
Toll collection suspended on 28 km stretch of Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway from today
According to the official statement, the toll suspension will be effective from 8:00 AM on July 15 and will remain in place until the completion of the ongoing rectification work. This decision has been taken in the larger public interest to ensure commuter safety and convenience during the repair phase.
The 125 km corridor from Sanchore in Rajasthan to Santalpur in Gujarat's Patan district forms a vital segment of the economic corridor that aims to significantly improve inter-state connectivity across India's northern and eastern regions.
The Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway also plays a strategic role in enhancing access to major ports such as Jamnagar, Kandla, and Mundra, thereby strengthening India's international trade logistics and reducing travel time for freight movement across the country.
Earlier on July 7, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has directed that all damage to highways, as well as rural and urban roads, caused by heavy monsoon rains, be repaired on a priority basis and restored to their original condition without delay, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a press release.
In a high-level meeting, the Chief Minister emphasised that road networks, crucial for development and daily public transportation, must not remain damaged due to heavy rainfall, and that immediate repairs should be undertaken to ensure their continued operation. He held a meeting in Gandhinagar with senior officials from the relevant departments to review the current status of national highways, state highways, and roads under the purview of panchayats in rural areas, towns, and metropolitan cities.
In the meeting, CM Bhupendra Patel stated that road and bridge repairs, including patchwork, should not be delayed awaiting the end of rainfall. He emphasised that not a single day with no or minimal rainfall should go to waste, and that repair work must continue even on holidays in the interest of the public. He further stated that in cases where damage occurs or repairs are required within the Defect Liability Period, the responsibility must be fixed on the contractor, and appropriate action should be taken. He also stressed the importance of ensuring the quality of all repair and construction works. (ANI)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Mint
24 minutes ago
- Mint
Kartik Aaryan 'caught cheating on.... at Coldplay concert, Actors hilarious take on Astronomer CEO incident leaves netizens in splits
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], July 23 (ANI): Social media has been abuzz with hilarious memes regarding Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR chief Kristin Cabot, who were accidentally exposed as having an alleged extramarital affair at the Coldplay concert in Boston a few days ago. Many netizens even used AI to replace the faces of Andy and Kristin with different celebrities. And now, Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan has also joined the meme wave. On Wednesday, he took to Instagram and shared a hilarious video. The video opens with footage from a fan cam at a Coldplay concert. Then, we can see Kartik eating a chocolate bar. As soon as he realised he was caught on camera, he quickly held his dumbbells. The text on the clip read, "Fitness freak, Kartik Aaryan, caught cheating on his diet at the Coldplay concert last night." The video is a meme-style reinterpretation of Bryon and Cabot's viral clip from the concert. Kartik captioned the post, "Almost got Fired..." His video left social media users in splits. "Hahhaa so cool,'' an Instagram user commented. '' This is too funny,'' another user wrote. Following the clip going viral and garnering tens of millions of views, the Astronomer's Board of Directors initiated a formal internal review. A company statement released on Friday confirmed Byron's resignation. "As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding," the statement read, as quoted by Variety. "Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO," as per the statement released by Astronomer. "Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI. While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We're continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data & AI problems," as quoted by the outlet. (ANI)


NDTV
40 minutes ago
- NDTV
"Will Boost Indian Tourist Arrivals": Ex Maldives President On PM Modi's Visit
Malé: Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the island nation will significantly boost tourism from India and reaffirm bilateral ties. "When relations are strong, everyone benefits. I believe that the Prime Minister's visit will further boost Indian tourist arrivals to the Maldives," Nasheed told ANI in an exclusive conversation ahead of PM Modi's two-day visit for the Maldives' 60th Independence Day celebrations. Nasheed also highlighted that the Hanimadu Airport project, being built with Indian financial assistance, is nearing completion and will improve air connectivity between southern Indian cities and northern Maldives. "Hanimadu Airport would be just a little over an hour from most of the southern Indian cities. There is a big opportunity for both countries to benefit," he said. Speaking on the broader economic partnership, Nasheed credited India with preventing a financial crisis in the Maldives during difficult times. "If not for India, we would have gone default," he said, stressing that Indian assistance had played a critical role in ensuring economic stability. "Indian assistance and partnership in the Maldives are deeply valued and have played a critical role during our challenging times. With mounting financial difficulties and substantial debt repayment obligations, India's timely support helped us avoid default and maintain stability," Nasheed added. He said the India-Maldives economic partnership is built on trust and regional solidarity, which reinforces resilience between neighbouring countries. Nasheed pointed out that the Maldives has long followed an 'India-first' foreign policy, though election cycles in the past have sometimes tilted its direction. "We have always maintained an India-first foreign policy in the Maldives. But in the past, election cycles have sometimes caused our foreign policy to swing between a strong pro-China stance and a strong pro-India stance," he said. However, he added that democracy in the Maldives has now allowed for a more stable and consistent foreign policy, firmly centred on India. "Today, unlike before, across the spectrum of Maldivian politics, the approach is firmly India-first," he said. Nasheed stated that Prime Minister Modi's upcoming visit reaffirms India's strategic commitment to its long-standing partnership with the Maldives, particularly given the country's strategic location in the Indian Ocean. Prime Minister Modi will be in the Maldives from July 25 to 26 at the invitation of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. He will attend the country's 60th Independence Day celebrations as the guest of honour. In a departure message shared on X, PM Modi said, "Day after tomorrow, 25th July, I will be in the Maldives at the invitation of the President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. I am honoured to be taking part in the 60th Independence Day celebrations of the Maldives. This year we also mark 60 years of India-Maldives diplomatic relations. The talks with President Muizzu will certainly add momentum to bilateral ties across diverse sectors." Day after tomorrow, 25th July, I will be in the Maldives at the invitation of the President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. I am honoured to be taking part in the 60th Independence Day celebrations of the Maldives. This year we also mark 60 years of India-Maldives diplomatic relations. The… — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 23, 2025 During the visit, PM Modi will hold talks with President Muizzu to review progress on the India-Maldives Joint Vision for a Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership. The visit is seen as an opportunity to reset bilateral relations, which had seen strain in recent months.


Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
xAI's 'Project Skippy' Sparks Employee Concerns Over Facial Data Use for Grok AI Training
Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is facing growing scrutiny after a new report revealed that employees were asked to film their facial expressions and emotional reactions to help train its conversational AI, Grok. The internal initiative, dubbed 'Project Skippy,' began in April and aimed to improve Grok's ability to understand and interpret human emotions through visual cues. According to a Business Insider report based on internal documents and Slack communications, more than 200 employees, including AI tutors, were encouraged to participate. They were asked to engage in 15- to 30-minute video-recorded conversations, playing both the user and AI assistant roles. The intent was to teach Grok how to detect emotional subtleties in human expressions and body language. However, the project has sparked unease among several staff members. Many employees expressed discomfort over the potential misuse of their facial data and were particularly concerned about how their likeness could be utilized in the future. Some ultimately decided to opt out of the initiative. One employee recounted being told during a recorded meeting that the effort was meant to 'give Grok a face.' The project lead assured staff that the videos were strictly for internal use and that 'your face will not ever make it to production.' They emphasized that the goal was to help Grok learn what a face is and how it reacts emotionally. Despite these assurances, the consent form given to participants raised red flags. The form granted xAI 'perpetual' rights to use the participants' likeness—not just for training but also in potential commercial applications. While the document stated that a digital replica of the individual would not be created, this clause did little to ease privacy concerns. Adding to the tension were some of the conversation prompts provided to employees. The topics were designed to evoke emotional expression but were seen by some as overly personal or intrusive. Suggested questions included: 'How do you secretly manipulate people to get your way?' and 'Would you ever date someone with a kid or kids?' The controversy comes just weeks after xAI introduced two lifelike avatars, Ani and Rudi, which simulate facial gestures and lip movements during conversations. These avatars quickly attracted criticism online when users discovered that they could be provoked into inappropriate behavior—Ani reportedly engaged in sexually suggestive chats, while Rudi made violent threats, including about bombing banks. In a separate incident, Grok was also under fire for producing antisemitic and racist responses, further intensifying public concern about the model's reliability and ethical programming. Adding to the debate, xAI recently launched Baby Grok, a version of the chatbot intended for children, stirring further discussions around the use and safety of emotionally responsive AI technologies. As AI continues to advance into more human-like territory, Project Skippy serves as a stark reminder of the ethical and privacy complexities that come with blending human likeness and machine learning.