Delhi Underground

Out of firing line

It seems developing influential contacts goes further than your work when it comes to postings in Uttar Pradesh. The colleagues of a senior police officer have been left wondering how he got a posting in Noida after being transferred out of Ghaziabad. The district’s Superintendent of Police (City) A K Vijaita,who,like a number of his colleagues,was transferred a day after UP Chief Minister Mayawati’s visit,has received a plum posting in Noida. The transfers were seen as punishment meted out to police officers for non-performance of their duties. Vijaita will now hold the charge of SP (Traffic) in Noida.

Spared the rod

After a week of being in the eye of a storm,PWD Minister Rajkumar Chauhan appeared a little relaxed on Friday evening. Most of his time was spent receiving congratulatory messages over the phone for having narrowly escaped the axe. Chauhan,who was accused of trying to influence VAT Commissioner Jalaj Srivastav,has been spared for the time being. For Chauhan,though,this is just a small breather,as he is at present not in best of terms with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

A good start

Health Minister Dr A K Walia seems to have done not too badly in his first fortnight on the new job. His rounds of government hospitals turned out to be pretty similar affairs. GB Pant,DDU and GTB hospitals welcomed the minister with lavish breakfasts for a fitting start. From samosas,vegetable sandwiches and pakoras to an assortment of fresh juices — the hospitals made sure the minister did his rounds on a full stomach. The hospital administrations also bashed the Public Works Department alike for its slow pace in renovation work. Sources close to the minister say he insisted on taking local PWD engineers to DDU and GTB hospitals after getting a glimpse of their work at GB Pant. Medical Superintendents of the hospitals also spent time and thought on their gifts to the Minister — from small Buddha statues to massive bouquets.

Hitting the right mark

When the judge decided to draw the curtains on the 25-year long Bofors case against Ottavio Quattrocchi,he marked its end with the popular couplet: “Woh afsana jise anjaam tak lana na ho mumkin,use ek khoobsurat mor dekar chhorna hi achha (It’s better to end a story on a good note if it cannot be brought to a logical end).” Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav,however,mistakenly attributed the lines to Majrooh Sultanpuri,though the couplet was penned by lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi as part of the song “Chalo ek bar phir se,ajnabi” for the film Gumrah in 1963. While the dedication was wrong,the couplet certainly helped lighten the tension in the packed courtroom.

Hanging on

For days after the Home Ministry announced a big reshuffle involving half-a-dozen IAS and IPS officers in Delhi,backroom conversations in the Delhi Police hovered around the question of who would be replacing DCP (South) H G S Dhaliwal. After a three-year stint in the coveted post of the Capital’s south district,Dhaliwal was transferred to Arunachal Pradesh. While he was the blue-eyed boy of the former commissioner Y S Dadwal,many had predicted that he would be shown the door as soon as B K Gupta took over . To the discontent of many,he continues to hold on to the post,after he was recently given a six-month extension till May this year. The buzz has it that DCP (Outer) Chhaya Sharma will be taking over the prized post after Dhaliwal’s exit.

Animal spotting

Visitors to the Delhi Zoo this week may be in for a surprise. It was business as usual at the zoo when a few workers spotted a wild boar roaming in the vegetation. Though it was a blink-and-miss case,workers were soon in a frenzy trying to catch it. So far,however,the animal has not been caught. According to zoo authorities,it may have found its way in on one of the trucks that bring fresh soil to the zoo every day. “We have a boar on the loose in the zoo. No one knows where it is,but it is not a ferocious animal,” said an official.

Charting change

With the Census results expected to trickle in over the next year,officials in the Census department are keenly awaiting certain sets of numbers merely to see how much perceptions have changed over the last decade. For instance,in 2001,Delhi recorded a dismal 25 per cent female participation in work/economic activities. A Census department official said the figure had more to do with fact that women were reluctant to reveal they worked or ran small businesses for fear of having to pay taxes. In a few months,we will know whether attitudes have changed in the last decade.