Under the defence partnership, India and the UAE are eyeing defence industrial collaboration and cooperation in advanced technologies, cyberspace training, special operations, interoperability of their militaries and counter terrorism.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced plans for a vast underground tunnel network in Mumbai to ease traffic congestion, describing it as a 'Paatal Lok,' a parallel road system. The tunnel grid will cover the city in multiple directions, complementing existing arterial routes and Metro corridors. Several tunnel projects are under construction, including Thane-Borivali and Mulund-Goregaon, to improve east-west connectivity. An integrated Mumbai One app has been launched to enable a common ticket for various modes of transport.
The ambitious project of the urban development ministry, pegged at Rs 4,676 crore, was originally scheduled to be completed in 2015. It is to be executed through a joint venture company of the central and state government. Equity participation of the state and central government will be on a 50:50 basis. But soon after taking charge of the railway ministry, Banerjee had a talk with Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy about her apprehensions.
Modi, who visited Cyprus in the first leg of his three-nation visit, reiterated India's support for Cyprus's unity and for a peaceful resolution of the Cyprus Question based on UN Security Council resolutions, international law, and the EU Acquis.
From the function at the Esplanade metro station, the PM also inaugurated the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section of the New Garia-Aiport line and the Taratala-Majerhat section of the Joka-Esplanade line of the Kolkata Metro, the country's oldest metro network.
After US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day tariff pause for several nations, including India, global manufacturers are in a rush to ensure that bulk of their goods reach the US during this window. "The 90-day suspension of tariffs will be welcomed by shippers, but it should not be a cause for celebration.
The abduction of a 50-year-old engineer in Kokrajhar district, western Assam, by suspected militants belonging to the anti-peace talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland has left the East-West Corridor project of the National Highway Authority of India in lurch.
This alternative is being planned as the existing projects continue to be delayed due to land acquisition troubles. The ministry is thinking of adding new track lines to its existing eastern and western DFCs passing major areas in the proposed stretches, senior officials said.
The militant group, also known as the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel faction), had for the last couple of years held almost every development project in the picturesque North Cachar Hills district of Assam at ransom.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Monday a record sum of Rs 1.10 lakh crore for the Railways, out of which Rs 1.07 lakh crore is for capital expenditure, and said the national transporter would monetise the dedicated freight corridors after its commissioning. Presenting the Union Budget 2021-22, Sitharaman also applauded the services provided by the Railways to transport essential goods across the country during the coronavirus lockdown.
Setting up of the network will ensure that each accident victim on these corridors is able to get medical assistance in time. In fact, the draft policy on road safety, which the Ministry for Road Transport and Highways is currently finalising, also carries a proposal on the same lines.
The metro rake which had only officials and engineers on board ran under the Hooghly from Kolkata to Howrah on the other side of the river.
Modelled loosely around the National Highway System of the US, he in 2001 launched the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South & East-West Corridor projects to build 4/6 lane highways between four top metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata as well as from Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Porbandar to Silchar.
The North East is a sizeable success story for the Modi government politically and for the BJP electorally. It will be an unpleasant surprise if they choose to blow it, bowing to their basic, polarising instinct at any point, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Besides facilitating travel by easing the traffic bottlenecks, the approved lines would help the upcoming industries in the region.
ADB has often expressed its interest in promoting sub-regional integration in South Asia and perhaps could be involved as a facilitator.
India should not miss the opportunity to develop high-speed railway.
UPA government has decided to take full responsibility for the Rs 4,874 crore East-West Metro Corridor project.
'The significance and timing of the PM's start of the campaign journey from Silchar is a clear message that the Barak valley is a priority in his scheme of things,' notes Subimal Bhattacharjee.
Mumbai, India's financial capital, is set for a mega transformation with a massive patch of land opening up for redevelopment; a new metro railway ready to start services by the year-end; and the country's oldest railway station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, going for modernisation with private sector participation. Work on Mumbai's second airport will start from next month, while construction of the sea link connecting central Mumbai to Navi Mumbai has already moved into a fast lane despite Covid-induced lockdowns. Also, a coastal road project, connecting Nariman Point to Worli, is under way and will help decongest the city to quite an extent. Of all these mega infrastructure projects, the one that has a huge potential to change the city's skyline is the Eastern Waterfront project - to be built on the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) land.
The NHAI says non-availability of funds from private developers and financial institutions is also responsible for major delays.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and submitted a detailed report on the recent political developments in the wake of Governor J P Rajkhowa advancing the assembly session.
Stating that recent agriculture reforms have opened new opportunities, the RBI Governor said the farm sector is emerging as a bright spot.
'How can Kashmir be demilitarised if the terrorist threat remains and Pakistan continues to incite elements in Kashmir to keep the internal situation unstable?' asks former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.
Outlining the Budget estimates for the coming year, the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu put the plan size at Rs 1.21 lakh crore.
'There is no difference morally between politicians scoring points amid the rubble and non-politicians who assume that politics and corruption necessarily had something to do with it,' says Mihir S Sharma. 'Both are twisting a tragedy to their own ends.'
A homoeopathic state of mind pervades our thinking in governance and infrastructure-building. Do it in small, harmless doses, but nothing bitter, sharp, or bloody, says Shekhar Gupta.
BJP President Amit Shah -- arguably the second most powerful politician in the nation -- granted a rare television interview to the Network 18 group of news channels. Rediff.com's Rajesh Alva checks out what the BJP boss said in this word cloud assessment of the interview.
Here is the full transcript of Congress vice president and Lok Sabha poll campaign chief Rahul Gandhi's first formal TV interview with Times Now Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami.