Road accident deaths in India: Tamil Nadu leads

            As many as 1,39,091 persons lost their lives in 4,40,042 road accidents in the country last year. According to statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1,18,533 of the victims were male. They include 11,571 pedestrians. The 28 States together accounted for 1,36,771 deaths and the seven Union Territories for the remaining.

Tamil Nadu tops the list of with 16,175 deaths in 67,757 accidents, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 15,109 deaths in 24,478 accidents. Andhra Pradesh is third with 14,966 deaths in 39,344 accidents and Maharashtra fourth with 13,936 deaths in 45,247 accidents. The Capital city of Delhi accounts for 1,866 deaths in 6,937 accidents. The UT of Lakshadweep is the only administrative division where no road accidents have taken place. It has 9,000 registered vehicles as on December 31, 2012.

#	State/UT	No of accidents	No of deaths
1	Tamil Nadu	67, 757	16, 175
2	Uttar Pradesh	24, 478	15, 109
3	Andhra Pradesh	39, 344	14, 966
4	Maharashtra	45, 247	13, 936

Accidents involving two wheelers accounted for the largest number of deaths — 32,318 or 23.2 per cent — followed by lorries — 26,678 (19.2%). Bicycles accounted for 3069 deaths.

The death toll in 2012 is 2,257 more than in 2011 — an increase of 1.6%. In 2011 too, Tamil Nadu led the country with 15,422 deaths in 65,873 accidents. Andhra Pradesh was second that year with 15,158 deaths in 41,066 accidents. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka accounted for 15.4%, 10.3% and 10.1% of the road accidents in the country. They also reported the largest number of road accidents each month of the year in 2012. Delhi reported the most number of road accidents among the Union Territories. In fact, its road accidents figure in 2012 stands above those of 14 States.

The rate of accidental deaths per thousand vehicles in 2012 was the highest in Bihar and West Bengal at 1.9 each, followed by Himachal Pradesh with 1.8, Andhra Pradesh 1.5 and Jammu & Kashmir 1.5, compared to 1.0 at the national level. The rate of deaths per 100 cases of accidents was the highest in Nagaland (133.3), followed by Punjab (75.8) and Mizoram (70.0), compared to 31.6 at the national level.

The number of road accidents in 2012 showed only a marginal decrease of 0.02 per cent compared to 2011. In 2011, there were 4,40,123 road accidents. Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra accounted for 11.6%, 10.9%, 10.8% and 10.0% of the deaths in road accidents in 2012.

Most of the accidents (73,672 cases or 16.7 per cent) took place between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., there were 73,070 cases (16.6 per cent). Roads were comparatively safer between 12 midnight and 3 a.m., when there were only 29,483 cases (6.3 per cent). The statistics also show that the largest number of accidents (38,920) took place in the month of May last year.

Related Links:-

National Crime Records Bureau: 2011-12

More than one-third Ministers in union cabinet are from South

After the latest reshuffle, the South has much to cheer about — 31 of the 77 Ministers (excluding Prime Minister) in the Union Cabinet are from the region.

Of them, 13 belonged to Andhra Pradesh, eight from Kerala, five from Karnataka, four from Tamil Nadu and one from Puducherry. While A.P. has the highest number of five Cabinet Ministers, Karnataka has four and T.N. and Kerala have two each.

In the poll-bound Andhra Pradesh, every fourth MP of the Congress, either elected to the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, is now a Union Minister. The State tops the list of getting the highest number of 13 Ministers in the council.

In Karnataka, where the Congress had recently won the Assembly polls, every second MP belonging to the party is a Minister now with five of the 10 MPs (seven from the Lok Sabha and three from the Rajya Sabha) being in the Cabinet.

The luck for the Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu is also not bad as every third Congress MP from the State is a Minister. Of course, this has come at the cost of the DMK, which quit the UPA-II government on the Sri Lankan issue a few months ago. Of the Congress MPs, two are already holding the Cabinet rank.

Given the fluid situation in Andhra Pradesh — with Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy set to pose great challenges to the Congress in the Assembly/Lok Sabha polls from the Seemandhra region and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi issuing threats in the problematic Telangana region — as many as 13 out of 44 Congress MPs (31 in the Lok Sabha and 13 in the Rajya Sabha) have been made Ministers. Of them five — S. Jaipal Reddy, Kishore Chandra Deo, M.M. Pallam Raju, K.S. Rao and Jairam Ramesh (elected from A.P. to the Rajya Sabha) — are Cabinet Ministers. While actor-politician K. Chiranjeevi is already enjoying the Minister of State with independent charge status, there are seven MoS: D. Purandeswari, Panabaka Lakshmi, Sarvey Satyanarayana, K. Surya Prakash Reddy, P. Balram Naik, Killi Krupa Rani and J.D. Seelam. While Mr. Jaipal Reddy, Mr. Satyanarayana and Mr. Naik are from the Telangana region, Mr. Surya Prakash Reddy represents Rayalaseema and the remaining are from Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

With the Seemandhra region getting more representation in the Union Council, sources said the balancing act made by the Congress high command might help it to arrest the exodus to the YSR Party prior to the polls. It may be noted that Mr. K.S. Rao had submitted his resignation to the high command when he failed to a find place in the Cabinet during the previous reshuffle.

In Tamil Nadu, the Congress has only 12 MPs (eight in the Lok Sabha and four in the Rajya Sabha — one is retiring next month). Of them, four are enjoying berths in the Cabinet — P. Chidambaram, G.K. Vasan, Jayanthi Natarajan and E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan.

In Karnataka, the victory of the Congress in the recent Assembly poll has brought favours to the State leaders with Mallikarjun Kharge getting the plum Railway portfolio and Oscar Fernandes being inducted as another Cabinet minister. M. Veerappa Moily and K. Rahman Khan are the other Cabinet ministers. From Karnataka, the Congress has seven members in the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha and five of them, including K.H. Muniyappa, are already inducted into the Cabinet.

As the Congress prepares for the 16th Lok Sabha poll, indications are that it is depending too much on the southern States. Kerala is not lagging behind as seven of its MPs are in the Cabinet. Besides, one berth has been given to its ally, the Muslim League (E. Ahamed). While A.K. Antony and Vayalar Ravi are enjoying the Cabinet rank, K.V. Thomas is the MoS with independent charge. Mullapally Ramachandran, K.C. Venugopal, E. Ahamed, Shashi Tharoor and K. Suresh are the MoS.

In Kerala, there are 13 Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha members from the Congress. The Kerala Congress (Mani) group has one member in both the Houses and the IUML has two members in the Lower House. Both the IUML and the KC(M) are the allies of the party in Kerala.

Puducherry is represented by MoS V. Narayanasamy.

 Related Links:-

Union Cabinet reshuffle: 85yr old gets Labour & Employment portfolio

Cauvery issue: TN seeks damages from Karnataka

The State has approached the Supreme Court once again on the Cauvery issue, this time seeking damages from Karnataka to the tune of about Rs. 2,480 crore for not following orders of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT). Besides, the State wanted the court to pass an order, directing Karnataka to release 53.18 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft), a shortfall that occurred during 2012-2013 as computed on a pro-rata formula.

Of the amount claimed by Tamil Nadu, Rs. 1,045.7 crore was on account of loss of production of food grains (paddy), biomass and electricity, the remaining Rs. 1,433.91 crore was due to the cultivation of paddy, sugarcane and semi-dry crops by Karnataka in areas that were in excess of the neighbouring State’s entitlement, as per the interim order. The authorities here are expecting that the matter would be taken up after summer vacation of the court. The State had arrived at the quantum of shortfall, as assessed by the Cauvery Monitoring Committee.

The panel had concluded that there was a shortfall of 39.7 per cent in total inflows received by four major reservoirs of Karnataka during June-December 2012 compared to the long term average. By that yardstick, Tamil Nadu should have realised 116.7 tmc ft in the corresponding period whereas it got 63.56 tmc ft.

Related Links:-

Cauvery water disputes tribunal final award

Freebies manifesto in Karnataka Elections

The Congress is trying to make terror an election issue, with an obvious eye on the minority votes. In its manifesto the Congress has promised a state-level committee under the chairmanship of a retired high court judge to look into the cases of detention and implicating of innocent individuals in terrorism. It has also promised to establish fast-track courts to try terrorism-related cases and heinous crimes against women and children.

·        Promise of 30 kg of rice at Re 1 is targeted at 98 lakh families. The rice bill will work out to over Rs 1,500 crore

·        Laptops would cost around Rs 2,500 crore for 10 lakh PUC students (at Rs 25,000 per laptop).

“These are not mere assurances, but our commitment,” KPCC president G Parameshwara said. Defence minister A K Antony, who released the manifesto, maintained that a committee would be constituted to implement the manifesto in a time-bound manner.

The only difference between the BJP and Congress in terms of freebies, is the quantity and volume. The BJP, too, has offered free laptops and rice at Re 1 per kg. The difference is the BJP has offered laptops to PUC and degree students, while Congress has limited the offer to only PUC students. And when it comes to rice, BJP plans to give 25 kg, but the Congress has assured 30 kg of rice to the poor.

True to its character, the party has something for all sections of society — from student to farmer to the poor. However, while trying to please all, the Congress has ended up aping other parties. Assurances like houses for all, clean drinking water for all villages and towns, and establishment of industrial parks remain vague.

To end the woes of the farming community, which bears the brunt of fluctuating prices, the party has promised to set up a commission -- State Agricultural Prices Commission -- to fix competitive prices with a revolving fund of Rs 1,500 crore. For the farmers, other assurances include round-the-clock power for lighting and quality, three-phase power for irrigation pump sets, 100% subsidy for drip irrigation, interest-free loan of up to Rs 2 lakh, increase in milk subsidy from Rs 2 to Rs 4 per litre and waiver of loans of areca farmers affected by yellow leaf disease.

Some other interesting things in manifesto by Congress:-

·        Construction of 8-lane road from Bidar to Chamarajnagar and establishment of industrial parks

·        Make Kannada the compulsory medium of instruction and teach English from Class 1

·        Develop Mangalore and Hubli as industrial city hubs

·        Waive housing loans, and other loans availed by Dalits, OBCs, women and fishermen

·        Introduce agriculture, horticulture and allied subjects at the high school and PUC level

·        The Congress promises to make Bangalore slum-free in five years. It intends to construct apartments in places where the slums stand now.

·        For better coordination and service delivery, the party promises to bring all service providers under one roof, besides splitting the structure of the BBMP to make it administratively viable.

·        Circular railway, construction of North-South, South-East elevated flyovers

·        100% effluent treatment and reuse of water for non-drinking purpose

·        Four botanical gardens in four BBMP zones

·        Five auditoriums on the lines of Ravindra Kalakshetra and five multipurpose high-tech stadiums

GI tags

The trademarks and geographical indication (GI) authorities awarded the unique tag to 21 products after a spurt in applications for the special status in the first three months of the year.

The six Tamil Nadu items granted the tag are Madurai malli (jasmine), Pattamadai pai (mat), Nachiarkoil kuthuvilakku (lamp), Toda embroidery, Thanjavur veena and Chettinad kottan (palmyra basketry).

Traditional items from outside the state accorded the status include Mangalagiri saris and fabrics from Andhra Pradesh, Narayanpet handloom saris and Bangalore blue grapes from Karnataka and Agra durrie (carpet), Farrukhabad prints,Lucknow zardozi (embroidery, especially with gold or silver), and shuttlewoven Banaras brocades and saris from Uttar Pradesh. Mexican alcoholic beverage tequila was also accorded the status on an application in the Chennai GI office.

Karnataka, with 32, tops the list for products granted the GI tag so far and is followed by Tamil Nadu (24), Andhra Pradesh (22) and Kerala (20).

Related links:

GI tag for Nachiarkoil Lamps....