Minting money
The admission season seems to have given schools the perfect opportunity to rake in the moolah. They know how to get around the rule and make more money. At a Delhi school, a parent was asked to pay Rs 175 for a registration form. Shocked at being charged Rs 150 extra — registration forms are to be sold for only Rs 25, according to the government’s order — he insisted on seeing the principal. A threat to approach the media worked and he got the form for Rs 25. Wonder, if all parents manage to save themselves from being fleeced. Schools have found another means to earn bucks, by making it mandatory for the parents to buy prospectuses along with the registration forms. This is irrespective of the fact if the child will get admission in the school or not. The prospectuses sell for an average of Rs 300 to 400.

Love for Sanskrit
Sanskrit may not be the right language to learn in the age of globalisation. For Ashok Tripathi, the Superintendent of Police, Noida, however, the language is very close to his heart. So close that he even wishes to do his public dealings in Sanskrit. “If allowed, I will ask everyone to converse with me in Sanskrit. It is a beautiful language,” Tripathi said at a meeting of senior officials.

Debate on terror
Reacting to the Mumbai terror attack, writer Shobha De quipped that our politicians should not debate on terrorism. In response to De’s comment, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said a day ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections: “If socialites are now going to debate on national issues maybe we should start walking the ramp.”

... contd.