U.S. says Kuwait ‘mistakenly shot down’ three American fighter jets; India, Canada seal landmark uranium deal, set $50 billion trade target, and more in The Hindu’s top news of March 2, 2026.

U.S. says ‘friendly fire’ behind three F-15E fighter jets crashing in Kuwait

The U.S. on Monday (March 2, 2026) issued a clarification that three fighter jets crashed in Kuwait in an apparent “friendly fire” incident. It said the cause of the incident is under investigation. “At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident,” the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. “During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences,” it added.

India, Canada seal landmark uranium deal; set $50 billion trade target

India and Canada on Monday (March 2, 2026) sealed key pacts on supplies of Uranium and critical minerals and vowed to soon conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney finalising a new framework to shore up ties including taking bilateral annual trade to $50 billion by 2030.

Nagpur factory blast: Nine directors of explosives company arrested

“Police have arrested nine directors of an explosives manufacturing company in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district where a blast claimed the lives of over 15 persons,” officials said on Monday (March 2, 2026). “The Kalmeshwar police in Nagpur have registered a case against 21 directors and shareholders of the SBL Energy Limited under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” they said. “Nine directors of the company have so far been arrested,” police officials said.

TDB passes resolution opposing Supreme Court verdict allowing women’s entry into Sabarimala temple

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Monday (March 2, 2026) passed a landmark resolution opposing the 2018 Supreme Court verdict permitting women of menstruating age to worship at the Sabarimala Temple. The TDB resolution has immense political ramifications, given the long-standing demand of the electorally significant Hindu social organisations, chiefly the Nair Service Society (NSS), and belatedly the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), that the government uphold Sabarimala custom and tradition, including the bar on women of childbearing age entering the temple.

Supreme Court takes cognisance of trial court relying on AI-generated ‘fake’ verdicts

Taking cognisance of a trial court relying on alleged non-existing verdicts that were generated with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Supreme Court has said a decision based on such fake judgments would not be an error in decision making but would amount to misconduct. A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe has said it will examine the matter in detail and issued a notice to Attorney General R. Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and the Bar Council of India. The Supreme Court has also appointed senior advocate Shyam Divan to assist it in the matter.

Zubeen case: Court de-freezes festival organiser Shyamkanu’s account over ‘technical lapse’

A court in Guwahati on Monday (March 2, 2026) ordered the de-freezing of the bank account of an accused in the Zubeen Garg death case over “technical lapses”, while fixing March 19 for consideration of charge hearing, the special public prosecutor (SPP) in the case said. The Kamrup Metropolitan District and Sessions Court, which is hearing the case, also rejected a petition by another accused seeking report of the Singapore Police, he said.

Fully embrace AI-driven solutions to simplify administrative systems: President Murmu to IAS officers

Asserting that technology and innovation are transforming governance at unprecedented speed, President Droupadi Murmu on Monday (March 2, 2026) asked a group of newly-inducted IAS officers to fully embrace AI-driven solutions to simplify administrative systems besides ensuring more efficient service delivery to the last mile. She also asked them to combine technology with human sensitivity and reasoned judgment while adopting modern systems.

Symbolic political critique: Delhi court grants bail to 9 IYC workers in AI summit protest case

A court here has granted bail to nine Indian Youth Congress workers who were arrested in connection with the “shirtless” protest at the AI summit, saying the protest constituted symbolic political critique and pre-trial detention could “illicit pre-emptive punishment”. Judicial Magistrate First Class Ravi passed the order on Sunday (March 1, 2026) while hearing the bail pleas of the nine accused — Krishna Hari, Narshimha Yadav, Kundan Kumar Yadav, Ajay Kumar Singh, Jitendra Singh Yadav, Raja Gurjar, Ajay Kumar Vimal alias Bantu, Saurabh Singh, and Arbaz Khan.

EPFO retains 8.25% interest rate on employees’ provident fund deposits for 2025-26

Retirement fund body EPFO on Monday (March 2, 2026) fixed the interest rate on employees’ provident fund (EPF) deposits for 2025-26 at 8.25%, retaining the rate for the second consecutive year, a source said. In February last year, the EPFO retained the 8.25% rate of interest for 2024-25 fiscal year.

India’s oil imports from Russia fell to 44-month low in January 2026, Gulf countries saw rising share

India continued its strategy of reducing Russian oil imports and instead sourcing more from the Gulf countries and the U.S. in January 2026 as well, the latest official data shows, with Russia’s share in India’s oil imports falling to less than 20% for the first time since May 2022. However, events over the last week could render this strategy costly for India. A potential trade deal with the U.S. — allegedly the main reason for India reducing cheap Russian oil imports — is in limbo following the U.S. Supreme Court’s February 20 decision striking down that country’s reciprocal tariffs.

Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani says ‘will not negotiate’ with U.S.

Iran “will not negotiate with the United States”, Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council said on Monday (March 2, 2026). In a post on X, Mr. Larijani denied media reports that Iranian officials had sought to initiate talks with the Trump administration following a wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend, which came after Tehran and Washington held nuclear negotiations.

Trump ‘very disappointed’ with Starmer for initially blocking use of air bases

Donald Trump ​said he was “very ‌disappointed” with British Prime ​Minister Keir ⁠Starmer for not allowing the U.S. to use the Diego ‌Garcia air base to carry out ‌strikes on Iran, ‌the ⁠Daily Telegraph quoted ⁠the U.S. President as saying in an interview. Britain had ​initially denied ‌the U.S. permission to conduct air strikes from its bases, but on ‌Sunday (March 1, 2026) evening, Mr. Starmer ​said he was accepting a request for ⁠their use in any “defensive strikes” the U.S. wanted ‌to make against Iranian targets.

Iranian drone crashes into U.K. Air Force unit; Keir Starmer allows use of bases for ‘limited defensive’ operations

A British Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Cyprus was hit by an Iranian one-way attack drone during the ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes launched on Tehran over the weekend, confirmed by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Monday (March 2, 2026). The U.K.’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said RAF Akrotiri sustained “minimal damage” on Sunday (March 1, 2026) at around midnight local time, with no casualties reported.

Stranded Sindhu set to miss All England Championships; Lakshya and others set for stiff fight

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is set to miss the All England Championships starting in Birmingham on Tuesday (March 3, 2026) after being stranded in Dubai amid the U.S. bombing of Iran and the resultant air space closure in the Gulf region. Travel disruptions have marred the build-up to the Super 1000 event, with Sindhu stuck in Dubai since Saturday (February 28) after flights were suspended amid following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent retaliation by Tehran.

T20 World Cup | Coach Conrad wants South Africa to embrace the ‘favourite’ tag

The pressure of expectations can at once be a blessing and a burden. In past ICC white-ball events, South Africa has appeared to be largely weighed down by that pressure. As it gears up to face New Zealand in the T20 World Cup semifinal at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, head coach Shukri Conrad wants his team to embrace the attention. The Proteas, after all, are fully deserving of the tag of being the team to beat in the shortest format’s showpiece event. Having strung together seven wins in as many matches, Aiden Markram and Co. are the only undefeated outfit in the tournament.

Published – March 02, 2026 06:36 pm IST