Maya’s jaal
Mayawati has the Delhi Congress really worried. In the last Cabinet meeting, which took place after the success of the BSP leader’s rally in the Capital, sources said that what occupied the Chief Minister and her other ministers’ mind was how to stem Mayawati’s growing power in Delhi. So having swiftly discussed and passed a few proposals tabled before the Cabinet, the worried politicians spent an hour discussing this crucial concern. DPCC president JP Aggarwal decided that prompt action was the order of the day and decided to come out in public, backed by his fellow MPs from Delhi, and emphatically say that the Congress was “definitely not threatened” by the increasing BSP presence in the Capital. Not many were convinced.

Lost in babudom
Even as the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) is hoping to hit a jackpot by giving out the Chankaya Cinema Hall for redevelopment to private builders, the civic body officials have a problem at hand. A group of architects are looking for the drawings submitted in a competition held for finalising the design of the hall in the early 1970s. These architects, through an RTI application, had asked NDMC to give a copy of all contending designs. The civic body replied saying that they don’t have the drawings, presuming that some babu might have ordered them to be thrown into the waste bins only to be later hammered by the CIC for hiding information. While CIC has asked the NDMC to submit the drawings with other documents, civic body officials are now left wondering about how to get the drawings back.

Media-made martyrs?
Guess who is behind last week’s violence and vandalism in Delhi University? The media, if a Deputy Commissioner of Police is to be believed. The DCP was overheard telling media persons that the limelight provided by TV channels instigated the hot-blooded youngsters to grab their fifteen minutes of fame. Then the senior police officer passed a humorous comment on the arrest of ABVP activist Vikas Dahiya: “Aap logon ne bande ko shahid kardiya (The guy has became a martyr because of you).” A reporter gave an apt answer to this, “Campus violence had begun since the independence era when there were no TV channels, Mr DCP.”

Policing admissions
Nursery admissions are not just about making parents and school administrations sweat but also Delhi Police officers. For the police stations near popular schools like Delhi Public School, Modern School, Springdales and others, the most important work these days is to canvass for admissions of children of senior IPS officers and other ‘valuable’ acquaintances. “Just make sure that the principal calls them and gives them proper assurance. Whether they get admission or not is our headache,” an ACP was heard telling his SHO.

Out-of-court settlements
Court disputes may at times spill outside the courtrooms, especially if the case is between a landlord and tenant who have been fighting tooth-and-nail over the past decade. Immediately after the day’s hearing, the landlord recently strode over to his “errant” tenant and asked him in not so ‘parliamentary’ language when he was going to give up the premises under dispute. What followed was a heated discussion on the ownership of the property, lineage and rights of the landlord. Infuriated, the landlord--a man of considerable proportions-- would have resorted to more violent means if the court security and his lawyer had not physically intervened in time. Meanwhile, the tenant had ‘given the slip’ by taking advantage of the nearest elevator. Not a man to be deterred, the landlord was last seen hurrying down the stairs in pursuit, hurling the choicest of abuses, with his harried lawyer in tow. Well, some legal pundits were of the opinion that the matter would reach an “out-of-court settlement” before the next date of the court hearing.