State-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Thursday said that five Tejas Mk-1A light combat aircraft are fully ready for delivery to the Indian Air Force (IAF), even as overall deliveries remain impacted by delays in engine supplies from US-based GE Aerospace.

In a statement, an HAL spokesperson said the five aircraft are complete and meet the contracted specifications. “HAL confirms that five aircraft are fully ready for delivery, incorporating major contracted capabilities in accordance with the agreed specifications,” the spokesperson said.

An additional nine Tejas Mk-1A aircraft have already been built and flown, HAL said, and will be prepared for delivery once the required engines are received. The company added that all identified design and development issues are being addressed in an expedited manner.

The delivery schedule of the Tejas Mk-1A fleet has been affected primarily due to GE Aerospace missing multiple deadlines for supplying the aero engines needed to power the jets. According to HAL, five engines have been received so far from GE, and the outlook for future supplies is now described as positive and aligned with the company’s delivery plans.

HAL said it is in active discussions with the IAF to ensure early delivery of the aircraft and expressed confidence in meeting its production guidance for the current financial year.

The Tejas is a single-engine, multi-role fighter aircraft designed for air defence, maritime reconnaissance and strike missions, and is capable of operating in high-threat combat environments.

In February 2021, the Defence Ministry signed a Rs 48,000 crore contract with HAL for procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the IAF. The induction of these aircraft is considered important for the Air Force, whose fighter squadron strength has declined to around 30 against an authorised strength of 42 squadrons.

The government’s sovereign multilingual artificial intelligence engine, BharatGen, is expected to complete its text-based services across all 22 official Indian languages by the end of this month, Union Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Replying to a question by BJP member Bhubaneswar Kalita, the minister said the development of the BharatGen AI platform is a dynamic and evolving process, with scope to include more languages and dialects in future phases.

“We have already completed 15 languages. We will be completing 22 official languages in this month itself. So all the 22 will have text completed by this month and 15 will also have the speech and the vision module,” Singh said.

He noted that while text capabilities will be available in all official languages shortly, speech and vision modules — including voice and image-based processing — have already been developed for 15 languages.

Launched in October 2024, BharatGen is a flagship government initiative aimed at building a sovereign AI ecosystem tailored to Indian linguistic diversity. The platform is designed to support services such as Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) across Indian languages, enabling wider digital access and inclusion.

Officials say the project seeks to strengthen India’s indigenous AI capacity and reduce dependence on foreign language models by building scalable tools suited to local linguistic and governance needs.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list for hearing in March a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to seize the election symbol or deregister political parties that promise or distribute “irrational freebies” to voters ahead of elections.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi gave the assurance after petitioner-lawyer Ashwini Upadhyaya mentioned the matter and urged early listing. He told the court that notices had already been issued to the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) in 2022 but the matter had not yet been taken up for detailed hearing.

Calling it a serious concern, Upadhyaya submitted that political parties promise excessive benefits during elections to attract voters. “Except Sun and Moon, everything is promised by political parties to voters during elections and this amounts to corrupt practice,” he told the bench. The Chief Justice responded that the issue was important and asked the petitioner to mention the matter again for listing in March.

Earlier, on January 25, 2022, a bench headed by then Chief Justice N V Ramana had sought responses from the Centre and the ECI on the plea, observing that the issue of election freebies was serious and that at times “freebie budget is going beyond regular budget.”

The petition seeks a declaration that promises of “irrational freebies” from public funds before elections unduly influence voters, disturb the level playing field, and vitiate the purity of the electoral process. As an alternative, it asks the court to direct the Centre to enact a law regulating such promises.

Filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, the plea argues that the growing practice of offering freebies with an eye on elections threatens democratic values and the constitutional framework. It describes such promises as akin to bribing the electorate at public expense.

The petitioner has also sought directions to the Election Commission to amend the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, by adding a condition that a recognised political party should not promise or distribute irrational freebies from public funds before elections.

According to the plea, distributing private goods or services that are not for public purposes from government funds violates constitutional provisions, including Articles 14, 162, 266(3) and 282. It contends that unchecked freebie promises undermine free and fair elections and have led to alarming trends in the electoral process.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday underscored the deep civilisational and spiritual ties between India and Sri Lanka as he thanked Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for inaugurating the exposition of the sacred Devnimori relics of Lord Buddha in Colombo.

The first-ever international exposition of the Devnimori relics — discovered at the Devnimori archaeological site in Gujarat’s Aravalli district — is being held at the Gangaramaya Temple from February 4 to 11. The relics are open for public veneration from February 5 onward.

The exposition was inaugurated on Wednesday by President Dissanayake in the presence of Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, and Chief Incumbent Ven. Kirinde Assaji Thero at the Gangaramaya Temple.

Welcoming the relics, President Dissanayake said in a post on X that he deeply appreciated Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India for enabling the sacred exposition in Sri Lanka and fulfilling their commitment. He described the occasion as a significant spiritual event for devotees and shared photographs from the inauguration ceremony.

Responding to the message, Prime Minister Modi expressed gratitude to the Sri Lankan President for inaugurating the exposition and recalled that the decision to bring the relics to Sri Lanka was taken during his State Visit to the island nation in April 2025. He said the exposition gives people an opportunity to pay their respects and reflects the enduring spiritual connection between the two countries. The Prime Minister also noted that Lord Buddha’s message of compassion, peace and harmony continues to guide humanity.

The Indian High Commission in Colombo said the exposition reflects the deep-rooted spiritual and civilisational links between India and Sri Lanka. It added that the arrival of the relics on February 4 — coinciding with Sri Lanka’s 78th Independence Day — gave special significance to the event.

This marks the first public veneration of the Devnimori relics outside India. Previously, India organised expositions of the Kapilavastu relics in Sri Lanka in 2012 and the Sarnath relics in 2018.

The Devnimori relics are originally enshrined at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Vadodara and were transported to Sri Lanka aboard a special Indian Air Force aircraft with full state honours.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday described the practice of high courts reserving judgments for months without making them public as an “identifiable ailment” that must be eradicated, stressing the urgent need to ensure timely delivery of justice.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing a plea alleging that the Jharkhand High Court had orally pronounced a judgment dismissing a petition on December 4 last year, but the written verdict had not yet been uploaded.

Taking note of the grievance, the bench directed that a complete copy of the judgment be provided to the counsel by the end of next week.

Appearing for the litigant, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi termed the delay as “playing with the majesty of law,” arguing that such conduct amounted to little more than lip service to judicial responsibility.

The Chief Justice observed that there were broadly two categories of judges—those who reserve judgments but eventually pronounce them, and those who delay delivery indefinitely. “This is a challenge before the judiciary. It is an identifiable ailment. It has to be treated and eradicated and cannot be allowed to spread,” he said, underlining that the problem was systemic rather than personal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that the coalition’s continued success in various elections was the result of its people-friendly policies and sustained hard work.

Briefing reporters after the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Prime Minister also cautioned NDA Members of Parliament against complacency despite recent victories in several polls, including local body elections.

PM Modi urged MPs to remain focused on public service and continue their efforts on the ground to strengthen the alliance’s connect with the people, Rijiju added.