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National Road Safety Month-24 event, he revealed that over the past three years, more than 6,000 driving licences have been revoked.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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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
