Andhra Pradesh

New Collector gets down to business

It is the new incumbent’s day out. Hyderabad Collector, Navin Mittal, is on a stop, hop and jump visit of the twin cities. Soon after taking over charge, he set a hectic pace of going round various mandal offices in the State capital. Then it was the turn of schools – functioning in congested and dilapidated buildings. Mr. Mittal, who is trying to get a grip on the problems at hand, also managed to pay a visit to the Old City. Along with his wife and children, he dropped in at the historic Makkah Masjid the other day and had a leisurely dekho of the majestic structure. Mr. Mittal saw the site of the blast and enquired about the tombs of the erstwhile rulers in the mosque.

Sure, he is quite pleased to be in the city of minarets known for its unique culture and history.

Hyderabad:

When ever a VIP is scheduled to travel on a particular road, vehicles comes to a halt, disrupting the traffic flow. But what do you say when the VIP himself gets to taste a slice of the Hyderabadi traffic? Complete chaos.

With the Assembly sessions going on in full steam, former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s convoy of Ambassadors was stuck in traffic at the Lakdikapul junction, causing a flutter among motorists.

While some of them gave way for the convoy to move, other motorists decided to give them a taste of the traffic and tried to lead the convoy themselves. Though it was comical sight for the onlookers, most of them were heard saying “now he knows what it is to be stuck in traffic”.

Newspapers bringing out bulky editions with several supplements, offering a ‘buffet’ of news, information and entertainment for readers may have to think twice, if one goes by the observation of the International Newspapers Marketing Association.

Citing an example of a Paris based newspaper, the INMA Executive Director Earl J Wilkinson who was in the city last week had something interesting to say. When that newspaper introduced a 72-page supplement, along with its main edition, to boost its circulation, the figures instead of going up, dropped by 30 per cent in a week.

Reason? Readers felt guilty of not reading the newspaper cover to cover. ‘More is not better’ and preference is not for ‘buffet’, he said. Yet many countries, including US are producing buffet publications. Consumers are reading more than ever before, but in smaller bites. So niche publications brought out to reach a target group are a better alternative.

Advertisers automatically chase consumers and like to associate with quality media rather than bulky publications, is his market reading.

There is no end to the niggling worries. This time, it’s not GMR but the Cyberabad traffic police who are at the receiving end.

Ever since operations commenced at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad, recurrent traffic gridlocks are keeping the traffic police on tenterhooks. Before inauguration of the airport, vehicular traffic used to move freely on the main stret ch at Shamshabad connecting National Highway-7 towards Bangalore.

Despite officials claiming that necessary steps were taken to ensure smooth flow of traffic, the problem persists. Finally, police prohibited entry of seven-seater autos from Monday to avoid inconvenience to passengers. Will this initiative solve the problem?

For the villagers in and around Shamshabad region, hitherto development meant a ‘k

utcha’ road, a few telephone lines, electricity poles and of course a few common bore wells for drinking water.

They were never exposed to black top roads, 24 hours power supply, drinking water or for that matter a plush-looking supermarket in their neighbourhood.

So what happens when a top-of-the-line international airport, that too first of its kind in India, comes-up very nearby? They go berserk. Scores of villagers from the region continue to flock the airport to have a ‘darshan’ of this modern marvel. Some of the enterprising one’s even went a step further and collected water from the airport fountains, for domestic use. This instance in itself mirrors the growing ‘schism’ between the haves and have nots.

J.S. IFTHEKHAR, ABHIJIT DEV KUMAR, M.L. MELLY MAITREYI, M. SRINIVAS and M. SAI GOPAL

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