Salient Features of Indian Road Network and Highways

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Rashid Faridi

In India

About 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads.

  • National Highways constitute only about 1.7% of the road network but carry about 40% of the total road traffic.
  • Number of vehicles has been growing at an average pace of 10.16% per annum over the last five years. About 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads.
  • National Highways constitute only about 1.7% of the road network but carry about 40% of the total road traffic.
  • Number of vehicles has been growing at an average pace of 10.16% per annum over the last five years.

India has the second largest road network in the world, with over 3.314 million kms of roadways spread across the length and breadth of the country. The roads are primarily made of bitumen, with some Indian National Highways having concrete roads. The concept of expressway roads is also catching up in India, and the Mumbai – Pune expressway and Delhi Gurgaon expressway are the finest examples. Yamuna-expressway which connects Delhi to Agra is also good.

The history of roads in India takes you back to the Indus Valley Civilization, where street pavings were made for the first time in India. Around the 1st centuy, the Silk route was made which tremendously aided in trade across India. The medieval India saw the emergence of the Grand Trunk Road. The GT Road, as it is famously called, starts in Sonargaon near Dhaka in Bangladesh and ends at Peshawar in Pakistan and links some of the major cities in india from Kolkata to Amritsar.

The Indian roadways network ranks as the second biggest roadways network in the world. The road network of the country covers more than 2.059 million miles or 4.42 million kilometers. For every sq km of land, there is 0.66 km of highways in the country.

The density of the highway network of India is somewhat more as compared to the United States (0.65) and substantially higher as compared to Brazil (0.20) and China (0.16).!!!!

Previously, India did not had funds fori ts road network. However, the scenario has changed in the past decades. The Government of India in collaboration with a number of private players is taking groundbreaking endeavours for the road transportation system of the nation.

Till date, some of the important plans that have been put into operation include names like the Yamuna Expressway, National Highways Development Project, and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

According to the data furnished in 2002, just 47.3% of the Indian roadways network comprised paved roads.

Links,Inspitrations and Sources:

http://www.travelindia-guide.com/maps/highway-road-map.php

http://www.nhai.org

http://www.mapsofindia.com/roads/

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Neanderthals and Humans may have Coexisted

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Rashid Faridi

A trove of Neanderthal fossils including bones of children and adults, discovered in a cave in Greece suggests that the area may have been a key crossroad for ancient humans.

The fossils suggests Neanderthals and humans may have at least had the opportunity to interact, or cross paths, there, the researchers added.

Neanderthals were the closest  relatives of modern humans, apparently even occasionally interbreeding with our ancestors. Neanderthals entered Europe before modern humans, and may have lasted there until about 35,000 years ago.

Neanderthals are classified either as a subspecies of Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) or as a separate species of the same genus (Homo neanderthalensis). The first humans with proto-Neanderthal traits are believed to have existed in Europe as early as 600,000–350,000 years ago.

The species is named after the site of its first discovery, about 12 km (7.5 mi) east of Düsseldorf, Germany, in the Feldhofer Cave in the river Düssel’s Neander valley named for Joachim Neander, a 17th-century German pastor and hymnist. Neander’s own name was a Greek translation of the German Neumann (lit. “New man”). Thal is the older spelling of Tal (both with the same pronunciation), the German word for ‘valley’ (cognate with English dale).

Comparison of the DNA of Neanderthals and homo sapiens suggests that they diverged from a common ancestor between 350,000 and 400,000 years ago. This ancestor is not certain, but was probably Homo heidelbergensis (sometimes called homo rhodesiensis). Heidelbergensis originated between 800,000 and 1,300,000 years ago, and continued until about 200,000. It ranged over east and south Africa, Europe and west Asia. Between 350,000 and 400,000 years ago the African branch is thought to have started evolving towards modern humans and the European branch towards Neanderthals. Scientists do not agree when Neanderthals can first be recognised in the fossil record, with dates ranging 200,000 and 300,000 years BP.

Recently a study has been able to accurately determine the age of the Neanderthal remains found in the El Sidrón cave (Asturias, Spain) for which previous studies had provided inexact measurements.

read here  , here   and here

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Posted on April 2, 2013 by Rashid Faridi

Henricus Peters's avatarLEARN FROM NATURE

Climate change is allowing agriculture to boom. The Independent on Sunday reports 

Inside the Arctic Circle, a chef is growing the kind of vegetables and herbs – potatoes, thyme, tomatoes, green peppers – more fitted for a suburban garden in a temperate zone than a land of northern lights, glaciers and musk oxen. Some Inuit hunters are finding reindeer fatter than ever thanks to more grazing on this frozen tundra, and, for some, there is no longer a need to trek hours to find wild herbs.

This is climate change in Greenland, where locals say longer and warmer summers mean the country can grow the kind of crops unheard of years ago. “Things are just growing quicker,” said Kim Ernst, the Danish chef of Roklubben restaurant, nestled by a frozen lake near a former Cold War-era US military base. “Every year we try new things,” added Mr Ernst, who even…

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10 least populated Cities in the Land of Populous Cities

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Rashid Faridi

Nagda

Nagda is a major industrial town situated in the Malwa region of western Madhya Pradesh. This city is one of the largest viscose staple fiber manufacturers in Asia. According to the 2011 India census, Nagda had a population of 100,036.

The name of the town was actually nag-dah which means cremation/burning (dah) of snakes (nag). The ancient city was developed by king Janmejay. Janmejay was a Hindu King of Pandava Dynasty. Nagda was mentioned in the literature of Kalidasa. Presently, Nagda is a major industrial town having manufacturing unit of Viscose fibre, thermal power plant and a chemical plant, It is a major ISO granted railway junction on the Delhi-Mumbai railway line.It is exactly 694 km from both delhi as well as mumbai.

Banswara is a city in South Rajasthan. This city is also referred to as the City of Hundred Islands due to presence of numerous islands in the Mahi River, which flows through Banswara. According to the 2011 India census, Banswara had a population of 100,128.

Banswara is a city in Banswara District in south Rajasthan in India. The princely state of Banswara was founded by Maharawal Jagmal Singh. It is named for the “bans” or bamboo forests in the area. It is also known as ‘City of Hundred Islands’, due to presence of numerous islands in the Mahi River, which flows through Banswara

Hinganghat
Hinganghat is a city in the state of Maharashtra. As of 2011 India census, Hinganghat had a population of 100,416. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. The population is largely dependent on the textile mills in the city.

Datia
This city is a part of Madhya Pradesh. Apart from handloom, Datia is a market centre for food grains and cotton products. An interesting fact is that this city is mentioned in Mahabharata as Daityavakra. According to the 2011 India census, Datia had a population of 100,466.

Port Blair
Port Blair is the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India. The city had a population of 100,608, according to the 2011 India census. It serves as a major base for the Indian Navy and Indian Airforce.

Nagaur
Nagaur is a city in the state of Rajasthan and is considered to be a popular tourist destination. The palaces and temples are the highlight of the place. Naguar had a population of 100,618, according to the 2011 India census.

Kalyani
Kalyani is a city situated in West Bengal. This place is considered to be an important centre of education. According to the 2011 Indian census, Kalyani had a population of 100,620.

Kalyani, located in Nadia district in the state of West Bengal, is a relatively young town. During the Second World War, Kalyani, was the site of a military airbase. Hangars and other reminders of the air-field are still visible in the ‘A’ Block and some areas around Kalyani University, whose buildings were built on or over the runways.

In 1950 this town was built in a short time in order to host the Indian National Congress meeting. This planned town owes its existence and development to the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.

Kasganj
Kasganj is situated in Uttar Pradesh and relies on a mix of trading, manufacturing and services. As per provisional data of 2011 census, Kasganj had a population of 101,241, out of which males were 53,507 and females were 47,734.

It was founded by Nawab Yaqoot Ali Khan, a descendent of the Nawabs of Farrukhabad.The city was known as Yaqoot Ganj in the early sixteenth century,but it later became popularly known as Kasganj because it was established in a thick forest of kans, a vegetation grown abundantly here. The inscription regarding its establishment is still visible in the city’s Jama Masjid (big mosque). It is said that the well-protected building at Tehsil Road which houses the tehsil was the residence of Nawab Yaqoot Ali Khan until it was acquired by the British after fall of Awadh.

Bhadreswar
Bhadreswar is situated in the state of West Bengal. Jute mills are the highlight of its economy and also attract many laborers from neighboring cities. According to the 2011 India census, the city has a population of 101,334.

Aurangabad
Aurangabad is a city in the state of Bihar. As per the 2011 India census, the city had a population of 101,520.

Aurangabad pronunciation (help·info), is a city in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. Aurangabad (meaning “Built by the Throne”) is named after the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The city is a tourist hub, surrounded with many historical monuments, including the Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves, which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as well as Bibi Ka Maqbara. The administrative headquarters of the Aurangabad Division or Marathwada region, Aurangabad is said to be a City of Gates and the strong presence of these can be felt as one drives through the city. Recently, Aurangabad has been declared as Tourism Capital of Maharashtra. It is also one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

Sources: YaHOO, Wikipedia

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