Morning Digest: At least 18 killed in Meghalaya coal mine explosion; Kuki-Zo groups boycott tribal MLAs in Manipur government, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on February 6, 2026

An explosion in an illegally operated rat-hole coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district killed 18 miners on Thursday (February 5, 2026), officials said. This is one of the biggest mishaps since July 2012, when 15 miners died in a flooded mine in the State’s South Garo Hills district. Two years later, in 2014, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned the hazardous mining method.

Kuki-Zo tribal groups declared a social boycott on Thursday (February 5, 2026) of Kuki-Zo legislators who have joined the newly formed Manipur government of Yumnam Khemchand Singh. The boycott and a dawn-to-dusk “total shutdown” across the hills inhabited by the Kuki-Zo people, to protest “betrayal” by these MLAs, were enforced hours before the seventh session of the 12th Manipur Assembly began with an address by Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.

In a scathing attack on the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (February 5, 2026), Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that successive defeats inflicted by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on the Opposition were proving indigestible to it, but he had the support of the poor of India that any plans to “dig his grave” would not be successful.

A tripartite agreement for the creation of Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) was signed between Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), the Nagaland Government and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday (February 5, 2026). The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

Representatives of India and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Thursday (February 5, 2026) signed the Terms of Reference for negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). The GCC countries are together India’s largest merchandise trade partners, with total merchandise trade exceeding that done with even the European Union and the U.S.

India and the U.S. will “finalise and sign” a joint statement regarding the first tranche of a Bilateral Trade Agreement in the next 4-5 days, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday (February 5, 2026). He added that the U.S.’ reduction of tariffs on India from 50% to 18% will come through an executive order issued by the U.S. President following this joint statement. India, on the other hand, will be legally allowed to reduce tariffs on U.S. imports only after the signing of the legal and formal agreement, which is expected to take place in mid-March, Mr. Goyal and Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said.