The BJP, which has two MLAs in the MDA government, backed the Cabinet decision.
Heavy rains in the last three days triggered flash floods in parts of Bihar, where 41 people have died so far, and inundated large areas in Assam and North Bengal, paralysing normal life and snapping rail link to the Northeast from the rest of the country.
Terming the state "pride" of the country, Modi said it is the gateway of the nation as it guards the frontier. It is the duty of the government to develop the state at any cost, he said.
In the Northeast, while three people died in Assam, two each lost their lives in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in rain-related incidents.
The IAF has lost seven of the 240 Sukhoi-30MKI jets inducted till now.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the chief ministers of Assam and Mizoram, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Zoramthanga respectively, and urged them to ensure peace along the disputed border and find an amicable settlement.
In MP, the Congress is hoping for a comeback, while in Mizoram, the BJP looking to defeat the Congress in its last bastion in the Northeast.
Two suspected operatives of Al Qaeda have been arrested in New Delhi and Odisha and Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a module of the terror group's Indian sub-continent wing operating out of the country.
Activation of this advanced landing ground would not only improve the response time for various operational situations but also the efficacy of the air operations in the eastern frontier.
Scheduled to be completed in 2016, the 4.94 km rail-cum-road bridge, India's longest bridge, will come up across the mighty Brahmaputra at Bogibeel in Assam. It is not only expected to be a lifeline for the Northeast, but will also strengthen the country's security.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday denounced China's 'expansionist attitude' over the neighbour's claim on Arunachal Pradesh and said that the security of the border state, surrounded by foreign countries on three sides, should be of prime concern to the central government.
The govt hiked defence budget by 7.81 per cent over last year's Rs 2.74 lakh crore.
At least 15 people were killed on Saturday when a powerful 7.2-magnitude aftershock struck areas of southwest Pakistan devastated by a massive earthquake that claimed over 500 lives earlier this week.
'Often reviled, mostly ignored, sometimes venerated, he has taken it all in his stride.' 'He has stood by the nation through thick and thin,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
India has planned 14 strategic railway lines in areas bordering China, Pakistan and Nepal, but most of these projects are stuck for want of funds. Anusha Soni reports
'There are major implications for India. Though there was a transparently thin attempt to project the troop reduction as intended to promote peace, the downsizing is actually part of plans to streamline and strengthen the PLA, capable of defending China's national interests at home and abroad,' says Jayadev Ranade.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
Excerpts from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Combined Commanders Conference on board the INS Vikramaditya at sea, off the coast of Kochi.
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