Latest news with #CRIF
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Andhra Pradesh sees major boost in road infrastructure under CRIF: Nitin Gadkari
Andhra Pradesh's road network is set for a significant upgrade, with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announcing impressive progress and fresh approvals under the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF). Responding in the Lok Sabha to a question from Eluru MP Putta Mahesh Kumar, the Union Minister revealed that over the past three years, including the current financial year, Andhra Pradesh had seen 20 State road projects completed, spanning 691 km at a cost of ₹535 crore. 'The momentum is far from over. Fifty-five more projects, covering 534 km, are currently underway in Andhra Pradesh with a sanctioned cost of ₹1,256 crore. These works promise to further strengthen connectivity across districts and ease travel for both commuters and freight movement,' he said. Looking ahead, the Centre approved 57 new projects under CRIF in the State. These would cover 718 km and involved a financial commitment of ₹1,928 crore, a move expected to create thousands of jobs and accelerate economic activity along key corridors. Mr. Gadkari emphasised that the CRIF operates under the provisions of the CRIF Act, 2000, ensuring that all States and Union Territories received their share of funds for the development and maintenance of vital road infrastructure. 'With sustained investment and coordinated planning, Andhra Pradesh is well on its way to achieving a world-class road network,' he noted.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
NIT-Owned Road in Ruins as PWD Delays Work, NMC Steps In with Temporary Fixes
1 2 Nagpur: The key road connecting Awasthi Square to Katol Bypass Ring Road via Zingabai Takli remains in a hazardous state, with potholes, waterlogging, and no streetlights — despite being under the watch of three government agencies: the Public Works Department (PWD), Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). With no action from either PWD or NIT, the NMC — which technically doesn't own the road — stepped in after persistent TOI coverage and citizen complaints. Initially, the civic body filled potholes with gravel and sand, which washed away in the rain. It later deployed tar and gravel and cleared drainage points to offer some temporary relief. However, the stretch continues to endanger two-wheeler riders, especially near ESAF Bank. Though Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sanctioned Rs2.38 crore under the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) in 2022-23 to construct a cement road between Zenda Chowk and Awasthi Square, only 200 metres — up to Purushottam Super Market — has received final sanction. The most damaged section remains stuck in red tape. PWD officials said the proposal has been sent and they are hopeful of a sanction by December. Newly posted PWD engineer Laxmikant Raulkar has promised to review the file. NIT engineer Pankaj Ambhorkar declined comment, citing protocol. "The waterlogged potholes and lack of streetlights make daily travel a gamble," said Zingabai Takli resident Piyush Janbandhu. The delay exposes the pitfalls of fractured governance and overlapping agency control. Unless the full project is sanctioned and a single agency takes charge, residents will remain caught between potholes, poor planning, and bureaucratic indifference. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and s ilver prices in your area.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
GO issued for construction of new bridge across Koraiyar river in city
The State Highways Department would soon invite bids for the construction of a new bridge across the Koraiyar on Madurai Main Road in the city. The State government has issued an order granting administrative sanction for the construction of the bridge at an estimated cost of ̥₹23.50 crore, according to sources in the department. The project was announced by the Highways Minister in the Legislative Assembly during a discussion on the department grants earlier this year. The Madurai Road is one of the major access route to the Integrated Bus Terminus (IBT) at Panjapur, which was opened recently, from Tiruchi Railway Junction and Central Bus Stand. City residents have been demanding steps to widen the narrow bridge across the river so as to provide an alternative approach road to the IBT, situated off Tiruchi-Madurai National Highway. The narrow bridge, which could barely accommodate two-way traffic, has emerged as a major bottleneck as a large number of buses operating from the IBT have started going via the road. The road also passes through the thickly populated areas of Crawford and Edamalaipattipudur from Kallukuzhi near the Railway Junction. Last year, the NH Wing of the State Highways Department had widened a portion of the road between Panjapur and Edamalaipattipudur, but the narrow bridge across the river on the section was not widened under the project. The NH wing had widened the road section at an estimate of ₹17 crore sanctioned from the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) scheme 2023-24. Subequently, reconstruction of the bridge and widening of the approach roads on both sides was entrusted with the Projects Wing of the department. The Projects Wing had prepared the estimates for construction of a four-lane bridge after demolishing the existing narrow bridge. Sources in the department said the tendering process would begin soon. Land acquisition had been completed for widening the approach roads. Though a small bridge, the construction is expected to be completed in 12-15 months, factoring in the monsoon ahead, the sources said.
DW
01-08-2025
- Politics
- DW
Recognizing Palestine would deepen French Muslim-Jewish rift – DW – 08/01/2025
President Emmanuel Macron's announced intention to recognize a Palestinian state has sharply divided French politicians. France's Jewish and Muslim communities also fear it could drive them even further apart. Mohammed Iriqat has witnessed first-hand France's shifting stance on the crisis in the Gaza Strip, from the taunts he once received for wearing a kaffiyeh, a scarf symbolizing Palestinian solidarity, to being part of widespread protests as the devastating war in the Palestinian enclave grinds on. Now, the Paris-based Palestinian law student is experiencing yet another shift after President Emmanuel Macron announced on July 24 that France will recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September. "It's very symbolic, but ultimately important," Iriqat, 30, said of the statehood recognition, even as he prefers tougher options like boycotts and sanctions against Israel. Still, he added that the move "will build on others for a new era." Iriqat's response echoes the fractured reaction in France to Macron's statehood announcement, which has sharply divided France's political class and deepened tensions between its Jewish and Muslim communities, Western Europe's largest. Both have seen a sharp uptick in attacks since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted nearly two years ago. Even with a split on the statehood recognition, both faiths also worry their fraying ties may further erode. "The war has ended many relationships, both among leaders and among the population," Gerard Unger, vice president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF), told DW. "The two sides hardly speak anymore. Each side is aware that if they do, each will declare it's a victim." The CRIF is among those blasting Macron's declaration, alongside French conservative and far-right politicians. In a statement, the Jewish group called it a "moral fault, a diplomatic error and a political danger." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "Macron isn't respecting his own engagements," said Unger. He noted that the French president earlier set still-unmet conditions for recognizing Palestinian statehood, including the release of Israeli hostages and the "demilitarization" of Hamas, an Islamist militant group which Israel, the European Union, the United States and others have designated as a terrorist organization. "That explains the Jewish community's anger and disappointment." Other prominent Jewish figures are also sharply critical. "It's an opportunistic decision," lawyer Arno Klarsfeld, son of famous Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, told France's conservative CNews TV. "It cements the divorce with the Jewish community in France, considerably chills relations with Israel and the United States and reinforces Hamas." Not surprisingly, many of France's Muslim leaders and leftist parties have broadly saluted the president's move. "Mr. Macron's decision has been received with great satisfaction and joy," said Abdallah Zekri, vice president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith. "We hope it will translate to reality in September, without any preconditions." Few dispute that Macron's statehood declaration marks a diplomatic U-turn. Two weeks after the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, the French president was in Jerusalem pledging "unconditional support" for Israel, calling for an international coalition to fight Hamas. Last year, he led a ceremony for French victims of the Hamas assault, calling it "the largest antisemitic attack of our century." But Macron reportedly has been shaken by Gaza's escalating humanitarian crisis and Israel's ongoing military campaign. The conflict in Gaza has killed more than 62,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the enclave, and many currently suffer from widespread famine. In June, France shut down several Israeli weapons stands at the Paris Air Show for refusing to remove attack arms in their display, sparking Israeli fury. Then came Macron's announced intention to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized by saying it "rewards terror." Undeterred, France, along with Saudi Arabia, co-hosted a UN conference in New York on July 28 calling for a two-state solution. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Polls suggest that a majority of French people support the idea. But a June survey from the French Institute of Public Opinion, sponsored by CRIF, shows most first want the remaining Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attacks freed and Hamas to surrender as conditions. "The majority of French Jews aren't hostile to a two-state solution" under the right conditions, the Jewish council's Unger added. Most also "consider the situation in Gaza with tens of thousands of dead is awful," he said, even as they blame Hamas, not Israel, for the war. Like the CRIF, Pierre Stambul, who heads the small French Jewish Union for Peace, also criticizes Macron's statehood declaration but for different reasons. "It's total hypocrisy," he said. "What France is doing is nothing at all. Many states already recognize the state of Palestine." Rabbi Michel Serfaty, who has worked for years building interfaith ties, was noncommittal about Macron's announcement. "Let's see how our fellow Muslims will react," he said. "What interests many is just to live in peace." Events in the Middle East have long reverberated in France, where many of the country's roughly 500,000 Jews and up to 6 million Muslims hail from similar North African roots. Both Jews and Muslims have seen a spike in physical and verbal assaults since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Unger, of the CRIF, said antisemitic attacks have "multiplied by two or three. Before, they were verbal threats; now, they're physical ones. Rabbis have been attacked." The French Muslim Council's Zekri described a similar uptick. "Personally, I've received slices of ham in my mailbox, threats sent to my home," he said. Many Muslims, he added, also don't report such acts to the police. In the 19th arrondissement of Paris, home to some of the city's biggest Muslim and Jewish populations, many declined to be interviewed. A group of Hassidic men, chatting outside a religious book shop on a sunny afternoon, only acknowledged that relations were complex. "We're not looking for problems," one said. "We try to keep good relations with the Arabs." A few blocks away, Algerian businessman Karim Kata said the two communities "try to avoid politics." "We've known each other for a long time," he added, pointing out Jewish businesses nearby, including a kosher butchery employing Muslim workers. "We respect each other. Politics are politics. People are people." Iriqat, the Paris law student, moved to France four years ago and is no stranger to interfaith tensions. He describes slurs against him in the street and being targeted for joining pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which were initially banned over public order concerns. "It's difficult to hold any sign that tells that you are Palestinian," he recalled of the early protests that initially mainly drew Muslims. "To wear a kaffiyeh, to hold the Palestinian flag — it was very difficult." Soon, however, "we started to see a lot of French, even the Jewish community, the leftist Jews," Iriqat said. "I saw they began to feel sorry about what was happening." Born in the occupied West Bank, he still recalls the day Israeli soldiers shot dead one of his uncles as the man sat studying on the family's rooftop terrace. Iriqat was 4 years old at the time. "I remember every single thing — even the smell of the food my grandmother was cooking," he said. "I remember pieces of my uncle's brain on the stairs of our home." He hopes growing international pressure on Israel will eventually sway its biggest ally, the United States, to follow suit and ultimately destroy a system he describes as apartheid. "I'm dedicating my life to Palestine and the Palestinians," said Iriqat, who plans to remain in France and continue his studies. "When I'm fighting for Palestine," he adds, "I'm also fighting for the interests of the Israelis."
Hans India
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Bandi Sanjay urges Gadkari to grant CRIF funds to State
Hyderabad: Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, recently urged Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, to release funds from the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF), as several road expansion proposals in Telangana are still pending. In light of this, Bandi Sanjay Kumar met with Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum detailing these issues. During the meeting, he presented the pending road proposals from his parliamentary constituency to the Union Minister. A total of CRIF proposals amounting to Rs 113 crore were submitted to Gadkari. These proposals include the construction of a high-level bridge over the Maneru River as part of the Bavupeta-Khazipur road in Kothapalli mandal, and the widening of the Gundlapalli-Pothur road in Ganneruvaram mandal. Additional proposals consist of constructing bridges connecting Chandurthi to Motkuraopet (from km 5/0 to 8/450), as well as building a bridge on the road to Kistampalli and a high-level bridge over the flood canal from Arkandla village to Kannapur village in Shankarapatnam mandal. Nitin Gadkari responded positively, assuring that an appropriate decision regarding the release of CRIF funds to Telangana will be made soon. Furthermore, Bandi Sanjay Kumar requested that the long-pending widening work on the Karimnagar-Jagityala road be initiated immediately. He reminded Gadkari that before the last elections, the Central government had prepared proposals amounting to Rs 2151 crore for expanding this road into four lanes. Officials had promised to approve these proposals and commence the tender process. However, months later, this process has yet to begin. In response, Gadkari summoned senior officials from the relevant department to inquire about the delays. Gadkari noted that the Karimnagar-Jagityala road widening work had faced setbacks due to public objections and legal challenges. However, he stated that these obstacles have now been resolved, and the report has been sent to the committee responsible for approval. He assured that once the committee provides its report, the tender process for the road works will be completed, and the widening work will commence very soon.
