The road transport ministry has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ascertain the findings of a report by the World Bank's Institutional Integrity Unit. According to the report, contractors paid bribes and gifts to influence the actions of NHAI officials and consultants.
Sources said the designers present in the meeting will submit their individual proposals shortly to the MSME ministry entailing suggestions to set up design centres.
In an obvious bid to settle her scores with the Centre, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday got FIRs lodged against two Union ministers and two Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders for bashing up activists of Samajwadi Party near the venue of Rahul Gandhi's campaign rally in Phoolpur on Monday.
The Public Private Partnership Approval Committee (PPPAC), chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan, had granted approval to the six proposals of the ministry of road transport and highways spread across five states, an official statement said.
"We have conveyed this to the road transport ministry. We go for environment approval for all land we acquire, but land with environment issues requires more approvals," said a senior NHAI official, who did not want to be identified.
The National Highways Authority of India and the road transport ministry together have constructed 1,314 km of highways in the current financial year till August 31.
In what could mean a big investment opportunity for the construction industry in the years to come, the road transport ministry plans to more than double private participation in highway construction during the 12th Five Year Plan starting April 2012.
With the Road Transport Corporation buses already on strike since last six days, auto rickshaws also going on two day strike from Saturday, and petrol pumps shutting their doors the people in Telangana were left with out any means of travelling.
The government has approved 20 new highway and housing projects at a total investment of Rs 14,538 crore (Rs 145.38 billion).
Violation of the provisions entails a punishment of a jail term of up to five years or with fine up to Rs one crore or with both.
'Loss of these urban salaried jobs is, therefore, likely to have a particularly debilitating impact on the economy, besides causing immediate hardship to middle-class households,' points out Mahesh Vyas.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast 'extremely heavy rains' at a few places in Marathwada, Mumbai and other parts of the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra in the next 24 hours.
Government tenders could soon go to bidders who promise to train highest number of youth.
As Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh remained shut on the second consecutive day in response to the 48-hour general strike call by the Telangana Joint Action Committee, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti has warned the Congress leaders of the region against any compromise with their central leaders.
India has a road network of over 3.314 million kilometres, making it the third largest road network in the world.
Continuing his tirade against the Congress leaders, he said that like others, he never compromises when it comes to patriotism and self-respect.
In doing so, Bajaj has become the first internal combustion engine two-wheeler company to launch an all-electric two-wheeler in India.
The cut in wages by companies whose operations were not shut by the lockdown was more likely opportunistic than out of business compulsions to survive the lockdown. If this is true, then it is worth wondering what kind of opportunism was this? Was it to make a quick buck or was it to use a crisis to engineer a structural change that was necessary, asks Mahesh Vyas.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev celebrated the 20th foundation day of his ashram, Divya Yog Mandir Trust in Haridwar, on Monday by participating in a wrestling match against wrestler Sushil Kumar.
When the facility becomes operational, Mysore will become the first city in the country to adopt the intelligent transport system.
Modi is seen as exceptional not only on account of his acts but also owing to his style. He appears to sacrifice his life for the people -- like a fakir, a figure he came to epitomize even more in 2020 by growing a long white beard. Charisma is above accountability, and Modi has grasped these dynamics.
Even as the top leadership of the Congress party in New Delhi was busy in confabulations to find a way out of the mess in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, its state government seems to be inching for a confrontation with the agitators.
Gadkari, a senior BJP leader, insisted that Raje had done no wrong and said that such issues should not be brought into politics.
While consumers feel that petrol pinches directly, diesel hurts indirectly, as it is an input in almost all the goods and services we use.
The Minister for Road Transport and Highways C P Joshi, on assuming charge at the ministry, said improving the quality of roads built and bringing in transparency in the operations of the ministry would be his priority.
'Roads are important as they provide domestic economic stimulus.'
The Group of Ministers will examine the existing legal and institutional frameworks for dealing with matters of sexual harassment of women at workplace and recommend action required for effective implementation of the existing provisions, as well as for strengthening the existing legal and institutional frameworks for addressing issues related to sexual harassment at workplace, the statement said.
Scores of opposition workers were taken into custody by police in several areas across the state.
As the festival began on Monday morning, idols of different shapes and sizes of the elephant-headed God, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and considered as a symbol of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, were installed at the sarvanjik (community) mandals and at homes by devotees.
Almost all infrastructure ministries continued spending on capex throughout the lockdown, even as the Centre tried to maintain some semblance of economic normalcy.
His outburst has to rank among the most bizarre episodes of two arms of the government fighting in public.
While some states like Kerala and Telangana were badly hit by the strike, the impact was partial in Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra
Attendance in commercial organisations is very thin.
A committee on electronic toll collection headed by Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani, which is developing the equipment, has recommended using Radio Frequency Identification technology for the system, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath told reporters.
Work is also progressing on 17 strategic highway-cum-airstrips, three of which have been completed, he said. Besides, work is on in full swing on the Rs 12,000 crore ambitious Chardham project for providing all-weather connectivity to Gangotri, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Badrinath.
India will not allow Chinese companies to participate in highway projects, including those through joint ventures, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday amid the border standoff with China. Gadakri also said the government will ensure that Chinese investors are not entertained in various sectors like the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Cyclone Vayu was to hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday, but it changed course on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Saturday announced a judicial inquiry into the stampede that claimed 104 lives at Pullumeduner on Friday night. Achuthanandan, who flew down by a helicopter to Kumali where the bodies of the victims were brought, also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of each of the victims. The seriously injured would be given Rs 50,000 and those with minor injuries Rs 25,000.
In what could come as a boost for construction companies, the road transport ministry plans to award projects covering 10,000 km of highways during the current financial year. About 80 per cent of these would be awarded on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode.
The government began the selection process a year earlier and has twice gone through the process of short-listing candidates.
