Delhi underground

In the spotlight
IN PERHAPS the first television advertisement in international media on the Commonwealth Games,the commentary calls the CWG as the “greatest sporting event in India,ever”. In the ad,shown on BBC TV,Suresh Kalmadi is the only non-sportsperson. Maybe the cameras will now focus on the criticism from the other power centres anxious to be seen as those making the CWG “happen”.

Driving home the point
EVEN as the High Court criticised Transport Commissioner R K Verma for requesting extension of permits for Blueline buses,Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely has been busy receiving delegations of bus operators. The operators have been repeatedly raising objections to the conditions laid down for bidding in the new cluster scheme meant to replace Blueline buses. While the bids are running as per schedule so far,the Blueline operators are reportedly burning the midnight oil scrutinising every word of the guidelines before their next meet with the minister.

No time to waste
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s senior management does not seem happy with the deadlines missed in commissioning new lines this year. In a bid to convey the message and ensure that all work is completed before the Commonwealth Games,the management for the first time in 16 years called off the cultural programmes as part of its Founder’s Day. “The programme was called off so that no time was wasted,” said a member of the board of directors at the function held last week.

Plane spotting
EVEN when a majority of flights to and from the Indira Gandhi International Airport are getting delayed these days due to air traffic congestion and closure of the main runway,28-10,a Jet Airways flight to Kolkata on Tuesday delayed passengers by over an hour after a ground handling staff took at least seven passengers,most of them wheelchair bound,to a wrong aircraft. Though the passengers claimed it was clearly written on the aircraft that it was a JetLite flight,the low-cost carrier of Jet,the ground staff ‘forcefully’ took their cabin baggage to the wrong aircraft. Even the airhostess kept saying it was a wrong aircraft. The JetLite flight,too,was a delayed flight bound for Kolkata. With all this confusion and delay,the 9W2282,which was scheduled for 5.50 pm,finally took off at 7 pm. The airlines,however,maintained the delay was owing to late arrival of the aircraft at the airport.

The hacked account
SPEAKING at a conference on enforcement of cyber crime laws,Delhi High Court’s acting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur spoke about how his e-mail account was hacked last year and messages sent to his acquaintances informing he had started an automobile spare parts business. “And believe me,people called up to ask whether I had resigned from the post of a judge and started a business,” he said.