'Roads are important as they provide domestic economic stimulus.'
The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has called for the statewide shutdown to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. Barring stray incidents of stone pelting and attempt to disrupt road traffic in Mumbai, there was not much impact of the bandh in the metropolis.
'Now, the government will have to ensure even stronger surveillance to curb the infection but if that will be done is something to be observed'
Cautioning that there will be social and psychological consequences for the rest of the country too, Guha said the migrant tragedy could have been averted or at least minimised if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given them a week's notice to return home before the lockdown kicked in.
His outburst has to rank among the most bizarre episodes of two arms of the government fighting in public.
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.
By official estimates, the country has a surplus of 300,000 tonnes of milk powder, which has led to dairies and other bulk buyers cutting liquid milk purchase thus affecting its price.
Transportation via inland waterways is cost-effective and more environment-friendly than rail or road transportation
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.
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.
Rail and road blockade, demonstrations, and impromptu rallies by the Opposition marked the shutdown in the state affecting normal life to some extent.
The government began the selection process a year earlier and has twice gone through the process of short-listing candidates.
The cost overruns were because of rise in prices of construction materials, delay in land acquisition, utility shifting and obtaining clearances from forest/environment, he said during Question Hour. Poor performance of some contractors and law and order problems in some states were some other reasons.
"We have sought assistance from World Bank for 37,000 km of roads as we plan to take up work on these projects soon," Road Minister C P Joshi told reporters after a meeting with a World Bank delegation, headed by its South Asia Region Vice President Isabel Guerrero.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi's (TRS) 48-hour bandh has incurred a huge loss to the coastal areas of East Godavari, West Godvari and Viskhapatnam.
GAGAN or the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation to be launched by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel would not only help the civil aviation sector but also help in marine navigation, search and rescue operations, rail and road transport, survey and mapping as well as precision farming.
Normal life was thrown out of gear at several places across Andhra Pradesh on Monday due to the shutdown called by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi to protest the arrest of their leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, who continued his fast in prison.
Sources in the know said the government would initiate talks with businesses, including Tatas, shortly for divesting its stake in the national carrier.
Only two Indo-Canadian Members of Parliament -- Conservative Deepak Obhrai and Liberal Yasmeen Ratansi, and one senator, Conservative Vim Kochhar, showed up to greet Kamal Nath, Indian minister for roads, transportation and highways, at a reception organised by the Canada-India Parliamentary Association in Ottawa, on March 24.
The minister, however, refused to divulge the names of the companies saying that there were many of them and he could not name them just then.
India expects a big investment of $5 billion (about Rs 22,800 crore) from Canada in the country's road development programme over the next three to four years, road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath has said.
The project, to be executed by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, would involve double-laning of single-lane highways in eight states in the next three years.
A report by a senior official in the Planning Commission has said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is heading towards bankruptcy, as its debt is set to increase five times in the next three years.
Rs 7 lakh crore will be invested to develop for over 80,000 km of highways including Bharatmala project in the next five years
While players in the financial ecosystem are opening up to the idea of receivables funding for the sector, this market needs a regulator, which a Parliament panel feels only RBI can provide.
Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday he was forewarned that the Plan panel would not allow him to achieve a 20 km-a-day road-building target.
Toll collection is a key instrument for the government to attract private investment.
Ex-AAP strategist Shefali Misra to join Uber as head of public policy
At present, Road Secretary R S Gujral is handling the additional charge of NHAI chairman, the position which has been vacated by Brijeshwar Singh, for three months.
According to official reports, eight bodies had been recovered so far and rescue operations were on.
However, finance minister Pranab Mukerjee did not commit himself to this proposal of floating infrastructure bonds, as this requires detailed examination and Parliamentary nod.
Kamal Nath, minister of road transport and highways, pitched for American investment and advanced technology transfer in infrastructure development in India's road sector in New York last week.
Bandhs and protests over the Centre's move to create a separate Telangana state continued for the second day on Saturday, affecting normal life in coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions of Andhra Pradesh.
The highway authority's annual toll earning for 2009-10 was in the range of Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) from 141 public-funded toll plazas in the country.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath has been summoned by a US federal district court for his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots based on a case filed by a Sikh outfit.
The much-hyped target set by Union road transport and highways Minister Kamal Nath, to build 20 kilometres of roads every day, might be revised to a more achievable target, informed sources say. Sources close to the development say there is talk within the ministry of a more feasible target. "The target of 20 kilometres per day is not sacrosanct. That is what the minister wanted to achieve.
The truckers organisation, All India Motor Transport Congress has demanded lower toll tax or nearly 62 lakh (6.2 million) trucks would go off roads from August 6, bringing movement of goods throughout the country to a halt.
Canada is not reaching out to India to the extent it could have, said Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath.
Seeking a high-level probe either by the CBI or a parliamentary panel into the toll collection policy, AIMTC alleged that 'arbitrary' revision in toll rates in 2008 has resulted in truckers paying a hefty Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) a day as toll tax.
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