Morning Digest: Naravane confirms Penguin’s claim that memoir is as yet unpublished; Bangladesh plans to shift from Indian to U.S. cotton, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on February 11, 2026.

Amidst a growing parliamentary storm over his book, Four Stars of Destiny, former Army Chief Gen. M. M. Naravane on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) confirmed his publisher’s contention that the memoir has not been officially published. Penguin Random House India said it holds the sole publishing rights to Four Stars of Destiny and asserted that the book has not gone into publication. Sharing the statement by PRHI on social media, Gen. Naravane said, “This is the status of the book”. Gen. Naravane’s clarification follows remarks by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who earlier in the day cited a December 2023 social media post by General Naravane stating that the book was “available now”, to counter the publisher’s claim that the memoir has not yet been published.

Bangladesh will replace Indian cotton with U.S.-produced cotton as a result of the U.S.-Bangladesh trade deal that was inked on Monday (February 9, 2026), said a spokesperson for the interim government in Dhaka. Speaking to The Hindu exclusively, Shafiqul Alam, information adviser to Chief Adviser Mohammed Yunus, said the trade deal is a “game changer” that can provide Bangladesh with greater access to the U.S. market. Leading economist Professor Selim Jehan of BRAC University in Dhaka said the deal has made Bangladesh’s cotton market “attractive” for the U.S. but cautioned that Bangladesh should ensure that the U.S. cotton is of high quality.

The Union Government has notified amendments requiring photorealistic AI-generated content to be prominently labelled and significantly shortening timelines for the takedown of illegal material, including non-consensual deepfakes. The changes, under the Information Technology Act, 2021, will come into force on February 20. Under the amended rules, social media platforms will now have between 2 and 3 hours to remove certain categories of unlawful content, a sharp reduction from the earlier 24-36 hour window. Content deemed illegal by a court or an “appropriate government” will have to be taken down within 3 hours, while sensitive content, featuring non-consensual nudity and deepfakes, must be removed within 2 hours. 

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has announced a series of protests, including the burning of the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump at all villages against the India-U.S. bilateral agreement. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters in Delhi on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) that the Union Government had lost the trust of farmers and the trade agreements with the U.S. and the European Union would have far-reaching adverse impacts on farmers. Mr. Tikait said a series of recent policy announcements, such as the Seeds Bill and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, were targeted against farmers

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) evaded a response to a pointed question from Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha on why it—and not the Ministry of Defence—has been assigned the responsibility of coordinating the career progression of Agniveers, despite their service in the armed forces. Mr. Gandhi sought to know whether the MHA had been tasked with coordinating the post-service career progression of Agniveers, and whether the government had assessed possible overlap or coordination challenges between the MHA and the Defence Ministry in managing the transition of ex-Agniveers. He also asked for details of the specific activities and programmes that the MHA would oversee for them.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider suggestions made in a writ petition to frame a standard operating procedure to trim election expenditure. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the suggestions made by petitioner Prabhakar Deshpande were “worth consideration”. Mr. Deshpande, an IIT graduate and chemical engineer, had sought directions for the poll panel to formulate a plan of action against erring candidates and to re-examine the cap on election expenses to ensure democratic credibility.