Bengaluru tops list of cities with highest Private Car Ownership: Overtakes Delhi
Bengaluru, Jan 16: Bengaluru has recently surpassed national capital Delhi to become the top Indian city with the highest number of private cars. Bengaluru has exceeded Delhi in private car ownership, registering a total of 22.3 lakh private cars as of March 31, 2023 as per the Karnataka Transport Department. This reflects a notable 7.1 per cent increase from the figures recorded on March 31, 2021.
The surge in the number of vehicles in Bengaluru has also led to a rise in traffic rules violations. In another notable report by Dutch location technology specialist TomTom, Bengaluru was the second most congested city globally in 2022 after London. In light of such issues, on Saturday, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced that artificial intelligence would be employed to monitor and address these violations.
Speaking at the National Road Safety Month-24 event, he revealed that over the past three years, more than 6,000 driving licences have been revoked.
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According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, two-wheelers are most frequently involved in accidents. The Deputy CM also stressed on the importance of two-wheeler riders wearing helmets consistently. He further cautioned the public against overconfidence, stating, "One should have confidence but not over-confidence. Life is precious, follow traffic rules. Don't indulge in footpath riding and signal jumping."
The east division of Bengaluru Traffic Police had initiated a unique pilot program along the city's Information Technology corridor, covering areas such as Outer Ring Road and Whitefield about a month ago. As a part of this initiative, if any employee from an IT company was found breaking traffic rules, details of the violation were sent directly to their respective companies via email or WhatsApp.
"We started this drive on a pilot basis in the east division of Bengaluru. So, if any of the IT company employees are caught violating traffic rules, information about the specific violation will be sent to their respective companies through email or WhatsApp. This is just to make them more aware and conscious of traffic rules and road safety while riding," Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Division - Traffic), Kuldeep Kumar Jain, explained.
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BJP blaming Iran-Israel war for everything, says Akhilesh; questions foreign policy
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the BJP was blaming the Iran-Israel conflict for a range of domestic issues and said such claims were an attempt to hide policy failures.
Responding to a question on the impact of the West Asia situation on industries in Kanpur during a press conference here, Yadav said that the responsibility for the condition of industries lies with the BJP government.
"These people may now even say that the Ganga is not getting cleaned because of the war in West Asia," the former UP chief minister remarked.
He said the government was diverting attention from farmers' issues and bringing up unrelated matters.
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Referring to fertiliser shortages, he said that farmers had to stand in long queues and fertilisers were not available even earlier, and "now such shortages could be attributed to the Iran-Israel conflict".
He added that this was a failure of government policy and accused the BJP of shifting blame.
Yadav also said that potato farmers were not getting fair prices and alleged that the government might attribute this as well to the ongoing conflict.
On a question related to foreign policy and India's ties with the United States, Yadav said he would not like to comment in detail as his knowledge on the subject was limited, but noted that the influence of the US was visible in many areas.
"If one studies past speeches of leaders, including those from the opposition, after Independence, it would be clear what kind of foreign policy India should have pursued and how it has evolved over time," the leader of the third largest party in Lok Sabha noted.
Yadav also referred to discussions around foreign funding to NGOs and their possible influence on policies, but said these were "contentious issues" on which he would not like to comment further at present.
"Our immediate focus is on ensuring respect for PDA (Backward classes, Dalits and minorities), establishing the rule of social justice and removing the corrupt BJP from government," he said.
On a question related to claims about late night voting during polls in Andhra Pradesh in 2024 coming to light now, Yadav said that concerns had been raised about voting continuing late into the night in some instances.
"Our stance is clear on this matter. In several progressive and developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and England, voting is done through ballots despite their advanced technological capabilities.
"In Germany, the use of electronic voting machines has even been considered unconstitutional," he said, and questioned the continued reliance on EVMs and VVPAT systems in India.
Yadav reiterated his party's stand in favour of returning to ballot voting, saying it would at least allow poorer voters to visibly express their choice.
"The poor cannot vent out their anguish against the government by just pressing the button of the EVM. Using the ballot stamp, they can properly vent out their anger," he said in a lighter vein.
On a separate question regarding student politics and demands for the revival of student unions in universities, Yadav said that if the Samajwadi Party forms the government in Uttar Pradesh, it would send delegations of students from universities in the state to reputed global institutions such as the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.
"These delegations would observe student union systems and share their experiences, and students from those institutions would also be invited to Lucknow for conferences to exchange ideas," he added.
