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Bomb blasts in Assam and Manipur marred an otherwise peaceful Independence Day celebration across India Thursday that also saw Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi take on the prime minister and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah voice unhappiness over the "different treatment" meted to his state.

In Goa, a man chose the occasion to swim across the Mandovi river to demand a halt to mushrooming casinos in the coastal state.

Suspected Bodo militants tried to disrupt the Independence Day celebrations in Assam by
triggering a blast in Tengapara of Kokrajhar town, injuring one person. Police recovered another grenade from the same location. A grenade was recovered at Bijni in Chirang district, while four motorcycle-riding youths lobbed a grenade in Chirang, but it did not explode.

In Manipur, a bomb blast marred the celebrations as Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh appealed for peace in the state. No one was injured in the explosion.

In New Delhi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi hoisted the national flag at the party headquarters. Top party leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Rahul Gandhi were present.

The Congress president also distributed sweets among children on the occasion.Goa resident Sudip Dalvi swam to the banks of the Mandovi that flanks state capital Panaji and is home to five offshore casinos to protest against casino vessels parked midstream in the river.

Narendra Modi attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for omitting the name of Lal Bahadur Shastri while referring to previous prime ministers and for not speaking out strongly against Pakistan’s killing of Indian soldiers.

He also said the prime minister should have said something on corruption.This fetched a gentle rebuke from Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani, who said that Independence Day was not a day to "criticise one another".

Omar Abdullah voiced pain at the criticism over the communal violence in Kishtwar and demanded to know why Kashmiris were treated differently.

After taking the salute and hoisting the tricolour at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar amid tight security, Abdullah alleged the Kishtwar incident had been "exploited".

In Hyderabad, slogans of "Jai Telangana" rent the air during the celebrations at Gandhi Bhavan, headquarters of the ruling Congress party.

Andhra Pradesh saw unprecedented security with protests against the proposed division of the state being seen in a few places in the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in his Independence Day message, complained of his state being ignored by the central government.

In Tripura capital Agartala, heavy rains ended the Independence Day celebrations in just 10 minutes, with Chief Minister Manik Sarkar forced to finish his speech in a record two minutes.

The Agartala programme was scheduled to last two-and-a-half hours.

Maharashtra celebrated the day in the shadow of Wednesday’s naval tragedy in which 18 sailors were feared killed after an Indian Navy submarine sank. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan hoisted the tricolour at a function in the Mantralaya.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed hope that the state will regain its prominent position in the country, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee unfurled the tricolour at the Indira Gandhi Sarani in Kolkata.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in his first Independence Day address, declared that his government was ready to hold talks with Maoists if they gave up violence.
Reports of Independence Day celebrations came from other states, including Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh.

At the Attari-Wagah border, the Border Security Force (BSF) in Punjab offered sweets and fruits to Pakistan Rangers and both sides greeted each other.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warns narrow, sectarian ideologies will weaken democracy

New Delhi: In an apparent attack on BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today warned that "narrow and sectarian ideologies" would "weaken" the democracy and the country and they should be prevented from growing.

"There can be no place for narrow and sectarian ideologies in a modern, progressive and secular country.

Such ideologies divide our society and weaken our democracy. We should prevent them from growing," he said in his 10th consecutive speech on the Independence Day from the Red Fort.

In his 30-minute speech, Mr Singh did not make any direct reference to Mr Modi but apparently was referring to him indirectly.

The Prime Minister said there was a "need to strengthen those traditions of our country which teach us to promote tolerance and respect for thought processes different from ours."

"I would appeal to all political parties, all sections of our society and the public at large to work in this direction," he said.

Mr Singh said despite some worrisome communal incidents in 2012 and this year, "the last 9 years have been good for communal harmony".

Need to improve quality of education: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today there was need to improve the quality of education and much still remained to be done to reform India’s educational system.

"Many of our schools still lack drinking water facilities, toilets and other necessary infrastructure," Manmohan Singh said in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day.

"There is a need to improve the quality of education. To achieve this, it is necessary to lay more emphasis on training of teachers," he added.

Lauding the efforts made by the government, the prime minister said: "We have enacted the Right to Education Act to provide every child in the country the opportunity for education."

"Almost all our children are today being imparted education in primary schools. The number of young men and women going to college has more than doubled in the last 9 years," he said.

The prime minister said new schemes for scholarships have been implemented on a large scale to enable poor children and those belonging to the weaker sections access opportunities for education.

"Today, the central government provides scholarships to more than two crore children," he said.

In the higher education sector, the prime minister said: "Many new institutions have been opened in the area of higher education. For example, 8 new IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), 7 new IIMs (Indian Institute of Management), 16 new central universities and 10 new NITs (National Institutes of Technology)."

He said new institutions have also been opened to boost scientific research.

"Steps have been taken to attract students to the study of science and encourage Indian scientists working abroad to return to India," he added

Deepest sympathies with the people of Uttarakhand: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday expressed sympathies to the people of Uttarakhand and said that the entire country is with them in the moment of crisis.

"Today is certainly a day of joy for us. But on this celebration of Independence we also feel pain in our hearts that our brothers and sisters in Uttarakhand had to face devastation about two months back," the prime minister said in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the country’s 67th Independence Day.

"Our deepest sympathies are with all the families that suffered loss of life or property. I want to assure the people of Uttarakhand today that the whole country stands with them in this moment of crisis," he said.

10 things Narendra Modi attacked PM on in his Independence Day speech

Bhuj:  Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at a college in the Kutch desert an hour after the Prime Minister made his Independence Day address from the Red Fort in Delhi, picked holes in Dr Manmohan Singh’s words. Mr Modi threw down the gauntlet and took digs at the PM and the Congress party.

Development: The Gujarat Chief Minister challenged the Prime Minister to a debate. "Come let us have a competition on development between Gujarat and Delhi. Our shortcomings will come forward and  so will your good deeds."

Pakistan: Narendra Modi pointed out that the President in his address to the nation on the eve of Independence day had sent a strong message to Pakistan asking them not to "test the limits of India’s patience".  But, Mr Modi observed, the PM did nothing to assuage the President’s concerns. "Today we never got to hear anything from the Prime Minister about this (the attack along the LoC). I don’t believe that the Red Fort is a place to target Pakistan but it is a place where we can boost the morale of our troops." (Read)

Significance of Bhuj: "I am standing here in Kutch from where my voice reaches Pakistan first and Delhi later."

Dynastic politics: Mr Modi questioned why the Prime Minister mentioned only the Nehru-Gandhi family during his speech. "In your speech from the Red Fort, Mr PM you remembered only one family. Wouldn’t it have been befitting to remember freedom fighters like Sardar Patel or Lal Bahadur Shastri?"
Congress rule at the Centre: "The PM in his speech mentioned the same problems  that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru mentioned in 1947. So what have they been doing for all these years?"
Online trolls: In typical fashion and to loud cheers, the Gujarat Chief Minister quipped, "Mr Prime Minister, your brigade is busy targeting Modi on their computers. Don’t they have a world beyond Modi?  On Independence Day, they could’ve at least sung the national anthem."
Corruption: Hinting at the recent charges levelled against Railway Minister Pawan Bansal and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, Mr Modi said, "Pehle maama-bhaanje ke serial aate they, aab saas, bahu aur damaad ke serials bhi aane lage hai (Earlier soaps involved uncle and nephew but now they involve mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and son-in-law)"
Food Security Bill: "There are many shortcomings that I’ve highlighted but the PM won’t discuss. People in Delhi are putting salt on plates of poor, someone claims you can get a meal for Rs. 5, another says Rs. 10. Garibon ki thaali mein sarkaar acid chhirak rahi hai.(This government is spraying acid on the plates of the poor.)"
PM’s "miles to go" comment:  Mr Modi took a dig at the UPA’s 10-year regime and said, "TV channels, the media say this is PM Manmohan Singh’s last speech from Red Fort. He says he has miles to go. Which rocket does he intend to take to cover these miles?"
On Independence: "The country has become independent but have we achieved what our freedom fighters fought for? There is need for independent thought. We need to learn how we can free ourselves from a slavish mentality."