IDFC FIRST Bank launches Hello Cashback Credit Card, a fixed-deposit-backed offering designed to make credit more accessible for digitally savvy customers, especially young adults aged 18+ with online-first and UPI-led spending habits. The card enables customers to begin building their credit history while benefiting from a strong and clearly differentiated cashback proposition on everyday digital payments.

Hello Cashback features a powerful tiered cashback structure, offering 5% cashback on online spends above ₹10,000, 3% cashback on online spends up to ₹10,000, and 1% cashback on in-store, contactless, and UPI transactions. Uniquely, the 1% cashback also extends to essential categories such as utilities, education, and insurance. The card is priced at a joining fee of ₹1,000 and an annual fee of ₹1,000, with the joining fee waived until March 31, 2026, and the annual fee waived on annual spends of ₹2,00,000 in the previous year, making it a compelling combination of rewards, access, and credit building.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Wednesday unveiled VoicERA, an open-source, end-to-end Voice AI stack, at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, marking a major step forward in strengthening India’s Digital Public Infrastructure for multilingual voice technologies.

The launch was led by the Digital India BHASHINI Division under the Digital India Corporation, an entity of MeitY. Amitabh Nag, Chief Executive Officer of the Digital India BHASHINI Division, spearheaded the initiative in collaboration with the EkStep Foundation, the Centre for Open Source Software, IIIT Bengaluru, and AI4Bharat.

Deployed directly on the BHASHINI National Language Infrastructure, VoicERA establishes a national execution layer for multilingual Voice and Language AI. The platform has been designed to be open, modular, interoperable, cloud-deployable, and ready for on-premise use, enabling secure and scalable deployment across government agencies, research institutions, and innovation ecosystems. Its flexible architecture reduces duplication of effort while avoiding vendor lock-in, accelerating the development and adoption of inclusive voice-based digital services nationwide.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the AI Impact Startup Book at the India Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi. The book captures the scale, diversity, and growing global footprint of India’s artificial intelligence and deep-tech startup ecosystem. Highlighting the objective behind the publication, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of MeitY, Abhishek Singh, said that the compendium provides a consolidated repository of AI solutions being developed in India, enabling ministries, states and institutions to assess their real-world performance and adopt them for population-scale deployment.

He underlined that the next phase of India’s AI journey will depend on systematically connecting solution providers with implementing agencies and moving from pilot-stage innovation to large-scale adoption across sectors. The publication presents insights from a large sample of startups and highlights emerging trends across sectors, technologies, and geographies. The study further notes the emergence of indigenous AI infrastructure, the growing integration of edge AI with hardware capabilities, and the transition of several startups from early-stage impact to global growth.

As the world progress is towards getting used to artificial intelligence in our day-to-day lives, the state of Bihar is also tightening its seat belts to walk hand-in-hand with AI.

Artificial intelligence is being used by the state of Bihar in several sectors. At AI Impact Summit 2026, NDTV took a glance of the Bihar pavilion and your present you, some of the highlights that reflects how Bihar is using artificial intelligence

In a major step toward digital democracy, the State Election Commission, Bihar has used Artificial Intelligence based E-Voting in the Urban Local Bodypolls and is now preparing to expand the model for the next Assembly elections in next term

What began as a routine under-13 cricket league match on a quiet Wednesday morning in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao turned into a tragedy after a swarm of bees attacked players and officials, leaving a veteran umpire dead.

The incident occurred at Rahul Sapru ground in the Gangaghat Kotwali area, where around 40 to 45 people — including young players from Kanpur and Lucknow, umpires and ground staff — had gathered for what was meant to be a friendly competitive fixture. Within minutes, panic replaced play as a massive swarm of bees descended upon the field.

Veteran filmmaker MM Baig, father of popular yesteryear child artist Baby Guddu and associated with films such as Razia Sultan, and director of Chhoti Bahu, was found dead at his residence, his publicist Hanif Zaveri said.

He was in his 70s.

"He was unwell for quite some time. Since he did not come out of the house for four to five days, the neighbours complained to the police about a foul smell coming from his house. The police opened the door, found Baig sahab's body, and informed his daughter about it. They later took his body to Cooper Hospital for a post-mortem at around 1:30-2:00 am. He was a loving man. I pray for his departed soul," Zaveri told PTI.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday successfully carried out a qualification-level load test of the drogue parachute for India’s human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, at its Rail Track Rocket Sled (RTRS) facility in Chandigarh.

According to a government statement issued on Thursday, the dynamic test simulated qualification-level loads higher than the maximum loads expected during flight, thereby validating the structural strength and safety margins of the parachute system.

“The test proves India’s expertise in designing and manufacturing of high strength ribbon parachutes,” read the statement.

Gaganyaan, led by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), aims to send a crew of three astronauts to a low-Earth orbit of about 400 km for a three-day mission and bring them back safely to Earth.

Robert Duvall’s passing on February 15, 2026, at the age of 95, marked the end of an era in American cinema. Over a career spanning over six decades, Duvall became one of Hollywood’s most versatile and respected actors, known for his ability to embody characters with quiet intensity, raw authenticity, and a deep humanity. From his earliest roles to his Oscar-winning performance, Duvall left behind a body of work that remains essential viewing for anyone who loves film. Here’s a look at some of his must-watch films that define his legacy.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), a leading public sector bank, has launched Online Death Claim Settlement Portal, providing a simplified and time-bound solution through digital mode for families and legal heirs.

The new portal is designed as a secure, one-stop digital platform where claimants can initiate and complete the settlement process from the comfort of their homes. Claimant can conveniently enter their own details along with the deceased customer’s account information and upload all required documents directly through the portal. To ensure transparency the portal features a real-time tracking system, allowing claimants to monitor the progress of their application at every stage.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday unveiled a 21-foot-tall equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Gandhinagar, describing the Maratha warrior king as a timeless symbol of courage, self-rule and cultural pride.

The statue, constructed by Maharashtra Samaj Gandhinagar, was inaugurated in the presence of Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi and other dignitaries in the state capital Gandhinagar.

Addressing the gathering, Shah said the grand statue would inspire generations, particularly the youth, and will reaffirm Shivaji Maharaj’s enduring relevance in India’s national consciousness. He recalled that at the age of 16, Shivaji Maharaj took a solemn pledge at Raireshwar Temple in Raigad to establish ‘Hindavi Swaraj’ at a time when much of the country was under Mughal rule.

“In the deep darkness of slavery, when the idea of self-rule had nearly faded, Shivaji Maharaj resolved to fight for Swaraj, Swadharma and Swabhasha,” Shah said. He noted that despite having limited resources, no large army and facing formidable opposition, Shivaji Maharaj succeeded in laying the foundation of self-rule and was later coronated as Chhatrapati.