Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry has sanctioned Rs 42.86 crore to the union territory for widening and improvement of roads in the rural areas of Puducherry and Karaikal.

Talking to reporters here, Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy said Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath had sent him a communication in this regard.

He said the decision of Medical Council of India to have a common entrance test for selection of students to medical colleges was arbitrary and the decision had been now kept in abeyance following steps taken by the Union Health ministry.

Very soon the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad would convene a joint meeting of the Health Ministers and Health Secretaries of all the States to discuss the issue, he said.