Centre's nod for 22 express highways worth Rs 1.5L crore in Karnataka
Bengaluru, Dec 10: In a major thrust to infrastructure development in Karnataka, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry on Tuesday gave the nod for 22 Green express highways in Karnataka worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
This includes a new alignment of the Pune-Bengaluru Express Highway, which will be completed in the next few years at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore.
Today we met Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
We have just sanctioned projects worth more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the state.
Actually the annual infrastructure plan for Karnataka was Rs 2,150 crore, which we decided to increase to Rs 3,990 crore, Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways said.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 10th edition of Excon-2019, a five-day International Construction Equipment and Construction Technology Trade Fair here.
The event has been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in association with the Karnataka government, Ministry for Road Transport and Highways and the National Highway Authority of India.
We are making 22 green express highways. Today we cleared the Pune-Bengaluru project as a Green Express Highway, a new alignment of 600 km, costing about Rs 50,000 crore."
Gadkari said his ministry and the state have sanctioned 2,300 km of new roads where the Detailed Project Report is ready.
The bidding process would start soon, he said, adding that the Chief Minister had given an assurance on clearing any hassles related to land acquisition and environment clearance for these projects.
Another important infrastructure project of ring road in Bengaluru was also resolved in the meeting, with the Centre agreeing to the States request to bear 80 per cent of the land acquisition cost, he said.
However, the Ministry expected the state to exempt taxes on steel and cement to be used for building the ring road.
So today the problem with the ring road is resolved and today it will be a great present from the chief minister to the people of Karnataka, Gadkari said.
He opined that these highway projects would become the growth engine for Karnataka.
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Hearing in defamation case against Rahul Gandhi postponed till March 27
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): Hearing in the defamation case involving Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, which was scheduled to take place on Monday at the MP-MLA Court in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district, could not take place due to the non-appearance of the plaintiff Vijay Mishra.
The court will now hear this matter on March 27.
Santosh Kumar Pandey, the advocate of the plaintiff, on Monday said that he had submitted a formal application to the court during the previous hearing.
This application requested that the audio and video recordings of the statements made by Rahul Gandhi, which have been presented as evidence, be matched with Rahul Gandhi's authentic voice.
Due to Vijay Mishra's absence, the court has scheduled the next hearing for March 27, when the arguments in the case will be presented.
On February 20, Gandhi, the MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta. He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.
The case stems from Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign.
Following the remarks, Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.
In December 2023, the court had issued a warrant against Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
