India is about to breach the $2 trillion GDP mark, as it works its way through the lower end of the middle-income-nation spectrum.

With the Union urban ministry emphasizing the funding of major transportation projects in the country, Gujarat's cities have readied teams to lobby for multi-crore BRTS projects to be taken up on priority basis in the coming JNNURM committee meeting. The Union budget has made provisions for almost Rs 14,873 crore - a major portion of which will be directed at buying 10,000 buses across the country.

Gujarat cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara which are either at key points in their BRTS projects, or have yet to start work, would be visiting Delhi in the coming few weeks.

VADODARA: Almost a decade after he single-handedly got the world heritage status by UNESCO for the lost city of Champaner, noted architect Karan Grover has initiated his next mission for the cause of sustainable buildings.

For the next one year, Grover will be reaching out to 10,000 students of architecture, initiating them to the green cause, calling it the 'Students Green Movement'. The aim of the mission is to encourage the young architects to promote green buildings.

Gandhinagar: Swine flu casualties in the past few weeks in the state have baffled the state health department.

AHMEDABAD: It's not Ahmedabad alone that is aiming at the tall order, but major cities in the state have been given the go ahead with higher FSI limits by the state urban development department (UD

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Thursday sought explanation from the authorities concerned over the wastage of nearly 3,000 quintal of foodgrain in rains at Vadodara railway station earlier this month.

On the basis of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Ritesh Koshtri, a bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala issued notice to the Western Railway, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the union agriculture ministry. All have been asked to explain the wastage of huge stock of wheat on August 12.

All the required formalities have been completed for the launch a joint venture company between Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and GAIL India for supply of natural gas in the city and surrounding areas.

“The proposal of this joint venture company would come before the general body of the VMC on August 8. After getting approval from the elected members of the VMC, the Gujarat government as well as the the concerned central authorities, the joint venture company is expected to come into existence in the next couple of months,” he said.

Vadodara Has 46 Trees Per Hectare Which Is Way Above State Average

Vadodara: The Banyan city is growing by leaps and bounds but it is still breathing fresh air compared to bigger cities in Gujarat. A tree census done by the forest department and Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) in the city limits has revealed that the city’s residents are far luckier when it comes to fresh air and green cover. Vadodara has 7,47,193 trees spread over an area of 16,261 hectares. The survey was done for several months in 25 wards of VMC.

The city is lending a helping hand to Hubli-Dharwad, the second-largest urban spread in Karnataka after Bangalore. The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) University has shown the way to the aggregation, which is suffering because of overloaded public transport service, by designing a BRTS for the twin city.

A Rs 450-crore project has been proposed, including Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) between Hubli and Dharwad. Cept University has been roped in as a consultant for the project which covers a stretch of 22.2 km.