Bizarre road signs: Border Roads Organisation takes the cake

By Anoop Chugh, 26/02/2010
Bizarre road signs
On my last trip to McLeodganj my eyes fell upon something that would have infused life into a dead soul.

"Beware of road surprises", read one of the road signs. Road surprises? What the hell is that supposed to mean? The road would take you to a dead end or would end abruptly in a ditch?

Or may be, it would take you to the same place where you had started from, much like Delhi's Ring Road. Of course, with some piece of information to add to your misery, "you have just discovered the world is round". Must say, these PWD (Public Works Department) guys are a funny lot. They keep the humour going, wherever you go.

Why limit ourselves to only two emotions when there are hordes of them? How about something that can arouse and stir up the dying romance in your life. "Be gentle on my curves", are the kind of things that can warm up newly-weds up on their way to honeymoon. The moment your head starts getting ideas there will be a dampener howling, "Make love not war, but nothing while driving". Man! Such a turn-off! Creatively-bent heads can appease their artistic selves with "Hospital ceilings are boring to look at. Avoid accidents"

Surely, PWD believes we can't even wipe-off our ass without making a mess of it. Or, why else would they warn 'Caution: Wet roads during rain'. Surely, even somebody in diaper would know rains make roads wet. What else would they preach us - 'Don't drive sitting in the rear seat', 'If AC ain't working, roll down your windows', or 'breathe out, once you breathe in'.

Whatever little I have travelled, these boards never fail to amaze me. Road signs enthusiasts would unanimously agree that graffiti on hills is much more creative when compared to the other parts of the country.
No doubt the one-liners like "Don't gossip, let him drive" and "Darling I love you, but not so fast" sprinkled all across the Himalayas, add zing to your zeal.

Then there are gems like "Soft shoulder, blind curves, steep grade, big trucks. Good luck!", which send a shiver down your spine and make you smile at the same time. Not everyone can bring out a perfect concoction of fear and laughter.

Border Roads Organisation takes the cake
Did I forget to mention the poets the Border Road Organisation is filled with. Here are some verses that won't put John Keats to shame but at least they rhyme. "Don't dream otherwise you'll scream", "This is a highway not a runway", "Mind your brakes or break your mind", "Do not be rash and end in crash". In fact, it sounds more like the title track of some pseudo rock band. This one surely does, "Drive like hell, and you 'll be there". Take care.
Bizarre road signs

Pawar and Patel pitching for peak profile portfolios after present 'Killing' performance

Harish Gupta / DNA Wednesday, July 7, 2010 1:19 IST Email
New Delhi: After Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, it is the turn of minister for civil aviation Praful Patel to request change.

Before flying off to Johannesburg, South Africa, Patel is learnt to have conveyed to the prime minister (PM) that he be shifted to some other ministry. Though no reasons are known for Patel’s desire to be relieved of the civil aviation portfolio, he is said to have conveyed to Manmohan Singh that it has been over six years that he has been in the ministry and he feels it is time to move on.

“Please do not ask me what transpired between me and the PM. Let me come back on July 10,” Patel told DNA.

Patel is the second Union minister — that too belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — to express desire for a change in profile. Patel had met the PM thrice, the last time being the inauguration of the new airport in New Delhi.

It is learnt that Pawar had raised the matter of Patel’s desire to be shifted to another ministry when he (Pawar) called on the PM at his residence on Monday morning. Apparently, when Pawar requested the PM to lighten his workload, he politely demanded that Patel be upgraded to full cabinet minister considering his seniority. “If Pawar sheds the crucial department of food and consumer affairs, he wants a cabinet rank post in return for his party. There is no free lunch,” said a senior Congress leader.

Pawar’s decision to go public soon after meeting the PM took the Congress by surprise. The party may have been eager to tame Pawar by blaming him for high food prices, but it is also fully aware that starting the process of reshuffling the cabinet before Parliament’s monsoon session will cause more pain.

If the nine-member NCP in the Lok Sabha gets two cabinet posts in the new scheme of things, why shall the 20-member DMK bandwagon compromise with three cabinet berths (A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran and M K Alagiri)? A couple of senior Congress leaders may have been indicating an impending reshuffle and gunning for the portfolios of telecom minister A Raja and environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh (the opposition has been baying for Raja’s blood over the 2G spectrum scam).

Also, minister of new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah probably desires to be shifted to tourism or some other ministry.
But the Congress high command and the PM are disinclined to undertake such an exercise as there are no “compelling reasons” to reshuffle the council of ministers. The Congress has 27 Cabinet posts out of 33, leaving only six for its allies; it has most of the plum portfolios as well.

However, the Congress is fully aware that the Monsoon session will be stormy, with the NDA and the Left joining hands on fuel price and the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill. So why buckle under them and sacrifice Raja, for which the DMK supremo is not ready?

The final call will be taken at the Congress core committee meeting on Friday at the PM’s residence.
After Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel seeks profile change

Is India too careless about its aviation safety?

By Ashish Saraf, India Syndicate, 24/05/2010
The recent Air India Express flight crash in Mangalore that killed 158 people has raised serious questions about India's performance on its aviation safety front.
The apparent cause of the accident appears to be pilot's error, but safety experts are sceptical about other factors as well, such as poor training, infrequent inspection and the difficult location of the airport. Critics say the Bajpe airport in Mangalore is one of trickiest airstrips in India and should not have been built in such a dicey spot that does not give any scope for the minutest of errors.
A 2006 audit report by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says India has been violating hundreds of safety norms, and has scored worst in "technical personnel qualification and training." While the civil aviation ministry has claimed that the Mangalore runway complies fully with international norms, local environmental groups have cited ICAO documents to affirm that the runway does not adhere to international standards of airport design.

The ICAO protocol specifies there should be a minimum width of 150 metres on either side of the central line of the runway. But Mangalore runway is only 200 metres wide in total. In the tabletop topography where Mangalore airport is nestled, there was no space to construct a 300-metre-wide runway. The bottom line is - the runway is neither long nor wide enough to make up for any landing error.
Is India too careless about its aviation safety?
Reasons
Could corruption and sycophancy be a major factor which reduces air safety in India to a joke?

19 year old girl raped by two jawans, held

Press Trust Of India
Pune, April 09, 2010
Two Army jawans were on Friday arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old girl in Sangvi area near in Pune, police said.
The two jawans allegedly raped the girl on Wednesday night at Swaraj garden after beating up her lover.
The couple had gone for a ride on a motorcycle but had to dismount when they ran out of petrol. The two accused then scared away the youth and took the girl to the adjacent open ground where they allegedly committed the crime, they said.
The girl later filed a complaint with the police, which arrested the duo identified as Rajneesh Kumar Sureshchandra (from Uttar Pradesh) and Suminder Singh Mahipal Singh (Rajasthan) this morning.
The incident comes days after a married woman was gangraped in the city.
19 year old girl raped by two jawans, held

Comment
This is making National News in the Media and TV. In this shocking incident, a 19 year old girl raped by two jawans of Rajputana Rifles in Pune as the girl was forced by the duo to their camp and committed misdeed. The medical report of raped still awaited in the case. It is most likely the duo were under the influence of alcohol.
The Battalion Commander who is a full Colonel is squarely to blame for the this gruesome rape (if committed) of a young girl near the Military Camp and for the indiscipline of his troops! The Battalion Commander needs to come out in the open and apologise in Public rather than trying to cover/ shield the misdeed of the culprits. What a shame and disgrace!

Avoiding Broken Arrows: Nuclear Assets

Broken Arrow refers to an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons, warheads or components, but which does not create the risk of nuclear war. These include:

Accidental or unexplained nuclear detonation.

Non-nuclear detonation or burning of a nuclear weapon.

Radioactive contamination.

Loss in transit of nuclear asset with or without its carrying vehicle.

Jettisoning of a nuclear weapon or nuclear component.

Public hazard, actual or implied.

Not much is known in public domain about India's Nuclear weaponisation programme or its grassroot functioning or safety aspects. But in the wake of disturbing news reports from other places, newly- created Indian Strategic Forces command and other agencies responsible for safe handling, custody, utilisation, etc, of our military nuclear assets must take neccessary steps outlined in the article at: Hindustan Times:Avoiding broken arrows

Maj Gen Raj Mehta (Retd)