Top news of the day: Rohit Pawar says two extra fuel tanks on Ajit Pawar’s plane, demands setting up of monitoring committee; Ukraine war talks in Geneva end without agreement on territory, and more

Rohit Pawar says two extra fuel tanks on Ajit Pawar’s plane, demands setting up of monitoring committee; Ukraine war talks in Geneva end without agreement on territory, and more in The Hindu's Top News of February 18, 2026.

A day after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the plane crash that killed its chief, Ajit Pawar’s nephew and NCP (Sharad Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) alleged that the plane was loaded with extra fuel tanks, questioning why no action has been taken against VSR Aviation company.

Ukraine and Russia made some progress at U.S.-mediated talks in Geneva but did not find a compromise on the key issue of territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday (February 18, 2026). The United States has been pushing for an end to the nearly four-year war, which has killed tens of thousands and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine, but Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over who gets what land in a post-war settlement.

Over 1.70 lakh illegal foreigners have been detected in the State so far under provisions of the Assam Accord, while about 31,000 have been pushed back in the last 40 years, the Assembly was informed on Wednesday (February 18, 2026. Assam Accord Implementation Minister Atul Bora also stated that the fencing of the India-Bangladesh border in Assam has been nearly completed, except for a 4.35 km stretch objected to by the border guarding force of the adjoining country.

The India AI Impact Summit’s organisers removed a stall put up by Galgotias University at the summit’s expo, government officials said on Wednesday (February 18, 2026), after representatives exhibited a robodog (robotic dog) that was imported from China as though it were an original creation.

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the U.K. In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the High Court, Mr. Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.

Hitting out at the Election Commission, senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) alleged that poll officials were continuing to flout Supreme Court directives by issuing directions to their subordinates through WhatsApp during the SIR exercise in West Bengal.