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New Delhi: In a major change in policy, govt has increased the time allowed for construction of 6-10 km-long bridges across rivers such as Ganga and Brahmaputra to six years and for 2.5-6 km-long bridges on Mahanadi and Godavari to five years. The timelines have been revised from the current 24-30 months.Similarly, the construction period has been fixed at two years for national highway projects costing up to Rs 500 crore, 30 months for Rs 500-1,500 crore projects, and three years for works costing over Rs 1,500 crore.The change in the ‘normative construction period’ has been made after a gap of 13 years, learning from past experience of how the average time taken for completion of NH projects has been over four years against the standard timeline of 2.5-3 years. The revised timeline for construction will be applicable for all NH projects to be bid out from May 6.In a circular, the road transport ministry said present guidelines — issued in 2013 — are derived from a legacy linear model that does not explicitly account for voluminous earthwork, leading to unrealistic construction period and resulting in additional cost and risk.“Therefore, a need was felt to revise the existing guidelines based on scientific analysis, understanding of completed projects, and prescribe a realistic construction period for civil works at DPR and bid invitation stage,” the ministry said. It added that the new norm will improve predictability in completion of projects, reduce disputes, enhance value and quality of NHs, for realistic and bankable bids, better quality outcomes and improved investor confidence.An additional six months time has been provisioned in the new norms for critical projects which involve multiple flyovers, tunnels or elevated structures. Similarly, an addition of 12 months has been provisioned for projects that involve cutting and slope stabilisation in hilly states.

Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bat vs KKR at Eden Gardens (BCCI/IPL Photo)

NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane faced heavy criticism on Monday after opting to bat first in a rain-threatened clash against Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens. In matches with rain forecasts, captains usually prefer to field first to have clarity on the target in a shortened game. However, Rahane’s decision did not go down well with many, including legendary Anil Kumble and former India cricketers Ravichandran Ashwin and Saba Karim.According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the rain was triggered by a low-pressure trough stretching from Bihar to Manipur, passing over North Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh, leading to moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal.“Thunderstorms with lightning and rain may occur in most districts of South Bengal. From Sunday to Thursday, scattered rainfall is likely across the state, with higher intensity on Tuesday and Wednesday,” the IMD said.Despite these conditions, Rahane’s decision to bat first drew criticism from former cricketers.“I am surprised that Rahane won the toss and chose to bat first. On a pitch like this, where there’s some rain around, ideally, you would want to field first,” Kumble said on the JioHotstar broadcast during the rain break.Ashwin took to social media and posted a sarcastic remark.“When you know it’s going to be a rain affected game, with an inexperienced bowling attack at your disposal, you choose to bat first. Interesting thought process. #ipl2026,” Ashwin wrote.“I cannot understand this call. I cannot wrap my head around it,” Saba said.Former Bengal batter Shreevats Goswami wrote: “Very surprised to see Rahane winning the toss & electing to bat first on a overcast condition. Bit of a shocker there. Immediately you can see swing and 2 caught behinds. Very very brave call. #kkr,” he said.Rain then interrupted Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL match against Punjab Kings, with the home side struggling at 25 for 2 in 3.4 overs amid steady drizzle that later intensified into a thunderstorm.Opting to bat, KKR – still searching for their first win of the season – were jolted early as Xavier Bartlett struck twice in the span of three balls.Showing excellent control over swing and seam, the Australian pacer dismissed KKR’s two key overseas batters Finn Allen (6) and Cameron Green (4), who had been promoted to No. 3.Green, the highest-paid overseas player at Rs 25.20 crore, endured another poor outing, having earlier scored 18 against Mumbai Indians and 2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, as KKR’s struggles continued following two opening losses.Skipper Rahane (8) and young wicketkeeper-batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi (7), who has been KKR’s most consistent performer this season with back-to-back fifties, were attempting to rebuild when persistent drizzle forced the umpires to halt play at 7:45 pm.With Eden Gardens equipped with full ground covers, the groundstaff moved swiftly to cover the entire field.

Foreign firms leased a record 9.1 million square feet of office space across India’s top nine cities during the January-March quarter to set up Global Capability Centres (GCCs), highlighting strong demand for workspaces, PTI reported citing CBRE data.Real estate consultant CBRE said total gross leasing of office space rose 5% to 20.7 million square feet in the quarter, compared with 19.7 million square feet in the year-ago period.The nine cities covered in the report include Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Kochi.Leasing for GCCs stood at a record 9.1 million square feet in the March quarter, the highest ever for any quarter.“The record GCC leasing activity is a definitive signal of India’s position as the global destination of choice for high-complexity capability functions,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE.He added that demand is broad-based across sectors such as e-commerce, technology and BFSI.“The demand is increasingly being driven by mid-market and nano GCCs alongside established Fortune 500 occupiers,” Magazine said.According to CBRE, American firms accounted for 73% of the total GCC leasing during the quarter.Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Leasing Services, India, CBRE, said occupiers are increasingly preferring green-certified and amenity-rich office spaces.“As occupiers adopt AI-ready workspace strategies and GCCs evolve into multi-functional innovation hubs, we expect leasing momentum to remain healthy through 2026,” he said.Bengaluru led office leasing activity with a 29% share, followed by Delhi-NCR at 22% and Mumbai at 16%.Together, these three cities accounted for around 67% of the total office leasing across the nine cities during the January-March period, the consultant said.