Rush to greet freedom child

Happy birthday India, happy birthday R.S. Bharathi.

That might not be the way Bharathi is wished by family and friends, but the greeting captures the rare coincidence of being born on the day Indian won freedom.

The chairman of Alandur municipality, near Chennai, was born 90 minutes after the stroke of midnight of August 15, 1947. This year, his family gathered to celebrate Mani Vizha, as the 60th birthday is called in Tamil.

The bash turned out to be a power-packed event. Bouquet-laden state ministers streamed in with best wishes, the entourage led by Karunanidhi’s son M.K. Stalin.

Bharathi, who has been the chairman of the civic body since 1986, is a lawyer, having earned his degree from Madras Law College. The lessons in law earned him his big moment in life when he helped nail ADMK chief Jayalalithaa in court in the Tansi land deal.

That achievement may have slipped out of public memory. But the Independence Day coincidence lingers .

Rifles for women rail cops

Women constables at Mumbai’s railway stations and in the ladies’ compartments will now be armed with rifles.

The decision was taken by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to tackle the growing incidents of crime on trains.

“Female passengers are more vulnerable. Then there is the added threat of terrorism and anti-social elements on trains. We decided it would be better to deploy armed women constables,” said a senior rail police officer.

Women were inducted into the RPF 30 years ago but their weapons were limited to batons. The police top brass hopes the guns will make female commuters feel safer.

“Handing them guns will boost the confidence of female constables and ensure better safety,” one lady in uniform said. Women commuters have welcomed the decision.

Seven years in jail for Rs 100

Those who thought the five-year sentence handed to Sanjay Dutt for possessing illegal weapons was too harsh might want to shed a tear or two for Naresh Kumar.

A petty thief, Kumar has been given seven years of rigorous imprisonment for robbing an autorickshaw driver of Rs 100.

“Robbery is robbery, and the amount of money stolen does not impact the sentence,” the sessions court observed.

Brandishing a razor, Kumar had ordered Roop Ram, described by the court as a “helpless driver”, to empty his pockets in September 2005. Ram only had a torn Rs 100 note. Kumar then snatched the vehicle’s registration papers and the note and fled, public prosecutor Jeevan Ram said.

An appeal was made for a shorter term for Kumar in proportion to the amount he’d stolen, but it was rejected. The judge observed that Kumar had, in fact, robbed Ram of “the last penny he possessed at that time”.

Tech leap

The civic body that oversees Lutyen’s Delhi is taking a technology leap to ensure it keeps pace with the times.

Unlike the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation doesn’t have a large area under its fold, but its smaller size means any effort at simplifying systems will be easier to push through.

Last week, in one such initiative, NDMC introduced an “e-gov financial system”, a computerisation plan to ensure error-free accounts and prevent foul play in contracts that the civic body hands out to private firms for its many projects.

Delhi: Learn about the history of theatre in Bengal this Wednesday — how it evolved over the centuries. Historian Tanika Sarkar takes you on a rare ride into the tradition. The lecture is at Delhi University’s Social Science Building, arts faculty. Time: 2.30pm.