19 July, 2009

A study on accidents by World Health Organisation (WHO), Harvard University and World Bank.

Road accidents would move to the third place in the table of leading causes of death and disability by 2020, according to a study by World Health Organisation (WHO), Harvard University and World Bank.

To create more awareness and engaging corporates towards road safety, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region, had organised a day-long seminar on `Road Safety — Engaging Corporates’ here on Friday.

Inaugurating the seminar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security) Praveen Sood said that lack of sincerity among the motorists was the root cause of most traffic violations and not lack of proper awareness.

"The traffic department is in the process of introducing nonintrusive and evidence-based law enforcement. Efforts are on to computerise all RTO branches and traffic stations, so that offenders can be tracked and traffic tickets dispatched to the vehicle owner’s address,’’ Sood informed.

Managing Director of Praxair India Private Limited Gajanan Nabar said that India currently had the dubious distinction of being ranked first in the number of road accidents.

“In Bangalore, 40 per cent of road fatalities were two-wheeler riders and 23 per cent were pedestrians,’’ stated Nabar and added that the major factors contributing to accidents were negligence by road-users, poor road conditions and unsafe or poorly maintained vehicles.

Punj Lloyd Limited Deputy General Manager Mukesh Arora said that non-uniformity in methods of traffic control and placement of signs increased confusion among road-users.

"Majority of vehicle drivers are, at best, only semi-literate,’’ he added.

Arora said that a good road safety device should be bright, placed properly, uniform and durable, which helped in improving road safety. He stressed the importance of self-discipline among motorists.

On the occasion, Praveen Sood launched a FM radiobased media campaign on 'lane discipline and use of indicators’ catering to Bangaloreans.

The campaign is a joint venture by CII and the Bangalore City Traffic Police and is a radio jingle that portrays the illeffects of negligent driving combined with a message asking the listeners to observe lane discipline and use indicators wherever needed.

SAARC tour by disabled for world peace

With the messages of global peace and harmony, a group of specially-abled people has set out on a tour across the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.

The SAARC is an economic and political organization of eight countries in Southern Asia.

There are six volunteers including four on wheel chair. They got their pass for the world tour from the Nepal Ministry of foreign affairs. They started off from Kathmandu and will pass through India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and even Afghanistan if possible.

Santosh Yadab, a physically disabled member in the group feels, that there should be peace everywhere.

“Presently the world is caught in vortex of violence. We are on a peace walk. We want to make an appeal to the people around us to stop harming each other. Our sole purpose of this walk is that we want there to be peace everywhere,” Yadab added.

The World Peace tour will conclude in 3 years and 9 months.

Man accused of raping relative with disability

This story shows power of law, if most of countries have such laws the violance against people with disabilities can be reduced.

A man was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting a female relative with a mental disability.

Raymond Burroughs, 61, was charged with first-degree rape and incest. The 58-year-old woman told relatives on March 25 that she had been assaulted, said Capt. Loyd Baker of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit.

Tests at DCH Regional Medical Center confirmed that she had been assaulted. Investigators questioned Burroughs on Thursday and arrested him that afternoon. They collected a DNA sample that will be tested by Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences investigators.

Rape is classified as first-degree if the victim is incapable of consent because he or she is physically helpless or mentally incapacitated, according to Alabama law.

Burroughs was in the Tusca- loosa County Jail on Friday morning with bail set at $30,000 for the rape charge, $15,000 for the incest charge and $300 for a harassment charge.