Prime Minister visiting Lucknow again
It seems the PM’s visit is needed to jolt the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) out of its slumber to get broken roads repaired, re-erect fallen poles and replace fused street lights in the city. The PM will be in town for the ground breaking ceremony of projects costing over D60,000 crore in the presence of the Ambanis, Adanis, Mahindras and Birlas. The LMC officials are on their toes to deck the city up for the big day.
‘PMO’ in Lucknow!
An ultra-modern control room set up at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan (IGP)—the venue for the ground-breaking ceremony—will assist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in handling routine operation of the PMO during his visit to Lucknow. A makeshift PMO is coming up, perhaps the state’s most advanced set-up so far. It is packed with more than 30 advanced un-hack-able computers. Equipped with high-end facilities, the control room would be connected with two hotlines that can connect the PM with any part of the world, if required. More than three dozen television screens that will keep track of news updates have also been installed at the office.
DGP’s morale booster
It was like a dream come true for 68 constables, placed at the lowest rung of the police hierarchy, from different districts in UP to share the table with UP director general of police (DGP) OP Singh on a leisurely Sunday afternoon. In a unique initiative to motivate the force, the top cop hosted a lunch at a roadside eatery on Sitapur road for constables graded outstanding. Some constables even clicked selfies with the DGP and other senior officers sitting next to them at the table. “They help us man the state. It’s a small gesture to boost their morale,” Singh said.
Jackie, the traffic controller
As soon as you enter the limits of Shahar-e-tahzeeb, a catchline —“Muskuraiye, aap Lucknow mein hain”—greets you. However, the city is not short of problems, with traffic snarls being the biggest, especially in the old city areas. Actor Jackie Shroff had a taste of this recently while in Lucknow for the shooting of his latest film. The actor, trapped in a traffic jam at Roomi Darwaza, ran short of patience, got down from his car and tried to regulate the traffic on the busy old city streets. “Lucknow Traffic Control...” the actor posted on his social media feeds.
Namita Bajpai
Our correspondent in Uttar Pradesh
namita.bajpai@newindianexpress