Delhi Underground

The cycle of a yatra

When Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav began his cycle rally and Rath Yatra from outside the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida on Friday,there were hundreds of party workers on bicycles behind him. Fifteen minutes into the Yatra,the number had dwindled. As seen from the Mahamaya flyover,while Yadav cycled towards Greater Noida,his fellow cyclists were already out of sight. Soon,even Yadav got off and he boarded a truck,from where he and party workers proceeded towards Agra amid slogan shouting.

Writing on the wall

After the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court,A K Sikri,criticised the Traffic Police for publishing names and photographs of violators on its Facebook page,the department posted a comment on the page saying it respects the view of the court. Satyendra Garg,Joint Comissioner of Police (Traffic),wrote on the wall of the Facebook page: “Hon’ble High Court has observed that violators’ details need not be posted on Facebook. We respect the view and we will follow the observations in letter and spirit. However,let people continue to upload traffic-related issues on Facebook page and we will effect the improvements.”

Private party

It’s not unusual to see politicians get busy organising lunches and dinners during Diwali. But Labour and Industries Minister Ramakant Goswami’s lunch function on Thursday stood out for more reasons than one. Goswami had invited journalists to his house,and had hired two air-conditioned buses for their travel. The invites to all journalists were sent out not from the minister’s office,but by the Communications department of the Chief Minister’s Office. Goswami did not send invites to any of his Cabinet colleagues,except Sheila Dikshit. Even among the bureaucrats,only select officials,including Chief Secretary P K Tripathi,were invited.

Case of the missing file

Delhi High Court’s Registrar (Listing) has been seeking help of lawyers to get back something that belongs to the court. Five days ago,a lawyer “inadvertently” took with him an unrelated case file along with the original petition and other documents from the Listing branch. He has not yet returned it.

The Registrar has since issued a notice requesting the lawyer to return the file or at least contact him so that the documents could be collected. The notice also asks other lawyers to identify him by watching his image captured on Closed Circuit Television cameras and assist the department in retrieving the “missing” file.

No work till Diwali at DDA

Diwali is later this week,but at the Delhi Development Authority office it seems the holiday is here already. If a visitor was to reach Vikas Sadan before 11 am,chances are he will find the offices there empty. “I had gone to Vikas Sadan for some work at 10.30 am on Friday,and the entire office looked deserted. The few employees present advised me to come back after Diwali if I wanted any work done,’’ said a DDA flat owner,who had come to Vikas Sadan for work.