
Divider to make GT Road safer
To check accidents on the Grand Trunk Road in Dadri, which is now National Highway 91, a road divider has been planned. However, traders along the highway claim it will affect their business.
A visit to the area revealed that though it was a four-lane road, just two lanes were available for vehicular movement. One lane on either side was encroached upon by shopkeepers, vendors and vehicles.
Shop owners and residents claim they witness three to four accidents on the stretch from Chhaprola to Kot Bridge everyday. In terms of traffic snarls, they say it takes 30 minutes to cross the 1-km stretch during peak hours. They attribute jams to containers passing through the area. A containers depot lies near the Dadri Railway Station.
“National Highway Authority of India is constructing a divider. This will prevent head-on collisions. In the last one month, more than 20 persons have died on the highway,” Rahul Kumar, deputy superintendent of police, said.
Traders feel it will result in decline of business as shoppers will not be able to cross to the other side. “Business activity will decline by 50%,” Rajesh Gupta, a shop owner, said. However, not all agree.
NH 91 links Ghaziabad at NH 24 to Kanpur at NH 2 covering 405 kilometres.

New Delhi rejects report as ‘misleading, misplaced’
- The external affairs ministry, which too rejected Freedom House’s report, also took exception to the depiction of Jammu and Kashmir in the map used in the document.

OCIs need nod for Tablighi, journalistic work: Centre
- A home ministry spokesperson said these rules prepared by the Foreigners’ Division were part of a brochure issued on November 15, 2019. The rules were consolidated and notified on Thursday.

K’taka ministers move court against airing of ‘defamatory content’
- After the allegations on Jarkiholi, there were unverified reports of several similar videos and other sex scandals against other cabinet ministers.

India set to achieve Paris pact targets before deadline: PM Modi
- India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

CM in 1st list; DMK-Cong hit stalemate
- On the other hand, the DMK’s stalemate continued with its main and long standing ally, the Congress, on seat sharing.

EC orders removal of PM’s images from vaccine certificates: Officials
- The person said it was imperative that the photographs are removed from certificates distributed in the poll bound states, adding that the system can continue in other states.

PM to head committee, Sonia and Tendulkar among 259 members
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, former President Pratibha Patil, economist Amartya Sen, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, spiritual leader Baba Ramdev, chief ministers of states and senior political leaders are among those included in the panel.

NIA probes Jamaat-e-Islami’s J&K chapter
- According to Indian agencies, the JeI has maintained that J&K is a disputed territory.

YSRC bags all 6 MLC seats unopposed; silent on abolition of legislative council
- Interestingly, the election of the six YSRC members comes at a time when a resolution adopted by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the state assembly in January 2020, seeking abolition of the legislative council, is still pending with the Union home ministry.

Andhra CM Jagan Reddy urges SC to restart Amravati land scam probe
- When the matter came up before a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy on Friday, the bench adjourned it to April 7 as it had no time for a full fledged hearing.

6 new cases of UK’s Covid-19 strain found in Indore, warning issued
- Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also held a review meeting on Friday to discuss with the divisional commissioners the steps being taken to contain the spread of the infection.

Container Corporation of India to push production, end dependency on China
- There is a cost difference of about 25-30 per cent in containers made in India and abroad.

India pushes China for disengagement at remaining friction points on LAC
- After an agreement last month on pulling back frontline troops along with armoured vehicles and artillery from strategic heights around Pangong Lake, the two sides have been unable to make progress on disengagement at other friction points such as Depsang, Hot Springs and Gogra.

Assam farmer sentenced to time in jail for death of elephant by electrocution
- According to state government figures, between 2011 and 2019, at least 90 elephants have fallen prey to electrocution.
