In this file photo from February 22, 2026, local residents stand next to a damaged car at the site of a cross-border Pakistani army strike in the Behsud district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. AP/PTI
Feb 27 News Live | Go for ceasefire, China urges Pak, Afghanistan
Catch all the important news updates from India and across the world
Here is the top, trending news of Friday, February 27, 2026, including Indian politics, states' politics, geopolitics, federal issues, economics, development issues, sports, entertainment, and so on.
Read updates below.
Live Updates
- 27 Feb 2026 11:47 AM IST
8 cheetahs from Africa to arrive at Kuno National Park
Eight more cheetahs will be airlifted from Africa and brought to Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday morning, an official said on Friday (February 27).
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav will release the big cats into enclosures readied at the park under the ongoing cheetah revival programme in India via intercontinental translocations, he added.
The batch from Botswana, comprising six females and two males, will fly to Gwalior between 9 pm and 10 pm on an Indian Air Force aircraft, Cheetah Project Director Uttam Sharma told PTI.
From Gwalior, two IAF helicopters will transport the cheetahs to Kuno National Park, where they are expected to arrive between 9 am and 10 am on Saturday. The flight duration from Botswana to Gwalior will be around nine to 10 hours, he said.
This will be the third batch of cheetahs arriving from Africa, following earlier introductions from Namibia and South Africa, he added.
- 27 Feb 2026 11:44 AM IST
Fourteen arrested in JNU protest case
Fourteen protesters were arrested in connection with a demonstration at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday (February 26) evening, police said.
Those held were JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aditi Mishra, vice president Gopika Babu, former president Nitish Kumar, and joint secretary Danish Ali, among others, they said.
Police said an FIR has been registered under sections 132/3(5) (assault or criminal force), 221 (obstructing public servant) and 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Vasant Kunj North Police Station.
The arrests followed an attempted march by JNUSU members, who had gathered at Sabarmati T-Point on the campus and sought to move towards the education ministry as part of ongoing protests over JNU Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit's recent remarks on a podcast over the implementation of UGC norms, rustication of JNUSU office bearers, and the proposed Rohith Act. - 27 Feb 2026 11:37 AM IST
Banned Yaba tablets worth Rs 4 cr, illegal liquor seized in Assam
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said three persons have been arrested for allegedly smuggling banned Yaba tablets worth around Rs 4 crore and liquor in two separate operations by the state police.
He lauded the police personnel for the successful operations. “Hidden compartments in cars won’t hide crime,” Sarma said in a post on X on Thursday (February 26).
He said 80,000 Yaba tablets, worth around Rs 4 crore, were recovered from a secret chamber of a vehicle in Bagori.
Two persons were arrested in this connection, Sarma said.
Yaba tablets are banned in India as they contain methamphetamine, a Schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
In another operation at Digorkhal in Cachar district, 81 cartons with bottles containing 819 litres of illegal Indian Made Foreign Liquor were "recovered from a hidden hold" of a vehicle, the CM said.
One person was arrested along with the seized liquor bottles, he added.
- 27 Feb 2026 10:58 AM IST
Kejriwal, Sisodia cleared of charges in Delhi liquor policy case
A court in Delhi discharged AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in Delhi liquor policy case. The Rouse Avenue Court said there was no evidence.
- 27 Feb 2026 10:07 AM IST
Pleasant morning in Delhi, air quality 'moderate'
It was a pleasant morning in the national capital on Friday with the minimum temperature settling at 13.1 degrees Celsius, 0.6 notches above the season's average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.The sky is expected to remain clear through the day, and the maximum temperature is likely to settle around 30 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.Station-wise data showed that Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 14.3 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees above normal. Lodhi Road recorded 12.8 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees above normal, while Ridge logged 14.2 degrees Celsius, 0.7 degrees above normal.The city's air quality was recorded in the "moderate" category at 9 am on Friday, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 187, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.According to the CPCB's SAMEER app, 24 stations were in the "moderate" category, while 14 stations were in the "poor" category.According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 to 100 "satisfactory", 101 to 200 "moderate", 201 to 300 "poor", 301 to 400 "very poor" and 401 to 500 "severe". - 27 Feb 2026 10:05 AM IST
Kerala court sentences TN native to 30 yrs imprisonment for sexual assault of girl
A 25-year-old man has been sentenced by a Kerala court to a cumulative 30 years imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at a theatre in Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu in 2022 by luring her there on the promise of a job.
Idukki Painav Fast Track Court Judge Nobel D S sentenced Muhammad Riyas, a native of Tiruppur, to a total of 30 years under various provisions of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on his, special public prosecutor (SPP) Shijomon Joseph said. The SPP said that the convict will have to serve only 15 years in jail as it was the highest punishment given to him and all the sentences have to be undergone concurrently.The court also recommended that the District Legal Service Authority provide adequate compensation to the girl, who lives near Marayoor here.
Riyas and the girl met over the phone and started talking regularly, the prosecutor said, adding that the accused lured her to Tiruppur on the promise of a job. When she reached there by bus, he took her to a theatre which did not see many customers and sexually assaulted her there, the SPP said. Following a missing person complaint by the girl's father, she was traced to Tiruppur and both of them, including the accused, were brought to Kerala, the prosecutor said. It was during the recording of her statement that the crime was revealed, he said. The court examined 35 witnesses and perused 41 documents to find the accused guilty of sexually assaulting the girl, the prosecutor said. - 27 Feb 2026 10:02 AM IST
Stock markets decline in early trade tracking weak global peers, fresh foreign fund outflows
Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty drifted lower in early trade on Friday (February 27) tracking a weak trend in global markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 364.62 points to 81,883.99 during initial trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 117.15 points to 25,379.40. From the Sensex pack, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the major laggards. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, and Eternal were among the gainers.Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,465.99 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 5,031.57 crore. In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 and Shanghai's SSE Composite index quoted lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded in positive territory. The US market ended mostly lower on Thursday."The recent US-Iran negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme concluded without a breakthrough, heightening concerns over the possibility of a US strike and the risk of a broader Middle East conflict. "Amid rising uncertainty over the next US course of action regarding Iran, and in the absence of fresh domestic catalysts, investor participation is likely to remain cautious and selective," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.07 per cent to USD 70.70 per barrel. On Thursday, the Sensex dipped marginally by 27.46 points, or 0.03 per cent, to settle at 82,248.61. The Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 14.05 points or 0.06 per cent to end at 25,496.55 - 27 Feb 2026 9:54 AM IST
O Panneerselvam joins DMK in CM Stalin's presence
Expelled AIADMK leader, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam joins DMK in CM MK Stalin's presence.
- 27 Feb 2026 9:53 AM IST
Five militants arrested in Manipur
Security forces arrested five militants, belonging to various banned outfits, from the valley districts of Manipur, police said on Friday.
At least 10 firearms and a cache of ammunition were seized in separate operations in two districts.
An active cadre of the proscribed People's Liberation Army was apprehended from the Koirengei Manung Laikhon Leikai area in Imphal East district on Wednesday, a police statement said.
Three banners of the outfit were recovered from his possession.
Two other cadres of the banned organisation were also arrested from Yaingangpokpi in Imphal East district on the same day.
One hand grenade, a detonator, and ammunition were recovered from them, the police statement said.
Another member of the outfit was also arrested from the Waheng Khuman area in Imphal West district, it said.
- 27 Feb 2026 9:52 AM IST
4.7 magnitude quake hits eastern Nepal
An earthquake of magnitude 4.7 hit Sankhuwasabha district on Friday in Nepal.
There were no immediate reports of loss of life or damage of any kind due to the quake.
The earthquake struck at 3.18 am on Friday with its epicentre located at Topke Gola near the Sankhuwasabha-Taplejung border area, situated around 400 km East of Kathmandu, according to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre(NEMRC).
The tremor was also felt by people in the neighbouring districts, including Bhojpur, Panchthar and Tehrathum districts.
