Delhi Underground

DU in doubt

As Delhi University (DU) gears up for the four-year undergraduate scheme,questions are being raised about the teachers’ workload under the format. While DU has asked colleges to calculate the workload,some colleges have landed themselves in a soup. “The curriculum has not been finalised. Workload can be calculated only once we have finalised the syllabi. We have a deadline to inform the administration about the teachers’ workload and we don’t know how to go about it,” the principal of one of the colleges said.

Population plight

A population analysis,using Delhi’s census data,found the gender ratio to be completely skewed. The Election Commission of Delhi found that the electoral rolls of certain constituencies were inflated in the category of males in the age group 30-50 and deflated for women in the same category. The reason,officials said,was that these constituencies were still very “traditional” and women there were “dependent on their men for everything”. The Election Commission has launched a special drive with “all women” camps,particularly within these identified areas. The camps,with all woman staff are meant to get women enrolled on the electoral roll,“so that women don’t have to depend on men to get an important identification document”.

Matter of investigation

In a recent case,in which the son of a retired director of prosecution was found dead after unidentified assailants barged into his house,a senior police officer asked a junior personnel in the investigating team to find out how the man was killed. However,the junior checked the initial medical report and replied: “Pata nahi sir. Iss paper mein toh likha hai brought dead. (I don’t know sir. The report says he was brought dead).” The senior officer was then forced to rephrase his question and said,“Find the cause of death.”

Seminar without seats

The seminar on Saturday,organised by the Delhi Bar association on ‘welfare schemes for lawyers’,was the venue for many arguments due to the sheer number of advocates present. However,the Plenary hall of Vigyan Bhawan proved inadequate to accommodate all those who chose to attend the event. A woman lawyer,who was fruitlessly searching for an empty seat,objected to the title of the conference saying,“What welfare will they do for us when they can’t even give us chairs to sit on?” The comment was received with applause and shouts of encouragement from the hassled crowd.

Media menace

With the CBI investigating officer in the Aarushi Talwar case AGL Kaul providing ample media fodder through his revelations at a Ghaziabad court,the defence counsel have been put on the back foot. Kaul’s claim that Aarushi was killed by her parents has garnered such extensive media coverage that it is driving away potential defence witnesses. Sources said,“While people want to testify as defence witness,they are afraid of the constant media coverage. We are still trying to convince them.”

Lessons in vigilance

The after-effects of the December 16 gangrape case have still not subsided for the police department. This week,the police chief conducted a rigorous session with station house officers (SHOs) of all districts,where he discussed the shoddy investigation in the recent gangrape case of a five-year-old in East Delhi. The chief is learnt to have asked all SHOs to be extra sensitive towards complaints related to women and children. He said in the December 16 gangrape police had a defence as they could not have known what was happening inside the bus,but the case of the five-year-old’s rape was a grave lapse on their part.

Long wait

A senior IPS officer has recently had to wait for a woman constable for over half an hour. The reason: a woman complainant,infamous for filing several cases of sexual harassment,landed at the police headquarters once again last week. The only woman police officer in the office that day was not in uniform. Finally,a woman constable standing guard at the police headquarters gate was summoned into the IPS officer’s office as witness for the complaint. However,the complainant then alleged that she had been harassed right outside the senior officer’s office as she had been made to wait for a long time.

No compliments

Loaded with compliments for being ‘popular’ was not as joyous as it should have been for a former commissioner of one of the corporations. While at a private function he was told how he was being missed on his former posting,people kept telling him that he should have done less development work during his tenure. “You have performed above average and have been noticed. We wish you had learnt some tricks from your peers,” a senior official said.

Curated For You

Jana Nayagan Hearing LIVE Updates: Madras HC reserves order; Vijay-starrer’s makers defend release date announcement, cite Dhurandhar 2 and Prime Video’s legal threat

JEE Main 2026 Exam Day Guidelines: Dress code, documents print out, things allowed for students

‘Your career is ruined’: Judge warns TISS students booked over Saibaba death anniversary event