India is very close to getting a complete anti-drone solution, and it will be achieved within six months, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
"We are very close to getting a complete anti-drone solution. We have had six experiments, I am hopeful within six-months we will have an indigenous anti-drone solution, a symbol of Make in India," he said, replying during a debate.
The Minister said drones are also being used to track poppy cultivation. "We used drones, satellites and modern technology to destroy opium cultivation," he said.
Shah said in the last five years, 23,000 kg of synthetic drugs worth more than Rs 14,000 crore has been destroyed and disposed of.
"Drugs are sent from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, they ask why drugs are being captured in Gujarat ... it should be caught in other states as well. We have pledged that no drugs will be allowed to enter or exit India," he said.
He also said money earned from drug trade is used for terror incidents, and no one would be spared.
No one can now dare carry out blasts
No one can now dare carry out blasts and escape, unlike in the past, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday and asserted that the country was safe under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
Noting that blasts occurred frequently in the past, Shah also attacked previous governments for not taking action against terrorists, citing the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
"There was a time when bomb blasts were routine. I want to tell the people of the country that, for the last 10 years, the series of bomb blasts have stopped. No one can now dare carry out bomb blasts. The country is safe under Narendra Modi. We are committed to uprooting terrorism," he said in the Rajya Sabha.
Shah was replying to a discussion in the Upper House on the workings of the Union home ministry.
He also assured the Upper House that India would be free from Naxal terrorism (Leftwing extremism) by March 31, 2026.
Referring to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, he said terrorists earlier easily entered the country, attacked hotels and railway stations, and escaped.
"But no action was taken," the home minister said.
There is peace in Kashmir, the majority of terrorists in the northeast have surrendered, and the country is moving forward under the leadership of Modi, he added.
"With strong political willpower and strong management of Modi ji, the country is safe now. The opposition should not be worried. We will keep you (opposition) as well as the country safe," Shah said.
The home minister did not speak on the violence in Manipur, saying he would deliberate on the issue in detail when imposition of President's Rule in the northeastern state would come up for discussion.
Language row ignited by Opposition for their politics
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Friday attacked Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha for raking up the language row, saying they were doing so to gain political mileage and hide their corruption.
He also said there have been enough divisions in the nation in the name of language and it should not happen anymore as Hindi is not in competition with other languages but a friend of those.
"Some parties are raking up the language issue for their own politics. They are doing it just to hide their corruption," he said while replying to the debate in Rajya Sabha on the working of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the Centre have been at loggerheads over the implementation of the new National Education Policy and the three-language formula proposed under it.
Shah also said that after December, he will do all correspondence with chief ministers, MPs and common people in their respective languages.
"Those who take shelter behind the language issue to hide their corruption, this is a strong reply to them.
"There have been enough divisions in the nation in the name of language, and it should not happen anymore," he said, amid the escalating row over the three-language formula implementation outlined in the National Education Policy.
The home minister said every Indian language is a treasure for the country. "Hindi is not in competition with any Indian language, it is only a friend of other languages," the senior BJP leader said.
Dismissing the allegation of Hindi imposition, he said every Indian language is a treasure for the country.
Shah informed the House that a new department of Indian languages has been established under the 'Raajbhasha Vibhaag' (Department of Official Language) of the Home Ministry.
"I want to say this so that those who want to divide the country in the name of language do not get an agenda... The Modi government has established a department of Indian Languages which will work on spreading all Indian languages. Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Assamese... every language has been included, and there will be apps for translation too," he said.
The home minister said some people have accused the Union government of being against Southern languages. "How is that possible? I come from Gujarat, Nirmala (Sitharaman) ji is from Tamil Nadu," he said.
Shah said the Modi government has worked for the propagation of regional languages and made provisions for imparting medical and engineering education in Indian languages.
"I want to tell the Tamil Nadu government, we have been saying this for two years... you do not have the courage to provide medical and engineering education in Tamil because your economic interests will be affected," he alleged.
"But when our NDA government comes to power (in the southern state), we will provide medical and engineering education in Tamil," he said.
Assembly elections are due in Tamil Nadu next year.
Without naming any party or individual, Shah said, "Those who are spreading poison in the name of language prefer a foreign language and not an Indian language. Tamil youths can work in Gujarat, Kashmir, Delhi... You have been elected to Parliament, what kind of a system do you want?" "There have been enough divisions of the nation in the name of language and it should not happen anymore. Don't use language to hide your corruption. We will go to every village and tell people," he said, attacking the DMK.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.