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Biplab Deb delivers yet another gem: Buddha walked on foot across India, Tibet, Japan etc

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Biplab Deb delivers yet another gem: Buddha walked on foot across India, Tibet, Japan etc

Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb has displayed a knack to make news, with his capacity for being unerringly incorrect.

On Monday, April 30, on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti, he did it once again. Speaking about Buddha’s life and preachings, he said: “We are celebrating Buddha Jayanti here. Gautam Buddha preached the message of peace, unity and solidarity, walking on foot across India, Burma, Japan, Tibet and other countries.”

Fortunately, the rest of what he said was unobjectionable: “India is a land where a king becomes a monk and preaches peace across the world. It speaks about the great Indian tradition and culture. I respect that tradition. I pray that everyone can live together in peace, harmony and embrace the lessons of Gautam Buddha,” Deb said.

While Buddha’s message did reach the Far East, it was much after the time of Buddha and was taken to these far off lands by his followers.

“Buddha didn’t travel to either of these countries during his lifetime. Buddhism spread to these places much later through other people,” said Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty, a former professor of history at the erstwhile Presidency College in Calcutta, reported The Telegraph (TT).

Tripura additional secretary Milind Ramteke, sought to set matters right. According to him, reported TT, the chief minister had said, “Lord Buddha gave his message of peace and prosperity on foot in the then Bharat Varsha which (message of peace and prosperity) has reached today’s Burma, Japan, Tibet.”

Be that as it may, Deb has, in the brief time since he was sworn in as Tripura CM on March 9, put Tripura on the world map and people who had not heard of this north-eastern state of India were forced to look it up on the atlas.

This started with his first bombshell of a ‘revelation’ that the Internet and sophisticated satellite communication system existed in the days of Mahabharata and Sanjay had used these technological means to narrate to Dhritarashtra ‘live’ the entire details of Mahabharata war as it happened.

While this made international headlines by itself, he followed it up with a comment that the 1997 Miss World, Diana Hayden, was not worthy of being crowned a beauty queen. Although Deb later regretted the comment on Hayden, he had already made a reputation.

He has lived up to it. Effortlessly.

He went on to claim that civil engineers should join the civil services but not mechanical engineers because civil engineers would be better suited for the job of a civil servant.

He followed it up with his advice to unemployed youths to open ‘paan’ shops or earn money by milking cows and rearing pigs and poultry instead of running after government jobs or depending on government for providing jobs or creating employment opportunities.

There were reports that the BJP central leadership had got rattled by his salvos and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had summoned him to Delhi.

However, additional secretary Ramteke said on Monday that Deb’s meeting in New Delhi on May 2 was a “pre-scheduled” one. “The trip has yet to be finalised,” he said.

Deb, whom PM Modi has presented as the “heera” (diamond) that Tripura should replace its former chief minister Manik (gem) Sarkar with, is not the only one. Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, on Sunday likened mythological character Narada with Google saying the sage knew everything that was happening in the world.

“Narada had information of the whole world and can be compared with Google in today’s time. However, he only shared the information which was beneficial, and not harmful, to mankind,” Rupani said, according to media reports.

But the lead was taken earlier by PM Modi himself, when he talked about advanced plastic surgery and organ transplant being practised in ancient India and cited the example of Lord Ganesha. Besides, his gaffes relating to history and geography have been numerous – such as repeated mistake in name of the Father of the Nation whom he called ‘Mohanlal’ Karamchand Gandhi, locating Taxila in Bihar, crediting Bihar with defeating and sending back Alexander, blaming India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru for not going for Sardar Patel’s funeral (which Modi claimed he was misquoted and the daily that reported it withdrew the quote and issued an apology, though Ravi Shankar Prasad repeated it two days later), blaming Nehru for the partition of India and Pakistan, saying, “all of Kashmir would have been India’s if Patel had been allowed to become the first prime minister” (it absolved the two-nation theory campaigners Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha of all responsibility and Patel was actually ready to give Kashmir to Pakistan).

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Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani appointed as India’s next Chief of Defence Staff

Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani has been appointed as India’s next Chief of Defence Staff and will succeed General Anil Chauhan later this month.

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May 9, 2026

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Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani appointed as India’s next Chief of Defence Staff

The Centre has appointed Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani as India’s next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), succeeding General Anil Chauhan, whose tenure will conclude on May 30.

According to the government announcement, Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani will also serve as Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Military Affairs from the date he assumes charge and until further orders.

Lt Gen Subramani is currently serving as the Military Adviser at the National Security Council Secretariat, a role he has held since September 2025. Before that, he served as Vice Chief of the Army Staff between July 2024 and July 2025.

A senior officer from the Garhwal Rifles, he was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1985 and has held several important operational and command positions during his military career. He has commanded formations in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and along the western front.

Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He also studied at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in the United Kingdom and the National Defence College in New Delhi. He holds a Master’s degree from King’s College London and an MPhil in Defence Studies from the University of Madras.

The post of Chief of Defence Staff was created in 2020 to improve coordination among the Army, Navy and Air Force. General Bipin Rawat became India’s first CDS, followed by General Anil Chauhan in 2022. Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani will become the country’s third CDS after assuming office.

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Bengal to get BJP’s first CM as Suvendu Adhikari set to take oath today

Suvendu Adhikari will be sworn in as West Bengal Chief Minister, marking the BJP’s first government formation in the state.

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1 hour ago

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May 9, 2026

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Suvendu Adhikari is set to take oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, becoming the first leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party to head the state government.

The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata and is expected to witness the presence of several senior BJP leaders and supporters from across the state.

Adhikari was unanimously elected as the BJP legislature party leader after the party secured a decisive victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. His appointment marks a significant political change in the state, where the BJP is forming the government for the first time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several Union ministers are expected to attend the ceremony. Reports also indicate that the oath event has been planned on a large public scale to underline the BJP’s breakthrough in Bengal politics.

Adhikari emerged as one of the BJP’s key faces in Bengal after defeating Mamata Banerjee in the high-profile Nandigram contest in 2021 and later consolidating his position within the party’s state leadership.

Security arrangements have been tightened around the oath venue, while party workers have gathered in large numbers ahead of the ceremony. The event is being viewed as a landmark moment in West Bengal’s political history.

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PM Modi to lead Somnath Amrit Parv celebrations with grand roadshow in Gujarat

PM Modi is set to visit Somnath Temple in Gujarat for the Somnath Amrit Parv celebrations marking 75 years of the temple’s reconstruction, with a roadshow and religious ceremonies planned.

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16 hours ago

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May 8, 2026

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PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the Somnath Temple in Gujarat on May 11 to lead the ‘Somnath Amrit Parv’ celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the temple’s reconstruction.

According to state ministers and senior officials, the Prime Minister will take part in religious rituals, lead a public roadshow, and address a gathering during the celebrations.

The visit comes months after PM Modi attended the Somnath Swabhiman Parv held earlier this year, which commemorated 1,000 years since the first recorded attack on the temple in 1026.

Grand roadshow and cultural programmes planned

Officials said PM Modi will arrive in Somnath from Jamnagar and lead a one-kilometre roadshow from the Triveni Helipad to the statue of Veer Hamirji Gohil. The procession is expected to feature cultural dance performances from different Indian states along with displays representing the 12 Jyotirlingas.

A Suryakiran Air Show and a flower petal shower over the temple spire are also planned during the event. The Prime Minister is expected to be welcomed by Rishikumars and members of local communities dressed in traditional attire.

During his visit, PM Modi will perform rituals including Kumbhabhishek, Dhvaja Puja and Mahapuja at the temple before addressing a public gathering at Sadbhavna Ground.

Somnath reconstruction anniversary

The celebrations mark 75 years since the reconstructed Somnath Temple was inaugurated in 1951 in the presence of India’s first President Rajendra Prasad. The reconstruction effort after Independence was led under the vision of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and supported by leaders including K.M. Munshi.

State minister Jitu Vaghani said the temple’s restoration remains a symbol of national self-respect and resilience.

After the Somnath events, PM Modi is scheduled to travel to Vadodara to inaugurate the Sardardham Educational Complex. Preparations are also underway for a possible roadshow in the city later in the day.

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