Delhi underground: Taking it to heart

English is a tricky language. The Delhi Police learnt this the hard way last week. Police had titled a press release ‘Dead terrorist Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi of KCF rises up from the grave’. The release read: “A team of officers led by Inspector Badrish Dutt and Inspector Kailash Bisht under the supervision of ACP Manishi Chandra has resurrected a dead terrorist…” They wanted to say that Sukhi,who they thought died in 1992,was arrested last week. Journalists pointed out the poor choice of words to senior police officers. An hour later,the Special Cell sent a revised release with no mention of anyone ‘resurrecting the dead’.

Meta-sceptical

Delhi University has put plans for a four-year undergraduate programme on the fast track by setting up a task force to “redefine education”. However,students voiced concerns about the university’s plans for them. They were sceptical of DU’s “job-oriented” four-year meta-course — B Tech in Humanities. One of the students said: “I feel that after completing the course,I will end up as a jack of all trades and master of none.”

Just a formality

Most Congress councillors did not attend the BJP-ruled corporations’ Gandhi Jayanti function at the Civic Centre. Soon after the inauguration,even the BJP councillors and senior officials left the venue. Schoolchildren,called to perform at the function,had only their teachers as spectators. It was like a school away from school.

Support FDI to meet CM

Several bewildered residents of a colony in West Delhi were a part of a recent ‘successful’ pro-FDI rally outside Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s house. They had come to Dikshit’s house to protest a demolition drive by the municipal corporation,but held up placards and posters supporting FDI. When asked,they said they had come to speak to the CM about saving their homes and had no idea about FDI. A woman said,“We sought an appointment with the CM,and were told we could meet her on October 1 provided we came in large numbers. When we arrived we were given placards to hold and we got to meet the CM after a rally about farmers.”

Not a household name

Despite being in the limelight for over a year,it seems as if Arvind Kejriwal is still some way off becoming a household name. On Saturday morning,when Kejriwal restored electricity at the house of Bana Ram in Tigri Khanpur,an elderly woman looked at the crowd and asked,“Which of you is Kejriwal?”

Impressed at JNU

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Mukul Wasnik was impressed by students of Jawaharlal Nehru University at a workshop which aimed to make people experience life as a physically challenged person. They suggested several measures to improve facilities for physically challenged people. These included announcements for approaching buses at bus stops and printing names of medicines in Braille. “I should come to JNU more often just for such suggestions,” Wasnik said.