Gender bender
Apart from Rs 200 per annum for the girl child, MCD’s ambitious budget for 2008-09 allocated a reasonable amount to a newly created “boys’ fund”. But just before the rationale behind this fund could be discovered, a quick clarification from officials suggested that the subhead was in fact a misprint. The Leader of the House clarified that the “boys’ fund” was actually a general fund for MCD school students, both boys and girls. This is aimed at meeting expenses as and when they came. Apparently, some separate measures announced for girls apart from the common fund led to all the confusion as the MCD tried its hands at “gender budgeting” of sorts.

Futile escape
When accidents are fatal, Blueline drivers and conductors abandon buses and flee the spot. But in a recent accident, the effort to escape turned out to be futile. Hit by the bus near the Moolchand flyover, a scooterist was slightly injured and before he could blink, the driver had disappeared. While the injured man was given first aid at AIIMS and discharged, the victim also did something which the bus driver certainly did not expect him to do. He did not take the trouble of going to the police station and lodging a complaint against the driver!

In the grey
Even as LPG cylinder suppliers send teams to raid their centres in Noida and Ghaziabad after complaints of shortage of gas for domestic use, records with Noida and Ghaziabad police show at least 11 cases of accidents due to illegal use of LPG cylinder kits in cars. School children in Ghaziabad had a close shave last month as the school van they were travelling in was gutted. Three people suffered serious injuries. While no arrests have been made yet in any of the cases, the grey market supply has seen a new high with organised groups operating from various centres. The whole thing has left legal connection holders with only one choice now: to surrender their connections and get new ones — in the grey market.

Beastly tales
A few members of the media covering the Delhi High Court decided recently to expand their horizons and visit the zoo next door. With limited time at their disposal, they decided to opt for the battery-operated vehicles. But they were in for a surprise: the charges came to Rs 35 per adult. No wonder there were hardly any takers and visitors chose to walk the almost 3 km perimeter rather than pay the steep fee. The scribes, due to time constraints, decided to shell out the fare. They found out another thing. Though the driver is meant to double up as a guide too, he hardly bothered to explain why half the animals shown on the nameboards were absent. “Animal die, you know,” was his answer. The worst disposed in the zoo was none other than the “king of animals”, the lion. Having spent the better part of his life in his sparse cage, the king had lost his nerve. He cowered when crowds of schoolchildren hooted and tried to poke him with twigs.

Cops vs cops
A serious power tussle seems to have broken out between traffic police officers in the city. Recently, Additional Traffic Commissioner Muktesh Chander reportedly pulled up his subordinates for sending important documents directly to police headquarters instead of first routing it to him. Chander’s juniors complained that once a file is sent to him it just remains on his desk for days. Looks like newly appointed Joint Commissioner S N Srivastav will have a tough time keeping his team together.

Love on the sly
The course of true love never ran smooth, said Shakespeare. And so say students at DPS, R K Puram. Last Valentine’s Day, the mass exchange of gifts and cards prompted a warning that any future declaration of affection was to be made strictly in out-of-school hours. But on-the spot-bag checks proved to be no obstacle for courting couples. “Students are smarter than that,” said a girl from Class IX. But this year, she admitted, at least there were fewer clamours. “I mainly saw chocolates smuggled into school, swapped during the break,” she said.

Swift justice
With a memorandum in hand, students from North-East India in Delhi made a sorry picture on Sunday as they were refused a hearing by Pratibha Patil, the President of India. At a conclave held at Vigyan Bhavan, the students wanted to discuss violence against them in the Capital and the organisers had initially told them that they would be granted the opportunity. However, all their hopes came crashing after the President left immediately after her speech. But justice wasn’t far away when Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan decided to grant an ear to the disappointed students. Definitely justice came late but for the students it was worth the wait.