'Empowered' hubbies!
It's all about husbands ruling the roost in the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC).'Corporator patis' predominantly enjoy the stature and take all decisions on behalf of their better halves in the civic body, throwing the tall claims of women empowerment to winds. They are the de facto corporators behind their wives who were elected by the people of Lucknow. At a friendly cricket match played against Jal Sansthan, LMC team had the names of women corporators but were surreptitiously replaced by their husbands on the ground, leaving Mayor Sayunkta Bhatia fuming. "It's the women who have been elected to LMC not their husbands," the miffed mayor said, attributing it to male chauvinism.
Coming soon, an arena for protesters (PHOTO)
In a bid to streamline the chaotic traffic on streets of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government has moved to stop stir on the roads by designating an area for protesters. The move comes in compliance with anorder of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court to check protests on roads, especially in the heart of city. The Lucknow administration has finally designated a 'dharna sthal' in Lucknow after a decade when in 2008 the demand to earmark a place for protests was raised.
How livable is Lucknow? (PHOTO)
The custodian of a rich cultural heritage quintessential of Oudh, Lucknow is facing a transition by moving fast towards attaining the status of a metropolitan city while sustaining its charm as the city of nawabs. Lucknow's livability is set to be decided among 116 Indian cities on livability index. To be judged on its civic parameters, cleanliness, roads, health services, planned development, transport, connectivity and law and order, Lucknow is expected to figure among the top 10 livable cities during the evaluation by a central team next month, at least, so believes the municipal commissioner.
High-profile defaulters
For the last decade and a half, while a common Lucknowite goes through the frequent rigours of ever revising house and water taxes, the state DGP and the Lucknow district magistrate have been availing free government accommodation without bothering to pay even a single penny accruing in lakhs as pending rent. Ostensibly, no one had the grit to levy one during the previous dispensations. But now, the LDA has issued a notice to both asking to pay the dues what if for their predecessors as well.