Wives abusing Domestic Violence Act, says group

ARE women misusing the Domestic Violence Act and making lives for husbands miserable?Yes, says Uma Challa, president of ‘All India Forgotten Women’ who says that she gets 10 complaints almost everyday from husbands who complain against their wives.The organisation has taken up a few case studies and found that the wives were lodging false complaints against husbands and in-laws who are ending up behind bars.“On an average, about 10 fake cases are registered in police stations across the State everyday. During our case studies, we saw that women blackmail their in-laws and husbands following a minor argument at home,” Uma Challa told Expresso. The All India Forgotten Women, a non-profit organisation is working to protect the rights of housewives, husbands and mothers-in-law in the State.While demanding that the Government consider amending the DV Act to protect everyone, Uma Challa says that she plans to extend the activities of the organisation to other places including Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati to bring about awareness among the people. “Our motive is to protect the rights of everyone without any gender bias,” she says.She says that the universal declaration of Human Rights states that “men and women” are entitled to equal rights to marriage and its dissolution and all are equal before the law without any gender variation.“The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. But the implementation of DV Act denies protection to men against any form of domestic abuse,” she feels.She further added that the DV Act violates the child’s right to love and affection of both parents. “After a number of case studies, we decided to conduct awareness camps to educate people on the Act. We have set up a counselling centre with senior counsellors to provide advise to women, husband and mother-in-laws. We also conduct weekly meetings with women and their mothers-in-law to discuss various family-related issues,” she says.Uma Challa has now started Andhra Pradesh Mothers-in-law Protection Association and All India Men Welfare Association to protect their rights. 

Mouli Mareedu

mouli@expressbuzz.com

High-profile headache for CM’s neighbours

PEOPLE have to pay a heavy price to reside in the vicinity of a VVIP’s house. The residents of Dharam Karan Road, where Chief Minister K Rosaiah resides, on Monday, had to face the full brunt of a Chief Minister residing in their area.People residing near Chief Minister K Rosaiah’s residence on the Dharam Karan Road, Ameerpet had a tough time on Monday morning as police blocked all roads in the area. They were fearful that the followers of Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal would surround the CM’s house. Commuters had to take alternative routes to head towards the Balkampet-Begumpet stretch as police closed the main road in front of the CM’s residence.After his release by the Cyberabad police, Rajagopal reached Rosaiah’s house around 11 am. By then, hundreds of Congress leaders from Andhra and Rayalaseema reached there.Chaos prevailed on the Dharam Karan Road. Even as the CM’s neighbours tried to enter the locality to reach their homes, police objected. “I don’t know why the police did not allow me to go to my house which is situated beside the CM’s residence. I had to take an alternate route to reach my place,” Chandini Lal, a neighbour of CM said.A group of students, who reside in Ashok Towers in the locality, were seen arguing with the police. “We had no other option but to use this road as we reside in the house adjacent to the CM. Today, the police are not permitting us to reach our homes,” rued Sandeepa Reddy, an Intermediate student.About 15 apartments and individual houses are located near the CM’s house and more than 100 families stay in them. It’s a constant struggle for them to reach home, particularly at night, as police block their way almost on a daily basis.“We made a representation to the Chief Minister a few days back about the police preventing us from even walking on the street and blocking the road completely at times,” K Subba Rayudu, a local said.A pan shop owner in the locality, Pavan, says: “Police close my shop forcibly whenever they anticipate trouble.”“Ever since Mr Rosaiah took charge as the Chief Minister, we started facing problems as police block roads for several minutes when the CM’s convoy passes by. Similar is the situation when some dignitaries visit his house,” another resident, Ramesh Yadav said.Police, when contacted by Expresso, said they have to block traffic and sometimes frisk people, even if they are locals, in view of security constraints. “We restrict movement of traffic on the road sometimes as four-wheelers of dignitaries block the road,” an official in the CM’s Security Wing added. 

Mouli Mareedu

mouli@expressbuzz.com

Mobile’ danger lurks at petrol pumps

ew days ago, an employee at a petrol bunk in Balkampet was filling fuel in a vehicle while its owner was chatting on his mobile phone.Suddenly, the digital meter (which shows the quantity of petrol filled and amount) burst into flames. And the machine got stuck.   Taken aback, all those present at the petrol bunk looked at each other, trying to figure out what went wrong. It was later that they realised that the culprit was the customer’s mobile phone!This incident, the news of which spread like wildfire across all petrol bunks in the city, set alarm bells ringing. Most of the petrol filling stations have now made it a point to tell customers not to talk on their mobiles while getting fuel filled, or better still, switch off the phone before entering the petrol bunk.“We no longer allow customers at our petrol bunk to talk on their mobile phones after the recent incident wherein a digital meter was badly affected and a mild explosion took place when a customer was talking over his mobile. It could have been disastrous,” said Ch Krishna, duty manager of Indian Oil filling station located at Balakampet.He said that digital meters get easily affected due to radiation signals coming from mobile phones. “We spent nearly Rs 30,000 for the repair of the meter which got slightly burnt,” he said.Even the Oil Industry Safety Directorate Authority has given instructions that mobile phones should be switched off at petrol filling outlets, CNG and LPG stations.But customers chatting on their phones at petrol bunks is a common sight. Experts say that the radiations signals from phones is a potential ignition source for flammable vapours in the atmosphere.“Please do not talk on the phone sir,” comes a polite warning from an employee at the petrol bunk at Somajiguda before he begins to fill. “Due to the potential risk of fire accidents, we advise cellphone users to switch off their sets when they come to petrol bunks. We have also instructed our staff to make sure the rule is implemented,” M Satyamurthy, manager of the filling station, said.All petrol bunks in the city have now been directed by its association that steps be taken to create awareness among customers about the need to keep cellphones switched off. “We plan to distribute pamphlets in this regard to each customer for at least a month so that they know the hazards. The filling station managements have also been advised to educate their staff and put up boards at the bunks so that the customers follow the rule,”  said Seetaram, owner of Ajita filling station situated at Balanagar junction.

Mouli Mareedu

mouli@expressbuzz.com

Cops to keep hi-tech eye on traffic offenders

The next time you violate traffic rules within the Cyberabad police limits, you will be caught for sure. The Cyberabad police is all set to instal the latest `Red Speed Cameras’ to capture the images of motorists violating traffic rules so that they can be penalised later. For the first time in the State, 20 junctions in Cyberabad will have these high-end cameras.

“The Red Speed Cameras are specialised devices that capture instances of overspeeding, triple riding and signal-jumping by motorists. They transfer the captured images to the control room at the Commissionerate and the Regional Transport Authority offices.

Later, the data will be downloaded and e-challans will be issued to the violators,’’ V Ashok Reddy, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Cyberabad, told Expresso. Already, Red Speed Cameras have been installed in Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai. The high-definition gadgets are proposed to be installed at Cyber Towers, JNTU Circle, LB Nagar Ring Road and Uppal junction among other places at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore.

Police officials believe the cameras will play a vital role in reducing the accident rate that is quite high because of heavy traffic.

On an experimental basis, the first Red Speed Camera has been installed at Kothaguda junction recently. “We are in the process of finetuning the gadget,’’ an official said. The Red Speed Cameras are referred to as digital gatsos or monitron cameras. They work just like gatso cameras but have a more sophisticated digital image capture system.

“The camera takes three pictures. Two to confirm the speed of the vehicle in relation to the white lines painted on the road (much like the gasto system) and a third close-up picture to determine the registration number, make, model and colour of the vehicle,’’ the official explained.

The technologies used in the camera, manufactured by the UK-based Red Speed International Limited, are inductive loops such as digital camera, flash unit and near instant ADSL Data Transfer.

As the camera uses a fully digital mechanism, it sends photographs to the control room automatically through a high-speed network link. “This takes just a few seconds and therefore it makes the camera an efficient system to identify violators,’’ Ashok Reddy said.

 

By Mouli Mareedu

 

mouli@expressbuzz.com

Cop with a passion

Passion often drives one to excellence at work, they say. As if to prove this point, a lowly-placed cop with a passion for policing went out of his way and helped bust an inter-State gang with links to Mumbai mafia that led to the seizure of property worth lakhs of rupees.

The dutiful cop is V Ganesh, a traffic constable attached to the traffic wing of the Uppal police station. Carrying a childhood dream of becoming a cop, Ganesh aimed at the post of sub-inspector but, despite hard work, he could only land a constable job. But that has not dampened his spirit nor has slackened his devotion to duty.

“Working in the police force has been a passion and this led me to appear for the test for the post of SI. I wanted to join the force to work for the people,’’ Ganesh told Expresso. Ganesh’s happiness knew no bounds after the Cyberabad Police Commissioner S Prabhakar Reddy lauded his efforts in helping the police nab the gang.
Recalling the day when he came across the gang members, Ganesh said he was posted at the Uppal Ring Road when he was informed about a DCM van coming from LB Nagar carrying gold and silver ornaments worth several lakhs of rupees.
“I was told the valuables were robbed from a jewellery shop. Immediately, I began stopping all the DCM vehicles passing by and started checking them one by one,’’ he said. When two DCM vans reached the Uppal junction, he stopped them with the help of an RTC bus driver after persuading him to park his vehicle across the road blocking the way.
“In one van, I noticed that three people seated inside were quite anxious and were struggling to hide their emotions. Without wasting a second, I informed the police control room. Then I got into the van and found a bag containing gold and silver ornaments,’’ Ganesh explained the bust.

Soon, police parties arrived and took them into custody. Based on their confession, stolen property worth Rs 13.50 lakh was recovered and other gang members were arrested. “I was just doing my duty and was successful. 

It was a great feeling. All my superiors praised me for the good work,’’ Ganesh said with a glow on his face.

The Central Crime Station (CCS) of the Cyberabad Commissionerate is now planning to take him in so that his services could be utilised for crime cases. Hailing from a farmer’s family in Nalgonda district, Ganesh graduated in Arts and joined the department two years ago.

In an upbeat mood after his recent achievement, Ganesh (PC 4201) is preparing for the test (for the post of SI) yet again. This time, he is confident he would make it.
 
 
By Mouli Mareedu
mouli@expressbuzz.com
 

Experiencing village life, first hand

It was a cheerful time for kids clad in rural costumes as they enthusiastically involved in various parish professions, such as ploughing fields, milking cows and buffalos, riding on bullock carts with loads of paddy collect, disseminating paddy and cotton seeds on wet and mudspattered meadow and harvesting crop amidst folk songs.

To create awareness on village life and the farming culture, professions among the kids, the Academic Heights Public Schools (AHPS) launched Hello Farmer, an innovative student education programme. The programme is a part of their Continuing Education and Learning Programmes for Students (CELPS) and was inaugurated by S Siva Kumar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ITC Agribusiness.

Speaking on the occasion, Siva Kumar said that the village mela would help students to know village traditions and rural culture. “Serenity and innocence lace the village life and unity. There is need to preserve the village traditions and culture by organising several programmes to create awareness among the students,” he said.

Ram Prasad, director of AHPS said that Hello Farmer aims to create awareness on traditional Indian science of agriculture and incorporate knowledge about villages among the students. The village mela programme helped number of student to understand the village culture and traditions as they directly participated ploughing of field, milking cows, riding on bullock cart with loads of paddy crop, sowing and harvesting paddy, cotton and other crops at one place. “We are planning to organise more programmes on village traditions and culture to create awareness among the students,” Sri Krishna, Correspondent of AHPS said.

He said that the Academic Heights Public School has 25 branches across the country and they are planning to extend the service setting up 100 schools in the India by 2012.

By MOULI MAREEDU

mouli@expressbuzz.com

Experiencing village life, first hand