A division bench of the Gauhati High Court has quashed the preventive detention of Pranab Doley, an indigenous and land rights activist in Assam, under the National Security Act. Doley was arrested in July after a protest against a hotel project at a village next to Kaziranga National Park. A sessions court in Golaghat granted him bail on July 29, noting that key witness statements had already been recorded. The State detained him under the National Security Act the next day, so he stayed in jail despite the bail. The detention order under Section 3(2) said his activities were prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and the security of the State, and cited foreign transactions said to breach the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. The bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund heard the matter. His counsel said the court found the allegations were not proximate, that the material relied on was not supplied to the detainee, and that his representation was not decided quickly.
Law invoked:National Security Act, Section 3(2)Court:Gauhati High CourtBail granted by:Sessions court, Golaghat, on July 29Maximum detention under the Act:up to one year
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is the National Security Act and its Section 3(2), under which a State government can order preventive detention, and which the Gauhati High Court set aside in Pranab Doley's case; the Act allows detention without trial for up to a year.
The Assam Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at Lok Sewa Bhawan, has approved about 6,000 bighas of land for a Defence Park. The site is at Nelli, near Jagiroad, in Morigaon district, and the land will go to the Industries Department. It will be the State's first dedicated hub for making defence equipment. The government said Assam had so far stayed out of defence manufacturing partly because it had no land bank for such units. The park is linked to the Assam Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Policy, 2025, which runs for five years from its notification. That policy covers aircraft, drones and UAVs, small arms and ammunition, avionics, MRO services and defence start-ups. The State plans roadshows to draw domestic and international investors.
Land:about 6,000 bighasSite:Nelli, Morigaon districtPolicy:five years from notification
Why it matters for exams: State defence-industry hubs and the Assam Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Policy, 2025 tie into Atmanirbhar Bharat questions on defence production.
The Assam Cabinet has approved an amendment to the Assam Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1964. Under it, a State government employee found to be in a polygamous union will be dismissed from service. Dismissal under these rules also bars the person from future employment under the State government. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the rule applies to every employee, whatever the religion. He said the aim is to act against polygamy, promote equality and protect women. The step follows the Uniform Civil Code, Assam, 2026 Bill, which the Assembly passed on 27 May and which was sent to the Centre for the President's assent.
Rules amended:Assam Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1964Penalty:dismissal and bar on future state jobs
Why it matters for exams: Service conduct rules, the Uniform Civil Code and personal-law reform are recurring Polity and governance topics.
Assam began procuring paddy on 1 November with a target of 8.49 lakh metric tonnes for 2026-27. The drive will run until 31 May at 181 procurement centres across the State. Farmers must register to sell, and the paddy must be clean and dry with no more than 17% moisture. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) is Rs 2,441 per quintal. On 3 November the State Cabinet approved extra assistance of Rs 200 per quintal for farmers for this kharif marketing season. This State money is paid on top of the MSP fixed by the Centre.
Target:8.49 lakh metric tonnesMSP:Rs 2,441 per quintalState top-up:Rs 200 per quintalCentres:181
Why it matters for exams: MSP, State bonuses on top of it and the Kharif Marketing Season are basic agriculture-economy questions.
Assam's current news includes a court case that began with a protest over a hotel project next to Kaziranga, so the conservation record of that park is worth knowing. Assam holds about 80 per cent of the world's greater one-horned rhinos, and its own count rose from about 1,500 in the 1980s to more than 4,014. Kaziranga National Park alone had 2,613 rhinos as of 2022, and the way it is guarded is described as the Kaziranga Model. Four laws stand behind this work: the Assam Forest Protection Act, 1891, the Bengal Rhinoceros Preservation Act, 1932, the Assam Rhino Protection Act, 1954 and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Assam amended the last of these in 2009, so a poacher caught a second time can now be jailed for life. A programme named Indian Rhino Vision 2005 carries the task of settling the animal in a wider set of homes. Habitat has grown too. Orang National Park gained more than 200 square kilometres, 12.82 square kilometres was taken back at Laokhowa-Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, and two protected areas were notified fresh, Siknajhar National Park and Poba Wildlife Sanctuary. To show zero tolerance for poaching, 2,479 rhino horns were burned.
Share of world population in Assam:about 80%Rhinos in Kaziranga:2,613 (as of 2022)State Act:Assam Rhino Protection Act, 1954Horns burned:2,479
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that Assam holds about 80 per cent of the world's greater one-horned rhinos, that Kaziranga National Park had 2,613 rhinos as of 2022, and that the Assam Rhino Protection Act, 1954 and Indian Rhino Vision 2005 are part of the protection framework.
The Gauhati High Court case that freed activist Pranab Doley began with a protest over a hotel project beside Kaziranga, so the park's standing is worth knowing. Kaziranga National Park in Assam is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the listing puts its area at 42,996 hectares. Two criteria were used for it. Criterion (ix) rests on the way the river keeps remaking the land and the life on it; criterion (x) rests on the range of wildlife the park holds, much of it under threat. The park lies on the Brahmaputra, whose floods shape the grassland and water bodies inside it. By UNESCO's account no other place holds as many Indian one-horned rhinoceroses, and the figure it gives is more than 2,000. The listing also names the hoolock gibbon, the capped langur and the sloth bear, besides tiger, Asian elephant, wild water buffalo, gaur, eastern swamp deer, sambar and hog deer. The endangered Ganges River dolphin and large numbers of migratory birds are also recorded there.
Area:42,996 haCriteria:(ix) and (x)River:BrahmaputraRhinos:over 2,000 (estimated)
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that Kaziranga National Park in Assam is a UNESCO World Heritage site of 42,996 hectares on the Brahmaputra, inscribed under criteria (ix) and (x), and holding the single largest population of the Indian one-horned rhinoceros.
UNESCOUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — The UN agency that keeps the World Heritage List of sites of outstanding universal value.
The court case over a hotel project beside Kaziranga has put Assam's parks back in the news, and Manas is the State's other natural World Heritage site and the other half of its rhino story. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary lies in Assam in north-east India and covers 39,100 hectares. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria (vii), (ix) and (x), so it is recognised for natural beauty as well as for ecological processes and biodiversity. Water comes from the Manas and the Beki, the two rivers that give the Manas-Beki system its name, and that system drains down into the Brahmaputra. The UNESCO entry picks out the golden langur, the hispid hare and the pygmy hog, and adds clouded leopard, sloth bear, tiger, greater one-horned rhinoceros, Indian elephant, wild buffalo, swamp deer and the Bengal florican. The pygmy hog and the hispid hare are small species found in very few places, which is part of why the sanctuary matters.
Area:39,100 hectaresCriteria:(vii), (ix), (x)River system:Manas-Beki, joining the Brahmaputra
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam covers 39,100 hectares, is a UNESCO World Heritage site under criteria (vii), (ix) and (x), lies on the Manas-Beki river system that joins the Brahmaputra, and shelters the pygmy hog and the golden langur.
The Kaziranga case in the Assam news has brought the State's World Heritage sites back into view; the two natural ones are not the whole list, because Assam has a cultural site as well. The site is called The Moidams, the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty, and it lies in Assam in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges. The necropolis is at Charaideo, the first capital of the Tai-Ahom, and holds 90 moidams. A moidam is a mound of earth piled over an empty chamber built of brick, stone or earth, and a shrine stands at the top of it. Into those chambers went the bodies of kings and their kin, and with them offerings of food, horses and elephants; at times queens and attendants were placed there too. The Tai-Ahom reached present-day Assam in the thirteenth century under Prince Siu-kha-pha, and moidams were built for 600 years, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century. UNESCO inscribed the site under criteria (iii) and (iv), and it became India's 43rd World Heritage site at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee, the first such session held in India, in New Delhi. The rituals of Me-Dam Me-Phi and Tarpan are still performed at Charaideo.
Number of moidams:90Place:Charaideo, the first Tai-Ahom capitalCriteria:(iii) and (iv)India's site number:43rdCommittee session:46th, New Delhi
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that The Moidams, the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty, at Charaideo in Assam holds 90 moidams, was inscribed under criteria (iii) and (iv), and is India's 43rd World Heritage site, declared at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi.
The Assam case in which the Gauhati High Court freed an indigenous rights activist sits inside a longer story of settlements with the State's communities, and the biggest of these is the Bodo accord. The Third Bodo Accord, 2020 took the shape of a Memorandum of Settlement. It was signed on 27 January 2020, and its purpose was to close a dispute that had run on for decades. The Government of India, the Government of Assam and representatives of Bodo groups signed it. As part of it 1,615 cadres gave themselves up and handed over their weapons. Three bodies came out of it: a Bodo Kachari Welfare Council, a Directorate of Bodo Medium Schools of its own, and a Welfare of Bodoland Department. The last of these looks after the councils that sit under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the Bodo Territorial Council among them. Clause 10.1 carries a Special Development Package worth Rs 1,500 crore, with the Centre and Assam paying Rs 750 crore apiece. The illustrative project lists name a Central University, the North-East Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and a National Institute of Technology. A Joint Monitoring Committee with members from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Assam government, the Bodo Territorial Council and Bodo organisations tracks implementation.
Signed on:27 January 2020Package:Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 750 crore each from the Centre and Assam)Cadres surrendered:1,615Constitutional Schedule:Sixth Schedule
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that the Third Bodo Accord, 2020 is a Memorandum of Settlement signed on 27 January 2020 by the Government of India, the Government of Assam and Bodo groups, that it carried a Special Development Package of Rs 1,500 crore shared equally by the Centre and the State, and that the Bodo Territorial Council comes under the Sixth Schedule.
Tea bodies in Assam and West Bengal are pressing the Centre to withdraw or change the rule that half their crop must be sold through public auction, so the size of Assam's tea sector is worth knowing. In 2025 Assam produced 687.76 million kg of tea, which was 50.20 per cent of India's production. No other tea belt in the world runs unbroken across so much ground, and the cup Assam makes is strong, full in the mouth and malty. Assam Orthodox is one of the teas the Board pushes under a geographical indication. Across India in March 2025 the crop stood on 6,35,364.61 hectares, worked by 1,567 estates and 2,49,318 small growers. The Tea Board of India was established on 1 April 1954 under the Tea Act, 1953, and works under the Department of Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Tea Marketing Control Order ties a grower to the auction floor for half his crop: 50 per cent has to move through auctions the Board licenses. The Tea Development and Promotion Scheme is the main support line for the sector, and in Assam and West Bengal the Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana works on health, education and housing for garden workers. The plea to the Centre was put jointly by four associations, among them the North Eastern Tea Association and the Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association.
Assam production, 2025:687.76 million kgShare of national production:50.20%Tea Board established:1 April 1954, under the Tea Act, 1953Auction rule:50% of produce through licensed public auctions
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that Assam produced 687.76 million kg of tea in 2025, which is 50.20 per cent of India's production, that the Tea Board of India was established on 1 April 1954 under the Tea Act, 1953 under the Department of Commerce, and that the Tea Marketing Control Order requires 50 per cent of produce to go through licensed public auctions.
Kaziranga, the park at the centre of the court case in the Assam news, sits on the Brahmaputra floodplain, and the river itself is a declared national waterway with works going up along it. The Brahmaputra is National Waterway 2, and the Inland Waterways Authority of India is the body that develops it. Four works along it were taken up at one go, and together they come to Rs 526 crore. An elevated road corridor from Pandu Port in Guwahati to National Highway 27 was built for Rs 180 crore and dedicated to the nation. A Regional Centre of Excellence at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh, for Rs 188 crore, is expected to train over 5,000 students a year. Two cruise terminals, at Biswanath Ghat and at Neamati, account for Rs 158 crore between them. The set of works was taken up by the Prime Minister along with the Governor of Assam, the Chief Minister and the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways. The three figures add up to that total: Rs 180 crore, Rs 188 crore and Rs 158 crore.
Waterway number:National Waterway 2 (Brahmaputra)Developing body:Inland Waterways Authority of IndiaTotal investment:Rs 526 croreRegional Centre of Excellence:Bogibeel, Dibrugarh, Rs 188 crore
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that the Brahmaputra is National Waterway 2 developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, that the elevated corridor from Pandu Port in Guwahati to National Highway 27 cost Rs 180 crore, and that the Regional Centre of Excellence is at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh.
The Gauhati High Court case that freed an indigenous rights activist turns on who counts as indigenous in Assam, and the State's own answer runs through Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. A committee headed by Justice Biplab Sarma was set up to work out how Clause 6 should be implemented, and it made 67 recommendations. The Assam Cabinet decided to implement 80 per cent of them, that is 57 recommendations, and set a deadline of 15 April the following year. What the State says it is after is plain enough: the indigenous people of Assam should not lose their land, their language or their way of living. Clause 6 of the Accord promises constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards for the Assamese people; it is not the clause about detecting or deporting anyone. The committee's report turned that promise into a list of steps a government can act on.
Committee head:Justice Biplab SarmaRecommendations made:67To be implemented:57 (80 per cent)
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is that the committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord was headed by Justice Biplab Sarma, that it made 67 recommendations, and that the Assam Cabinet decided to implement 57 of them to safeguard the land, language and culture of the indigenous people of Assam.
The protest over a hotel beside Kaziranga, which led to the detention case the Gauhati High Court has just decided, has drawn attention to what is being built around the park. The biggest project cleared in that stretch runs beneath the Brahmaputra. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a twin-tube tunnel to be bored under the river, with one of the two tubes taking a railway as well as road lanes. In all the project measures 33.7 km. Of that, 15.79 km is the tunnel under the river itself, carrying both road and rail. The route runs from Gohpur on National Highway 15 to Numaligarh on National Highway 715 in Assam. Its total capital cost is Rs 18,662.02 crore, and Kaziranga National Park is one of the tourist nodes on the alignment.
Total length:33.7 kmTunnel under the river:15.79 kmRoute:Gohpur on NH-15 to Numaligarh on NH-715Capital cost:Rs 18,662.02 crore
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that the twin tube underwater tunnel under the Brahmaputra runs from Gohpur on National Highway 15 to Numaligarh on National Highway 715 in Assam, that the project is 33.7 km with a 15.79 km tunnel under the river, and that its capital cost is Rs 18,662.02 crore.
EPCEngineering, Procurement and Construction — A contract mode where one contractor designs, buys materials for and builds the whole project for a fixed price.