Daily Current Affairs: 16 February 2026

CA Prasanna Kumar D elected President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for 2026–27, CA Mangesh Kinare elected Vice-President.

[Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)]

Key Updates:

• The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) elected CA Prasanna Kumar D as its 74th President for the 2026–27 term.
• CA Mangesh Pandurang Kinare was elected as Vice-President of ICAI for 2026–27.
• Prasanna Kumar D served as Vice-President of ICAI during 2025–26.
• He was a member of the ICAI Central Council in its 24th, 25th, and 26th Councils.
• He chaired the Visakhapatnam Branch of ICAI in 2001–02 and the Southern India Regional Council in 2013–14.
• As President, he will chair ICAI’s Executive, Finance, Disciplinary, and Examination Committees and serve as Editor in Chief of The Chartered Accountant journal.

Deepak Gupta appointed Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL

[GAIL]

Key Updates:

• Deepak Gupta, Director Projects, GAIL (India) Ltd, has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of GAIL by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG).
• The appointment is effective from the date he assumes charge on or after 1 March 2026.
• He will serve as CMD until his superannuation on 28 February 2029 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Henley Passport Index (HPI) Ranks India 75th with Visa-Free Access to 56 Countries

Key Updates:

• India has secured the 75th position in the latest Henley Passport Index (HPI), improving from the 85th rank recorded last year.
• Indian passport holders can now access 56 countries without a prior visa, through either visa-free or visa-on-arrival arrangements.
• Singapore leads the global ranking in the first position, providing visa-free access to 192 destinations.
• Japan and South Korea share the second rank with access to 187 countries, while Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are placed third with 186 destinations.
• France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland hold the fourth position with access to 185 countries.
• Austria, Greece, Malta, and Portugal are ranked fifth, allowing entry to 184 destinations without a prior visa.
• India previously held the 80th position in 2024 before slipping to 85th, with its historical best rank being 71st in 2006.
• Other nations featuring in the top 10 include Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, and New Zealand.

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) partners with PayNet to enable UPI acceptance in Malaysia.

[NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), PayNet, Malaysia]

Key Updates:

• NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) signed an agreement with Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) to enable QR-based merchant payments between India and Malaysia.
• Indian travellers will scan DuitNow QR codes using UPI-enabled apps during the first phase of the rollout.
• Malaysian travellers will scan UPI QR codes using DuitNow apps in a subsequent phase.
• The integration will give Indian users access to millions of DuitNow QR acceptance points across Malaysia, including restaurants, retail outlets and tourist establishments.
• Malaysian visitors will gain acceptance across millions of UPI QR-enabled merchant locations in India.
• NPCI International Payments was incorporated in April 2020 as a wholly owned subsidiary of NPCI to deploy UPI and RuPay systems overseas.

Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) sign MoU for customised executive training programmes.

[Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K), Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)]

Key Updates:

• Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) signed an MoU to design, deliver, and certify customised training programmes and workshops for IOB’s senior leadership and executives.
• The MoU was signed during IOB’s 90th Foundation Day celebrations.
• IOB announced the establishment of a dedicated centre of excellence (CoE) for training and capacity building.
• IIM-K will operate through its Kochi campus (IIMK-Kochi) and IOB through its staff college and the newly inaugurated CoE to jointly develop high-impact learning interventions.
• The programmes will target IOB’s top executives, senior management, and selected officers, aligned with the bank’s strategic priorities and vision of becoming a leading institution anchored in sound and prudent banking principles.

MoES-Puducherry MoU to boost Blue Economy and marine research

[Puducherry]

Key Updates:

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Government of Puducherry, signed an MoU to strengthen marine research, coastal resilience and Blue Economy initiatives in the Union Territory.
• The MoU outlines cooperation across six strategic pillars: sustainable marine fisheries, offshore wind energy, desalination technologies, ocean climate advisory and real-time monitoring, permanent coastal management, and marine spatial planning.
• The agreement will remain in effect for five years and includes designated Nodal Officers, Joint Working Groups, and annual progress reviews.

Kerala Urban Policy: First comprehensive state-level urban roadmap for 2050

[Kerala]

Key Updates:

• Kerala became the first state in India to frame a comprehensive Urban Policy, approved by the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
• The Nava Kerala Urban Policy envisions Kerala in 2050 as 'a continuous network of climate-smart cities and towns, ensuring scientific planning and good governance.'
• The Kerala Urban Policy Commission, constituted in December 2023, submitted its report to the Chief Minister in March 2025.
• The policy projects Kerala to be nearly 80 per cent urbanised by 2050 with decentralised urban growth between the high ranges and the coastal belt.
• Key thematic areas of the policy include reforms in laws and institutional systems, capacity building, people-centric services, infrastructure development, and spatial and strategic planning.

NITI Aayog projects India’s technology services sector to reach $750–850 billion by 2035

Key Updates:

• NITI Aayog released a 10-year roadmap projecting India’s $265 billion technology services sector to scale to $750–850 billion by 2035.
• The roadmap by NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub identifies five priority growth levers: Agentic AI, Software and Products, Digital Infrastructure, Innovation-led Engineering, and India-for-India solutions.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the government is building an enabling ecosystem combining progressive policy, industry partnership, and inter-ministerial coordination to accelerate innovation.
• MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan said India is pursuing a full-stack, impact-driven AI strategy covering energy, infrastructure, chips, models, and applications.
• NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam described the AI transformation as a generational opportunity to create new value pools and strengthen global leadership.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Columbia University partner to establish AI Centre for Manufacturing

[Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Columbia University]

Key Updates:

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Columbia University have signed an agreement to establish the Columbia-IIT Bombay Centre of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Manufacturing.
• The centre is a joint research and translation facility designed to build robust, scalable, and human-centric AI systems for real-world factory applications.
• The Ministry of Education (MoE) has initiated four different AI centres so far, including this new collaborative project.
• The centre aims to address diverse sectors including semiconductors, robotics, pharmaceuticals, food processing, refining, petrochemicals, construction, transport, and logistics.
• The initiative will develop interoperable industrial AI infrastructure to manage shop-floor realities such as legacy equipment, noisy data, real-time constraints, and multilingual workforces.
• The project focuses on supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), nurturing startups, and releasing foundational datasets and models as public goods.

India thrash Pakistan by 61 runs in ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026

[Pakistan, International Cricket Council (ICC)]

Key Updates:

• India defeated Pakistan by 61 runs in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup group stage match on 15 February 2026.
• India scored 175 for 7 in 20 overs with Ishan Kishan top-scoring with 77 runs off 40 balls.
• Pakistan were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
• India won the toss and elected to bat first.
• India topped Group A with three wins out of three matches.
• Pakistan remained second in Group A and need to beat Namibia to qualify for the Super 8s.

Darwin Days 2026 celebrated from February 10 to February 14 with theme on mollusk evolution.

Key Updates:

• Darwin Days 2026 is scheduled from February 10 to February 14.
• The 2026 edition highlights mollusk evolution linked to the Museum of the Earth exhibition 'Marvellous Mollusks: The Secret World of Shells'.
• Darwin Day commemorates Charles Darwin, born on February 12, 1809, and author of 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection'.
• The first organised Darwin Day events were held in 1995 by the Humanist Community of Palo Alto, California.
• The first official Darwin Days, a five-day series of events, took place in 2006 in Ithaca, New York, organised by the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) and its Museum of the Earth in collaboration with Cornell University and Ithaca College.