Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) said it has received an initial nod to build the main part of a 1,600 MW thermal power plant at Chandrapura in Jharkhand.

The project is being developed by a joint venture of Damodar Valley Corporation and Coal India.

DVC CIL Power Pvt Ltd (DVCCIL), a joint venture between Damodar Valley Corporation and Coal India Ltd, will issue the notice to proceed once the project secures the requisite environmental clearances and completes the Limited Notice to Proceed period.

“L&T Energy CarbonLite Solutions has secured a Limited Notice to Proceed (LNTP) from DVCCIL, a joint venture of Damodar Valley Corporation and Coal India Ltd, for the main plant package of the 2×800 MW Chandrapura thermal power plant in Jharkhand,” L&T said in a regulatory filing.

L&T Energy CarbonLite Solutions, a business vertical of L&T, provides solutions for power and low-carbon processes.

The project will comprise two 800 MW ultra-supercritical power units. L&T’s work will include the design, manufacture and supply of key equipment, including boilers, steam turbines, generators and electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), as well as their installation, testing and commissioning, along with associated mechanical, electrical, control and civil works.

“The deployment of ultra-supercritical technology will enable higher thermal efficiency and lower specific emissions, thereby supporting reliable and efficient power generation,” the filing said.

With an installed capacity of 1,600 MW, the Chandrapura project will make a significant contribution to the country’s growing electricity-generation capacity and help meet the rising power requirements arising from industrial expansion and economic development.

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Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MLC B. Mahesh Kumar Goud said farmers’ welfare remained at the centre of the government’s policies in the 1000 days of the Congress government’s rule, with the crop loans up to ₹2 lakh waived, providing relief to 25.35 lakh farmers by expending more than ₹20,000 crore.

He said the amount provided under Rythu Bharosa had reached ₹36,000 crore, while the assistance had been increased to ₹12,000 per acre. The government had spent ₹1.75 lakh crore on the agriculture sector, setting a record, Mr. Goud said. Another ₹30,000 crore had been spent on free agricultural power, while nearly ₹4,000 crore had been allocated as a bonus for fine varieties of paddy. About ₹3,500 crore had been spent on Rythu Bima, he added.

Congratulating the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Cabinet, he said the government had created confidence among Telangana’s youth by filling more than 70,000 government posts. The introduction of breakfast in schools and colleges, and the launch of construction of 100 Young India Integrated Residential Schools, indicate a focus on school education, he said.

On social justice, Mr. Goud said the Congress government had taken several important decisions in line with the vision articulated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Backward Classes (BC) caste survey had paved the way for greater social justice, while 42% reservation had been provided to BCs in local bodies, he said.

He said farmers, women, agricultural labourers and weaker sections had been made the central focus of the government’s policies. The completion of 1,000 days, he added, was an opportunity to reaffirm the government’s commitment to inclusive development and social justice.

About 1,000 college students participated in a human chain awareness programme on Race Course road in Coimbatore city on Wednesday to spread awareness on the dangers of drug abuse and to promote the goal of a “Drug-Free Tamil Nadu”.

The students formed the human chain along with Coimbatore District Collector Pavankumar G. Giriyappanavar.

Students from Government Arts and Science College for Women, Puliyakulam; Government Arts and Science College; and Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Science, Race Course Road, participated in the programme.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Giriyappanavar said a series of awareness programmes against drug abuse would be conducted across Coimbatore district for a week. The programmes followed the State-wide mass pledge-taking event held on Tuesday in Chennai as part of efforts to achieve a drug-free Tamil Nadu.

An order by South Sudan’s army to evacuate the opposition-held town of Akobo earlier this month pushed an estimated 1,00,000 people to flee across the border into Ethiopia, UNICEF said Tuesday (March 17, 2026).

Akobo in the eastern state of Jonglei is the latest flashpoint as fighting between the government and opposition has brought South Sudan back to the brink of all-out civil war.

The army ordered an evacuation of the town, including foreign aid agencies, on March 6.

It claims to have since taken control of Akobo, though there have been conflicting reports of events on the ground, which have been impossible to verify due to limited communications.

A security source told AFP that the army had taken over the military barracks in Akobo and destroyed buildings in the vicinity to create a buffer zone, but no official report had yet been issued.

The UN children’s agency said “violence and conflict are raging” across Jonglei, creating a “deteriorating situation for children”.

“An estimated 100,000 people have crossed the border into Ethiopia, and others have moved to safer areas in Jonglei and Upper Nile states,” UNICEF said in a statement.

“All those receiving treatment in Akobo hospital — previously a safe haven for the sick and injured — have left. Reports confirm that the hospital has been looted and is now closed.”

It said rates of malnutrition among displaced children were “worryingly high”.

Twenty-eight health and nutrition facilities have been destroyed, looted or shut in Jonglei so far this year, at a time when the region is facing a cholera outbreak, the agency said.

South Sudan gained independence in 2011 but soon descended into civil war and remains mired in extreme poverty and corruption.

A 2018 power-sharing deal between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival Riek Machar has been unravelling since early 2025, with clashes in multiple areas and fears of a return to full-blown war.

Kyiv said on Thursday (January 29, 2026) that it had received from Russia 1,000 remains of people that Moscow said were Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting the Kremlin’s army.

The exchange of prisoners of war and the remains of killed soldiers is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“Today, repatriation measures took place, under which 1,000 bodies of the deceased, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian defenders, were returned to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said in a statement on social media.

Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky confirmed an exchange had taken place, writing on Telegram that the Russian side had received the remains of 38 killed Russian soldiers.

Mr. Medinsky said the exchange was made possible as part of agreements struck between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul earlier last year.

Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded, though neither side regularly publishes data on their own casualties.