IN & AROUND
THE SUBCONTINENTAL MENU
NO MORE GUTSY COPS
THE day will soon come when the police paunch no longer precedes the policeman into the room . The Karnataka State Reserve Police ( KSRP ) face an ultimatum : lose weight or lose your jobs . A circular issued by Bhaskar Rao , additional director-general of police , KSRP , proclaims that all 12 platoon commanders have received instructions to pick out pot-bellied subordinates and subject them to a strict regime of diet and exercise until they attain the svelte ideal . The victims are to start playing sports of their choice and also participate in jogging and swimming . The ADGP was reported as saying that this would improve the policemen ’ s quality of life , as many struggle with health issues and “ about 150 policemen aged between 40 and 50 years die every year from lifestyle-related ailments .”
WHERE PLOTS ARE HATCHED
POLITICAL parties in Tamil Nadu are under the yolk . Income tax raids have allegedly rev ealed that Christy Friedgram Industry , a major supplier of eggs and other food items under the state ’ s Integrated Child Dev elopment Scheme , was involved in tax evasion , black money and bribing political parties . Officials raided nearly 100 locations in Chennai and Namakkal , and the firm ’ s owner , T . S . Kumarasamy , is being questioned . The focus is on an alleged Rs 245-crore black money conversion operation , but fallout is widespread , with Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation managing director M . Sudha Devi having her premises raided due to links with the firm . Her links with two ministers are also being probed .
A DRAVIDIAN ELEPHANT
ANSKRIT is riding into Att atop a tusker — and Sappadi the locals are none too happy . The forest department ’ s decision to christen their tot emic elephant , Peelandi , with the Sanskritised name Chandrasekharan , has the Kerala region ’ s tribal population up in arms . Peelandi was named after a tribal elder of that name , the first of nine people killed by the elephant . The tusker was captured last year and is now at a training camp , but locals — who venerate him as a divine being — want him returned to Attappadi so that his ‘ indigenous identity ’ can be reclaimed . One elder was quoted as saying , “ We will not approve his new name Chandrasekharan , which reflects the upper-caste and feudal mindset of forest officials .” Petitions demanding the return of Peelandi , under his original name , are inundating the office of the CM .
BANDIT ’ S BOUNTY
HERE ’ S a genre shift for you : a thrilling motorcycle chase through the streets of Bangalore segues into a romantic sojourn on an Alappuzha houseboat . Police constable K . E . Venkatesh , 31 , was awarded an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Kerala for his heroics in chasing down a phone-snatching pair recently . He was returning to the station around 2.45 am when he saw three men on two motorcycles following another man , threatening him with a knife and making off with his phone . Venkatesh kept on their tail for about 4 km before he collided with one of the vehicles , causing the rider , Arun Dayal ( 21 ), to fall . Venkatesh pinned Dayal down and called for backup , while the two on the other bike got away . Senior officers praised the constable ’ s “ presence of mind and courage ”.
8 OUTLOOK 30 July 2018
Illustrations by SAJITH KUMAR