CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Nitin Gadkari releases India’s first ever Highway Capacity Manual.

Detailed explanation-2: -Roads have been existing in India for the last 5000 years. In early stages of Indian history, Ashoka and Chandragupta made efforts to construct roads. But the real progress was made during the Mughal period.

Detailed explanation-3: -The first serious attempt was made in 1943. The First Road Development Plan (Nagpur Plan) was formulated in that year. This plan could not be implemented due to lack of coordination among the princely states and British India.

Detailed explanation-4: -Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the ancient Indian Maurya Empire, built this highway along an ancient route called Uttarapatha in the 3rd century BCE, extending it from the mouth of the Ganges to the north-western frontier of the Empire.