Wake-up parade on farm distress

Sharad Pawar was recently offered a glimpse of the country’s grim harvest.

Children of farmers who committed suicide in villages marched before the agriculture minister's residence last week, urging him to reduce the burden on the kisan who still makes up the majority of the country's workforce.

Their parents could not take the trauma anymore but the children resolved that they would fight on. Organised by civil rights group Lok Raj Sangathan, the rally saw over a hundred children, from across the country, holding placards and screaming slogans demanding respite from the crushing poverty and indebtedness.

“All governments claim that they represent the farmers and understandably so, since the community still forms the largest vote bank. But what is stopping the agriculture minister from getting banks and money lenders to write off loans? What is preventing the government from taking a fresh look at the prices of electricity?” asked S. Raghavan, convenor of the NGO. At the end of the rally, the children submitted a memorandum to Pawar.

Luxury buses in more areas

A part of the capital so far denied the privilege of low-floor luxury buses will now be able to hitch a ride in them.

The government has introduced such services in the areas of the capital that are to the east of the Yamuna. At present, such buses, popular with the elderly and physically challenged, are plying in many areas of south Delhi.

“The low-floor buses will ply in various parts of east Delhi, such as Shahdara and Shakurpur. We have decided to deploy 12 buses on various routes that are yet to be identified,” transport minister Haroon Yusuf said.

Six thousand of these buses are estimated to be on the roads in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Around 20 per cent of them will be air-conditioned. People can use these to get to their offices and go back home in comfort, encouraging use of public transport.

Disc floats in setu water

A new CD has been released to whip up a wave of support for those campaigning to save the Ram Setu.

The disk, circulated by Hindu Munnani leader Ramagopalan, aims to convince people about the lack of viability of the Sethusamudram ship canal project. He expressed the hope that the CD would “find its way into all households so that everyone can visually see the real significance” of the sacred setu.

The first to receive the disc recently was Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, who said the ship canal project was “clinically dead and surviving only on the oxygen of DMK boss M. Karunanidhi’s rhetoric”.

He said the state should use the yardstick it had adopted in persuading the Supreme Court to lift the ban on jallikattu, a traditional form of bull fighting, last month.

The government had cited “public sentiments” while arguing for the curbs to be removed. Swamy said the state should now respect similar feelings about the setu and not push for the ship canal plan.

Tracks clear

The Metro is relieved after requests for a quick hearing of pleas against an elevated stretch it was building were spiked last week.

The petitions have been filed by some resident associations opposing the corridor that will connect the capital to Badarpur, located on the city’s south-eastern fringe.

he residents, some from the upscale Greater Kailash, are pressing for an underground link, saying the elevated path will increase noise and hit their privacy because the trains will pass too close to their homes.

Delhi: This Tuesday, 40 leading Indian sculptors present a group show. The exhibition has been organised by Aakriti Art Gallery and Art Konsult at the Stainless Gallery. The venue is at Ishwar Nagar, Mira Complex (Okhla Crossing, Near Tata Telecom & Godrej). Time: 11am to 7pm.