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In the first bilateral visit by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to India since he entered office in May last year, New Delhi and Canberra are looking to expand cooperation in defence, clean energy, education and economic spheres.

Albanese’s visit comes days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to India last week, and 10 days before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit between March 19 and 21.

Put together, this marks the visits by all the Quad member countries to India, days after the Foreign Ministers of the Quad grouping met in New Delhi last week.

The MMRDA is building the 13.83-km-long Mumbai Metro Line 9—which connects Mumbai’s suburbs with Mira-Bhayander—and Line 7A at a cost of Rs 6,607 crore. Of this, a whopping Rs 9.25 crore has been spent on the deployment of traffic wardens and supervisors, the reply to an RTI application filed by this newspaper has revealed. Since 2020, the MMRDA has also spent Rs 14.37 crore to divert a sewer line that crosses Line 7A’s alignment close to the international airport and Rs 49 crore to shift high-tension lines.

Mid-Day had filed an RTI with the MMRDA regarding Metro corridors that are being constructed in the city and Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The application sought information such as the total cost of building Line 9, which has eight stations, and the amount spent till February 20, 2023, from the date of tender allotment in January 2020. In its reply, the MMRDA revealed that so far, Rs 1,998 crore has been spent towards Line 9 and 7A civil work.

India is unlikely to participate in a meeting of the Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping until the border situation between New Delhi and Beijing normalises, a report has said.

The foreign ministers of the three countries meet periodically to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest, Business Standard reported.

The three countries have not met since the Ukraine war began in 2022, while the leaders have not met in person since June 2019. A foreign minister level meeting in November 2021 was the last time the countries met at any level.

A day after claiming that surveys indicated that the Congress is projected to win over 140 out of the total 224 seats in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls, its state President D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said BJP's numbers would not cross beyond 65, and may even come down to 40 seats. He claimed that people from all walks of life across the state were angry against this BJP government.

"We have a guarantee about our numbers, we also have a guarantee that BJP's numbers will not go beyond 65. What the BJP is doing or saying is their internal matter, Yediyurappa has said something (about winning over 140 seats) based on their calculation, I don't want to interfere with their party," Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, let the BJP do whatever they want, but their numbers won't cross beyond 60-65.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has taken various initiatives to boost the road network across the country. In a bid to reach and connect the remotest part of the country, the government has taken several initiatives to augment the capacity of the National Highway infrastructure in India.

In this context, the government has recently announced the construction of a National Highway (NH) in Nagaland and the development of an NH in Kerala.

In Nagaland, the government has decided to build a national highway from Dimapur to Kohima (Package-II). The 14.71-kilometer-long highway is expected to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 339.55 crore. The construction of a four-lane road aims to improve the connectivity between the capital city and other major commercial centers in the state, thereby enabling faster movement of people and goods for growth and prosperity.