China may have stolen a march on India by developing high-speed train corridors, but Dilli's Metro man E Sreedharan is also keen to have a high-speed network in place in the country
China may have stolen a march on India by developing high-speed train corridors, but Dilli's Metro man E Sreedharan is also keen to have a high-speed network in place in the country.
In the 2010 budget, Rail Minister Mamata Banerjee had mooted six high-speed rail corridors connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.
After much debate Indian Railways are all set to push the proposal for a high-speed train between Mumbai and Nagpur!
Given the humungous costs involved, it is very likely that the proposed projects are unlikely to see the light of day anytime soon, but Dilli is clearly excited about the plan.
As for Sreedharan, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief is currently advising Kerala, which hopes to be the first state to launch a high-speed train, connecting Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram.
Wine and women
Dilli government now believes that the capital is safe for women to tend bars. The Jessica Lal case is clearly a dim and distant memory. The newly enacted Delhi Excise Act is a curious piece of legislation.
While it has stricter provisions to check spurious liquor, smuggling and drinking in public places, it has also, at the same time, removed the bar on employing anybody below the age of 25, the official drinking age, in Delhi's watering holes. So Bacchus devotees in the capital may soon find their favourite tipple being prepared and served by female bartenders.
Not old enough to drink, but young enough to serve is the twisted message that emerges from the decision. The move has already provoked women bartenders in Mumbai, which has had its own troubles with bar girls, to appeal to the Supreme Court to remove the 8.30 pm work restriction and bring them at par with their male counterparts.
u00a0Unfortunately, the prospects of Dilli's "progressive" approach spreading to the rest of urban India seem less bright at the moment.
