"Unsafe for women": Karnataka govt withdraws electric bike taxi services
Bengaluru: Karnataka Government has banned operation of electric bike taxi services in the state after they were found to be "unsafe for women" and being carried out in violation of Motor Vehicles Act.
A government order notified that the 2021 Karnataka Electric Bike Taxi Scheme has now been withdrawn.
“It has come to our notice that certain private app-based firms are violating the Motor Vehicles Act and its rules and running illegal non-transport two-wheelers as the transport vehicles,” it said.
It also said there were often clashes between the owners and drivers of auto rickshaws and "maxi cabs" with the bike riders and cases were also registered. The scheme also made it difficult for the transport department to collect taxes.
Further, to maintain law and order and keeping in mind the safety of women travelling on two-wheeler bike taxis, the government has cancelled the scheme, the notification stated.
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President of the Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association, Tanveer Pasha, welcomed the decision and said the then BJP government had in 2021 given permission to electric bike taxis in Bengaluru.
“In spite of our opposition, the permission was not withdrawn. We had been agitating against this and even tried to explain to the government about the impact of this permission on auto and taxi drivers' life,” he said.
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Affront to non-Hindi speaking people: Chidambaram slams use of Hindi words in bills' names
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader P Chidambaram has slammed the "increasing practice" of the government using Hindi words in the titles of the bills and said the change is an "affront" to the non-Hindi-speaking people.
Chidambaram said the non-Hindi-speaking people cannot identify a Bill/Act with titles that are in Hindi words written in English letters, and they cannot pronounce them.
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"I am opposed to the increasing practice of the government using Hindi words written in English letters in the title of the Bills to be introduced in Parliament," the former Union minister said late Monday night.
Hitherto, the practice was to write the title of the Bill in English words in the English version and in Hindi words in the Hindi version of the Bill, Chidambaram said.
"When no one pointed out any difficulty in the 75 year practice, why should government make a change?" he said.
"This change is an affront to non-Hindi speaking people and to States that have an official language other than Hindi," the Congress leader said.
Successive governments have reiterated the promise that English will remain an Associate Official Language, Chidambaram said.
"I fear that promise is in danger of being broken," the Congress MP said.
