IAF Deputy Chief flies first Rafale manufactured by Dassault for India Centre preparing database of driving licences to check multiplicity, says Gadkari
NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar on Thursday flew the first Rafale fighter jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation for India, official sources said.
Nambiar, who reached Paris four days ago, flew the aircraft in France to assess its efficacy, they said.
He is in France to also assess the progress in the production of Rafale jets by Dassault Aviation.
Air Marshal Nambiar flew the first Rafale fighter jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation for India, the sources said.
The delivery of the jets -capable of carrying a range of potent weapons and missiles -- is scheduled to begin from September next year.
A team of the Indian Air Force is already in France to help Dassault Aviation to incorporate the India-specific avionics and weapons system in the aircraft.
The development comes amid a raging controversy in India over the deal to procure the Rafale fighter jets.
In 2016, the Modi government signed a government-to-government deal with France for purchase of 36 Rafale jets at a cost of Rs 58,000 crore. The Congress has been alleging irregularities in the deal, saying the UPA had finalised the price of each aircraft at Rs 526 crore while the NDA was buying the same jet at Rs 1,670 crore. NEW DELHI: The government is preparing a database of driving licences to check issuance of multiple licences by different authorities to a single person, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said Thursday.
The minister also said that India suffered a shortage of at
least 22 lakh drivers and a skilled force was being created to fill the void and there was no question of allowing driverless cars.
“To check issuance of multiple licensees to any individual, the government is creating a database of driving licences. At present, getting a licence is much easier in India and there are instances where individuals possess multiple licences issued by different states,” Gadkari, who heads Road Transport and Highways Ministry said at an event here.
He said to curb issuance of
licences without tests, which results in a high number of accidents, the government is setting up multiple drivers training centres.
The minister also said that India suffered shortage of at
least 22 lakh drivers and under the circumstances there was no question of allowing driverless cars in the country which will consume employment of the youth.
Addressing an event for creating mass movement for road safety, the minister said it was unfortunate that India accounted for the highest number of road accidents globally in which 1.5 lakh people die annually.
He said a slew of initiatives are on to curb road accidents including correction in road engineering, imparting training to drivers, making automobile designs safer and identifying trouble areas.
“We have made it compulsory for even economy model vehicles to be fitted with airbags besides making reforms in automobile engineering,” he said.
The minister added that the length of national highways was also being increased to accommodate more vehicles and road designs were being improved.
Earlier a voluntary body which launched the ‘public walk donation’, a drive for safer roads, expressed concerns that millions drive on Indian roads everyday but 400 of them did not return to their homes.