The Kremlin on Thursday (February 5, 2026) said it regretted the end of the last treaty governing the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States and called it a negative step. We express our regret in this regard," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters about the end of the New START treaty that restricts how many nuclear warheads the two sides can deploy. The ‍Kremlin said ​that it ‌could ​neither confirm nor deny reports that French President Emmanuel Macron’s top diplomat ​had visited ⁠Moscow this week. Mr. Macron’s most senior diplomat ​was in ⁠Moscow on Tuesday (February 3, 2026) to hold talks with ‌Russian officials, ‌said a French source ‍who was aware of the ‍meeting and two diplomatic sources. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that French sources ⁠were fond of leaking ​to the media.

A hit-and-run investigation in Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan has now turned into a case of cold-blooded murder of a man by his newly wedded wife and her lover. After police found inconsistencies with the autopsy report and Anjali's statements, they started questioning her again, and she finally confessed on Wednesday. 16 days before Ashish's murder, Anjali and Sanjay began plotting the crime, the police said, adding that she had deliberately led Ashish to an isolated area. Before she left home with Ashish on the pretext of an evening walk, Anjali had alerted Sanjay, who had two accomplices, namely, Rohit and Siddharth, waiting. As per the autopsy, the cause of death was blunt force trauma as well as suffocation.

On December 18, 2025, for non-coal mining projects, the policy of land acquisition first and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) later was changed. The Supreme Court of India helped in the dilution of environmental justice by recalling the case, Vanashakti vs Union Of India (2025) that banned retrospective environmental clearances. The Court realised how such a strict interpretation would ignore huge tracts of ecologically crucial land, thus foiling the objective of environmental conservation. In fact, India’s courts have been more enthusiastic about cow slaughter (Article 48) and uniform civil code (Article 44). Traditionally, courts have been the custodians of environmental rights as they have broadened the constitutional interpretation on issues of environmental damage.

Union Budgets began reflecting greater climate concerns from 2021, in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a modest ₹4,500 crore to localise solar photovoltaic production and to reduce India’s dependence on Chinese imports. The Budget also substantially scales up the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana rooftop solar scheme — ₹22,000 crore in 2026-27 from ₹17,000 crore (RE) for the current year. For nuclear energy, the government has extended zero basic customs duty on imports of nuclear plant equipment until 2035. Green hydrogen, despite budgetary support, continues to see modest actual spending, highlighting the persistent gap between policy ambition and execution. Overall, India’s climate budget for 2026-27 repeats a pattern: big on intent, cautious on allocations, and uncertain in its ability to mobilise the private capital required to accelerate decarbonisation across vital sectors.

The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has apparently directed the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) to hold the elections without delay. This after the sports ministry had pulled up the EFI for series of governance issues. The federation is headed by acting president Jagat Singh while Jaiveer Singh is the secretary general and the house is divided. The FEI has advised the EFI to democratically elect the executive committee and that will ensure smooth governance of the federations. The EFI EC should form a committee to amend the constitution and fully comply with the National Sports Governance Act.

Farmers and farm labourers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) staged demonstrations against the recent India-U.S. trade deal, apart from voicing other demands, outside the residence of several legislators in Punjab on Thursday. The demonstrations were held in places, including Sangrur, the home town of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. “We staged demonstrations outside residences and offices of Cabinet Ministers and MLAs at 28 places in 18 districts. We want the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab to convene a special session of the State Assembly and pass resolution against the recent India-U.S. trade agreement, besides the Centre’s proposed Electricity Amendment Bill and the Seed Act,” said senior KMM leader Sarwan Singh Pandher. The most important is a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops and debt relief for farmers,” he added.

According to police, the complainant, Azhar Khan, confessed that he, along with two of his associates, used to move around residential areas to commit theft. Police said Azhar Khan was acquainted with Razaq and his friend Shyam. As the argument escalated, Razaq and Shyam, who were waiting outside in the autorickshaw, rushed to help him. Taking advantage of the situation, Razaq and Shyam fled in the autorickshaw, leaving Ahzar Khan behind. Azhar Khan was later allegedly assaulted by members of the public and sustained bleeding injuries to his head.

While this year’s health-care allocations are aggressive in certain key sectors, it has failed expectations that Budget 2026 would be a milestone for increased health-care spending as a percentage of GDP. The total allocation this year is over ₹1.05 lakh crore, marking an increase of about 10% over the previous year’s revised estimates. However, experts have pointed out that the 2026 health budget is approximately 1.9% of the total government expenditure, and about 0.26% of GDP. Primarily under fire was the Union government’s stodgy refusal to increase the allocation for health care to reach 2.5% of GDP by 2025, as committed in the National Health Policy of 2017. Public health activists have lambasted the drop in funding for the National Health Mission, despite the fact that funds have been consistently well utilised here.

लेखक के बारे में अनिल कुमार अनिल कुमार नवभारत टाइम्स डिजिटल में होम पेज टीम का हिस्सा हैं। अखबार के साथ ही डिजिटल मीडिया में करीब 16 साल का अनुभव है। जनवरी, 2021 से नवभारत टाइम्स ऑनलाइन से जुड़े हैं। होम पेज पर भारत और दिल्ली सेक्शन के लिए पॉलिटिक्स, करंट अफेयर्स से जुड़ी खबरें और विश्लेषण लिखते हैं। हरियाणा में दैनिक भास्कर और चंडीगढ़ में दैनिक जागरण के लिए स्पोर्ट्स और एजुकेशन रिपोर्टिंग कर चुके हैं। राजस्थान पत्रिका, जयपुर और अमर उजाला, नोएडा में सेंट्रल डेस्क पर काम किया है। दिल्ली यूनिवर्सिटी से कॉमर्स में ग्रेजुएशन और पत्रकारिता में पीजी डिप्लोमा किया है।... और पढ़ें

Better days seem to be ahead for the country’s electricity sector, especially power distribution utilities, including power departments, commonly known as DISCOMs. One may argue that loss-making is a legacy matter, as these power utilities — in their previous ‘avatar’, State Electricity Boards (SEBs), formed under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 — were mostly in the red. In mid-January, the Union government also made public the performance details of DISCOMs for the financial year that ended March 31, 2025. As Niti Aayog noted in its August 2021 study on the distribution sector, DISCOMs should be proactive in promoting the use of solar pumps in agriculture, a move that would lead to a significant decrease in power procurement costs. Political will, combined with public-spirited bureaucracy, can easily transform the face of DISCOMs into that of viable and consumer-friendly entities.

The Bengaluru North Corporation on Thursday introduced a pilot project to introduce mechanised cleaning machines in place of brooms for sweeping roads, starting with a trial run in Sahakar Nagar. Corporation Commissioner Pommala Sunil Kumar said that mechanised sweepers and blower machines were being introduced to improve daily road-cleaning and reduce physical burden on pourakarmikas. Trolly mounted dust bins would also be used regularly for collecting road waste, he said. He added that machines were being introduced on a pilot basis and after evaluating their use, a proposal would be submitted to the government for procuring additional equipments.

If there are 140 crore people, we have 140 crore solutions, he says. Giving examples, he also states the Congress party has insulted the Northeast. He says that they were not pleased with Bhupen Hazarika being given the Bharat Ratna, which is an insult to Assam. They speak about mohabbat ke dukaan, but they are engaged in digging a grave for Modi, he says. They cannot understand how Modi got here, and don’t understand how he has stayed, he says.

India's former high commissioner to the UK, Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, on Thursday categorically denied any link to controversial financier Jeffrey Epstein. Sinha issued a brief statement after some posts circulating on social media linked Epstein to one Y K Sinha. ADVERTISEMENT"It has come to my notice that there are some tweets circulating on social media linking a Y K Sinha to the ghastly and condemnable activities at Epstein Island. The person mentioned in the tweet is not me, and I categorically deny any links with Jeffrey Epstein," he said in the statement. The files are thousands of pages of documents related to two criminal investigations into sex trafficking by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, including travel logs, recordings, and emails, which have been a topic of conversation since Epstein died in custody in 2019.

At least 18 people have been killed in an explosion in an illegally operating coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district. The incident took place in an illegally operating rat-hole mine in a forested area of Thangsku, and authorities received information about it at around 8.45 on Thursday morning. According to police, they received information on Thursday morning about an explosion in a coal mine in Mynsyngat. “Upon verification, it was confirmed that an explosion had taken place inside an illegal coal mine, and several persons were suspected to be trapped. In 2018, yet another tragedy had taken place in East Jaintia Hill when 15 workers were trapped in a rat-hole mine and died there.

A senior defence official confirmed that the DAC meeting will grant Acceptance of Necessity for several acquisition proposals. During his stay, President Macron is also expected to meet Mr. Singh to discuss bilateral defence cooperation between India and France. Another defence official said that multiple proposals will be tabled at the meeting, including the acquisition of 114 Rafale fighter aircraft from France. The procurement would take the total Rafale fleet in the country to 176 aircraft, with the Indian Air Force already operating 36 Rafale jets and the Indian Navy having placed orders for 26 naval variants last year. Separately, Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal A.P.