Odd turn in blame game

Shiela Dikshit prefers to walk than take Delhi’s killer Blueline buses. The Y.S.R. Reddy regime has a different approach to traffic travails — blame the previous government.

From waterless taps to sick health centres, the Telugu Desam has been slammed for almost everything that is wrong with Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress’s spin-doctors are now telling people that Hyderabad’s road woes are also rooted in the Chandrababu Naidu regime.

What has given the conspiracy theorists ammunition is the Naidu regime’s decision to close down eight driving schools that were set up by the government. These had turned into finishing schools for drivers of buses owned by the state transport corporation.

Instructors from private schools who were hired for the job were not good enough. Worse, they weren’t as committed as those from the state-run centre, the theory goes.

Transport department officials now want to revive the schools, given that around 2,000 heavy vehicles, 5,000 cars and 15,000 two-wheelers and three-wheelers are registered in the state daily, 90 per cent of them in Hyderabad.

500, and still standing tall

The green lobby will love to hear this. A 500-year-old banyan tree at a village near Sattankulam in Tuticorin district is alive and kicking. And age hasn’t withered her charm.

Over the centuries, at least 20 other trees have sprouted and struck root under the “mother tree”. In many ways, it is one big family, spread over a massive three acres.

Seen from a distance, the tangle of branches appears like a larger-than-life parabolic umbrella straddling the area around it.

The tree, one of the oldest in the south, has weathered the “felling storm” that has stripped much of the country’s green cover. Forest department sources say its proximity to a reserve forest has helped it dodge the axe. In fact, the place has become a sanctuary for rare birds now.

On schedule: new airport

Bangalore is on course for its date with a new airport in April.

Almost 70 per cent of the work at the Bangalore International Airport, as it is formally called, is complete. The developers see the first touchdown by the spring of 2008.

Test-trials of systems like cargo-handling units and other facilities in the terminals will start in October this year. Aviation fuel facilities, ground- handling systems, flight-catering platforms and duty-free outlets are almost ready.

The 4km runway, which is about 45 metres wide, is being paved and reinforced. It should be ready for test flights soon.

The airport has cost Rs 2,100 crore to build, which includes the money spent to build its road link to the highway.

But the job will not be over once the first plane has landed.

“The second phase of the project will be taken up soon after this project is over,” Albert Brunner, the chief executive of Bangalore International Airport, had said last week.

Mall magnet

Retail chain Shopper’s Stop opened its biggest store in India recently at west Delhi’s Raja Garden.

The four-storeyed store has fashion, daily accessories, a mother-care shop and lots more to offer.

Popular fashion brands like FCUK, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger have their corners, and coffee bar chain Brio will provide a break to the shoppers. The fourth floor has a food court.

The store is convenient to reach — it’s exactly opposite the Raja Garden Metro station.

Delhi: Those interested in their green friends should not miss this. Learn about trees and their myriad varieties while walking with World Wildlife Fund experts at the Lodhi Gardens tonight. The walk will start at 7pm from the India Habitat Centre lobby.