Rush Hour: Assam to bulldoze 600 homes, Indian students in Iran being moved to safer places and more
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The Assam government began a drive to demolish the homes of 667 families, the majority of them belonging to Bengali-origin Muslims, in an anti-encroachment drive in the Goalpara district. The authorities razed 45% of the homes on Monday and said the drive will continue on Tuesday.
The district administration claimed that it had served notices to the villagers to vacate the land in 2023 and 2024. As they failed to do so, they were asked to clear the area by Monday, claimed Goalpara District Commissioner Khanindra Choudhury. Many residents have asked the district administration to rehabilitate them.
Since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Assam in 2016, more than 10,620 families – the majority of them Muslim – have been ousted from government land, according to data provided by the state revenue and disaster management department in August. Read on.
Some Indian students were being moved to safer places within Iran amid the country's escalating military tensions with Israel, said New Delhi on Monday. India's Ministry of External Affairs also stated that its embassy in Tehran was 'continuously monitoring the security situation'.
This came after Israel on Friday struck what it claimed were nuclear targets and also other sites in Iran with an aim of stalling Tehran's nuclear programme. Tel Aviv has claimed that Iran was 'closer than ever' to obtaining a nuclear weapon, and said it had no choice but to 'fulfil the obligation to act in defence of its citizens'.
On Saturday, Iran retaliated with missile attacks at several places in Israel, including the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. Israel renewed its attacks on Iran on Sunday, striking Tehran and other areas across the country for the third consecutive day. The Iranian military continued its missile attacks on Israel on Monday. The attacks have led to fears of a wider escalation of the conflict.
While 224 persons have reportedly been killed in Iran so far, Israel has reported 14 deaths. Read on.
The identities of 87 persons who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 have been confirmed through DNA testing. The bodies of 57 persons have been handed over to their families after the identification.
Gujarat's former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's body was also handed over to his family on Monday. Rupani was among the 242 persons aboard the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft – enroute to London's Gatwick airport from Ahmedabad – that crashed just 33 seconds after taking off. Read on.
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