Guwahati, Feb 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a historic touchdown at the Northeast’s first Emergency Landing Facility in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, and later launched a scathing attack on the Congress at a rally here, accusing the party of ignoring the region and fuelling insurgency during its rule in the state.

He also launched projects worth Rs 5,450 crore during his third visit to the poll-bound Assam in three months.

Modi took off from the Chabua airfield after his arrival and landed at the Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) in Moran on a stretch of National Highway-37.

The PM, after inaugurating the ELF, said, “It is a matter of immense pride that the Northeast gets an Emergency Landing Facility.”

”From a strategic point of view and during times of natural disasters, this facility is of great importance,” Modi said on X.

The Rs 100-crore ELF, a 4.2-km reinforced stretch on the Moran bypass, will act as a strategic and multi-functional runway for IAF fighter jets and transport aircraft, strengthening defence, logistics and disaster response.

During his day-long Assam visit, the Prime Minister, while addressing a public meeting here that also included BJP workers, launched an all-out attack on the Congress, accusing it of neglecting the Northeast and promoting insurgency in Assam during its rule.

He alleged that the Congress always endangered the nation’s security, with fear and insecurity prevailing during its tenure in Assam.

”The Congress indulged in polarisation and vote bank politics, and took decisions that promoted these,” he said.

“The partition of the country took place due to the Muslim League, but now there is ‘MMC’ – Maoist, Muslim League, Congress – and people should be aware of their intentions,” Modi said.

The PM accused the Congress of protecting infiltrators, and asserted that the BJP is “committed to ending illegal immigration, and so the next five years are very important for the state”.

He also claimed that the Congress, being out of power in Assam for 10 years, is “more dangerous than when it was in power, and this is evident from the venomous statements made by its leaders”.

For seven decades, the Congress built only three bridges over the Brahmaputra river, but the BJP government constructed five bridges in 10 years, he asserted.

The PM paid tributes to the bravehearts who were martyred in Pulwama in 2019, and asserted that the world has seen how the government responded to the terror attack.

The country’s response was also witnessed during Operation Sindoor following the terror attack in Pahalgam last year, he said.

”The Congress did nothing to protect the nation’s security but gave only statements and indulged in scams while buying weapons,” Modi alleged.

The PM said all-round development is taking place in Assam due to the efforts of the BJP government.

”The BJP is committed to ensuring the speedy development of Assam and also protecting its identity and traditions. It is, therefore, very important that the double-engine BJP government returns to power in the state,” Modi said.

The prime minister said he had the firm belief that the BJP will secure victory by a huge margin in the 2026 Assam assembly polls, but it is “not just about winning elections alone, we must win the hearts and minds of the people”.

The credit for BJP’s success goes only to party workers as ”we believe in organisational strength: My biggest qualification and source of pride is that Narendra Modi is a BJP party worker,” he said.

”Party workers are the oxygen of the BJP, and I urge them to reach out to the people of the state not only before the elections but even after the next government is formed,” Modi said.

He assured the people that he will ”return their love for BJP with interest through development”.

Earlier, the PM inaugurated the Rs 3,030 crore Kumar Bhaskar Varma Bridge, connecting Guwahati and North Guwahati, and walked on the bridge.

He also inaugurated the temporary campus of the IIM, Guwahati, estimated to be worth Rs 555 crore and a Rs 348 crore AI-enabled hyperscale data centre from the nearby Lachit Ghat.

The PM flagged off 225 electric buses under the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme, which included 100 for Guwahati, 50 for Nagpur, 50 for Bhavnagar and 25 for Chandigarh.

Modi witnessed an aerial show, featuring IAF’s fighter jets and transport helicopters, which are engaged for emergencies and responses, at the ELF, with IAF pilots displaying precision take-off and landing.

After concluding his programmes in Guwahati, Modi left for Delhi with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma thanking him for the projects and enthusing the BJP workers.

”As Adarniya @narendramodi ji departs from Assam, I express my profound gratitude to him for strengthening Assam’s position in many sectors and energising BJP Karyakartas ahead of the #AssamElections2026. Thank you Pradhan Mantri ji”, Sarma posted on X.

Kharagpur (WB), Feb 13: IIT-Kharagpur on Friday announced that it was starting a four-year BTech programme in Biomedical Engineering.

Admission to the course will be through JEE-Advanced, and the inaugural batch will comprise around 25 students, an IIT-Kharagpur spokesperson said.

The School of Medical Science and Technology (SMST), which will run the undergraduate programme, will also be developed into a full-fledged department, he said.

At present, the school conducts postgraduate courses in areas such as informatics.

Biomedical Engineering has evolved worldwide into a major driver of innovation, supporting advances ranging from imaging systems and surgical technologies to prosthetics, diagnostics and digital healthcare platforms, the spokesperson said.

Students will work closely with the BC Roy Institute of Medical Sciences, which is located on the campus, he said.

IIT-Kharagpur Director Suman Chakraborty told PTI the teaching model would function as a “living laboratory”, allowing learners to engage simultaneously with academia, industry and hospital environments from an early stage.

He said the framework would generate real-world datasets for training and enable simulation-based learning, including modules such as surgical practice and disease modelling.

“Faculty from the medical sciences institute will handle the basics of clinical education, while the super-speciality hospital will provide continuous exposure,” he said.

Chakraborty said many biomedical engineering programmes in the country remain largely classroom-driven, with limited integration of clinical realities.

The new initiative, he said, is intended to create a template for deeper collaboration between engineering and medicine, both in education and innovation.

New Delhi, Feb 14: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said that judicial leadership does not suffer because judges are imperfect, but it is adversely impacted when judges pretend that they are not imperfect.

The CJI also called for a radical shift in how judicial leadership is perceived, advocating for the creation of a ‘Commonwealth Apex Body’ to integrate judicial education, the Bar, and the bench across the member nations.

Delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 11th biennial meeting of the Commonwealth Judicial Educators (CJEs) here, Justice Surya Kant said that judges, like judicial institutions, remain capable of growth, correction, and improvement.

The role of judges demands not only “mastery of precedent” but also the “agility to interpret the law” in ways that serve justice in the present time, he said.

Across history, the most respected judicial leaders did not project flawlessness or perfection; instead, the best leaders were those who remained conscious of the limits of their own knowledge, alert to the possibility of error, and open to learning, the CJI said.

“Humility, in that sense, has never been a personal virtue alone; it has been a professional safeguard. And I believe this important tool must be taught to every judicial officer, without exception,” he said.

On the event’s theme, ‘Educating for Judicial Leadership’, Justice Surya Kant called it “timely” as for too long the prevailing view was that judges were finished products; figures that emerged from appointment; already complete, already formed and already perfected.

“In my opinion, while that view flatters the institution, it does not serve it. Judicial leadership does not suffer because judges are imperfect; it suffers when we pretend they are not,” the CJI said.

He also said that for educating judicial leadership, a “more honest premise” needed acceptance – judges, like the institutions they lead, remain capable of growth, correction, and improvement.

“This is where, I believe, the Commonwealth Judicial Educators step in. CJEs are the quiet architects behind transformative journeys.

“Across our vast community of nations – spanning continents, cultures and legal traditions – the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI) guides judges to become more than mere interpreters of law, moulds them into wise custodians of justice, equipped to navigate the moral and technical challenges of a world-order in flux,” he said.

The chief justice added that law is a living, breathing entity that evolves with the world around it, and that the understanding of judges is tested when society changes, new challenges emerge, and complex questions arise.

“In such a dynamic landscape, our role as judges demands not only mastery of precedent but also the agility to interpret the law in ways that serve justice in our times.

“And when we learn from each other, we ensure that our decisions are not only informed by the law, but also the collective wisdom of the global judiciary. Mutual learning is, thus, the lifeblood of judicial growth,” the CJI said.

He appreciated the CJEI for linking judicial educators, encouraging peer learning, and enabling jurisdictions to learn from one another without erasing their distinct contexts.