Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and dedicated the world’s longest bi-lane Sela Tunnel project to the nation, in Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar on Saturday. The State CM Pema Khandu was also present at the event.

The Tunnel constructed on the road connecting Tezpur to Tawang in the State has been constructed at an altitude of 13000 feet with a total cost of Rs 825 Crore and will provide all-weather connectivity to the Tawang Region of Arunachal Pradesh. The foundation stone of Sela Tunnel was laid by PM Modi on 09 Feb 2019.

Addressing the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Northeast’ programme in Itanagar, PM Modi said that people must have heard of the ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’. People will realize its meaning once they reach Arunachal. The entire Northeast is a witness to this, he added.

Congress had neglected the border villages and termed them the last villages. But for the Modi government, this is the first village and so Centre started the Vibrant Village Programme, he said.

The Prime Minister responded to the Opposition bloc INDIA alliance’s attack on him over his family. PM Modi said he is putting together bricks to construct ‘Viksit Bharat’ and working day and night for the better future of the youth. But, ‘Parivarvadi’ leaders of the INDIA alliance have increased their attacks on Modi.

He added, What INDIA alliance has been asking him, ‘Modi ka parivar kaun hai’? (who are Modi’s family). Modi reminded those who have been abusing him that every family living in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh is saying, ‘Ye Modi ka parivar hai’ (This is Modi’s family).

From Independence till 2014, around 10,000 km of National Highway was constructed in the Northeast. However, in the last 10 years, more than 6,000 km of National Highway has been constructed in the Northeast.  PM Modi claimed that his government has completed the work of seven decades in just one.

CM Khandu, addressing the gathering, thanked PM Modi for coming to Itanagar and inaugurating several development projects in the North East on behalf of the citizens of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Congress on Friday released its first list of 39 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi will contest again from Kerala’s Wayanad, while former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been fielded from Rajnandgaon.

Shashi Tharoor has been fielded for the third time from Thiruvananthapuram. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal has been fielded from Kerala’s Alappuzha seat. Former Chhattisgarh Minister Tamardwaj Sahu will contest from Mahasamund and Jyotsna Mahant has been fielded from Korba.

The 39-strong list includes DK Suresh, brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who has been fielded again from Bengaluru Rural. The party has fielded 16 candidates in Kerala, 7 in Karnataka, 6 in Chhattisgarh, 4 in Telangana, 2 in Meghalaya, 1 each in Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Lakshadweep.

The Congress first list features 15 candidates from the General Category and 24 Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBC candidates.

The primary announcement of names includes southern and northeastern states, except for Chhattisgarh and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The majority of the candidates, at 16, have been announced from Kerala, with the Congress expected to accommodate its allies in remaining four seats.

The CPI(M) in Kerala had been canvassing the Congress to not field Gandhi from Wayanad, he is likely to face the CPI’s Annie Raja, the wife of CPI leader D. Raja.

The lopsided list is evidence of the tie-ups in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere where the Congress has decided to play second fiddle. The Samajwadi Party will play the main role in UP, a similar arrangement is likely in Bihar with the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The party has been keen to ally with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and has evinced its readiness. Talks in Maharashtra have been smoother but the party not announcing names from that state indicate alliance level talks are still on.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday released a new video of the suspect, showing him boarding a bus and changing seats, in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Karnataka’s Bengaluru and requested citizens to help them ascertain his identity.

Releasing the CCTV video of the suspect, the central probe agency asked the citizens with relevant information related to the suspect to call them on their numbers (08029510900, 8904241100) or email them (info.blr.nia@gov.in).

Earlier on March 7, the probe agency shared new photos of the suspected bomber in the Bengaluru blast. The suspect was seen in the photographs travelling on a bus without a mask and cap. At least ten persons were injured in the explosion that happened on March 1 at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookfield, East Bengaluru.

On March 5, the suspect was spotted in Tumakuru area at a bus stop. One day later, he left the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat and got on a bus bound for Gokarna. In West Bengal, the suspect got off the bus close to Bhatakul.

NIA has also found the suspect’s baseball cap outside a neighbouring mosque. According to a report, it appeared that the suspect from Bangalore changed his attire following the explosion.

The central agency, on March 6, announced a Rs 10 lakh cash reward for any information on the man who planted the low-intensity IED in the Rameshwaram cafe that left ten people injured. The NIA had said that the identity of the informant would remain confidential in the case and issued a drawing of the accused in a wanted poster.

Both NIA and the Central Crime Branch have been searching for the accused, but no arrests have been made in the blast investigation so far. The Karnataka government refused to turn over the inquiry to the central agency, therefore the Union Home Ministry instructed the NIA to start its investigation on Tuesday.