Fadnavis asks transport department to use AI for road safety measures
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the state transport department officials to increase the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to minimise road accidents.
Fadnavis also directed them to enforce policies for scrapping all vehicles above 15 years of age, a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office on Monday said.
The Maharashtra government has signed an agreement with Google, it said, adding the CM asked the transport department to increase the use of AI to strengthen the sector’s security and sustainability, using the agreement.
The CM reviewed the next 100-day action plans for the transport, ports and the state airport authority departments in a meeting at the Sahyadri guest house.
He emphasised the need for scrapping all vehicles older than 15 years, both public and private.
As per the release, more than 13,000 outdated government vehicles will be scrapped, and the state transport corporation's buses older than 15 years will be replaced or retrofitted with the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) kits to improve performance.
The CM also outlined plans for the state’s electric vehicle (EV) policy, which is set to be released within the next three years, the release said.
Fadnavis also instructed the transport department to introduce bike taxi and maxi cab services to enhance urban mobility.
He stressed the importance of formulating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure the safety of buses, especially in accident-prone ghat regions, the release added.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
