‘Fake’ shadow on Dera prayer hall

Dera Sacha Sauda appears to be in need of some divine intervention for a prayer hall it is building in Mysore.

The sect, whose founder-leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been mired in controversies, is said to be accused of faking records to show that one of its members was a farmer entitled to buy the agricultural land for the building.

The Mysore district magistrate has launched a probe into whether Sukhdev Singh, in whose name the land was bought from a local farmer, indeed lived off agriculture. Sukhdev hasn’t given papers to support the claim. In Karnataka, like in other states, only farmers can buy farmland.

But even as the probe continues, demolition notices have been sent out. The sect was supposed to build a de-addiction camp, besides the prayer hall, but an inspection showed what was coming up was a “palatial residence”.

The sect has also run into trouble with locals, many of whom are farmers, for “directly and illegally” drawing water for the construction from a canal in the vicinity.

Metro ferries and earns more

Delhiites’ love affair with the metro has become stronger.

The corporation that runs the capital’s tube services recently announced a near 25 per cent increase in commuter numbers for June over the same month of 2007. The rise was 10 per cent over the previous month this year.

The surge was fuelled by the opening of the Shahdara-Dilshad Garden line in May under the metro’s second phase, the Delhi University admission rush and spread of feeder bus services to several stations on the network.

In absolute numbers, 7.02 lakh commuters took the tube on an average in June against 5.63 lakh same time last year. The daily average revenue was up 31.62 per cent. The daily average figure rose from 6.41 lakh in May this year to 7.02 lakh in June, driving up sales by 11.49 per cent.                             (UNI)

Drop a coin & play safe

No excuses for not being safe in bed — at least not when finding condoms is easier than locating a PCO booth.

The capital’s civic body, the MCD, is joining hands with the National Aids Control Organisation to install 2,000 condom-vending machines in the city.

“The machines will be installed near toilet blocks, parking lots, hospitals, dispensaries and other public places,” MCD standing committee chairman Vijender Gupta said recently.

The project is an initiative between the civic body, the Union health ministry and the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust, a charitable body promoted by public sector undertaking Hindustan Latex Ltd.

The trust will install and maintain the machines, which cost Rs 6,000 each, while 82 NGOs will be brought on board for re-filling and collection of payments, Gupta said.

The condoms to be dispensed would not be the variety sold in the market but special products approved by the health ministry. “The citizens can get a packet by putting a Rs 5 coin into the machine.” (PTI)

Eye on shelters

Mumbai shelters where women are housed after being saved from traffickers are under the glare of courts.

The spotlight recently fell on Rescue Foundation in Kandivali after the parents of a 25-year-old brought home from a dance bar tried to commit suicide because they had no money to treat their HIV positive daughter.

She was then put up at the shelter but since she carried the disease, the court formed a panel to find out if such homes had the facilities to take care of such patients.        (PTI)

MUMBAI: This Sunday, watch Dayashankar Ki Diary, where Ashish Vidyarthi plays a small-town man who comes to Mumbai with dreams of a film career but ends up being a clerk. Venue: Prithvi Theatre. Time: 6.30pm and 9pm. Call 26149546 for more “information.