911 black spots on national highways in Punjab, Parliament told
National highways passing through Punjab have at least 911 accident-prone spots, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said in reply to a question by MP Chandan Chauhan in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to details compiled by the National Highways Authority of India, Himachal Pradesh has 226 such spots on national highways in the region, followed by Jammu and Kashmir (200) and Haryana (144).
Chandigarh has at least seven such spots on national highways.
Out of total 13,795 black spots identified on the national highways across the country, short-term rectification measures to remove obstacles have been carried out on 9,525 such spots and permanent rectification have been completed on 4,777, the reply read.
‘Airlines free to decide frequency of flights’
Starting international flights from any airport is decided by the airlines on the basis of economic viability of the route and other factors, said the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol while replying to a question by Aam Aadmi Party Lok Sabha member Malwinder Singh Kang.
Kang had pointed out comparatively poor international connectivity of Mohali’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, particularly with Canada, USA, UK and Australia — the countries where a large number of Punjabis have settled.
Nod to shift Ludhiana Passport Seva Kendra
The Ministry of External Affairs has approved the shifting of Ludhiana Passport Seva Kendra PSK to a new location, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told Rajya Sabha replying to a question by MP Sanjeev Arora. The office is currently located in an extremely crowded area near the Ludhiana bus stand.
Mobile connectivity
Of 12,534 villages in Punjab, 12,532 are under active mobile coverage area, said the Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in reply to a question by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh.
He said 12,494 villages have access to 4G mobile connectivity.
