Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress governments of keeping the Northeast far from both ‘Dilli’ (Delhi) and ‘Dil’ (Heart) for many decades following Independence while unveiling projects worth ₹23,550 crore in Assam’s Silchar town.. Modi launches Shillong-Silchar corridor, projects worth ₹23,550 crore, slams Congress for decades of neglect in Barak Valley and Northeast. (@NarendraModi). “In a way, they had forgotten about the region. But the double engine government of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has connected the region in such a way that it has created a buzz everywhere,” Modi added while addressing a public meeting in Silchar on the second day of his two-day visit to the poll-bound state.. Highlighting how the Barak Valley was an important trade route and industrial hub prior to Independence, he said, “North east is the centre of India’s Act East Policy and is the bridge between the country and the South East Asia region. But like the rest of NE, Congress had a big role in alienating Assam’s Barak Valley. They allowed boundaries to be drawn in such a way during Independence that led to the region getting disconnected from the sea.”. Also Read: PM Modi steps up attack on Congress in poll-bound Assam: ‘Used rifts for selfish politics’. The PM laid the foundation stone of the Shillong-Silchar Corridor, the first access-controlled Greenfield four-lane high-speed corridor in Northeast India.. The 166 km corridor, with an investment of around ₹22,860 crore, will significantly improve connectivity between Meghalaya and Assam. The project will reduce the distance between Guwahati and Silchar and cut travel time from 8.5 hours to approximately 5 hours.. “This Silchar-Shillong access-controlled high-speed corridor, which will be the first such one in the Northeast region (besides Assam and Meghalaya), will connect Silchar to Mizoram, Manipur, and Tripura. Beyond this, it will improve connectivity to Bangladesh, Myanmar, and South East Asia,” he said.. He also performed Bhoomi Poojan for an elevated corridor on NH-306 from Trunk Road near Capital Point to Rangirkhari Point in Silchar (Phase I), a project aimed to decongest one of Silchar’s busiest roads, improve connectivity with neighbouring states such as Mizoram, Tripura, and Manipur, and contribute to the economic development of the Barak Valley.. Modi accused the Congress of keeping Assam’s youths trapped in violence and terrorism. “Congress got defeated in Assam and in several other states. In the near future, the party will make a century of electoral defeats. Now the Congress’s leaders are busy denigrating the nation like they did in the recently concluded AI Summit in Delhi by taking out a protest by ripping their clothes,” he said.. “Such a party which is anti-national can’t do any good for the country or for Assam. Our government is trying our best to ensure minimum discomfort to citizens due to the present war in Midd 

 Sri Vijaya Puram, The Andaman and Nicobar Police has destroyed more than 6,000 kg of methamphetamine worth around ₹36,000 crore in a phased operation spread over nine months, officials said on Saturday.. Over 6,000 kg of meth worth ₹36,000 crore destroyed in Andamans. The disposal process, which started from June 26, 2025 and was completed on March 12, 2026, is believed to be one of the largest drug destruction operations carried out in the country, they said.. The contraband had been seized earlier in a major anti-narcotics operation by the Indian Coast Guard on November 23, 2024, when a vessel with six Myanmarese crew members was intercepted in Indian waters near the islands.. Officials said over 6,000 kg of crystalline methamphetamine, packed in around 1,500 packets and estimated to be worth about ₹36,000 crore in the international market, was recovered from the vessel. Methamphetamine , also called ‘crazy drug’, is a powerful addictive substance that has been banned in India. The case was later handed over to the Andaman and Nicobar Police for investigation under the supervision of Director General of Police Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal.. An FIR was registered on November 26, 2024 under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.. “Despite the enormous quantity involved, the entire disposal process was completed efficiently through meticulous planning, coordination and strict adherence to legal procedures under the DGP,” a senior police official said.. He said the destruction of the contraband was carried out between June 25, 2025 and March 12, 2026 at the incineration facility of INHS Dhanvantri at Minnie Bay under the supervision of a high-level drug disposal committee.. The committee was chaired by DIGP Dr A Koan and included DIGP Jitendra Kumar Meena and SP Ravikant Kumar as members, the official said.. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. 

 Hyderabad, Top CPI commander and key “strategist” of the banned outfit, Thippiri Tirupati, also known as Devuji, has claimed that police arrested him and others before their surrender to the Telangana police on February 24.. Surrendered not due to fear of death, but to work for people in legal framework. Maoist Devuji. He vowed to continue fighting for people’s problems within the legal framework.. Devuji, who led an underground life for over four decades in the armed struggle, also said that he and other members did not surrender to the police due to fear of death, but to work for the public carrying their ideology Marxism, Leninism and Maoism within the legal framework.. He said on Friday that he never feared death, and if that were the case, he would have surrendered like key Maoist leaders Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu and Ashanna alias Satish before the Maharashtra government in October last year.. Devuji had no plans to leave the Maoist path, police sources earlier said.. “When Operation Kagar was going on in full fledge, under unavoidable situations, we took shelter in different places to strengthen the party. In those circumstances, the Telangana police arrested us. After the arrest, if they wanted, they could have killed us. But what they told us is that the killing was not their policy, and they will show surrender. But I was not ready to surrender,” Deviju told TV channels.. Dismissing the notion that they surrendered before the police, the former Maoist leader said that earlier they used to solve people’s problems being underground, now they will do the same openly, using legal methods.. Deviju said he would not give up the ideology of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism, and it would be the centre of their approach for solving people’s problems in future. “So it is not correct to say that we surrendered or joined the mainstream. We are always in touch with thousands of people,” he said.. Replying to a query, he said he was not the general secretary of the party, just a Central Committee member.. Had there been a Central Committee or politburo, there would have been that agenda ,” he said.. On February 24, Devuji surrendered before the Telangana police, after over four decades of underground life.. Besides Devuji, another central committee member, Malla Raji Reddy, and two other ultras Bade Chokka Rao @ Jagan and Nune Narasimha Reddy @ Ganganna also laid down their arms.. Devuji is a native of Korutla town, Jagtial district in Telangana. His father, Venkata Narsaiah, was a farmer. He joined CPI People’s War in January 1982 and has mostly operated in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. 

 The controversy over the now-withdrawn Class 8 social science textbook with a chapter on judicial corruption has highlighted inadequacies of the three-stage process followed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to approve new books that align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.. The row suggests gaps in the functioning of the 19-member apex National Syllabus and Teaching-Learning Material Committee (NSTC), which is expected to sign-off on the new books. (Photo for representation) (HT_PRINT). Also read: No entry or exit: Trains skip Pink line station on Delhi’s first ‘ring’ metro. It also suggests gaps in the functioning of the 19-member apex National Syllabus and Teaching-Learning Material Committee (NSTC), which is expected to sign-off on the new books. HT’s reporting shows that the members did not explicitly approve the book, with many ignoring the draft of the text that was sent to them over WhatsApp and e-mail. It also shows that the section on judicial corruption in one of the chapters was explicitly flagged to the committee.. The preparation of the new textbooks in line with the National Curriculum Framework- School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 follows a three-stage process.. Also read: 10 Indians arrested in US for staged armed robberies to claim immigration benefits. The first stage involves the Textbook Development Team or TDT –– a separate one for each subject in each class.. This is made up of experts and forms the core group writing a textbook. In its affidavit to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, NCERT said the chapter on ‘The Role of Judiciary in Our Society’ was drafted by the relevant TDT, comprising professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar, and legal researcher and lawyer Alok Prasanna Kumar.. The second stage has the subject-wise Curricular Area Groups (CAGs). These oversee the TDTs and handle textbooks of several classes. Professor Danino also heads the CAG for various social sciences textbooks.. The third stage has NSTC which identifies experts and contributors for TDT and then gives final academic approval to new books, following which NCERT publishes and distributes the textbook.. According to the book development process, each chapter of a NCERT textbook is written by contributors and is finalised by the CAG of that particular subject. The draft of the chapters in the controversial social sciences textbook was placed before the 35-member CAG of social science in a hybrid meeting in September 2025 for finalisation before it could be presented to NSTC, HT learns.. “This meeting was attended by NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani, along with other NCERT officials including those who happen to be members of the NSTC. Several members of the 13-member National Oversight Committee (NOC) whose job it is to ensure the book sticks to the curriculum framework, also attended the meeting,” a NCERT official said on condition of anonymity. “Saklani and few others raised concerns and obj 

 A chartered plane arranged by Iran took off from Kochi for Armenia late on Friday carrying most of the crew of the Iranian warship IRIS Lavan that docked at the Kerala port last week, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.. IRIS Lavan docked at Kochi on March 4 and its 183-member crew was accommodated at naval facilities. The special charter flight is also carrying the bodies of Iranian sailors who were killed when another warship, IRIS Dena, was torpedoed and sunk by a US submarine near Sri Lanka on March 4, the people said on condition of anonymity.. Also read: Trump says US struck Iran’s ‘crown jewel’ Kharg Island, warns Tehran against Hormuz blockade. The Lavan’s crew and the bodies of sailors from the Dena will be transported to Iran by road, these people said.. The Iranian side is repatriating the non-essential members of the 183-strong crew of IRIS Lavan, while a limited number of crew members will stay back to maintain the warship, the people said.. The chartered flight, likely from Turkey, travelled to Colombo to pick up the bodies of sailors killed during the sinking of IRIS Dena, the people said.. Also read: Iran allows 2 Indian-flagged LPG carriers to cross Strait of Hormuz. Reports in the Sri Lankan media said 45 bodies of crew members of IRIS Dena were transported from Galle National Hospital to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport for the airlift.. Sri Lankan authorities recovered the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors after IRIS Dena was sunk. They also rescued 32 crew members who have been kept at a naval facility.. IRIS Dena had participated in an International Fleet Review and a multi-nation exercise hosted by the Indian Navy last month.. On March 1, India granted permission to three Iranian warships that were in regional waters – IRIS Dena, IRIS Lavan and IRIS Booshehr – to dock at the country’s ports in response to a request from Tehran. However, only IRIS Lavan docked at Kochi on March 4 and its 183-member crew was accommodated at naval facilities.. External affairs minister S Jaishankar has said that the Indian government’s decision to allow IRIS Lavan to dock at Kochi was “the right thing to do”, and that the decision was made on humanitarian grounds.. IRIS Booshehr docked in Colombo and its 204-member crew was sent to a Sri Lankan naval facility, while IRIS Dena was sunk by a US submarine in international waters off Sri Lanka’s southern coast.. Sri Lankan authorities and officials of the Iranian embassy in Colombo are engaged in discussions regarding the next steps for the Iranian sailors currently in Sri Lanka’s care. The Sri Lankan government has decided to grant one-month free visas to the Iranian sailors and to provide them necessary facilities on humanitarian grounds.