19 die as bus plunges into canal in Uttar Pradesh

At least 19 people were killed early yesterday when a bus plunged into a canal in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, an official said.

Twenty-three others were rescued and taken to hospital with injuries after the accident in Etah district, 265km from state capital Lucknow, local administrator Lokesh M said.

He said 11 of the victims belonged to a family which was travelling to New Delhi after attending a wedding in the town of Aliganj.

The driver of the state-run bus lost control while trying to overtake a truck, the official said.

The Uttar Pradesh State Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs50,000 to those killed and Rs5,000 each to the injured.

“We are told that more than 58 passengers were travelling in the bus,” the official said, adding the injured said the driver appeared drunk.  The accident comes after 33 passengers died after a bus plunged on May 8 into a fast-flowing river in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

India has an appalling road safety record with bad roads, speeding vehicles and poor driving among the contributing factors.

The World Health Organisation’s global status report on road safety 2013 found that 8% of India’s road fatalities were bus drivers or their passengers while 32% were riders of motorbikes or three-wheelers.

Microsoft challenge at Kochi Startup Village

Startup Village in Kochi, the country’s first telecom technology incubator, is set to host the regional round of the prestigious BizSpark India Startup Challenge held by Microsoft from tomorrow, an organiser said yesterday. The event is aimed at searching for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas in cloud computing, mobile applications and Windows 8 business applications. This is the first time Kochi has been selected as one of 10 cities to host the challenge, the organizer said. Winners of the regional rounds will go head-to-head in the national grand finale to be held in Bangalore. The competition offers cash awards totalling $70,000 and non-cash prizes worth $2mn.

Lawyers of Delhi High Court on strike

Lawyers of the Delhi High Court yesterday observed a strike, protesting against a proposed move by Chief Justice D Murugesan to enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction limits of law suits heard by the court from Rs10mn to Rs20mn. If the proposal is approved, the Delhi High Court can only hear civil cases involving disputes of a minimum of Rs20mn. Earlier the minimum limit was Rs2mn. The office bearers of the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) manned the entry points of the court premises and asked other lawyers and colleagues not to appear before the judges. As no lawyer was present to argue their cases, litigants appeared before the courts and took adjournments.