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Sacks of harvested wheat are seen at a grain market in Gaggarpur village, Haryana. File | Photo Credit: Reuters The government on Friday (February 13, 2026) allowed export of 25 lakh tonnes of wheat, along with an additional 5 lakh tonnes of wheat products and sugar each, to stabilise domestic markets and ensure remunerative returns to farmers amid a comfortable stock position.The decision was taken after a comprehensive assessment of the current availability and price scenario, reaffirming the government’s commitment to protecting farmers’ interests, the Food Ministry said in a statement.Wheat stock availability with private entities during 2025-26 stands at…

Nepal’s captain Rohit Paudel plays a shot during the ICC T20 World Cup match. File | Photo Credit: AP If viewed purely through the prism of qualification, Tuesday (February 17, 2026) night’s T20 World Cup Group C clash between Nepal and Scotland at the Wankhede Stadium is inconsequential. Neither side remains in contention for a Super Eight berth.But zoom out, and the fixture carries significance beyond the points table. For Scotland – drafted in as Bangladesh’s replacement — a victory would validate its presence as more than a last-minute stand-in. It would underline that it belongs on this stage.For Nepal,…

There are three things I wish someone had told me before I set out to travel solo for the first time: 1. There is no such thing as too much research. 2. You cannot and should not plan a strict itinerary. And 3. Something almost always goes wrong.In 2016, right before I turned 21, I set out on what felt like an audacious odyssey: travelling from my home in Hyderabad to the daunting, chaotic city of Mumbai. Wanting to spend my birthday away felt like rebellion. I don’t remember exactly how I convinced my parents, but I suspect it involved…

As Bangladesh awaits its farce of an election, where the leading party, the Awami League, has been banned from participating, there are hopes that Tarique Rahman, the son of recently deceased former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, will come to power and reverse the brutal chaos that is everyday news in the nation. Under the premiership of Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) provided a sharp contrast to the Awami League’s relatively secular politics by allying sharply with the Jamaat-e-Islami’s Islamist policies. Rahman’s latest visit, after the death of his mother, has seen the Jamaat’s chief, Shafiqur Rahman, make pointed…

Crew 12 mission astronauts, from left, pilot Jack Hathaway, Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, commander Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophia Adenot, of France, leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 13, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP The International Space Station returned to full strength with the arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because of health concerns.SpaceX delivered the U.S., French and Russian astronauts on Saturday (February 14, 2026), a day after launching them from Cape Canaveral.Last month’s medical…

Women speak to each other outside a polling booth during the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, at a tribal area of Poonch district, J&K. | Photo Credit: PTI The National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday (September 26, 2024) blamed the Centre for the lower voter turnout in the second phase of elections held to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Wednesday (September 25, 2024).NC vice-president Omar Abdullah, while expressing his unhappiness over the poll percentage, especially in Srinagar, said, “The turnout was less compared to what we expected. It’s the fault of Central…

Despite all the fanfare and furore in Parliament, it may be premature to celebrate or criticise the India-United States Bilateral Trade Agreement, simply because it has not yet been forged. Yet, last week’s announcement of a “Framework for an Interim Agreement on reciprocal trade” (where the agreement itself is expected to be announced in the next few weeks), follows a procedure and a path that should be disquieting for all. While the baseline objective for the Narendra Modi government must be to enhance the Indian economy, and ease the unbearable burden that the U.S. Trump administration had imposed on it…

Movva has managed to realise in Canada what he was unable to achieve in Karnataka — play cricket at the highest level. | Photo Credit: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN Life is about balancing passion and profession for Canada’s wicketkeeper-batter Shreyas Movva. The 32-year-old, born in Davangere in Karnataka moved to Montreal in 2016 for higher studies to study software engineering. There, he pursued cricket too, his passion, and broke into the national team, becoming the first from the Quebec region to do so.He is enjoying the opportunity to play in the T20 showpiece and is keen to continue his job as a…

I do not know where to look first. At the Wynn Las Vegas, the slot machines in psychedelic neons vie with glitzy designer stores and Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel’s giant sculpture, Smiling King Bear. The opulent Vegas strip, thrums with revelry while courage and luck hang thick in the air. We are many miles away from the UAE, in Vegas, for a peek into what awaits the world at Wynn Al Marjan Island at Ras Al Khaimah which is gearing up for a 2027 spring opening. Poised to be the first-of-its kind gaming resort (integrated resort) in the United Arab Emirates,…

“Catch them young” seems to be the mantra in China for nurturing technical talent, as a recent Financial Times report reveals how the country is running a massive ‘Genius Plan’ to power its ambitions in emerging technology sectors such as AI, robotics, advanced manufacturing and semiconductors. As part of this, more than one lakh talented teenagers are selected through an extremely competitive exam and placed into accelerated modules focused on STEM disciplines. Here, they are not only trained to crack various Olympiads, but the programme also serves as a direct pipeline to China’s elite universities.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADAlthough the…