Highway users should brace for paying toll even after the private road developer or the government recovers the capital investment with the interest. A new plan finalized by the government has proposed that road users would pay user charge for "efficient" operation and maintenance of the highway stretches in perpetuity. Under the new model, the highways ministry wants to levy a fee for projects taken up under short-term operation-maintenance-transfer (OMT) contracts...

-CNN-IBN Passing through Bulandshahar, a rapidly urbanising district in Uttar Pradesh known for its rustic politics and dairying, this reporter chanced upon a group of farmers sitting in protest outside a newly constructed apartment. The farmers occupied a tent that was erected outside the apartment complex. Their complaint was that they were being coerced to sell land for cheap by private players. "We will get only a measly Rs 20 lakh per...

The government will soon come out with an ambulance code to check the practice of vans and goods vehicles being turned into makeshift and ill-equipped ambulances that pose a risk to patients’ lives and limbs. By the end of this month, a committee that includes doctors is expected to finalise the draft of the national ambulance code, which will specify requirements from design to equipment to personnel. (See chart) “Most ambulances in...

Of late, a childhood friend's 80-year-old mother has taken to writing. Emboldened by her single-mindedness, memories dulled by a lifetime of contingencies now respond readily to the daily rustle of pen on paper. One memory stands out in Surjit Kaur's mind. In 1957, as a fresh eyed schoolteacher from Delhi she went on an educational tour to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. It was 10 years after Independence...

-The Times of India The country loses Rs 60,000 crore a year due to congestion (including fuel wastage), slow speed of freight vehicles and waiting time at toll plazas and checking points, a study on operational efficiencies of freight transportation by roads has claimed. It said vehicles crawl at an average speed of less than 20 kmph on some key corridors such as Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Guwahati while it's only 21.35 kmph...