Traffic Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai, New Delhi: India’s domestic airfares slid to a four-year low in the October–December quarter, an unusual outcome for a seasonally strong period, as passenger traffic slowed through the year and demand weakened on non-metro routes.

Air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) continues to dominate headlines this winter, highlighting the absence of any long-term strategy to deal with a deadly subject that is affecting millions of lives in and around India’s capital. Of growing concern is the fact that most other urban areas in India beyond the NCR are also generating increasing levels of air pollution, with the number of ‘good’ air quality days trending towards zero.

Mint.For users, this would mean smartphones would automatically redirect a portion of data traffic from cellular networks to nearby Wi-Fi networks when available—including hotspots under the PM-WANI (Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) scheme—without interrupting calls, SMS, or applications.This will help reduce congestion on crowded mobile networks, improve speed in indoor and high-traffic areas, and enable operators to use their limited mobile spectrum more efficiently, often without users noticing any change.“Telecom operators in India do offload traffic to Wi-Fi in specific scenarios, but the practice has varied widely and lacked a nationally accepted technical framework,” a government official said, on condition of anonymity.“The new draft standard aims to define how Wi-Fi can work seamlessly with mobile networks, including public Wi-Fi, while ensuring there are no call drops during network switches and that there is a common offloading framework that works across operators,” the official added.The government wants operators to ensure that Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) works properly, including emergency calls, standard text messages over the internet, and multimedia calling services, while ensuring that all authentication and data transport mechanisms shall comply with national security directives and lawful interception, according to the draft rules.The rules also want operators to support open roaming and interoperability between different vendors to allow Wi-Fi offloading to scale without friction as users move across locations and networks.The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) under the department of telecommunications (DoT) is currently working to formalize the rules.“Telecom operators have

My father’s father, my Dada, was born in Sarangarh and lived out his life there. Sarangarh was one of the least consequential of over 550 ‘princely states’ when the British left in 1947, and yet it was one of those that wanted to be independent. To negotiate with Sardar Patel the terms of equal coexistence with India, a three-member delegation was sent by the King of Sarangarh to Delhi that year.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected]. India’s infrastructure sector is at an inflection point.

air quality-focused climate-tech startup, for a full retrofit. Today, every IntrCity SmartBus functions like a moving air-quality lab.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Last week, India’s telecom regulator proposed cutting the charges operators pay to use a set of airwaves known as microwave spectrum. These airwaves are not used by consumers directly.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s highway projects are set to become more expensive after the government mandated that service roads and slip roads must be built to the same standards as the main carriageways. The new guidelines—notified by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH)—require developers to repair, strengthen or fully construct service roads before work begins on the main highways.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Delhi and Mumbai are deep into a polluted winter, and pets are breathing the same toxic air we are. Poor air quality harms pets slowly rather than dramatically, which means the safest approach is to plan the day around the air instead of sticking to routine out of habit.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. If you’ve been getting into the holiday shopping spirit, you might have already met Amazon’s Rufus or Walmart’s Sparky. Artificial-intelligence chatbots are appearing all over retail websites and apps.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Traditional in-ear and over-ear headphones are built to create an immersive bubble, but in many contexts, immersion is a liability. It makes us unsafe on the street and anti-social in the office.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is set to introduce the country's first metro corridor designed for operations with three-coach trains on the upcoming Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block route, officials said on Sunday. A part of Phase-IV of the Delhi Metro project, the corridor will span eight kilometer and be the second-smallest in the network, the DMRC said in a statement. The line aims to enhance last-mile connectivity and ensure seamless interchange with existing corridors, it said. Unlike other metro lines that operate with four, six or eight coaches, the new corridor will use 3-coach trains, developed specifically for short-distance urban travel, the statement said.

Delhi Metro will soon introduce India’s first metro corridor designed to operate with 3-coach long trains. An official statement said unlike most metro lines that use 4, 6, or 8-coach trains, this 3-coach system has been developed to cater specifically to short-distance urban travel. The Lajpat Nagar to Saket G Block Metro Corridor of Phase-IV will be the second smallest metro line (8 kms) in the Delhi Metro network, enhancing last-mile connectivity while ensuring seamless interchange with existing metro corridors, the statement added. Projected daily ridership on this corridor is expected to rise from 60,000–80,000 passengers in 2025 to over 1,20,000 in 2041.

Indian infrastructure, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the country's first vertical lift sea bridge—the New Pamban Bridge—linking Rameswaram to the mainland. The occasion, timed with the auspicious festival of Ram Navami, adds a spiritual resonance to a landmark feat of engineering. Rameswaram is not just a town. It’s a place woven deeply into India’s mythological fabric. The Ramayana describes Lord Ram beginning the Ram Setu construction from nearby Dhanushkodi, building a bridge to Lanka. Now, over a hundred years after British engineers built the first Pamban rail bridge in 1914, a bold new chapter begins.

Ayodhya became the spiritual epicentre of India. Tens of thousands of devotees poured into the temple town to mark Ram Navami, the birthday of Lord Ram, with devotion, prayer and celebration. The day began with ritual baths in the Saryu River, a tradition followed by pilgrims before entering the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. The temple itself had been transformed into a visual spectacle—bright lights, intricate flower arrangements and chants filled the air. A devotee at the site said, “…I am feeling very good after coming here… The arrangements here are very good…” Another, who travelled from Varanasi, shared, “I have come from Varanasi to offer prayers at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple on the occasion of Ram Navami…”

The regional IMD center in Chennai alerted residents on Saturday, advising caution as weather conditions could cause waterlogging, slippery roads, and traffic disruptions in some areas. The IMD has forecast light to moderate rain in the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Nagapattinam districts, as well as the Karaikal region. The weather department’s update, issued at 1:00 PM today, also includes expectations of rainfall in other districts such as Theni, Tenksasi, Ramanathapuram, and Kanyakumari.

Donald Trump arrived in Miami for a weekend of golf and appearances. Even though Marine One experienced an unanticipated delay when it appeared that it had two flat tyres at Miami International Airport, President Trump arrived at his Doral golf resort Thursday afternoon for a LIV Golf event, as quoted in a report by CBS News. President Trump planned a weekend of speeches and golf, including time at Mar-a-Lago. Local officials warned drivers about traffic delays near the resort. ALSO READ: White House grounds off-limits as anti-Trump protests loom, forcing postponement of iconic garden tours

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Office fridges are getting crowded with employee lunches. Inside the office fridge, maybe behind a “Don’t Touch!" Post-it Note, is a telling economic indicator: More employees are eating lunches brought from home than they have in years.

NHAI will develop a 121-km-long Guwahati Ring Road on build-operate-toll mode at a total cost of Rs 5,729 crore, an official statement said on Thursday. The statement further said the concession period of the contract is 30 years, including the construction period of four years. «Providing impetus to the project, the state government of Assam will bear 50 per cent of land cost, provide exemption from royalty on aggregates and state portion of GST contributing about Rs. 1,270 crore,» it said, adding that thus, the gross project cost is about Rs 7,000 crore. The Guwahati Ring Road project will have three sections which include 56 km long 4-lane Access-Controlled Northern Guwahati Bypass, widening of the existing 8 km bypass on NH 27 from four lanes to six lanes, and improvement of existing 58 km long bypass on NH 27. Notably, a 3 km long major bridge over river Brahmaputra will also be constructed as a part of the project. The Guwahati Ring Road will provide seamless connectivity to long-distance traffic plying on the East-West Corridor of NH-27, which is the gateway to North-East Region of the country. The development of the Ring Road will help to decongest Guwahati City and neighboring North- Eastern states by bypassing major traffic coming from West Bengal/Bihar to Silchar, Nagaland and Tripura.

Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) handled 82.62 MT of cargo during 2024-25, its highest ever, it said on Tuesday. The VPA termed it a “milestone unlocked” as it witnessed increased volumes across key cargo segments including crude oil, manganese ore, bauxite, rice and general cargo despite global trade fluctuations and logistical challenges. Visakhapatnam port also ranks among the world’s Top 20 container ports.

Miriam Yarimi, allegedly had a history of reckless driving. She reportedly spoke about her passion for speed and luxury cars. Authorities are now reviewing her past traffic violations.