Editor,
- Deb’s letter, “Traffic woes: Some suggestions” (ST Sep 19, 2019), are very appropriate suggestions. But the imposition on the use of seat belt for taxis in the city with radius of 8Km from the General Post Office faces some legal and practical problems. Seat belts, like any in aircrafts has an inertia lock. The inertia lock gets activated when a car at 20Km/hr is brought to a stop in two to three seconds. In Shillong taxis and other vehicles cannot attain a speed more than 8 Km/hr. Thus wearing a seat belt or not wearing it makes no difference. Another problem is the law which clearly states that front occupants have to wear seat belts as practised in all cities. The law cannot be implemented by half. Herein lies the problem. Most taxi passengers have never seen a seat belt in their lives. So from Madanrting to Motphran there are four to five short distance passengers and the driver and passengers would each need one minute or 40 seconds to release the belt and to fasten it again. The cars behind would increase in number with honking and traffic snarls going to multiply. Seat belts are necessary from 8Km away from centre to Guahati, Nongstoin, Jowai. Air horns that have made many babies on mother’s back while on way to clinic for treatment, to be deaf permanently should be banned completely whether in city or on highways.
Yours etc.,
W Passah,
Shillong – 14.
Bengaluru airport upgradation
Editor,
It is good to know that Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport has emerged as one among the world’s fastest growing airports. The outcome is based on the recent report released by the Airport Council International (ACI). It is also welcome to know that the airport at Bengaluru will soon be equipped with modern state of the art infrastructure with a new Runway 2 being constructed and which will be opened by December 2019. The move to upgrade another new runway at Bengaluru airport is highly appreciated as it will facilitate smooth operation of flights especially during winter season owing to prevailing fog.
Currently the international airport at Bengaluru has no direct connectivity to New York and Sydney and also Air India does not have a hub based at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. The authorities should now emphasize to introduce a new direct flight connectivity, subject to schedule availability, to both the cities of New York and Sydney immediately from Bengaluru. The only available direct flight connections to New York and Sydney are from New Delhi. Thus a new direct flight to these two cities will further enable faster and easier direct connectivity to these cities, as most of the business/operations of USA and Australia are based in Bengaluru.
Further Bengaluru Airport is now witnessing frequent new additions to daily/weekly schedules to both domestic and international destinations including UDAN flights and also towards Asia Pacific and South Asian cities. Thus it is high time that airline carriers now consider and develop a new hub at Kempegowda International Airport to facilitate and support such a massive growth of airline route network from Bengaluru.
Yours etc.,
Varun Dambal
Bangalore – 72
No language chauvinism please!
Editor,
Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that he had never asked for the imposition of Hindi over regional languages will hopefully put an end to the unrest and the commotion caused by his earlier comment that Hindi can be learnt and used as a unifying language. Amit Shah’s comment on the occasion of Hindi Diwas pointing out the significance of Hindi as a unifying language for all Indians was read by many as a precursor to the government’s bid to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states. Many of the political party leaders down South and elsewhere started using this comment for political gains and all sorts of tactics were played to trigger emotions in the public on a sensitive issue. They turned opportunistic and started milking from the issue. Any language, especially one’s mother tongue is very important to it’s user’s and at the same time learning to use another language is no crime and is one’s choice and it only benefits the user.
Except for a few, most of the Members of Parliament from the South lack the skill of communicating in English and Hindi because of which they are unable to put across the demands their respective constituencies and it’s people need and usually cut a sorry figure before the people of their region in not being able to fulfill the election promises. It is here that we can see the prominence of the three language formula. As for the political leaders who turn out to be mere opportunists eyeing only the vote banks and injecting venomous doses of linguistic chauvinism in the younger generation by misleading them with a concept that one’s mother tongue is the greatest and all the rest are useless, I believe this will only fragment India and Indians rather than bring unity.
Yours etc.,
M Pradyu,
Kannur