When Nitin Gadkari took charge as Road Transport and Highways Minister in 2014, he had set a target of constructing 40 km a day in two years. But construction at this point is a mere 16 km a day. Megha Manchanda on what ails the road sector.
'The ruling does not automatically mean that your house can be taken away, but suppose it blocks an expressway or a highway or such essential development, then it can be taken away as long as there is a law to support that action.'
Once the scheme is implemented 70-80 per cent of the freight would move along national highways as against the current 40 per cent, says Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Gadkari is credited with the construction of more than 90,000 km of national highways and 30,000 km of new roads in the country in the last 10 years.
If the fiscal deficit target of 4.9% of GDP has to be met for 2024-2025, which the government must in view of the uncertainties and challenges emerging both domestically and globally, the finance ministry may see in the composition of the current year's capex a sliver of hope, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The Uttar Pradesh government is expecting over 35 crore pilgrims to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, a significant increase from the 24 crore who attended the 2019 Kumbh Mela. The event, which will take place over 45 days, will feature extensive security and sanitation measures, as well as a digital component. The state government has allocated Rs 7,000 crore for the event.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has released its manifesto for the upcoming Nagaland assembly elections, promising a special package for the eastern part of the state and establishment of a board for the holistic development of the region if the party returns to power for the second time in a row.
Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took to X to wish a happy birthday to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi who turned 74 on Tuesday and said they will continue to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
The toll plaza employees allowed vehicles to pass through without paying any charge.
The United States has the world's largest network of highways, including both the Interstate Highway System and the US Highway System.
The ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur has claimed 258 lives since May last year, the state government's Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh said on Friday.
'Some districts have said that areas which are away from the urban centres and where there have been minimal to zero Covid-19 cases may be exempted from the lockdown and construction activity should be allowed,' said a person in the know.
He argued that if inflation is low, stable and moving towards the 4 per cent target, why has the RBI not revised downward the bank rate fixed in June 2023?
"Based on this consensus, the process of disengagement is almost complete. Our efforts will be to take the matter beyond disengagement; but for that, we will have to wait a little longer," he added.
A 22-year-old woman was allegedly abducted from the Kota-Etawah Express and gang-raped by three men who held her hostage for five hours, officials said on Monday.
From the 30-share pack, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Nestle India, Asian Paints, ITC, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India were among the laggards. Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid were among the gainers.
A mob led by Kuki-Zo women clashed with security forces in Manipur's Kangpokpi district on Tuesday, triggering fresh tensions in the ethnic strife-hit state.
The time is ideal for a 'Dream Budget' akin to the 1991 reforms that sparked high growth and unlocked significant gains in productivity, points out Rajeswari Sengupta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party government of wasting a decade fighting with the Centre and urged its people to give the Bharatiya Janata Party an opportunity to turn the national capital into a city of the future.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has attached over a dozen properties worth Rs 12.78 crore of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh including bank deposits, an apartment, and agricultural and fishery land in Sandeshkhali and Kolkata in West Bengal.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the passengers onboard the bus that fell 150 metres into a river in central Nepal were from Jalgaon district in the state as per preliminary information, and efforts are on to bring them back.
At the heart of his criticism is the delay in decision making and a lack of monitoring. Some officials, however, blamed the delays on overambitious contractors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party as an 'aapda' (disaster) for Delhi, saying this 'aapda' had taken the national capital in its grip in the past 10 years.
The Madras High Court has set aside a notification of the central government, fixing 120 kmph as the speed limit for vehicles plying on highways.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kangana Ranaut visited some cloudburst-affected areas in Rampur, in Shimla on Tuesday, taking stock of the situation.
An old bridge across Kali river in Uttara Kannada district collapsed in the small hours of Wednesday, resulting in heavy traffic along National Highway 66, connecting Goa to Karnataka.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the five-member committee to convene its first meeting within a week and reach out to the agitating farmers to persuade them to immediately remove their tractors, trolleys etc from the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana to provide relief to commuters.
Thousands of police personnel and CCTV cameras were deployed and traffic regulated across states on Tuesday to ensure public safety and prevent any untoward incident as the country geared up to welcome 2025.
The toll waiver will be in force from midnight on Monday, he said.
Toll booths may be kept 50 km apart for seamless travel
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sought a meeting with quick-commerce (qcom) platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto on Tuesday to discuss issues regarding violations of food safety standards, according to sources familiar with the matter. This comes at a time when there have been issues raised about food safety standard violations by qcom platforms for packaged food products, including violations related to expiry and best before dates.
The India meteorological department on Sunday issued an 'orange' alert for Gujarat, saying the state was expected to receive "heavy to very heavy rainfall" on July 24.
Heavy rains lashed wide parts of Jammu and Kashmir over the past couple of days, triggering landslides at many places and raising the level of water bodies.
A 'jatha' of 101 farmers Friday began its foot march to Delhi from their protest site at Shambhu border, but was stopped a few metres away by a multilayered barricading.
The Congress has tried to inflict capital punishment on true secularism, he claimed, asserting that the Waqf law has no place in the Constitution.
'My one recommendation would be to first quell the violence and then encourage dialogue and build the trust among the different communities.' 'This is not easy but necessary, for violence cannot be the way forward.'
Schemes like the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana strain fiscal resources amid rising unemployment and prices of food items.
Government officials believe that central bridge projects perform better than state projects due to stricter checks and balances.
Delhi's air quality plummeted to alarming levels on Tuesday after 24 days, with many areas witnessing a significant spike in pollution despite the strictest measures, including a ban on construction activities and the entry of trucks into the city, coming into force.
Shah, while releasing the saffron party's manifesto 'Sankalp Patra' for the upcoming assembly elections in Jharkhand, announced that a Displacement Commission would be formed to ensure rehabilitation of people displaced by industries and mines in the state.
