Brakes slammed on pillion rides

Love a bike ride on empty streets with someone to share the speed thrill? Chuck the idea if you are in Hyderabad. City police have banned pillion riding at night.

The clampdown, prompted by a series of slash-and-run incidents in the aftermath of last week’s explosions at Mecca Masjid, will be enforced between 11 pm and 6 am.

“During the day, the traffic in the old city (where many of last week’s incidents took place) is heavy. That will make it difficult for attackers to strike. Only pedestrians late at night could become victims,” city police commissioner Balwinder Singh said after the order.

After the blasts, two youths on a bike in Kamareddy, 110 km from Hyderabad, went around slashing people with a knife and a sword.

However, the ban will not cover women and those below 14. Others who wish to be exempted must get permission from police stations by furnishing their driving licence, registration certificates and other papers.

Tide turns for epic sales

As the sea off Rameshwaram churns with the heat of the Sethu Samudram row, Valmiki’s Ramayana is riding a new wave of popularity.

It’s not that the epic is being rediscovered. It is just that atheists (or the rationalists) are trying to convince people against the belief that Rama and his army of monkeys built the fabled bridge to Lanka. One of these is the DK, founded by Periyar.

DK leader K. Veeramani got allies, including the DMK, to launch campaigns against those opposing the demolition Ramar Setu (Adam’s Bridge), off Rameshwaram, as part of the Sethu Samudram ship canal.

uriously, the DK, which denounces Ramayana as fiction, celebrates Ravana. The reason: he is said to be a Dravidian.

Last week, Karunanidhi had his own take on the big clash. According to the DMK boss, claims over Ramar Setu have only made Rama more popular. Rama or Ravana, copies of the epic are flying off the shelves. And, publishers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Scorcher of a test

They often face the heat when they are in the job. This week, wannabe police inspectors sweated it out as they took a written test in a stadium.

Over a thousand aspirants, many of them girls, wracked their brains sitting on plastic chairs under the scorching sun at Chennai’s Rajarathnam Stadium.

There was no shamiana or make-shift shelter, but Tamil Nadu police, on a recruitment drive for officers, weren’t worried about the lack of such basics.

Women had to tie their dupattas around their heads to ward off a heat stroke. This might have been the first competitive exam being held in open air, that, too, at the peak of summer.

Human rights commissions often turn the heat on the police for abuses. It is time they pulled up the police for such pathetic human resource practices.

Juicy gains

Baganpalli delights from Tirupati were part of the first mango consignment shipped to Japan in 20 years this week. More could follow — if an irradiation unit to preserve food products comes up as planned.

The plant will be set up in Hyderabad by a local firm that has tied up with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

Not only mango growers, makers of other food items could benefit from the plant's radiation processing services. This will ensure products are not rejected in overseas markets on the grounds of pests and toxicity.

n an irradiation unit, high-frequency gamma rays are beamed on food items to eliminate insects and bacteria. This improves their shelf life and nutritional value.

Chennai: If you have an eye for the best in handloom and the variety from Rajasthan excites you, drop in at an exhibition organised by Jaipur Textiles in association with Uttar Pradesh Handlooms. The event is on till May 25. The venue is at 33/C Arunachalam Road, Saligramam.