On the eve of Earth Day, Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan on Monday appealed to the people to protest against the controversial new Bus Rapid Transit corridor by taking out candlelight marches across Delhi. One such procession would also be taken out by the Delhi BJP on the 5.6-km Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand Hospital section of the corridor on which trial runs have begun.

A rude shock awaited Delhiites who happened to take the Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand Hospital stretch of the controversial new Bus Rapid Transit corridor in the Capital on the second day of its trial run on Monday with utter chaos and clutter crippling traffic flow to a snail's pace.

The Delhi government has procured a digital map to track the movement of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses that will initially run on four selected routes in the city. As reported by this newspaper for the first time, the draft has been prepared by Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) to track the movement of DTC buses fitted with global positioning system devices. The process will be extended to other routes in the near future.

The European Commission is not starting to backtrack on its target of getting 10 percent of its road transport fuel from crops and biomass by 2020, a spokesman said on Monday. The January proposals have become increasingly controversial amid soaring world food prices and fears that farm land in developing countries is being diverted away from food crops towards others that can be distilled into vehicle fuel. Asked by reporters whether media reports that the Commission was reconsidering the biofuel target were true, the spokesman said: "The answer is very simple -- no."

Guess who's set to drive the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) once it rolls into the city? It's the Amdavadi women, who are ready to hop onto this clean-green mode of transport. An elaborate household survey conducted in March this year to determine the willingness of commuters to shift to BRTS revealed that a whopping 43.19 per cent of women surveyed, cutting across all economic strata, said they would love to take the BRTS. In contrast, 31.9 per cent men said they would prefer the BRTS.

Bodeli (Vadodara): Four children miraculously survived Wednesday's Gujarat bus accident in which 44 were killed. A 13-year-old survivor, Mamta Baria, was crying uncontrollably for several hours after the accident, lamenting that she had failed to save her friends.

Public Works and Revenue Minister Thakur Gulab Singh today said a sum of Rs 10.25 crore would be spent on the widening and construction of drains, a bridge and tarring of 38-kilometre of the National Highway between Kullu and Manali. Accompanied by local MLA Govind Singh Thakur and Deputy Speaker Khimi Ram Sharma, Gulab Singh was addressing mediapersons here at the Circuit House. The Minister said an additional budget of Rs 4.6 crore has been sanctioned for the periodical renovation of the stretch of NH-21 right from Bhuntar up to Manali.

Commuting can become an ordeal when the summer hits its peak. This year there is a way to beat the heat while commuting in the city even if you do not own an air-conditioned vehicle of your own.