Estonia Urges Maritime Law Changes to Protect Undersea Infrastructure

30 Dec 2024 CW Team

Estonia is calling for an update to centuries-old maritime law to address the growing issue of damage to undersea infrastructure, such as cables and pipelines. The country’s justice minister, Liisa Pakosta, told Reuters that the current maritime law, which deals with issues like piracy and unauthorized broadcasting, fails to cover cases of harm to underwater infrastructure.

The call for change comes after the damage of power cables and internet lines between Estonia and Finland, allegedly caused by a ship carrying Russian oil. Finnish authorities seized the vessel on suspicion of its involvement in the outage. In response, Estonia's navy is now protecting a parallel power line.

Estonia plans to apply to the International Maritime Organization by February to update the law, aiming to clarify how nations should handle underwater damage. Pakosta believes this would help reduce international disputes over such incidents.

Infrastructure Transport

15 Sep 2025

Cabinet Approves Key Highway and Rail Projects in Bihar Region

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the four-laning of the 84.2-km Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor, a key industrial region in poll-bound Bihar. The Cabinet also sanctioned the doubling of the 177-km Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat railway line, which passes through Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, at a cost of Rs 31.7 billion.The Rs 44.5 billion highway project will be constructed under the hybrid annuity model, a variant of public-private partnership. The Mokama-Munger stretch was the only remaining two-lane section of the 363-km Buxar-Bhagalpur corridor. Fou..

NGT Issues Notice on Bengaluru Twin Tunnel Project

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday issued notices in response to a petition filed by Bengaluru Praja Vedike and others, challenging the Bengaluru twin tunnel road project. Petitioners claim the project was “hastily announced” and bypassed mandatory environmental impact assessment procedures.Notices have been served to the Karnataka Government, Greater Bengaluru Authority, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE), the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and project consultants.The 16.74-km twin-tube..

India’s Residential Sales to Dip Slightly in FY26

Residential sales in India’s seven major cities are projected to decline by up to 3 per cent year-on-year in FY26 to 620–640 million square feet (msf), amid a moderation in sales velocity, according to ratings agency Icra.In FY25, sales stood at 643 msf, down 8 per cent YoY, following a sharp contraction in new launches and moderated demand in the affordable and mid-income segments. This slowdown came after the sector posted a robust compound annual growth rate of 26 per cent in area sales between FY22 and FY24.Icra noted: “Having seen a strong upcycle, the sector entered an equilibrium ..