HomeNewsBusiness3,951 km highways constructed in April-September despite COVID-19 difficulties: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

3,951 km highways constructed in April-September despite COVID-19 difficulties: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

The ministry achieved a road building rate of 21.60 km per day despite the prevailing situation, the ministry said.

October 09, 2020 / 16:31 IST
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Since the lockdown rules have lifted significantly, I’m sure a lot of you are itching to go out on a road trip. If you’re in the market looking for something that will help ferry the entire family, here’s a list we think could make that choice easier.
Since the lockdown rules have lifted significantly, I’m sure a lot of you are itching to go out on a road trip. If you’re in the market looking for something that will help ferry the entire family, here’s a list we think could make that choice easier.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, 3,951 km of highways were constructed in the first six months of the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on Friday.

The ministry achieved a road building rate of 21.60 km per day despite the prevailing situation, it said.

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"The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has successfully completed construction of road length of 3,951 km during the first six months of this fiscal year (April-September). It has achieved a construction pace of 21.60 km per day despite COVID-19 difficulties,” the ministry said in a statement.

It has set an ambitious target of constructing 11,000 km road during this fiscal year.

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.
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