Now, Maruti Swift, Datsun Go Fail NCAP Crash Test

November 4, 2014

Maruti-SwiftBangalore, Nov 4: The frequency of car recalls by Indian makers has increased in recent times. Many such recalls have been for faulty systems that are critical to safety of the passenger.

Now, an independent crash test by a global car crash test watchdog, Global NCAP, has revealed that one of India"s most popular and high selling cars, the Maruti Suzuki Swift is unsafe in many aspects as it failed to fulfil basic safety parameters; raising the question of car safety standards in India.

Considered one of the biggest small car markets in the world, Indian small cars have been found to be lacking in safety features like airbags and anti-lock braking system (ABS), which are available as "optional features" and not standard fitting like other developed markets of the world.

The Swift got a zero rating (adult protection) at 64 kmph frontal collision. Even the structural integrity was said to be unstable, it was reported.

However, the Latin American export version got a 3-star rating due to mandatory airbags and ABS features.

The Swift is one of the top 5 rated cars in India this year. Even the Datsun Go, which competes in the small segment here, is reported to have fared badly with the body shell disintegrating and the test dummies sustaining fatal injuries.

The Swift and Datsun Go failed in independent tests. The watchdog (in January 2014) had found other small cars to be lacking in safety features include Alto 800, Ford Figo, Hyundai i10 and the Volkswagen Polo which are popular in India.

“India is now a major global market and production centre for small cars, so it"s worrying to see levels of safety that are 20 years behind the five-star standards now common in Europe and North America,” Max Mosley, Chairman of Global NCAP had said in February 2014.

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News Network
March 18,2020

San Francisco, Mar 18: Facebook said a bug in its anti-spam system temporarily blocked the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus. Guy Rosen, Facebook's vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Tuesday that the company was working on a fix for the problem.

Users complained that links to news stories about school closings and other information related to the virus outbreak were blocked by the company's automated system.

Later on Tuesday, Rosen tweeted that Facebook had restored all the incorrectly deleted posts, which also covered topics beyond the coronavirus.

Rosen said the problems were unrelated to any changes in Facebook's content-moderator workforce. The company reportedly sent its human moderators home this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A representative for Facebook did not immediately respond to questions on the status of Facebook's content moderators, many of whom do not work directly for the company and are not always able to work from home.

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Agencies
March 14,2020

New Delhi, Mar 14: Excise duty on petrol and diesel was on Saturday hiked by ₹3 per litre as the government looked to mop up gains arising from fall in international oil prices.

Special excise duty on petrol was hiked by ₹2 to ₹8 per litre incase of petrol and to Rs 4 incase of diesel, an official notification said.

Additionally, road cess on petrol was raised by ₹1 per litre each on petrol and diesel to ₹10.

The increase in excise duty would in normal course result in a hike in petrol and diesel prices but most of it would be adjusted against the fall in rates that would have necessitated because of slump in international oil prices.

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Agencies
April 17,2020

New Delhi, Apr 17: The Indian Railways turned 167 years old on Thursday and for the first time ever, its trains did not carry any passengers on its birthday and instead stood idle in the yards waiting for the nationwide lockdown to end.

On this day 167 years ago, the wheels of the first passenger train in the country from Mumbai to Thane started rolling.

In 1974, Indians experienced life without trains for the first time. In May 1974 during the strike of the railways that lasted for around three weeks, drivers, station masters, guards, track staff and many others went on 'chakka jam' demanding fixed working hours for train drivers and an across-the-board pay hike.

"I can recall those times vividly. I remember that our leader George Fernandes had almost secured a deal with the then railway minister, but it fell through when it was taken to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi," All India Railwaymens Federation General Secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra, who was an apprentice in the railways at that time, told PTI.

"Fernandes was arrested in Lucknow. The workers went through a lot at that time. But those were days that angry workers had refused to give in and took great risks to get their demands met," he said.

However, just like this time, four decades ago too freight trains carrying essential supplies were run and the unions agreed to let some passenger trains run on the trunk routes like the Kalka Mail from Howrah to Delhi.

"Never ever in its history, there has been such a long interruption of services. Not during the World Wars, not during the 1974 railway strike, or any other national calamity or natural disaster," a railway spokesperson said.

The first Indian Railways passenger train was flagged off on April 16, 1853, from Mumbai to nearby Thane.

On Thursday, the Railway Ministry wished the railways a happy birthday on Twitter - "Today, 167 years ago with the zeal of 'never to stop' the wheels of the first passenger train from Mumbai to Thane started rolling. For the first time, passenger services are stopped for your safety. Stay indoors & make the nation victorious," it said.

Railway has suspended all passenger services since March 25 till May 3 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Around 15,523 trains run by the railways have been affected including 9,000 passenger trains and 3,000 mail express services which are run daily. It caters to over 20 million passengers every day.

According to the Union health ministry, the death toll due to coronavirus rose to 414 and the number of cases to 12,380 in the country on Thursday.

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