The government may have to curtail Kamal Nath

KOLKATA, 17 June: In a strange bit of irony the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is seeking to acquire 2,500 acres of land in Nandigram where the state government has stopped all acquisition activities following a violent agitation over land acquisition for industrial purpose in 2007.

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways sanctioned five new national highways for Himachal on Tuesday. The highways will be upgraded out of the existing routes. The ministry also agreed to fund the 1.7-kilometre Swarghat tunnel project on the Chandigarh-Manali road.

Pranab Steps In, Says No Clearance Needed For Widening Of Existing Stretches

New Delhi: The Kamal Nath versus Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: The uproar over the Bhopal gas-leak judgment has put the role of several UPA ministers and functionaries, including those in the newly reconstituted group of ministers (GoM), under scrutiny yet again.

The cabinet committee on infrastructure (CCI) approved highway projects worth Rs 2,500 crore today. These highways will come up across Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and will be built under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

NEW DELHI: Reflecting a sluggish growth in construction of national highways, the surface transport ministry could utilise just about 40% of the Rs 30,000 crore allocated for 2009-10. Despite the inability to meet the target, the ministry, however, plans an annual borrowing of Rs 20,000 crore over the next 15 years to fund its ambitious programme of building 20 kilometers of road a day.

THE environment ministry has formed a panel to examine the impact of 17 projects, relating to mining and infrastructure development, on conservation of tiger.

The four-member committee of former National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief P K Sen and NTCA members Prakash Murlidhar Amte, Samar Singh and Urmila Pingle will submit its report within a month.

Praveen Kumar Singh

To silence critics who decry acquisition of land for infrastructure projects, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has sought the power to vest back unused acquired land to the original owner.