Special pink roofed auto for women commuters

In the wake of rising crime against Women in Delhi/NCR region, where thousands of women commuters commute daily from nearby regions, the Gurgaon police has initiated a safety drive for women by launching pink-roofed auto rickshaws plying for women only.

At first stage, 22 pink roofed auto rickshaws have been implied as a pilot project in the city.

Gurgaon Traffic Police Inspector, Anil Kumar, said that the women are often victims of eve-teasing when they are travelling and this service will avert such incidents.

“We have launched this drive for the safety of the women. Women are often mistreated and eve-teased while travelling in an auto-rickshaw. But now they will have separate autos, only for women,” he said.

Last month’s rape of a physiotherapy student on a moving bus in the national capital New Delhi and her death in hospital have triggered unprecedented national outrage and demands for better safety measures in the country.

As a part of this drive, police have identified 22 auto drivers and verified their identification documents, providing them with special identity cards.

“In order to control crime against women, the Haryana police have taken this step. If the administration helps, then this could prove to be very successful. The police have put 22 autos and they have thoroughly verified all of them. If the passenger feels that they are being mistreated by any of the drivers, then they can dial 100 and lodge a complaint,” said Amit Kumar, auto driver.

Gurgaon has a poor public conveyance system and women, especially those without a personal vehicle find the newly introduced auto service a boon.

Ritu Singh, a passenger, said that the service would prove to be beneficial only when the auto drivers do not refuse to ferry the women passengers.

“It is a very good service and facilitates women who are coming from outside and who do not have their personal vehicles. However, the condition is that they should not refuse to take us to our destinations,” she said.

–With ANI Inputs–

BJP Will Save Vadra, Congress Gadkari: Kejriwal

Activist Arvind Kejriwal today demanded that BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and Robert Vadra declare all their business interests and where all they own land in the country.

He said the probe against Gadkari by IT Department was an “eye-wash” as Congress and BJP were “hand in glove” trying to save each other.

“Vadra should publicise where all he owns land. What are his business interests? When did he buy this land and at what cost? Gadkari and Vadra should publicise all their business interests in the country and abroad,” he said.

On the Income Tax department launching a probe to trace the source of funding of various firms that invested in Gadkari’s company Purti Power and Sugar Limited, he said government has said that the IT Department would submit a report in a month.

“IT Act has no provision for such a probe. Is the government fooling people. Under the IT Act, you can raid under Section 132, or survey under Section 133 A or scrutinise under Section 143. What is the Government doing?

“Will IT find anything if it conducts raids or surveys? Raids are conducted in secrecy. This is how CBI conducts raids after grand announcements. And what happened to Robert Vadra? Does any agency have guts to even summon him or investigate him. He is so right. It’s a banana republic,” he said.

He also asked if the IT Department is probing Gadkari, why was it not investigating Vadra. “Are all these probes merely an eyewash? Time will tell. It would further prove that Congress and BJP are hand in glove,” he said.

He said media reports claimed that Haryana officers gave clean chit to Vadra.

“That was expected. Country would be surprised if it were otherwise. In Haryana, all good officers are shunted out. Those in key positions crawl when asked to bend. Now Congres will protect Gadkari and BJP will protect Vadra,” he said.

The Best Performing States Of 2011

India is a vast nation with a growing population base supported by thriving economic growth which has transformed the nation into a preferred business hub for the world’s most developed countries. No longer is India tagged as a developing nation, rather it has become an ‘emerging economy’in the terminology used by the multilaterals of the world. Despite these encouraging facts, the country today faces challenges of equitable and sustainable development coupled with our collective social responsibility towards environment preservation and climate change.

India is made of 28 states and each state is unique in its own competitiveness. If Karnataka stands for its IT valley, Delhi is known for its high population density and economic development. The competitiveness between states helps you evaluate the growth of a state and helps you understand how Indian states are leveraging their human, physical, economic and natural resources to align with the broader goal of sustainable development.

To propel the overall growth of a country, each individual state has to be competitive so that they can build innovative ways that will help the growth of the state. The sustainable competitiveness is very important for the weaker states so that they can they can emulate their stronger counterparts.
RICS India and Institute for Competitiveness in their ‘Sustainable Competitiveness Report 2011? ranked the states in India on Social Inclusion , Environment and Climate Change, Economic Development , Resource Availability and Utilization.

So do you want to know how competitive is your state is? Who are the leaders and laggard in India’s successful growth story? Check out the list. But surprisingly some of the biggest states or the heavy weights like Tamil Naidu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh have scored low on the four parameters and have not made into the list.

1. Delhi:

Delhi, the largest metropolis by area was ranked number one for its huge population and is known for driving the economic development in the country. Welcoming the report, Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi commented “It is extremely gratifying to see Delhi once again top the sustainability competitiveness rankings. It has been our constant endeavour to enable sustainable development and it is heartening to see that these initiatives have borne fruit. Sustainable development leads to sustainable prosperity across the country and I believe that this is a strong message that reverberates through this timely report brought out by the Institute for Competitiveness and RICS India. We need to keep striving to make not just our respective states but the entire country more competitive, sustainable and a true success story.”

2. Goa:

Goa is India’s smallest state by area but ranked one for its medium population. The resource availability and utilization is what gets the score cards for Goa. It was ranked the best placed state by the Eleventh Finance Commission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life in India by the National Commission on Population based on the 12 Indicators. Goa is India’s richest state with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country as a whole.

 

3. Sikkim:

Sikkim is the least populous state in India and the second-smallest state after Goa in total area. Sikkim’s economy is largely agrarian. The state has a high growth rate of 8.3%, which is the second highest in the country after Delhi. In recent years, the government of Sikkim has extensively promoted tourism. As a result, the state revenue has increased 14 times since the mid-1990s.

 

4. Punjab:

Punjab is ranked fourth among the states on competitiveness and growth. Punjab is said to have the best infrastructure this includes road, rail, air and river transport links that are extensive throughout the region. Punjab also has the lowest poverty rate in India at 6.16 percent, and has won the best state performance award, based on statistical data compiled by the Indian Government. It also affords best quality of life to its residents. Punjab has the lowest level of hunger in India.

 

5. Himachal Pradesh:

Himachal Pradesh has one of the highest per capita incomes of any state in India. The economy of the state is highly dependent on three sources: hydroelectric power, tourism and agriculture. Over 93 percent of the population in Himachal depends directly upon agriculture which provides direct employment to 71 percent of its people. Himachal is extremely rich in hydro electric resources. The state has about 25 percent of the national potential in this respect.

 

6. Haryana:

Haryana is one of the wealthiest states of India and has the third highest per capita income in the country. Haryana is also one of the most economically developed regions in South Asia. The economy of Haryana relies on manufacturing, business process outsourcing, agriculture and retail. The State Gross Domestic Product (GSDP) of Haryana is expected to grow at 9 per cent during 2010-11 and per capita income at 7.2 percent.

 

7. Mizoram:

Mizoram is number one in ‘social inclusion’. However, Mizoram lags behind economically with little development due to the geographical lack of markets and raw materials.

 

8. Kerala:

Kerala has the highest Human Development Index in India, comparable with that of first world nations but with a much lower per capita income. The state has a literacy rate of 94.59 percent, also the highest in India.

 

9. Gujarat:

Gujarat, considered the growth engine of India is one of India’s fastest growing states. One of the most industrialised states of India, and has a per capita GDP almost twice that of the national average.

 

10. Arunachal Pradesh:

Arunchal Pradesh clocked the highest economic growth rate of 22.43 percent in 2009-10. Arunachal Pradesh accounts for a large percentage of India’s untapped hydroelectric power production potential. Corruption in Arunachal Pradesh is endemic, and reputed to be among the worst in India.