FRIDAY, DECEMBER 01, 2023
Technology to limit accidents
The law enforcers are doing their best with the resources available to limit highway accidents. One way to reduce accidents is to put a brake on the speeding vehicles. Over speeding accounts for nearly 60 percent of the road accident deaths in India. When speed limits are set, it is the duty of the drivers to obey the rules, but that does not always happen.
The Automatic Number Plate Recognition(ANPR) or Automatic Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) is a robust technology that creates an optional character recognition on images to read vehicle registration number plates so that the image, exact location and licence number of a vehicle could be determined without ambiguity. The resultant images can be analysed in a few milliseconds.
Besides identifying individual over speeding vehicles, ALPR can help smoothen traffic management by pinpointing bottlenecks. While the CCTV camera has its own role to play, it may not be too accurate in identifying the number plates. More and more Indian highways should employ the ALPR technology which, obviously, comes at a cost but nothing is more precious than the life of a human being.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Tourists indulging in stunts on vehicles
A video that has gone viral on social media shows a bare bodied male tourist sitting on top of a tourist taxi. Besides him, two others were seen sitting on the windows and leaning outside. Tourists doing stunts on moving vehicles has become a common sight in the state. These tourists not only put their lives at risk, but also endanger the lives of other road users and pedestrians by flouting traffic rules. In all probability these tourists were in a drunken state. They could be indulging in such an irresponsible acts probably because they feel that the cops are not very strict with such behavior.
It seems prudent for those engaged in rent-a-vehicle business to take in writing that these tourists will not engage in such dangerous stunts while driving the rented vehicles and that the tourists will have to face the consequences if any untoward incident takes place. The traffic cops need to show zero tolerance towards tourists indulging in such stunts in the rented vehicles. The culprits should be booked under section 184 (C) of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
India doing really well
The walking glory of our country in the last decade is phenomenal and worth praising. The many faces of the government calling for a pat on the back for the hard work put in by the magic mantras which needs to be complimented without any controversy. If Abrogation of Article 370 is the icing on the cake, the other welfare measures have led to a golden period. In a religious minded country, where sanatan dharma is well and truly followed, the Ram Mandir construction stands tall in history. The Covid handling and the vaccine distribution all made us proud even in worrying causes of deaths.
The digital economy, UPI has touched the nadir of the world and thereby boosting our economy in the bargain. Financial inclusions saw our country soaring to the fifth spot in the world economy. The infrastructure development is worth mentioning with wide roads and monumental highways. Both water management and Swachh Bharat are the mainstay of our clean green India. There has been GST boost and plenty of welfare schemes launched. In all it is glory all the way, and the new Parliament building all add to the tryst to
the destiny.
C K Subramaniam, Navi Mumbai
Women’s quota is welcome
It is really heartening that after decades of dilly dallying, the 33% Women's Reservation Bill, has seen the light of day. We are confident that the INDIA Alliance partners will not create any hurdle for the implementation of the bill without any further delay. The passing of this bill should not end with this cabinet clearance. Proper rules should be formulated that there should be 33% reservation for women at all State Assemblies and in Parliament. To ensure that, there should be an all party meeting at all State level, where they should select 35% of constituencies only for women candidates to contest. Then only we could ensure 35% women in all States and in Parliament. It would be a welcome step, if the kith and kin of these party leaders are not allowed to enter the fray or that woman should be the only candidate from their family. Well the Supreme Court and Election Commission should come out with firm rules to ensure the 33% reservation for women at all levels, as women are proving to be better administrators in our country.
Kavitha Srikanth, Chennai
Breach of agreement by banks
We reliably understand that many banks have deducted charges for non- maintenance of minimum balance from the monthly dole of Rs 1000 credited to the deserving women beneficiaries of families under the Kalaignar Mahalir Urimai Thittam, despite the Tamil Nadu government and the banks having signed an MoU according to which no deduction from this welfare scheme should be made. This is really unfortunate and all such banks should recredit the charges debited, as it is a breach of agreement and trust. The
government should initiate action against such avaricious banks, if they fail to honour their commitment.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
India will soon become 3rd largest economy
India is well on course to becoming the 3rd largest economy in the world, surpassing the economies of Japan and Germany, by 2027-28. This will put the country among the coveted top 3 economies of the world, a podium finish of sorts. Day in and day out we are never allowed to forget this supposedly great achievement, making us swell with pride. But the reality is something else.
In India ( or Bharat) 92.4%, of our workforce is employed in the 'informal sector' ,with no written contract, paid leave, weekly off, Provident Fund or other benefits . They include all small factory workers, shop workers, construction workers, farm workers. They include your electrician , painter, plumber, barber, carpenter your bhajji-wala and macchi-wali. They also include your indispensable overworked and underpaid house maid, your building watchman, gardener and delivery boy who brings food and parcels to your doorstep.
So what does GDP mean to all of them? Absolutely nothing, and they make up around 92% of our growing economy!
So how is our GDP growing and overtaking highly industrialized countries like Germany , Japan, UK, France Netherlands etc? The reason is our burgeoning population... the sheer numbers which gives us a decided edge in the GDP race. And 92.4% of them are from the unorganised sector. These people need a huge amount of food to eat so we need to produce more food. That's GDP. They require houses, so we build millions of houses. That's GDP. They require clothes, saris shoes, chappals etc so we produce huge amounts of these items. That's GDP. They need to travel to their work place so we have more scooters, cycles, trains, buses, taxis, rickshaws. So we produce more of these. That's GDP. They need more roads, bridges, highways , and ports which are all built by construction workers. That's GDP. All of them are responsible for pushing the GDP, which is totally meaningless to them.
Robert Castellino, Calangute/Mumbai
