NGO calls on RS to approve Motor Vehicle Act amendment
New Delhi, June 19: In a bid to reduce road accident deaths in India, Consumer Voice, which works for citizens road safety, on Tuesday asked the Rajya Sabha to pass the bill amending the three-decade-old Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
The amendment bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on April 11 this year, is currently pending in the upper house.
Speaking at a national workshop on the issue organised here, Consumer Voice Secretary Ashim Sanyal noted that the amendment calls for strong e-governance, heavy fine for traffic violations and capping maximum liability for the third party insurance at Rs 10 lakh in case of death in motor accident.
Noting that in India one person dies in road accident every four minutes while 20 million to 50 million people are injured in road accidents globally, he said: "Number of people killed in road accidents in India is second highest globally... almost 1.5 lakh per year. This translates in to 17 people dying every hour."
As per the the Road Transport and Highways Ministry's 2016 report, "over-speeding" is the biggest cause of road fatalities in India accounting for 73,896 (49 per cent) deaths. Everyday, 413 persons are killed and 1,327 accidents take place on Indian roads, it said.
The report stressed a tough law is needed to bring down to 50 percent of road traffic accidents by 2020, a commitment India made by adopting the Brasilia Declaration for Road Safety.
BJP MP Parvesh Verma, noting his father and former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma lost his life in tragic road accident, hoped that the proposed Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill will strengthen the road safety situation in India.
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Man booked for duping firm of Rs 6 cr by posing as Infosys CSR official
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against a man and his accomplices for allegedly cheating a firm of Rs 6 crore by falsely claiming to be associated with an IT company and promising to facilitate CSR funds for its projects, police said on Friday.
The crime is said to have taken place between September 1, 2025 and March 20, 2026, and after consultation with legal experts the company decided to file a complaint at the Devanahalli police station here, they said.
The FIR was registered on March 30 following a complaint by Mysore Mercantile Company, alleging that a person named Gagan N Deep approached them, posing as the Regional Head (CSR) at Infosys Ltd, they said.
According to the FIR, Deep claimed he reported to senior officials - Harsh J, Senior Regional Manager - Infrastructure, Facilities Operation, Public Relations and CSR Works, and Niladri Prasad Mishra, Senior Vice President and Head - Global Infrastructure and Climate Action.
The FIR alleged that the accused expressed interest in the activities of their associated trust, Heggunje Rajeeva Shetty Charitable Trust, Bangalore, and assured facilitation of CSR funds from Infosys Ltd.
It further stated that the accused sent a team of four to five individuals representing Infosys, including persons identified as Chethan and Tejas, to Udupi, Mangaluru and other places to verify the trust’s activities.
According to the complaint, the accused subsequently induced the complainant to pay an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to alleged regular vendors of Infosys as a condition for approval of CSR grants.
The complainant stated that a total amount of Rs 6 crore was paid, including Rs 1.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of Anitha Ventures and Rs 3.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of ANS Engineerings, apart from an additional cash payment of Rs 30 lakh allegedly handed over to the accused through his driver near Nandi Upachar Hotel in Devanahalli, as per his instructions.
The FIR further alleged that the accused issued a purported sanction letter dated October 21, 2025, allegedly from Infosys bearing the signature of Mishra, and executed a grant agreement dated January 8, 2026 between Infosys and the charitable trust for the construction of more than 855 houses across Karnataka with a total grant of Rs 179 crore.
Another grant agreement dated January 13, 2026 was also executed for construction of primary health care centres across the state with a total grant of Rs 178 crore, it stated.
However, the complainant later suspected that the representations made by the accused were false, the documents were fabricated, and the entire transaction was fraudulent in nature, as the accused dishonestly induced them to part with substantial amounts under the pretext of EMD for CSR grants.
"Despite repeated follow-ups neither has any grant materialised nor have the amounts been returned, and the accused is now unresponsive and deliberately avoiding communication," the FIR added.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), Section 319(2) (cheating by personation), Section 336(3) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), police said, adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.
Efforts are being made to nab the suspects in the case, they added.
