Economic Times – Booby trap hyperlinks in Web pages

Economic Times – Booby trap hyperlinks in Web pages

When you visit websites for news, you are forced to see a large number of advertisements, each competing with the other trying to lure you away to some useless stuff. If you are genuinely interested in what is advertised and click the link voluntarily that is fine. Nowadays you see videos playing automatically, right inside text or content, eating away bandwidth, wasting your time and slowing your connections.

I have observed another atrocity: Implanting irrelevant hyperlink to common words serving no purpose at all except to lead you away to some idiotic external site.  For example, the following page (as of today – 30^th Sep 2019)

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/effectiveness-of-existing-law-against-abuse-of-elderly-parents-to-be-reviewed-on-direction-from-pmo/articleshow/71360736.cms

Contains link to the word ‘Care’ as shown in the image below

Hyperlinked to:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/excel-crop-care-ltd/stocks/companyid-731.cms

Indian Express is the worst offender as many web pages therein are covered by advertisements to 90% of space! True, try and verify this yourself

Why should prestigious newspapers stoop so low to cheat their readers? Google might be the real offender! Who knows.

Crossing the road – Difficulties of Disabled and Senior Citizens - suggested solutions

Crossing the road – Difficulties of Disabled and Senior Citizens

Nowadays traffic has increased so much that crossing a road from one side to the other has become hazardous for the disabled and senior citizens. There are no traffic signals, traffic police or volunteers or zebra crossings at many busy junctions to control traffic. As a result of dividers and medians sometimes one has to walk a long distance and take a u turn to go to opposite side. One has to cross at his own risk, if he chooses to climb over median separator. One friend used to hire an auto just to get to the other side or to avoid walking long distances forcing him to take u turn. Dividers are too high and risky to use.

What should be done to mitigate these problems? Here is a quick enumeration of ten suggestions:

1. Install zebra crossings at reasonable distances. Paint them bright. Provide proper illumination during night time.

2. Repair road clearing potholes pits etc

3. Provide where possible audible announcements to interpret change of signal lights

4. Provide signal lights in plenty wherever feasible.

5. Keep police men or volunteers at road crossings. Volunteers are available from Aasara, Scouts, NCC and even in corporate companies. Senior Citizens associations are also ready to send volunteers who are healthy and willing.

6. Sensitize students and youth in colleges about caring for elders. Let helping the needy to cross roads be one of the many things they can do

7. Sensitize senior citizens in pedestrian safety by organizing training programs by police

8. Book and punish those who are guilty of traffic offenses, especially harming vulnerable pedestrians.

9. Wheever feasible provide overhead pathway crossovers with lifts.

10.Underground subways to reach other side where sufficient space is available should be constructed

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