Karnataka - Bangalore

Reporter's Diary

Who will collect the fine?

FOLLOWING THE "visual pollution" created by Congress workers during the All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi's recent visit to the city, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) is reported to have slapped a hefty penalty on the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.

Notices were issued and a total penalty of about Rs. 13 lakh was reportedly slapped on the party for putting up several hoardings, buntings and banners without valid permission from the BMP.

Though it is not known how the civic body will collect the fine, it is for the record that if the BMP is stern it will have to collect it from all Congress bigwigs including Mayor Mumtaz Begum, KPCC president Mallikarjun Kharge and even the former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh. Because all the hoardings have the photographs and names of these leaders at the bottom, which means that they have got the publicity material put up.

Now for the Congress, which is the ruling party in the BMP, this is embarrassing as such a thing has never happened in the past. It remains to be seen whether the fine will really be collected or whether it is another announcement that will be forgotten over the days.

The message

A PAMPHLET aimed at creating awareness about the need to wear a helmet circulated recently apparently had a lesson to learn.

The aim was to highlight the need to wear a helmet. The top portion of the pamphlet had the name of the bank that had sponsored it along with its logo and address in bold letters. The part below it had the so-called social message in a font that was hardly noticeable. The bottom half had a message from the bank in bold letters.

The pamphlet was shown to a couple of persons who had no idea of what the pamphlet was all about. They were asked to read it and say what it was about.

They said it was about a bank and the facilities it offered. Who got the best out of it?

Afshan Yasmeen,

Govind D. Belgaumkar

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