Manufactured Chaos

As governance formally surrendered the administration of Delhi to chaos on All Fools' Day, April 1, 2001, the fate of its citizens' health and public transport continued to hang in balance. Ministers and politicians had a field day blaming each other for the chaos and rioting that broke out on April 3.

The CNG sabotage

Exhausting Practices

it was bandied as a strategy to promote good vehicle maintenance and help curb pollution. But India's inspection and maintenance ( i&m ) programme -- in other words, the Pollution Under Control ( puc ) certificate scheme -- has turned into a major farce.

Letters

Set the record straight

Diesel cars dearer; cycles cheaper

IT IS a budget with concern for the environment. The Delhi government has made diesel cars costlier and bicycles cheaper.

How green is budget?

THE Union budget has announced its usual palliative for inclusive growth and aam aadmi. But the urban aam aadmi loses all.

Letters

Farmers’ fundamental right We must have the right to decide whether we want to eat Bt brinjal (‘Don’t make a mash of it’, February 16-28, 2010). Similarly, farmers should also have the right to decide what food to grow since they will be affected the most. Why just Bt brinjal, farmers will be affected adversely by any genetically modified (GM) crop. Such crops will steal their freedom of choosing seeds.

Stranded at the station

Sonika Gupta, 29, who lives in Delhi’s Geeta Colony troubles her husband every morning to drop her to Yamuna Bank Metro Station on his motorbike; there is no bus service to the station, which is four km from her house.

Letters

The great telecom hoax I can’t understand why the telecom company, Aircel, has ventured into such a campaign and what it aims to achieve from this (‘1,411 tigers, and unanswered questions’, March 16-31, 2010). Initially, I had thought that the company is trying to lure customers by introducing schemes such as diverting part of the revenue earned from Aircel calls into saving tigers.

Before cars take over

There I was, zipping down bustling Ahmedabad. The bus stopped at a station, designed so the doors of the bus and the station open simultaneously to let passengers out and in. People were walking to the station, buying tickets and waiting.