Commendable road safety efforts
Dear Sir,
It is commendable that Maersk Oil and Vodafone have joined hands with the General Directorate of the Traffic Department to help address one of the most pressing challenges in Qatar – road safety (Gulf Times, February 26).
Awareness of traffic rules and signs and improving one’s driving skills will help to avoid and reduce accidents not only in Qatar but everywhere in the world.
According to the United Nations, traffic accidents are fast becoming a global epidemic with 1.3mn people losing their lives and 50mn seriously injured each year on roads.
So it is absolutely essential that awareness programmes and workshops on road safety should be organised regularly, with children as their prime focus as they are going to be tomorrow’s drivers . In this regard, the joint efforts of the Traffic Department, Maersk Oil and Vodafone are highly commendable.
As part of the joint initiative, students were given one-to-one coaching in the Students-for-Road-Safety simulator that uses an artificial intelligence engine to recreate common mistakes made by drivers in Doha, such as tailgating, failure to indicate, flashing lights and cutting across lanes at roundabouts. Such efforts will help make a meaningful difference to people’s road behaviour in Qatar.
Suraweera Bogahage, Theoretical Division, Qatar Driving Learning Institute, Doha
An account of success
Dear Sir,
A record 130mn new bank accounts have been opened under a new scheme introduced by the Indian government in the last six months with $2mn coming in as deposits, as announced by the Indian president.
The government has been seeking to provide universal access to banking facilities in the country. Meeting this unprecedented target in less than six months is no small achievement.
Banks in India have once again proved their mettle by excelling the target set by the finance ministry.
The scheme to extend banking services carry various benefits like rupee debit cards with $1,600 accidental insurance to all account holders. There are other benefits like overdraft facility to one member of family, preferably a women, thereby empowering them as well.
Kudos to Indian banks and the finance ministry.
Kalyan Mahalingam, (e-mail address supplied)
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