Language barrier

At the foundation-laying ceremony of a Hindi university in Bhopal Thursday,Sushma Swaraj decided to give some lessons to Hindi journalists

At the foundation-laying ceremony of a Hindi university in Bhopal Thursday,Sushma Swaraj decided to give some lessons to Hindi journalists. She bemoaned the declining language standards in Hindi newspapers and the use of English words. She quoted headlines with words like marks and top and said she keeps clippings of such language transgressions,which are now in hundreds. President Pranab Mukherjee,the chief guest at the event,meanwhile,delivered one of his longest speeches in Hindi. He began by admitting that his Hindi wasnt good and he should be forgiven for any mistakes.

STAR PLUS

TOURISM Minister K Chiranjeevi,it seems,is bracing for a bigger role in politics. A former Telugu film superstar,he already has a formidable public presence. But last month,he went for a personality development course in London. More specifically,a neuro-linguistic programme. Apart from general areas of personality development,the week-long course,which the minister attended with his family,focuses on how to conquer fears.

LEARNING CURVE

STUNG by the recent failures to manage crowds and handle the law and order situation,the government has invited research proposals to be undertaken by the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy at Hyderabad. While asking for proposals from retired and servicing police officials,the police academy,which functions under the Union Home Ministry,has cited examples of agitations by Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare. The institute,which acts as a research centre and training school for senior police officers,also suggested another research proposal on police response to sexual offences against women with the aim to develop a SOP to handle situation similar to the Delhi gangrape case.

HELP AT HAND

REALISING the inadequacy in the number of ways its passenger can send feedback about services to the Railways,the national transporter has recently got itself 10 nationwide new helpline numbers. To be launched soon,the authorisation to use the helplines four-digit,toll-free numbers has reached the Railways Ministry from the Department of Telecom. While three of the numbers have been allocated for SMS and voice use,the remaining seven have been kept in reserve for a future roll out.