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<ul><li>Mumbai is now the most car-congested city in India with 510 cars for every kilometre. </li><li>Car density in Mumbai is five times more than that of New Delhi. </li><li>Pune, Kolkata, Chennai are among the top five most ‘car congested’ cities after Mumbai. </li></ul>Narrow roads and lack of parking regulation have all contributed to turning India’s financial capital Mumbai into the most car-congested city in the country. Mumbai’s car density rose by 18% in the last two years with 510 cars for kilometers of road, Times of India reported. The density is five times higher than that of New Delhi, which is also struggling with longer traffic jams and lower Air Quality Index, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mumbais-car-density-5-times-that-of-delhi/articleshow/68553387.cms?from=mdr">reported</a> the Times of India. Other cities struggling with the problem of high car congestion include Pune with 359 cars per kilometre, followed by Kolkata with 319 cars per km and Chennai with 297 cars per km. The primary reason behind car-congestion is insufficient road space. The private car population of Mumbai is less than a third of Delhi but it has only 2,000km of road in comparison to 28,000 km road space in Delhi. The under-construction Mumbai metro network adds to the problem. There were only 430 cars per km in mid-2016, according to Maharashtra transport ministry data, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mumbais-car-density-5-times-that-of-delhi/articleshow/68553387.cms?from=mdr">reported the Times</a> of India. However, the government <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbai-metro-work-causes-traffic-bottlenecks/story-yARZ73LiWSpMYFgfiKLTeM.html">expects</a> traffic to ease once the Metro project finishes by 2021. In mid-2016, car density in Mumbai was 430 cars per km, which has now gone up to 510, This has taken the total number of registered private cars to 1 million on city roads, roughly 28% of the total vehicular population in the city, which stands at 3.6 million, said the report citing an official. Nearly half the road space is occupied by private cars of all types including SUVs which is why the average speed on the Western Express highway is limited to 10kmph during peak hours. There is an urgent need to set up a parking authority which will overlook parking problems in the city and free up 50% roadspace in the city, said the reporting citing an official. The transport commissioners in the past have suggested people to using public transportation system but there’s little progress on it. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/gurgaon-is-the-most-polluted-city-in-the-world/articleshow/68267574.cms">India accounts for 7 of the world’s 10 most polluted cities — with Gurugram ranked as the worst: Study</a>

Mumbai is now the most car-congested city in India: Report

With the explosive growth of private vehicles, the traffic-related woes are worsening day by day. A day after the <keyword id="6506271" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Noida-traffic-police">Noida traffic Police</keyword> launched its <keyword id="2470192" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp-helpline">Whatsapp helpline</keyword> to bring in relief for Noidaites, it has received more than 300 complaints and suggestions on Tuesday. 

	The helpline is being monitored by R N Mishra, SP (traffic). He told the Times of India, "Some commuters informed us about a traffic jam at the Gijhor crossing in Sector 53. We also got messages about inoperative traffic signals in Sector 76-50. We sent our officials to ease the problem once we got the messages."
 One of the messages posted by a resident of the <keyword id="59754" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="traffic-police">traffic police</keyword> helpline requested for regulation of autos in the city. The message read, “People alight from the right side of the auto, which can be dangerous. The traffic police should ensure its enforcement.” 

	According to the news daily, enforcement officials said that they would classify messages into three categories - complaints, suggestions and comments – so that the problems are solved in the best possible manner.
 

	The SP (traffic) highlighted, "Issues like traffic jams and inoperative traffic lights will be addressed on a priority basis."
 With this initiative, it appears that <keyword id="2892639" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="traffic-related-problems">traffic-related problems</keyword> will no longer be a headache for Noidaites. 
	(Image: www.indianlink.com.au)

Noida Traffic Police’ Whatsapp helpline is a boon for daily
commuters

Let’s assume a Bangalorean started reading this article when he took a cab at Bengaluru’s Whitefield. There are 90% chances that by the time he finishes reading this article, sharing it with friends, commenting on the social media, eating his evening snack and swallowing all of that with a fizzy drink, the person would still be stuck in <keyword id="2998639" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Whitefield-traffic">Whitefield traffic</keyword>. 
 
This is not an odd day out and people of Bengaluru are bearing the brunt of the burgeoning traffic problem every minute. 
 
There are umpteen number of tweets, Facebook posts, threads on social media by people of Bengaluru who have missed their meetings, trains, flights, important function, cricket matches, etc because of the traffic. They say starting five minute early also makes no difference as they have to face chock-a-block traffic in any case. 
 
A glance at the stats will further reveal the grim situation. As per the data from Bengaluru’s RTO, the number of registered vehicles in the city went up from 55.59 lakh vehicles in 2015 to more than 60 lakh as of January 2016. 
 
This means, every month, 10% vehicles are getting added every day to the roads. Moreover, Bengaluru carries over 2.3 million riders daily and the average speeds is 18 kph, with which India’s Silicon Valley is counted among India’s slowest metros. 
 
The nerve wrecking situation is also because Bengaluru has a road density of 8.2 kilometre (km) per square km, the lowest among big Indian cities, and the scope of expansion is quite limited. In comparison, Delhi has a road density of 21.6 km per square km. 
 
Here are some tweets of daily passengers who live the horror every day and have gained our respect. 
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		YES THIS. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bangalored?src=hash">#bangalored</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bangalore?src=hash">#bangalore</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/traffic?src=hash">#traffic</a> <a href="https://t.co/ifyawOLgaO">pic.twitter.com/ifyawOLgaO</a>
	— monika (@monikamanchanda) <a href="https://twitter.com/monikamanchanda/status/717664381966770176">April 6, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		U'll forget all ur problems in the middle of Bangalore traffic 🚥 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bangaloretraffic?src=hash">#Bangaloretraffic</a>
	— MJ (@iamManjunatha) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamManjunatha/status/716925008459632641">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		👉<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nammapopcorn?src=hash">#nammapopcorn</a> 4 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fun?src=hash">#fun</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Entertainment?src=hash">#Entertainment</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nammabengaluru?src=hash">#nammabengaluru</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nammacinema?src=hash">#nammacinema</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/meme?src=hash">#meme</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kannada?src=hash">#kannada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sandalwood?src=hash">#sandalwood</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kfi?src=hash">#kfi</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bangaloretraffic?src=hash">#bangaloretraffic</a>👇 <a href="https://t.co/SuA0BXZT1d">pic.twitter.com/SuA0BXZT1d</a>
	— Popcorn Productions (@nammapopcorn) <a href="https://twitter.com/nammapopcorn/status/721224586616905728">April 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BangaloreTraffic?src=hash">#BangaloreTraffic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ITPL?src=hash">#ITPL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CrazyDriver?src=hash">#CrazyDriver</a> <a href="https://t.co/LCQa4Vg6wT">pic.twitter.com/LCQa4Vg6wT</a>
	— Ritik Baral (@ritikb) <a href="https://twitter.com/ritikb/status/694861859162292229">February 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Where people spend their lives: Kolkata- Food joints, Mumbai- Pubs, Delhi-Grooming salons and Bangalore- Traffic. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bachao?src=hash">#bachao</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/india?src=hash">#india</a>
	— Shreejon Biyani (@ShreejonBiyani) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShreejonBiyani/status/716515367967821824">April 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/romanticplaces?src=hash">#romanticplaces</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BangaloreTraffic?src=hash">#BangaloreTraffic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bangalore?src=hash">#bangalore</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/funny?src=hash">#funny</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bestreply?src=hash">#bestreply</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/india?src=hash">#india</a> <a href="https://t.co/IOw303ESFT">pic.twitter.com/IOw303ESFT</a>
	— ABHISHEK SINGH (@ABBY_1409) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABBY_1409/status/662993380155260928">November 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Before marrying someone, put them through the turmoil of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BangaloreTraffic?src=hash">#BangaloreTraffic</a> to see who they really are..It'll mak'em show their true colors.
	— Shantanu (@ShantzTH) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShantzTH/status/714788398284677120">March 29, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		It's funny when the auto guy asks for extra because there's traffic. I mean, it's Bangalore. Traffic is like gravity here. Everywhere.
	— Athyunnath Eleti (@athyunnath) <a href="https://twitter.com/athyunnath/status/712267172949569536">March 22, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		All is fair in Love, War and Bangalore Traffic
	— Sivanesh Sengodan (@cvanesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/cvanesh/status/712148691021213696">March 22, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bangalore?src=hash">#Bangalore</a> traffic teaches extreme patience. You will definitely reach somewhere in the "long term." ;-)
	— Vishal Khandelwal (@safalniveshak) <a href="https://twitter.com/safalniveshak/status/708197757131972608">March 11, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		The sense of accomplishment when you cross Hebbal bridge! ✌ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bangaloretraffic?src=hash">#bangaloretraffic</a>
	— Freeda Lobo (@doethefoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/doethefoe/status/705610069245734912">March 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BangaloreTraffic?src=hash">#BangaloreTraffic</a> 😨 
		 
		Almost feeling <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trapped?src=hash">#Trapped</a> 😶 <a href="https://t.co/Xkl2ggr2GR">pic.twitter.com/Xkl2ggr2GR</a>
	— Bhavin Tolia (@BhavinTolia) <a href="https://twitter.com/BhavinTolia/status/700678629181644801">February 19, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
FYI: That person is still at Whitefield 
 
(Image: Twitter)

These tweets on Bengaluru’s traffic will crack you up and tell you how bad the situation really is

<ul><li><keyword id="43706" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Honeywell">Honeywell</keyword> is developing a new software for <keyword id="31907" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aviation">aviation</keyword> at the request of the <keyword id="44734" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Government">Indian government</keyword>. </li><li>Their linguistic software will decode pilot’s <keyword id="1598899" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="accents">accents</keyword> for air traffic controllers. </li><li>If the software is successful in India, Honeywell may expand its implementation to other parts of the world.</li></ul>With the world’s second highest number of <keyword id="6360075" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Languages">languages</keyword> within its purview, it’s not surprising that India is an attractive destination for Honeywell International Inc. to test their <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/NxfZoV7GoC9XHxtO1AT3XM/Honeywell-to-make-flying-safer-with-tech-to-decode-regional.html">new</a> linguistic software. The project aims to aid communication between pilots and air traffic controllers by making it easier to understand pilots who speak English but have heavy overlaying accents. Accents are extremely diverse, especially in a country like India, which has 22 official languages and 780 languages overall. At the request of the Government of India, the program is going to analyse accents and <keyword id="1696544" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Transcribe">transcribe</keyword> them for the controllers on the ground. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing for more smaller <keyword id="43661" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="airports">airports</keyword> in the country to increase connectivity. That, in turn, requires more manpower, specifically more pilots. Neelu Khatri, the president of Honeywell’s aerospace business for India, says that the move will result in more regional pilots since it’s a regional connectivity scheme. And, therein lies the problem of accents. In an interview with Bloomberg, Khatri <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-05/honeywell-to-make-flying-safer-by-decoding-100-accents-in-india">claims</a>, “One of the biggest problems in India has been that we Indians don’t understand each other’s English because of the dialects.” And that’s not too-far off the mark since past <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-indian-air-crash-tapes-point-blame-at-kazakh-pilot-1352266.html">incidences</a> have already proven that miscommunication is a global safety threat. If the software is successfully implemented in India, it may be applied worldwide to help airports in other nations.

Honeywell’s new software aims to help air traffic controllers decode Indian accents

<ul><li><keyword id="6357787" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="shimla">Shimla</keyword>, Mussoorie, Darjeeling facing traffic jams and <keyword id="68552" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="water-scarcity">water scarcity</keyword>.</li><li>Hotel occupancy levels growing by 9%-10%, higher than the average. </li></ul>The summer of 2019 is scorching up the country as heatwaves continue to prevail across the country. It hence comes as no surprise that Indians are heading towards hills for some respite. And, there is little to be found even there. On Sunday, tourists were stuck in a four kilometer long traffic jam on the Manali-Leh highway. Similar instances were witnessed at other vacations hotspots like Shimla, <keyword id="76016" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nainital">Nainital</keyword>, Darjeeling, Mussoorie, Ooty and <keyword id="64488" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahabaleshwar">Mahabaleshwar</keyword>. And, traffic is not the only problem. As hill stations are overcrowded, they are facing water scarcity amongst other issues. This is an emerging new trend which <a href="https://www.indiatimes.com/lifestyle/overtourism-india-s-top-vacation-spots-are-getting-choked-as-tourists-won-t-stop-showing-up-369021.html">experts</a> call overtourism. “It is not surprising to witness traffic jams and overcrowding at these destinations. This has led to other issues like water scarcity, in most of these destinations as this year, the summer is extremely hot,” said Karan Anand, head of relationships at Cox and Kings, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/overtourism-plagues-indian-vacation-spots-this-summer/articleshow/69829919.cms">told Times of India</a>. India and India only This summer, the <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> airfares have been extremely <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/overtourism-plagues-indian-vacation-spots-this-summer/articleshow/69829919.cms">high</a> too. This has increased the number of tourists heading to Indian locales. Priyanka Kothmire, co-founder, Frotels.com told TOI that hotels are also seeing a steep increase in occupancy levels, growing at 9%-10%. The average occupancy grows by 5% each year. Online travel portals are also buzzing with bookings. Ixigo saw a 25% jump in last minute bookings to Ladakh, Shimla, Coorg and Darjeeling. Yatra.com’s booking grew by 20%, as per Sharat Dhall, COO of B2C, Yatra.com. Price increases are following suit too. Authorities at Taj Mahal hiked entry fees five fold from ₹50 to ₹250 for Indian nationals, and ₹1,300 for foreigners. They are also cutting down on visiting hours to deal with the overcrowding.

Indians escaping the heat wave in the plains are running into traffic jams and water shortage in serene hill stations

Sixty-six percent of <keyword id="23012810" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="road-traffic-deaths" source="keywords">road traffic deaths</keyword> in <keyword id="19952305" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Southeast-Asia" source="keywords">Southeast Asia</keyword> are of <keyword id="20239488" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pedestrians" source="keywords">pedestrians</keyword>, motorized <keyword id="20937113" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="two-wheeler-riders" source="keywords">two-wheeler riders</keyword>, and <keyword id="20007750" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyclists" source="keywords">cyclists</keyword>, while the highest traffic fatalities in India are among two- and three-wheeler riders, according to the latest <keyword id="20738786" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO-report" source="keywords">WHO report</keyword>. The "WHO South-East Asia Regional Status Report on <keyword id="20187029" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="road-safety" source="keywords">Road Safety</keyword>" was launched during "Safety 2024", the 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, 2024. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, 30% of reported road traffic deaths involved users of powered two- and three-wheelers. Occupants of four-wheeled vehicles make up 25% of the deaths and pedestrians account for 21 %. Cyclists represent 5% of the deaths. The remaining 20% include occupants of large vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, and other or unknown user types. "In the WHO Southeast Asia Region, the share of reported road traffic deaths is 46% for users of powered two- and three-wheelers, 12 for occupants of four-wheeled vehicles, 17% for pedestrians, 3% for cyclists and 22% for others. In all these countries, vulnerable road users (pedestrians, motorised two-wheeler users and bicyclists) constitute 66% of the total reported road traffic deaths," the report said. "Drivers or riders of two and three-wheelers constitute the highest proportion among all road user categories in India (45.1%), Maldives (100 %), Myanmar (47%) and Thailand (51.4%)," it added. The WHO noted that no country in the South Asian region had achieved the target of reducing its estimated road traffic deaths by 50 %. However, considerable reduction in the WHO's estimated road traffic deaths occurred in the Maldives and Thailand, where estimated road traffic deaths decreased by 46.2% and 41.7 %, respectively. On the contrary, reported road traffic deaths in the region increased by 15 % in the 2010-2021 period. At the country level, no member state of the Southeast Asia Region with more than 10 million population has reported a decrease in road traffic deaths during this period. "However, it should be noted that the reported number of road traffic deaths in Thailand reduced by 22.9% between 2016 and 2021. The estimated road traffic deaths too increased in Bangladesh, India and Nepal during the period 2010-2021 by 23 %, 2% and 25%, respectively," the report said. Etienne Krug, director of the WHO's Department for Social Determinants of Health, said road traffic crashes were a major crisis of the 21st century. "...a large proportion of people who die in road crashes are those who cannot afford to buy a car. This is urgent time to take action. The report reveals that the crisis is huge but we need to understand and act with determination that prevention is possible and needs strict enforcement," he said. The three-day conference is being hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi; George Institute for Global Health in collaboration with the All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS), National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) and co-sponsored by WHO. "To reduce inequities, we must acknowledge that injuries disproportionately impact vulnerable communities -- because we are far behind in addressing real problems with real solutions. Lived experience shows how policy shapes differential exposure, risk, and outcomes, underscoring the urgent need for change," said Jagnoor Jagnoor, head of injury division at George Institute for Global Health. During the conference, the international experts are uniting with a shared goal of "building a safer future for all: Equitable and sustainable strategies for injury and violence prevention". The conference will focus on five key themes -- improving coordination and collaboration among stakeholders, strengthening capacity for research and practice, integrating injury prevention with global health agendas such as sustainability and equity, empowering communities, and promoting informed policymaking.

Pedestrians, cyclists, two-wheeler riders constitute 66% of road fatalities in Southeast Asia, says a WHO report

(Photo Source: unsplash.com) <ul><li>Expressing his concern over the recent ban on porn sites imposed by the Indian government, <keyword id="2812177" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Corey-Price">Corey Price</keyword>, vice president of <keyword id="1607136" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pornhub">Pornhub</keyword>, told Indian Express, saying it only lead people to land on ‘risky sites containing illegal content’. </li><li>He also said that even though it is early to predict the full impact of the ban, but the traffic has declined. </li><li>India recently asked Internet service providers to ban 827 porn websites. </li></ul>Criticising India’s recent ban on 827 porn websites, a Pornhub executive has warned the move could prove counterproductive. Corey Price, vice president of Pornhub, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/banning-porn-sites-a-disservice-to-people-of-india-willing-to-work-with-government-pornhub-5470198/">told </a>The Indian Express that the ban could lead to people visiting ‘risky porn sites that may contain illegal content.’ He also emphasised that the Indian constitution does not have any specific law that is against watching pornography in India and the move was a “disservice” to the people of India. Corey reportedly said the company is willing to work with the Indian government to come up with the solution to address the problem. In October, India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) instructed all the Internet Service Providers to impose a ban on 827 porn websites. Major service providers including Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea implemented the ban as per the directive. However, the people reportedly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-banned-more-than-800-porn-sites-last-week-but-people-have-already-found-a-way-around-it/articleshow/66412436.cms">found </a>ways to get around the ban. Pornhub, for instance, launched an altered URL especially for its users in India just days after government pronounced its decision. According to Corey, while the long-term impact of the ban wasn’t immediately clear, he acknowledged that traffic has fallen since the restriction came into action.

India’s ban on porn sites may lead users to visit ‘risky porn sites that may contain illegal content’: Pornhub exec

Multiple users from several parts of India reported problems with Meta-owned <keyword id="6354576" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook" source="Orion">Facebook</keyword> on Thursday, especially facing trouble with its '<keyword id="2741569" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ads-manager" source="Orion">Ads Manager</keyword>'. DownDetector, an online website outage monitoring platform, showed that most of the outage reports were from Mumbai and Delhi. Several users took to the microblogging platform Twitter to report the issue. "In middle of building out a massive campaign &amp; ads manager goes down" a user said in a tweet. "Entered <keyword id="15479314" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook-ads-manager" source="Orion">Facebook Ads Manager</keyword>, but can't access it because of an error, also me: runs to Twitter to check if i'm alone," another user commented. Facebook was yet to comment on what caused this outage. In October this year, Facebook was unavailable to roughly 3.5 billion users in the world for six hours. The outage also moved traffic to other social media applications and websites like Signal and Twitter that saw a surge in users by 140 times and seven times respectively. Video streaming platforms such as YouTube and Jio Play also saw a surge in traffic -- up by 30 times and 20 times respectively. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/article/nykaas-fashion-foray-and-pipeline-style-biz-model-worries-analysts/articleshow/95405203.cms">Nykaa’s fashion foray and pipeline-style biz model worries analysts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/ahead-of-indias-semifinal-heres-how-the-men-in-blue-have-performed-against-england-in-t20/slidelist/95417123.cms">Ahead of India’s semifinal, here’s how Men in Blue have performed against England in T20</a>

Facebook users are reportedly facing problems accessing the Ads Manager

<ul><li>In an exclusive interview with Business Insider, <keyword id="4306161" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cars24">Cars24</keyword> CEO Vikram Chopra said the startup will breakeven by December 2019. </li><li>Having sold over 1.6 lakh cars since 2015, they plan to be in 70 cities by the end of the year. </li><li>Cars24 has been heavily advertising during the ICC Cricket World Cup and during the India vs Pakistan match, traffic to their website went up by 85%.</li></ul>Indian used cars platform Cars24 is set to breakeven by December 2019. Having raised over $100 million in funding, the platform which helps sellers sell their cars has grown rapidly since its launch in 2015. In an exclusive interview with Business Insider, Cars24 co-founder and CEO Vikram Chopra said that the company was on track to break even soon. “We operationally make money on every car and our funding needs are not very high,” said Chopra. Cars24 sells over 13,000 cars every month through its platform and over 4 years has sold 1.6 lakh cars. Currently present in 35 cities and 150 branches, Cars24 plans to be in 70 cities and 230 branches by 2019. “We only have 2% market share right now of the $30 billion used car market. In India, 5 million used cars are sold every year. Our objective is to take this number of 2% to 20% over the next 5 years,” said Chopra. Interestingly, they have been cashing in on television ads during the ICC Cricket World Cup. In fact, during the India vs Pakistan match the traffic to their website was up by 85%. At the same time, new car dealers witnessed a sharp fall in enquiries. The Indian auto industry has seen a massive slowdown in the selling of new cars. Passenger vehicle sales in India have been on a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/june-monthly-car-sales-data-points-to-a-severe-slowdown-in-india/articleshow/69985355.cms">downtrend for seven months and June 2019</a> won’t be any different. Consumer sentiment has suffered due to cost increase amid strict safety regulations, delay in monsoon, rural stress, slowing economy and liquidity constraints. However, that hasn't interrupted the sale of used cars. While new car sales have been shrunk eight months in a row, Chopra said that Cars24 sales have grown at the rate of 5% month-on-month. Building a seller first model Chopra and his co-founder Mehul Agrawal were the founders of Fabfurnish – an online marketplace for furniture, which also saw interest from Future Group chairman Kishor Biyani but the deal failed to materialise. However, with that venture, they realised one thing – their next business had to focus on the sellers. “We have so many businesses in India that is solving problems for the consumer. Everyone always thinks demand first, we rarely think about the supply side of the problem. India actually has interesting supply side problems where a seller doesn’t know where to go to sell his/her car,” said Chopra. From their very first location in 2015 next to a petrol pump in Gurugram where they saw sellers come all the way from Noida, today Cars24 is spreading its business across cities and states in India. And now is ready to see some profit. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/june-monthly-car-sales-data-points-to-a-severe-slowdown-in-india/articleshow/69985355.cms">Car makers in India may have more bad news to share on Monday</a>

EXCLUSIVE: Cars24 is racing towards profitability as Indians choose used cars over new ones

<ul><li>India is the new top polluter producing excess amount of <keyword id="142405" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nitrogen-dioxide">Nitrogen dioxide</keyword>. </li><li>Images captured by Tropomi, a pollution tracking instrument on board the Copernicus Sentinel-5P Satellite, show that the next generation of pollution problems might from Africa. </li><li>Within Europe, the Netherlands has the highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide. </li></ul>India dethroned China to become the world’s biggest polluter. Africa is next in line to take the dubious spot. Images captured by the Dutch space instrument, <a href="http://www.tropomi.eu/">Tropomi</a>, show <a href="http://www.tropomi.nl/">high concentrations</a> of pollutants like Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone and other pollutants produced by car traffic, industry and power stations in India. "We first saw a strong increase in China, but it has leveled out because the Chinese have also taken measures. India is the new big polluter. We also expect problems in Africa in the future," Pieternel Levelt, the head of satellite observation at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), told a <a href="https://nltimes.nl/2019/09/30/dutch-space-tech-shows-india-top-polluter-funding-cut-black-hole-telescope">local newspaper</a> AD. Measuring the pollution Tropomi, the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument, circles the Earth on board the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite. Copernicus Sentinel-5P, launched by European Space Agency (ESA) in October 2017, is believed to be the most advanced pollution monitoring satellite in the world. It measures the chemical composition of the troposphere — the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere between 10 to 15 kilometers above the surface. Scientists believe this is where most air polluting substances are trapped. Insights from Tropomi show that most of the air pollution is created from human activity. India might top the list right now, other regions of the world are quite out of the red. The German Ruhr area, Netherlands, Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the shipping routes of the Mediterrarean Sea are a few regions with the highest concentrations of Nitrogen dioxide in Europe.

India is the world’s biggest polluter with Africa next in line to take its spot

India’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=online+travel">online travel </a>segment is heating up. It’s simplifying the lives of Indian travelers through innovative travel planning, research and social products by offering them better options. These travel portals are now a one-stop-shop for all travel queries and bookings. 
 
We spoke to Aloke Bajpai, CEO and Co-Founder of Ixigo to get an unbiased view at the online travel market in India. 
 
1. How much of the Indian travel industry is currently online? 
Around 10-12%. However, the penetration is higher in segments like flights (50%) and trains (38%). Hotels (7-8%) and Travel Packages (5%) follow. There is still a big upside of what can be transacted online. 
 
2. How much of the Indian travel industry could be online by 2020? 
Most studies concur that by 2020 close to 40% of all travel related transactions could be online. It could go as high as 50%. 
 
3. What is driving growth in online travel today? 
The current growth is driven by Tier II and Tier III cities. The activity is doubling every 6 months. Emerging markets like Surat, Bhopal and Patna are growing like never before. 
 
While Tier I cities have reached a fairly good adoption rate, the current growth from these cities are primarily from cheaper <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=smartphones">smartphones</a>. 
 
4. What % of your traffic is from Tier II and Tier III cities? 
Around two-thirds of Ixigo’s traffic is from Tier II and Tier III cities. 68% to be exact. 
 
5. Is there anything more to the surge in rural traffic? 
It’s the options online offers people. It’s the primary mode of long distance travel. In terms of budget <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=accommodation">accommodation</a>, even in the Tier I cities, the demand is coming from Tier II and Tier III cities. These are people looking from Sub Rs. 1k <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=accommodation">accommodation</a>. Today companies are considering adding more content suited for that consumer base. 
 
However, when one considers segments like Flights, the traffic from Tier III cities are almost nil as the airports are in Tier I and II cities. 
 
6. Is the idea of business travel dominating the travel segment a myth? 
That’s a wrong reading of India’s leisure-heavy market. Small and mid-sized businessmen travel by Sleeper and 3AC in IRCTC trains. The mentality in India has been to save on the luxuries in life for the greater good of the family. In Tier II and Tier II cities that mentality is very strong. A lot of this demand is hard to distinguish as business travel. It’s not a business class flight ticket so you know the company’s paying for it. 80% of India’s businesses are self-owned family businesses and that shows up in leisure demand. These people are more frugal than leisure travelers. When one travels with their family they spend a little more on a good hotel. When alone they stay at the cheapest possible hotel. 
 
7. Which segment drives the bulk of revenue for Ixigo? 
Ours is not a plain travel site. It’s as much an information and planning website. For us engagement is as important a metric as consummating a transaction. The actual consummation happens in a third party website, so that’s just a part of the system. For us monetization is more centered on ad traffic. On the transactional side it’s quite evenly distributed. 
 
8. Do newer segments have a chance of flourishing in India’s primarily conservative travel market? 
Historically in India peer-to-peer segments like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=accommodation">accommodation</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=transportation">transportation</a> the problem has been the trust issue. That’s exactly why organized car pooling has taken a while to pick up. 
 
There are ways to solve this using the social graph and companies are working on them. As long as they can build a reliability and trust factor with rankings and reviews, the Indian traveler would feel safer and there would be scope for adoption. It’ll emerge as a more viable option from the price perspective, and Indians are price conscious.

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