Roti Bank to provide food to the hungry
A group of city residents has come up with a novel initiative, called Roti Bank, whereby anyone can donate extra food from home at the bank’s collection centre at Iqbal Maidan, opposite Moti Masjid. The food is given to the hungry free of cost. The food being donated must be fresh and vegetarian. The bank was started by the 20-member strong Al Raqeeb Welfare Society on the occasion of Holi. The group includes doctors, businessmen, advocates and other professionals. “Earlier, we used to donate food for patients’ kin at Hamidia Hospital. But with many other locations in the city needing such a service, we decided to start the bank for all,” said Sayeed Mehboob Hasan, a member of the group.
College student felicitated by CM kills self
Harsha Mishra, a 19-year-old who was among promising students felicitated by the chief minister two years ago, allegedly hanged herself to death at home on March 5. The B.Com third semester student had scored 94 per cent in Class XII two years ago, and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had honoured her with a cash prize and a laptop in Bhopal. The girl, whose father works for an insurance firm and mother is a teacher, was preparing for the chartered accountancy exam at a coaching institute. The police are yet to ascertain the reason for the suicide as no suicide note has been found.
Bhopal school installs sanitary napkin machines
In a first in Madhya Pradesh, the Model Higher Secondary School in Bhopal has installed sanitary napkin vending machines on its premises to provide relief to girl students during their menstrual periods. The service is provided free of cost. A machine each has been installed in four women’s toilets. The girls will have to use a specific coin given to them by the school administration to operate the machines, and after getting a napkin, they have to return the coin to the school administration.
Bhopal woman cop at Mt Everest base camp
A woman head constable from Bhopal who dreams of scaling Mount Everest has been permitted by the police department to attend a base camp in Nepal. The 52-year-old Alka Ketkar, who lives with her parents, including her retired cop father, left for the base camp near Lukla in Nepal on March 1. According to SP-Bhopal HQ Rajesh Chandel, Alka is the first woman cop from Bhopal police to have applied for the base camp. A month’s leave has been sanctioned to her for the expedition.
All-women-crew train marks Women’s Day
Women took complete charge of the Bhopal-Bilaspur Express train on International Women’s Day. The train, which was run from Bhopal to Bina in Sagar district by loco pilot Nutan Kumari and assistant loco pilot Sangeeta Kumari, was given the green signal by 54-year-old guard Vandana Chaturvedi. The safety of the passengers was the responsibility of an all-woman RPF team of Sub-inspector Sandhya Rawat and constables Jyoti Yadav and Geeta Rastogi. The ticket checking was done by Jahanara and Geeta Yadav. The station’s control room too had women employees to supervise the train’s memorable run.