Delhi underground

Where have the ladies gone?
During the opening ceremony of a five-day training programme at the headquarters of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),Director Ashwani Kumar missed the ‘ladies’,literally! Beginning his speech with a loud “ladies and gentleman”,Kumar fell silent the next moment as he realised there was not a single woman in the conference hall. The CBI director corrected himself by saying: “I had asked Harsh Bhal (CBI spokesperson) to invite more ladies for the training. But there are none.”

Review month
July,it seems,is the month of official visits and review meets. After PWD Minister Rajkumar Chauhan filled his appointment diary with visits to various projects sites for 2010 Commonwealth Games,now the Finance and Planning Minister A K Walia has also got into action over regularisation of unauthorised colonies. Walia planned site visits and toured the trans-Yamuna areas with MP J P Aggarwal. It has been learnt that the CM has told each of the six Cabinet ministers to pull up their socks and take responsibility of the projects undertaken by their departments.

Silver lining
As the number of swine flu cases rise in private schools across the Capital,the government schools for once see the brighter side with the Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely noting that there was a “rare” chance that government school children would catch the viral strain. “They don’t get a chance to go abroad. There is a rare chance of these kids getting infected with the H1N1 viral strain,” the minister said. Guess the government school kids can,for once,consider themselves luckier.

Check the facts 
When the Opposition alleged a week ago that MCD’s Commonwealth Games projects were behind schedule,few took them seriously,for the Congress party,for all the noise and disruptions,could also not prove their claim. The MCD,however,emboldened by the Opposition’s failure,organised a trip in the guise of inspection of project sites by the Mayor,Chairman of the Standing Committee and the Leader of the House. The most important guest,though,during the trip was the Leader of the Opposition. In the absence of any proof that the projects were behind schedule,the Opposition leader could only blush and nod in agreement while the BJP leaders claimed that the progress of the projects were “satisfactory.”

City of bravehearts
As compared to 137 citizens rewarded by the Delhi Police for their bravery last year,the number by May this year has already touched 323. Whether the increase highlights the fact that crime,too,is on rise or that the citizens have just become more aware,is anybody’s guess. The police department,however,has been prompt in awarding these bravehearts. Between 2008 and May 2009 close to Rs 30 lakh has been awarded as cash prize to such citizens.

Disconnected
The commissioner,Municipal Corporation (Gurgaon) had to go without Internet connection for four days from Tuesday to Friday. When the commissioner called a senior official in BSNL to check what had gone wrong,he was told that an e-mail was sent to BSNL informing that the MC did not require the Internet connection and they could disconnect it. The BSNL officials on their part did not bother to verify the authenticity of the mail and disabled the net connection. Meanwhile,the Commissioner of Police,Gurgaon,confirmed that there was no case registered in this regard yet.

In the dark
As most private schools in the city approached the total solar eclipse on Wednesday with the scientific spirit it deserved,the MCD schools decided to let the moment pass. While other children were gung ho about the celestial phenomenon with their schools arranging for viewing the eclipse and allowing them to come late,the MCD school children,unaware of the eclipse,reported to school on their usual time. In its defence,an MCD Education department official said: “They are small children. There was no need for them to view the eclipse. However,we did tell them how the eclipse takes place.”