-The Times of India NEW DELHI: If you jump a traffic light, drive on the wrong side of the road, refuse to snap on the seat belt or obstruct emergency vehicles, you may soon have to cough up a fine of Rs 5,000. And if you repeat these offences, the penalty could climb to Rs 10,000 and even Rs 15,000, your licence could be suspended and you may be packed off...

-The Telegraph Shillong: The Union cabinet today approved the implementation of a "comprehensive telecom development plan" for the Northeast where thousands of uncovered villages would be connected. The proposal entails an estimated expenditure of Rs 5,336.18 crore and the plan will be funded through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). "The USOF would fund capital expenditure (Capex) and operational expenditure (Opex) net of revenue for a period of five years," an official communiqué...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Road Transport & Highways The Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has signed Memorandum of Understanding for two more pilot projects for Cashless Treatment Road Accident Victims - one on Vadodara-Mumbai stretch of NH-8 and the other on Ranchi-Rargaon-Mahulia (Jamshedpur) stretch of NH-33. These were signed in the presence of the Minister of Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari this morning. The projects envisage...

-The Hindu Business Line India's vehicles should incorporate safety features that are the norm elsewhere The tremendous increase in the number of vehicles on Indian roads has also led to an increase in road accidents. India accounts for 10 per cent of the global road crash fatalities. Statistics shows that globally more than a million people die due to road accidents every year; if we do not do anything about it by...

-The Telegraph In her recent book, Green Wars, the environmental journalist Bahar Dutt, writes: "The editor of a leading media house, everytime I pitched a green story, would invariably complain: ‘Environmentalism is stalling growth; all I am interested in is double-digit growth for this country.'" The idea that environmental protection and economic progress are at odds is widely held among India's elite. It is shared by newspaper editors, economists, businessmen, and, not...