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Wednesday, February 18, 2026
TopicAgnipath protests

Topic: Agnipath protests

Recruiting Agniveers for 7-8 yrs, retaining 60-70% afterwards — possible changes to Agnipath scheme

NDA ally JD(U) has demanded review of military recruitment scheme that drew protests when it was launched in 2022. Demands for rollback continue.

Even if Agnipath is scrapped, India needs tough reforms to cut ballooning defence pensions

The mounting defence pension burden lingered until Agnipath came in 2022. But any steps to cut pension costs now will take 15 years to make an impact as retiring Agniveers reduce annually

Gradual Agnipath introduction ‘wouldn’t have broken so many hearts, aspirations’ says CMIE MD

In an 'Off The Cuff' conversation with Shekhar Gupta & Manasi Phadke, Mahesh Vyas, also the CEO of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, also spoke of bringing reforms in the Indian economy.

Agnipath scheme is a smart move but it cannot be the solution to India’s unemployment problem

Campus Voice is an initiative by ThePrint where young Indians get an opportunity to express their opinions on a prevalent issue.

Up against central powers, a test of Uddhav’s acumen — Urdu press on Maharashtra crisis

ThePrint’s round-up of how the Urdu media covered various news events through the week, and the editorial positions some of them took.

‘Ridiculous, based on disinformation’ — what Hindu Right press wrote on Agnipath protests

ThePrint’s round-up of how pro-Hindutva media covered and commented on news and topical issues over the past few weeks.

‘Protest funded by foreign forces, need to build younger Army’ — RSS all for Agnipath

Agnipath protests also condemned by ABVP, the RSS' student wing, which issued a statement calling the agitation a 'political conspiracy'.

Armed forces not about jobs, it’s about passion, says MoD on Agnipath protests

Lt Gen Anil Puri, addl secy, Dept of Military Affairs, says govts have wanted to reduce age profile of forces since 1990 & recruitment break caused by Covid gave opportunity for reform.

Modi has actually given democracy a shot in the arm with his usual decision-making style

Indians are refusing to be silent spectators of Modi govt's disruptive policies. Agnipath protests are the latest indicator from a society that won't be muzzled.

Salaried jobs are hardly growing — govt data explains the Agnipath anger of young Indians

Government’s latest Periodic Labour Force Survey, released last week, shows that India’s salaried class has grown 3 percentage points & 1 percentage point in rural & urban areas.

On Camera

Imagine if Epstein files named Rahul Gandhi or MK Stalin. What would BJP and TV media do?

The questions are not going to go away. But future generations will know who refused to ask the tough questions and who didn’t.

Tamil Nadu FM presents interim budget, attacks Centre for ‘artificially inflating’ state’s debt

DMK govt accuses Centre of withholding funds, tightening borrowing, unilateral deductions from state accounts. Says Centre's accounting & funding decisions have 'artificially inflated' debt burden.

US military commander, envoy Sergio Gor visit Indian Army Western Command, Bengaluru next

At the Western Army Command, the American delegation was briefed on the capabilities of the formation, past operations and the path ahead.

The new Great Game—Trump’s playing for time, China for leverage & India for wiggle room

This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.