy chief privacy officer, told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing India-AI Impact Summit:“Operationally,threehours During the AI summit at Bharat Mandapam, Tuesday. PRAVEEN KHANNA (the takedown window) is going to be really challenging.” According to Sherman, the government had not consulted withtheindustrybeforenotifying the rules. Nine senior engineers held after raids in ‘Rs 960-cr JJM graft case’ Parul Kulshrestha Jaipur, February 17 IN A crackdown on alleged large-scalecorruptionintheJal JeevanMission,aSpecialInvestigationTeam(SIT)constituted by the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested nineseniorofficialsonMonday following early morning raids across multiple locations. Acting on findings in a case registered by the ACB, more than 15 teams conducted simultaneousoperationsinJaipur, Barmer, Udaipur, Karauli, Delhi, and other locations. The action led to the arrest of nine accused,includingservingand “Traditionally, the Indian governmenthasbeenquiteconsultativewhenitcomestothese things. This is an example where I think we are concerned that had they come to us and talked to us about it, we would have talked about some of the operationalchallenges,”hesaid. Last week, the IT Ministry notifiedamendmentstotheInformation Technology (IntermediaryGuidelinesandDigital MediaEthicsCode)Rules,2021. Oneofthechangesithasimplemented is that social media platforms must now remove problematic content within two-three hours as opposed to »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 business as Usual By EP UNNY retired senior engineers of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). According to the ACB, the investigation revealed that two firmsallegedlysecuredtenders worth approximately Rs 960 crore by submitting forged completion certificates in the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla hands over a letter from PM Narendra Modi to Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman in Dhaka, Tuesday. ANI Rahman takes charge in Dhaka, Modi extends India invitation Om Birla meets new PM, reaffirms commitment to deepen relations Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, February 17 TARIQUE RAHMAN, chief of the centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was sworn in TuesdayasthenewPrimeMinister of Bangladesh, 18 months after the overthrow of the government of Sheikh Hasina. Rahman, 60, was administered the oath of office at a ceremony held in the South Plaza of the parliament building in Dhaka. The last time the BNP was in power, from 2001 to 2006, Rahman’s mother KhaledaZiawasPrimeMinister.She died in December 2025, days after Rahman returned to the country from the UK where he was in self-exile for 17 years. LokSabhaSpeakerOmBirla was among the dignitaries who attended the swearing-in cer- EDITOrIAl PAGE WIthbANgLAdESh, AmomENtto rEcALIbrAtE pAgE 8 emony. Representing India, Birla, in a post on X later, said he had “a constructive meeting” with Rahman. He said he handed over a personal letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveying his wishes to Rahman and inviting him to “visit India at the earliest convenience”. “Iextendedwarmcongratulations on behalf of the people of India and reaffirmed our commitment to deepening the enduring partnership between our two neighbouring »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LAKHIMPUR KHERI Barber held for ‘sexually assaulting’ 8-year-old girl, shop demolished Express News Service Lucknow, February 17 POLICE ONTuesdayarresteda 23-year-oldbarberforallegedly sexually assaulting an eightyear-old girl in his shop in Lakhimpur Kheri. The incident sparked tension in the area, prompting authorities to step in. Later, the shop where he worked was demolished by the municipal authorities. “The accused has been arrested and medical reports of the girl are pending,” Circle Officer, Lakhimpur Kheri, Jitendra Singh Parihar said. According to police, the girl’sfather,inhiscomplainton Monday, alleged that his daughter informed him that the accused had sexually harassed her on several occasions in the past. As per the complaint, the accused allegedly called the girl to his shop on various pretexts when he was alone and assaulted her. The complaint further stated that on Monday, when the accused allegedly harassed her again, she returned home and informed her family members. The Station Officer of the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AFTER HIS VIDEO FLAYING ‘OPEN SALE OF DRUGS’ WENT VIRAL, AMRITSAR POLICE ISSUED A ‘FACT CHECK’, GOT HIM TO RETRACT ‘Getting drugs like Zomato order’: His son dead, Punjab cop’s helplessness Kamaldeep Singh Brar “open sale” in their neighbourhood Guru Nanakpura in Amritsar, police put out a video of IT WAS a curious “fact check” the father “retracting” his claims. by the Amritsar poPAGE 1 But, in Guru Nalice. Twenty-four nakpura, located hours after a viral barely 7 km from the video of a Head ConGolden Temple, the stable sitting with the body of his 26-year-old son facts speak for themselves. Getting drugs, says Head on the road, saying he had died of drugs, and flaying their Constable Ashok Kumar Saini Amritsar, February 17 anchor — who lost his son Akash last Friday, just a day after he had been released from his latest rehab stint — is “like ordering from Zomato”. Shamsher Singh Sandhu, a leaderoftherulingAamAadmi Party (AAP), whose wife Surjit Kaur is a local municipal councillor,sharesthe“helplessness”. He says he has himself admitted around 22 addicts to Head Constable Ashok Kumar Saini; (right) his son Akash drug rehab centres in the last one-and-a-half years, only to watch his efforts defeated by the easy availability of drugs. Noting that youths falling prey to drugs mostly belong to poor families, a frustrated Sandhu says: “How do you make people understand that drugs are bad for them?” However, Akash was not meant to be one of them. Saini talks about an intelligent son and a talented athlete, who played football for alma maters Khalsa School and Khalsa College. He went on to do B.Sc. in Hotel Management from Chief Khalsa Diwan, an Amritsarbased educational institution set up in 1902, with first-class honors. “He was a bright boy,” says Saini, focused on his career, for which he had also given up sports. Deployed with the Punjab Armed Police, the 51-year-old recalls when all that started coming apart. It was 2020-21, and Saini was away on election duty in Uttar Pradesh, when he got a phone call from a concerned acquaintance. “I was told my son had fallen into bad »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow