1 hour ago

Around 100 metres of an under-construction section of National Highway-53 in Kendrapara district, Odisha, caved in on Sunday following a week of incessant rainfall. The affected section is located near Nilachal Bazar under the Marshaghai police station limits and forms part of the ongoing rebuilding and widening of NH-53. Three trucks parked on the construction stretch fell into a ditch after the road gave way. No injuries or fatalities were reported because no drivers or helpers were inside the vehicles at the time. A senior official from the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) Bhubaneswar Regional Office attributed the collapse to prolonged water stagnation caused by the sustained rainfall. The incident has raised concerns among local residents about the condition of the highway construction.Read more

2 hours ago

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has imposed a cumulative penalty of INR 12.5 crore on the contractor and consulting agencies working on Metro Line 9 following a safety lapse at the under-construction Medetiya Nagar station in Mira-Bhayandar. The incident occurred on Monday when granite stones fell from a foot-over bridge area into the barricaded construction zone during debris removal work. J Kumar Infraprojects, the primary contractor, was fined INR 10 crore, while sub-agencies Gajanan and Systra-CEG-General Consultant were penalised INR 1.5 crore and INR 1 crore respectively. No injuries were reported.Read more

3 hours ago

Around 1,500 people were evacuated from Aayakar Bhavan on Maharshi Karve Road in south Mumbai after a fire broke out in the Income Tax Department building on August 17. The blaze originated in the basement of the multi-storey government office, triggering a large-scale emergency response. Mumbai Fire Brigade personnel, along with police, BEST, ambulance services and civic officials, were deployed at the site. Firefighting and evacuation operations continued as authorities worked to contain the blaze and ensure the safety of people inside the building. No injuries were reported.Read more

4 hours ago

The reopening of Mumbai’s Monorail is likely to be delayed further as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) seeks additional safety checks and has yet to finalise an evacuation plan for passengers in case a train becomes stranded. The Chembur–Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk corridor has remained shut for nearly a year and has already undergone safety testing and received clearance from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety. However, MMRDA wants further inspection of the elevated corridor and additional safeguards before passenger services resume. The authority has not announced a revised reopening date.Read more

6 hours ago

A pre-dawn fire at the four-storey Bideshini hotel in the temple town of Tarapith, Birbhum district, West Bengal, killed eight people and left several injured on Monday. Five of the deceased belonged to a single family from Meghalaya's South Garo Hills who had travelled to the town for prayers at the Goddess Tara temple. Police detained hotel owner Kalyan Paul and are investigating whether fire-safety norms were followed, with guests alleging a rear exit was found blocked.Read more

10 hours ago

India's biggest cities are increasingly developing smaller economic ecosystems within their boundaries. These districts are no longer just office clusters surrounded by residential neighbourhoods; they are evolving into self-contained destinations with workplaces, hotels, restaurants, retail, housing, healthcare and entertainment. Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai has become a major financial hub, while GIFT City is building an international financial ecosystem almost from scratch. Similar transformations are underway in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Kolkata and Pune. Together, these districts show how India's urban growth is moving from a single city centre towards multiple specialised economic centres.Read more

12 hours ago

A landslide at a construction site in Nandan County in southwestern China’s Guangxi region killed at least one person and left four others trapped, according to local authorities. The incident occurred shortly before noon as several parts of the country continued to face heavy rainfall and heightened geological disaster risks. China has experienced a series of deadly floods and landslides this summer. Authorities in Sichuan and Shaanxi had also issued warnings over heavy rain and increased risks of floods and landslides, while Typhoon Dolphin brought extreme rainfall to several regions during the past week.Read more

13 hours ago

As many as 396 infrastructure projects across sectors such as roads and railways, with a combined estimated cost of INR 18.66 lakh crore, have been evaluated through the Network Planning Group under the PM GatiShakti initiative. Of these, 256 projects have received sanction, while 198 are currently under implementation. The initiative is aimed at improving coordination between infrastructure ministries and creating integrated multimodal connectivity to lower logistics costs. The government’s latest logistics assessment also indicates that logistics expenditure has fallen to 7.97% of GDP in 2023-24, showing the broader impact of infrastructure and policy measures.Read more

16 hours ago

Hazoor Multi Projects Ltd has secured a INR 28.47-crore contract from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to operate as the user fee collection agency at Madangundi Fee Plaza on NH-31 in Jharkhand. The order was awarded through the e-tender process, according to a regulatory filing by the company. The project is located at kilometre 12.3 of the highway and has a tenure of 12 months. NHAI issued the Letter of Award to Hazoor Multi Projects for the user fee agency engagement. The company operates across renewable energy and infrastructure, including road construction projects undertaken on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. The contract adds a highway-related assignment to the company's existing activities in the infrastructure and energy sectors.Read more

18 hours ago

The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to allow construction of a USD 400 million ballroom at the White House to continue while it prepares a full appeal against a lower court ruling. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had ordered a halt to above-ground construction, saying the project required congressional approval. The administration has argued that the project is necessary for national security and forms part of an integrated secure complex. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which challenged the project, has urged the Supreme Court to reject the administration’s request.Read more

18 hours ago

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Haryana government’s urban local bodies department and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to prepare a standard operating procedure and fixed timelines for removing debris after civic works. The court’s direction came during a petition concerning the delay in clearing road debris and the difficulties faced by residents. The court observed that people should not have to repeatedly approach the judiciary for basic civic issues such as road clearance. The proposed framework is expected to establish clear responsibility and ensure that debris is removed within a defined period after work is completed.Read more

19 hours ago

Kolkata Metro Railway plans to expand its rapid transit network to around 130 km in the coming years, according to General Manager Prem Sagar Gupta. The expansion was highlighted during the organisation’s Independence Day address at Metro Rail Bhavan, alongside details of passenger traffic, earnings and digital ticketing adoption. The network carried 23.60 crore passengers during FY26, underlining its role in Kolkata’s public transport system. Metro Railway also recorded earnings of INR 166 crore between April and July 2026, representing a 34% year-on-year increase. The organisation is simultaneously focusing on safety, passenger amenities and service reliability. Digital payment adoption has also increased, with commuters using electronic modes for tokens, smart cards, QR-code tickets and smart-card recharges through the Aamar Kolkata Metro app.Read more

20 hours ago

The Uttar Pradesh government has approved INR 8.99 crore for installing 1,342 CCTV cameras at 296 key traffic junctions across 51 districts. The project is aimed at improving road safety, monitoring traffic violations and strengthening enforcement in locations that are not covered by the Integrated Traffic Management System or Smart City surveillance projects. The network will include Automatic Number Plate Recognition and pan-tilt-zoom cameras, along with recording and supporting equipment. The state has directed the Uttar Pradesh Police headquarters’ traffic and road safety wing to complete the procurement process, with the sanctioned funds to be utilised by March 2027.Read more

21 hours ago

Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy has urged Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to take over the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP), implemented by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), and immediately stop toll collection on the roads. In a seven-page letter sent to Shivakumar on August 15, Kumaraswamy cited observations made by the Karnataka High Court regarding alleged irregularities in the project’s implementation and sought corrective action by the state government. NICE currently operates a 41-kilometre peripheral road and a 10-kilometre link road in Bengaluru, on which tolls are collected. Kumaraswamy has also called for legislation to formally take over the project, citing alleged violations of the Framework Agreement and Project Technical Agreement. The Chief Minister said the government would examine the matter and act in accordance with the law.Read more

22 hours ago

The Allahabad High Court has sought point-wise responses from the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government over a Public Interest Litigation alleging that the newly opened Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway developed potholes and suffered damage at 74 locations within 26 days of becoming operational. A bench comprising Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Uttar Pradesh transport department to respond to the allegations. The petition concerns an expressway constructed at an estimated cost of INR 4,700 crore and alleges large-scale corruption in its construction. The petitioner has sought an independent investigation under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge or by an agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation. The PIL has also challenged the toll rates being charged on the expressway.Read more

Delhi News Desk

18 Aug 2026

Delhi’s Master Plan 2047, approved by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and sent to the Centre, has divided the 9,934-hectare Yamuna O-Zone into two regulatory areas even as the National Green Tribunal’s scientific demarcation of the one-in-100-year floodplain remains incomplete. Zone I covers the 6,295-hectare riverbed and one-in-25-year floodplain, while Zone II covers the outer one-in-100-year floodplain. The plan proposes recreational facilities, including a 52-km cycle track, in Zone II. The NGT has directed that the floodplain’s outer boundary be identified using the one-in-100-year flood level and one-metre contours. DDA had sought additional time after the demarcation exercise stalled following receipt of a revised map from Delhi’s Irrigation and Flood Control Department. Experts and environmentalists have questioned the scientific basis and implications of the proposed zoning.Read more

18 Aug 2026

Cosmic Solar EPC Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cosmic PV Power Limited, has secured three solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project orders worth a combined INR 574 crore. The company announced the order wins alongside the commencement of operations at its new corporate office in Chembur, Mumbai, and the appointment of Avi Mittal as chief executive officer, effective August 2026. The Mumbai office will serve as a base for business development, customer engagement, project management and partnerships across western and central India, complementing the company’s registered office in Surat, Gujarat. Cosmic Solar EPC provides rooftop solar EPC services for commercial, industrial and residential projects. Its parent company is also developing a 1.1 GW solar cell manufacturing line in Madhya Pradesh.Read more

18 Aug 2026

A magnitude 5 earthquake struck Granada in southern Spain in the early hours of Saturday, damaging some houses and cars, according to the Andalusian regional government. The earthquake hit the metropolitan area of Alhendin shortly after 1 a.m. Emergency services rescued several people from damaged buildings, while no injuries were reported. Images broadcast by Spanish television showed debris on streets and damage to vehicles in the popular tourist city. Authorities also confirmed that the Alhambra palace, one of Granada’s best-known historic landmarks, was not damaged by the earthquake.Read more

18 Aug 2026

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured a mega order valued between INR 10,000 crore and INR 15,000 crore to establish an artificial intelligence infrastructure facility at its Chennai data centre campus. The project marks L&T’s entry into the AI Factory business and will be developed through LTN Compute and Vyoma.AI for US-based Together AI. The facility will use NVIDIA B300 GPUs and have capacity for 10,000 GPUs, supporting large-scale AI inference, fine-tuning and training workloads. Vyoma’s Chennai campus is planned as a gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure site, with Phase 1 designed for 250 MW and 150 MVA of power infrastructure readiness. The integrated facility will combine data centre infrastructure, accelerated computing, high-performance networking, storage and AI infrastructure operations.Read more

18 Aug 2026

Nagpur Metro Phase II has entered the track-laying stage, with MahaMetro completing around 2 kilometres of track on the Kamptee stretch of Reach-2. The development marks the transition of completed viaduct sections from civil construction to railway systems work. MahaMetro has introduced a redesigned track fastening system that has received approval from the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO). The system uses a smaller base plate, a two-hole fastening arrangement and double rubber pads aimed at reducing construction costs and vibrations. Track laying on other reaches will follow as more viaduct sections become ready.Read more