AP cabinet defers making helmet wearing mandatory to Jan 1

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has decided to defer the date for making wearing of helmets compulsory for two-wheeler riders to January 1.

In order to follow Supreme Court's order on wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders, the state government had initially decided to implement it from November 1.

However, following representations from public on the non-availability of ISI-mark helmets in the market, the Cabinet yesterday decided to relax the rule for next two months and implement it from January 1, 2016.

The decisions of the Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, were briefed late last night.

The state Cabinet also decided to establish an Urdu university at Kurnool and a satellite study centre for Moulana Azad Skill Development Training Institute at Kadapa.

It was also decided to allocate 183 acres of land at Mangalagiri town in Guntur district for establishment of All India Institute of Medical Sciences by the Union government.

The government also decided to pay Rs 1,000 per quintal as support price, in addition to the minimum support price (MSP), for green gram and black gram to farmers for the coming Rabi season, to encourage production of pulses in the state.

Presently, the MSP for black gram is Rs 4,600 and for green gram is Rs 4,850.