Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai calls Bengaluru traffic ‘most notorious’
Bengaluru (PTI): Bengaluru’s traffic woes resurfaced after Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai criticised the authorities for the "worst traffic management", calling the city’s roads the "most notorious".
Rai, who was in Bengaluru on Sunday, tagged Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a post on 'X', saying he had been stuck for an hour on Rajkumar Samadhi Road and was at risk of missing his flight.
Reacting to the criticism, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who also oversees Bengaluru development, said he would meet the MP in Delhi and show him the traffic situation in the national capital.
"Okay. Let me meet him in Delhi and show him what traffic is like in Delhi. I will also tag him," Shivakumar told reporters.
In his post on November 30, Rai wrote: "I’m sorry, but you have the worst traffic management, and the most irresponsible, useless traffic police. They don’t even pick up phone calls — here is the screenshot of my attempt to speak to them; none of them picked up my call."
"For the last one hour, we were stuck at the same place on Rajkumar Samadhi Road. I am going to miss my flight; tomorrow I have to attend the Parliament session. Not a single policeman was seen around," he added.
"These inefficient officers are enough to spoil the name and charm of this beautiful city. No doubt Bengaluru traffic has earned the reputation of the most notorious traffic," Rai further said, tagging the Bengaluru Police Commissioner.
In recent months, the state government has faced mounting pressure from industry bodies and citizens over Bengaluru’s traffic and infrastructure issues.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
ALSO READ: India, Russia explore cooperation on small modular reactors, floating nuclear power plants
It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
