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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a veiled dig at the opposition parties and said that the action against corrupt people in the country has resulted in a new polarisation in national politics with certain political groups openly trying to get organised into a unit to save those facing graft charges.

PM Modi, who arrived in Kerala on a two-day visit, said that corruption was the biggest hurdle in the development and interests of the youth.

"However, what we see is that as we take action against the corrupt persons, there has emerged a new polarisation in national politics. To save these corrupt people, certain political groups are openly coming out and trying to get organised into a unit. People of India and Kerala have to be vigilant against such groups," he said.

After the success of Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), the government has given its nod to develop a much more powerful version of the indigenous fighter jet, Times of India reported quoting sources. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the project to Tejas Mark-2 with prototypes, the report added.

Flight testing and certification of the Tejas Mark-2 project would cost Rs 6,500 crore, in addition to the Rs 2,500 crore earlier sanctioned for it, the report mentioned.

Once the Tejas Mark-2 is completed, it could be followed by another mega project for an ambitious fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, it also said.

The chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sharad Pawar Wednesday called for opposition unity in the country ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Election. Pawar today said the parties can look at joining hands and form a Common Minimum Programme.

Advocating Opposition unity, Pawar was reported as saying: "Can consider contesting elections together under the Common Minimum Programme."

It may be recalled that the last non-BJP government in power at the Centre was from 2004-2014 for two terms in the form of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. Manmohan Singh was the PM of the UPA-1 and UPA-2 governments which also functioned on the basis of common minimum programmes.

Minutes after reports stating Shashi Tharoor exploring the possibility of running for the post of Congress President started gaining momentum, BJP leader Amit Malviya cautioned the senior Congress leader and suggested him to learn lessons from history.

In a tweet, Malviya told Tharoor that if he is intending to run for Congress President’s post, he should “immediately stop being around public toilets and avoid flights, chartered planes or chopper, in particular.”

“He (Tharoor) must learn from the lessons history has to to offer,” the BJP leader told Tharoor, wishing him “Good luck!”

Building on the success of the Tejas light combat aircraft, India on Wednesday approved the development of a much more capable and powerful version of the indigenous jet, which will be followed by another mega project for an ambitious fifth-generation stealth fighter.

The PM Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared the project to develop Tejas Mark-2 with prototypes, flight testing and certification at a cost of over Rs 6,500 crore, in addition to the Rs 2,500 crore earlier sanctioned for it, top sources told media.

The CCS clearance for the over Rs 15,000 crore project to build the fifth-generation advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA), with stealth features as well as 'supercruise' capabilities, in turn, "will follow within the next few months", sources added.