News Digest: Bad Roads Killed Over 10k People in 2015; 3,416 Deaths Due to Potholes
News Digest: Bad Roads Killed Over 10k People in 2015; 3,416 Deaths Due to Potholes
Bad Roads Killed Over 10k People in 2015; 3,416 Deaths Due to Potholes

Here are the headlines from some leading daily newspapers.

1.Bad roads killed over 10k people in 2015; 3,416 deaths due to potholes

Last year, 10,727 people were killed in crashes caused by potholes, speed breakers and roads under repair or being constructed.Though fatalities under these categories had come down marginally from 2014, the number of people killed due to potholes rose to 3,416, from 3,039 in the previous year, reports The Times of India.

Deaths caused by potholes rose seven-fold in Maharashtra, according to the surface transport ministry's road accidents report. A rise in such fatalities indicates fai lure of road-owning agencies to maintain stretches.

2. Family can sue state for negligence

If the kin of Praveen Bharti, who died in a road accident on Saturday night due to a potholed road, decide to approach court and sue the state agencies, they have a strong chance of not just securing compensation for the 45-year-old's death but also of fixing liability on negligent officials under whose watch such a deadly crater went undetected, reports The Times of India.

Though few, judicial pronouncements on bad roads and liability of the state have been categorical leaving little room for doubt over who should be held accountable.

3. PM Modi Opens App to Tap Union Ministers & MPs

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently wanted to pick the brains of his ministers on which 70 pro-poor government initiatives could be explained in simple terms to people in the run-up to the 70th Independence Day celebrations, he did not wait for the weekly Cabinet meeting. Modi sent a message on July 21 to a private group of ministers he administers on the Narendra Modi mobile application, reports The Economic Times.

Many responded soon enough, including Smriti Irani, Jitendra Singh, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Rajiv Pratap Rudy. A detailed plan is now being drawn up.

4. Colgate to Take on Patanjali with Local Herbal Toothpaste

Call it the Ramdev effect.Almost 80 years after Colgate-Palmolive entered the country, the oral care giant is launching an India-focused brand as Patanjali Ayurved threatens to upend the established order in fast-moving consumer goods, reports The Economic Times.

Cibaca Vedshakti seems to be aimed squarely at the Baba Ramdevled Patanjali, which has challenged the multinational's dominance in the segment with its Dant Kanti toothpaste. While Colgate has been selling herbal variants such as neem and clove in the country , this is the first indigenous brand in the ayurvedic segment for the $16-billion global giant that controls more than half the oral care market in India.

5. Stub Out Anti-Smoking Ads in Films: Benegal

The Shyam Benegal committee that is working on the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) revamp feels the anti-smoking ads and tickers shown in between movie screenings break the “nar rative of the film."

For better anti-smoking films, the Benegal committee, which artists such as Kamal Haasan, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Piyush Pandey on board, has also said the film industry should produce small films with popular actors that can “replace“ the present films. These films, after being cleared by health ministry , could be played in halls, reports The Economic Times.

6. Delhi Police cell to monitor social media

The next time you type “Badla (revenge) or “Ghadi” (watch) on Facebook or Twitter, think twice. The police may be watching you.

Delhi Police are setting up a social media monitoring cell that will scour public posts on websites and use key words to check user’s leanings towards extremist literature or sharing of so-called inflammatory content. reports The Hindustan Times.

The team has identified some 300 key words that they think are used by “anti-national elements” and militant organisations tor ad ica lise youth and motivate them to carry out attacks.

7. Waterlogging in Gurgaon: HUDA officials pass buck over de-silting sewerage lines

A letter from a HUDA subdivisional engineer (SDE) to his subordinate, an executive engineer, illustrates this. The SDE said his office would not be responsible for any kind of mishap in Sector 37, part 1 and 2, since sewer cleaning was stopped for no reason. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar okayed the project on January 9, reports The Hindustan Times.

In June, ` 47 lakh was sanctioned to clean, and desilt the choked sewer lines laid before 2000 in Sector 37. However, executive engineer Rameshwar Das stopped the work, following which sub-divisional engineer RL Garg wrote to him.

8. Retrenched Indians to come back home

The government is preparing to evacuate a large number of Indian workers facing an uncertain future in Saudi Arabia following widespread layoffs. A senior official source told The Hindu , New Delhi is “arranging exit visas for jobless workers”, and Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (Retired) V.K. Singh would travel to Saudi Arabia to “bring back” the Indians in the next few days, reports The Hindu.

9. Harry Potter fans flock to stores

Rain and grey skies did not deter fans in Mumbai. Bengalureans sacrificed their slow Sunday and teens in Hyderabad arrived at stores early. ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,’ the eighth part of the saga from J.K. Rowling hit the shelves, and for many, it was time for another ‘Potterfest.’ Those who turned up, wand in hand, at the last Harry Potter book launch in 2007 were now adults and a bit embarrassed to show up in wizard gear. Yet, new fans had stepped in, reports The Hindu.

10. Massive rally in Ahmedabad reflects Dalit anger

As more than 10,000 Dalits gathered in here on Sunday in a show of strength to send out a message that the community will no longer accept any form of atrocity by upper castes, 23-year-old Yogesh Sarikhada, Dalit youth, who had consumed pesticide to protest the flogging of four Dalits youths by a cow vigilante group in Saurashtra, died in hospital, reports The Hindu.

At the massive congregation, organised by the Dalit community and several Dalit groups and activists, community leaders slammed the State government and also Dalit political leaders from the BJP and Congress for failing to protect their rights.

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