The Hindu : New Delhi News : What the PM missed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 23, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

What the PM missed

What the PM missed

One of the busiest roads in the Delhi University area, Chhatra Marg in the backyard of Miranda House college, is in a terrible shape. For over six months now this road has been under continuous digging for reasons unknown to us. All this while we have been inhaling huge amounts of suffocating dust.

Now when things appeared to be settling down, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in its haste to demolish other structures across the city has moved away, not bothering to wind up things here.

Not bothering? Well, not quite. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Delhi School of Economics this past week to participate in its golden jubilee celebrations on the 18th of January, the dug-up area was very tactfully hidden from view by a couple of hoardings announcing: "DELHI TOURISM WORK IN PROGRESS"!

I appeal to the authorities concerned to have mercy on this road and finish off things here in the quickest of time.

Hari Nair,

(Class XI, Montfort School),

27, Teacher's Flat,

Miranda House,

Chhatra Marg,

Delhi - 110 007

Crime and punishment

A stage has come when people the world over have come to accept crime as part and parcel of daily life.

The crime-related problems have already been defined and perhaps only too well. Sadly, the concerns which thus far remain unaddressed are : precautionary measures including nitti-gritties, and a system of law ensuring speedy and exemplary punishment to those held guilty.

Take the much talked about Bangalore software technician Pratibha's case. Her employers did precious little to ensure her safety. Why was a woman allowed to travel all alone along with a stranger as a driver in the middle of the night regardless of whether he was an authorised driver?

The exact location of the missing car with the on-board criminal could have been traced had a special software been made use of. But the employer did not do so since it would add to costs.

Women themselves can take several precautionary measures to ensure their safety, with a little bit of training, which schools/collages and employers should provide. However, such a trend has not taken deep roots. Similarly there are not enough safeguards for accountants and cashiers who routinely have to handle large sums of cash.

V.B.N. Ram,

A-441, Defence Colony,

New Delhi-110 024. Punjab calling

I found the report by Gargi Parsai, "Farmers in Punjab, Haryana switching to zero-tillage sowing" ( The Hindu , January 7), very interesting. Although personally I did not adopt "zero-tillage cultivation" during wheat sowing which finished only last week, I found the report very informative. It has provoked a series of discussions with my fellow-farmers in Chanankhera village and a critical examination of the claims made about the advantages of zero-tillage sowing -- "improves soil health and increases productivity".

In the meantime, I would request the Punjab Agriculture University authorities to arrange a lecture-cum-demonstration on "zero-tillage sowing" for farmers like me.

Lt-Col (Retd) Onkar Chopra,

Village Chanankhera,

Abohar, Punjab.

University Plaza?

A newly installed stone signboard at the Arts Faculty gate in Delhi University reads: "University Plaza". According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, "plaza" has two meanings: an outdoor public square, especially in a town where Spanish is spoken; and a small shopping centre, sometimes also with offices.

If we take the second meaning, there is emphasis on shopping centre more and less on offices but nothing on the campus or any other word related to an educational campus. Obviously this word is used in a commercial context. Both the meanings are unfit to be used for an educational campus financed by the Government.

It is time students, teachers, educationists and all those concerned about education came forward and registered their strong protest against commercialisation of educational institutions.

Rajesh Raushan,

Sanskar Hostel,

Christian Colony,

Delhi - 110 007.

Like Caesar's wife

Even very senior journalists these days are fond of saying that one should be assumed innocent until proved otherwise. What they fail to remember is that this is a principle of criminal law only. To apply it when appointments to high public offices and senior posts are under consideration or a highly placed person is under suspicion would be suicidal.

The principle we should adhere to should be that Caesar's wife should be above suspicion. Only then will we be able to meet the challenge of corruption.

Raghu Nath Singh,

60, Gopal Bari,

Ajmer Road,

Jaipur.

Danger in the hills

I visited the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi recently. Being a student of geology, I had a good look at the Trikuta hills (Shivaliks of the region). These are basically very weak limestone rocks. They stand exposed all along the new route and are made to support huge overhead sheds. Because of the weak rocks, the sheds have started losing their hold. At places they have got totally uprooted, resulting in wide cracks, a huge crater-like depression in the path. This may be an invitation to landslides. The planners have to make a choice between disaster management and pre-disaster management. They must act quickly.

Simrandeep Singh,

B.Sc. (Geology),

GGM Science College,

Jammu University,

Jammu.

(Letters for this column may be sent by e-mail to wsins@thehindu.co.in. They must carry the full postal address of the writer and should be marked "Reader's Mail".)

(Class XI, Montfort School),

27, Teacher's Flat,

Miranda House,

Chhatra Marg,

Delhi - 110 007

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