The Supreme Court declined to intervene in allegations of harassment against women dog feeders, stating it's a law and order issue. The court is hearing arguments in the stray dogs case and addressed concerns about unregulated breeding and exotic imports.
If 2019-20 (FY20) was an unusual year for highway construction in India, with the pace of work slowing down for the first time since the Narendra Modi government assumed power in 2014, largely due to the general elections in May and liquidity crunch, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21 (FY21) only made matters worse with lockdowns and labour unavailability. The pace of highway construction in 2021-22 (FY22) has not been able to bulldoze the pandemic barriers in a year marred by two Covid-19 waves - the second at the start of the fiscal year, the third towards the close. With localised lockdowns and restrictions on mobility, highway construction growth in the country has now fallen to a five-year low.
The government may consider a public-private partnership (PPP) mode for setting up national gas highways to ensure distribution across the country.
The Supreme Court clarified that it has not ordered the removal of all stray dogs, but rather that they should be treated according to Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules. The court heard arguments on the issue, addressing concerns about rodent populations, hospital safety, and the implementation of existing regulations.
Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said his ministry can address the water woes faced in parts of the country.
The National Highways Authority of India and the road transport and highways ministry are currently engaged in appraisal of the request for qualifications, said a senior ministry official.
India has world's second largest road network with its National Highways covering a distance of 92,851.07 kms.
The Maharashtra Highway Traffic Police have advised motorists to avoid the Mumbai-Pune Expressway until regular traffic movement is restored.
NH-925 is India's first national highway to be used for emergency landing of IAF aircraft.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a 418 feet national flag, the tallest in the country, at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab's Amritsar district.
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.
After failing to get bids for over half of its highway projects last year, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to put up 19 highway projects worth Rs 23,805 crore for rebidding next month through a new short-listing process.
The company also needs to get its power plants going if it wants to reduce its debt burden.
Heavy monsoon rains battered Karnataka's coastal belt for the third consecutive day on Monday, severely disrupting normal life in Dakshina Kannada district, prompting authorities to issue a red alert and deploy disaster response teams. A red alert indicates extremely heavy rainfall of over 20 cm in 24 hours, and will remain in force for the next five days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Several parts of Mangaluru city reported waterlogging and traffic snarls, while minor incidents of landslides were reported from hilly regions across the district. The district administration has directed schools and composite colleges to remain shut on 27 and 28 following the IMD issuing a red alert. Instructions were also issued to relocate residents living in vulnerable hillside and riverside areas to safer locations. The authorities have sought prompt action from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) following complaints of water intrusion in residential areas due to ongoing highway construction works.
The projects include six-laning of highway stretches in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, four-laning of highway stretches in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and two-laning with paved shoulders of stretches in Punjab and Rajasthan.
In what could be a shot in the arm for the National Highway Development Programme, the National Highway Authority of India is all set to receive a windfall of Rs 471 crore
According to a three-year-old article published in Lokmat, the bridge was in a terrible condition and the National Highways Authority who were aware of the condition did nothing to fix it.
"Land acquisition is the biggest issue. Now contracts will be awarded if 80 per cent of the land is acquired and is in possession of National Highway Authority of India," minister for road transport and highways Kamal Nath said during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. On members' complaints regarding 'very high' toll rates in public-private partnership projects, the minister defended the existing rates and said reduced toll would mean less roads.
The labourers, who are said to be of Nepali origin, were engaged in the construction of a hotel.
To prevent companies from submitting unrealistic quotes to bag project contracts across industries, the government is planning to soon roll out a mechanism to curb irrational bidding.
The statement by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) comes in the backdrop of collapse of under-construction Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi on November 12.
Flash floods triggered by a cloudburst in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, resulted in casualties and widespread damage, prompting rescue operations and relief efforts.
The two policemen were injured by "hard and blunt instruments", while "two protesters with firearm injuries" were also brought to JPMC, the surgeon told Dawn.
The family of an Army jawan, Kapil, recounts the brutal assault he endured at a toll plaza in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. They describe the attack and the injuries he sustained, while police investigate and make arrests.
This is the first time that highway projects awarded by the NHAI have failed to achieve financial closure.
According to senior officials of the National Highways Authority of India, this project is part of a larger 245-km highway development project connecting Hyderabad and Solapur.
Consumption of cement, steel, and bitumen is to get a boost of Rs 42,000 crore (Rs 420 billion), as the National Highways Authority of India has announced to award 7,994 km of highway projects in the current financial year.
Toll booths may be kept 50 km apart for seamless travel
The embassy of India in Bamako said it was "aware of the unfortunate incident" involving the kidnapping of five Indian nationals in Mali on November 6 and is working closely with local authorities and the concerned company to ensure their "safe release as quickly as possible."
While presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament, the finance minister said poll-bound West Bengal will see highway projects worth Rs 25,000 crore. She also announced that highway projects worth Rs 65,000 crore will be undertaken in Kerala. She also announced an Rs 18,000-crore scheme to augment public transport in urban areas.
Raut was responding to a reporter's question about opposition parties' claim that Gadkari was targeted through the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on alleged irregularities in the work done by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
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.
'This tragedy will not be the last -- you shall witness another tomorrow, perhaps another the day after, and increasingly more.'
IMD weather forecast predicted a moderate to intense spell of rain in these areas for the next three to four hours.
The Supreme Court of India has transferred a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the safety and longevity of bridges in Bihar to the Patna High Court. The court expressed concern over the state government's handling of bridge collapses, noting that officials were suspended after incidents but reinstated after the public outcry subsided. The court also criticized the state's voluminous response to the PIL, which lacked explanations for the collapses. The Patna High Court will now monitor the state's efforts to ensure structural and safety audits of bridges in Bihar.
Road awards were muted in Q1FY25. But the pace will accelerate with a bidding pipeline of Rs 1.1 trillion (September 2024), mostly dominated by HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model) projects, which contribute 47 per cent and engineering procurement and construction or EPC projects, which have about 36 per cent share. Hence, infrastructure companies mostly reported revenue decline on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis in Q1FY25.
The National Highways Authority of India on Wednesday said it needs to borrow up to Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) per year for the next 15 years to implement Rs 9 lakh crore (Rs 9 trillion) worth of road projects in the PPP mode till 2031-32.
