Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva has launched a campaign against dress codes in university convocations and Indian courts by calling them colonial vestiges.

According to a report published in India Today, Alva refused to wear the “heavy” hat and black gown at the convocation of Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, on Friday and criticised the dress code as “British colonial legacy” that was not suited to Indian climatic conditions and culture.

On Thursday, the governor had done the same at the convocation of VardahmanMahaveer Open University in Kota. Last month at National Law University, Jodhpur, Alva had come down heavily on the dress code in the courts and expressions like “My Lord”.

“Why do we continue with the archaic British practice of addressing judges as ‘My Lord’ or ‘Lordship’? Should we then address women judges as My Lady,” she had said.
“To make matters worse colonial vestiges, in matters of dress code in courts, continue, the Governor added.

Interestingly, Alva, a law graduate, was a professional lawyer during her initial years.

“I as chancellor have stopped wearing headgear at convocations. We should opt for something based on our traditions, suited to our climate. The bench and the bar need to do the same,” she said. She reiterated her sentiments on Friday when she decided not to wear the headgear and the gown. However, Alva maintained that being autonomous bodies, universities can’t be compelled to do anything.

A 21-year-old Assamese woman was raped here by two men who have been arrested, police said Sunday.

One of the men was known to the woman who recently came to Delhi. Police said she was assaulted at a house in Mahipalpur in south Delhi Saturday afternoon.

As the accused escaped, the woman came out of the house and alerted a passerby before police came in. Police said the accused – Rahul and Harun – were arrested late Saturday.

There has been no headway in the murder case of the TCS employee. A 24-year-old employee’s body was found in a highly decomposed state nine days after she went missing. The body was found half a kilometre from TCS office inside government IT park SIPCOT.
Kelambakkam Police Station Inspector Subbaiah has been suspended for dereliction of duty. The officer did not file complaint, not followed up on the missing person’s case and did not provide adequate security within the SIPCOT IT Park.
The post-mortem is being conducted and report will be out later in the day.
According to the CCTV footage, the girl left alone half an hour early before her shift ends.
Kanchipuram district police have registered a case of suspicious death and are investigating the matter. The police said they do not rule out rape.
After the incident TCS issued a statement saying that her demise was a terrible shock. “Our employee’s untimely demise has been a terrible shock to all of us and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family at this hour of grief. With TCS since February 2013, she was well liked by her colleagues and was someone her team leader could depend on. This shocking incident is a sad reminder of the safety and security risks women face today and as an organization we are working with our employees to continuously strengthen our security measures,” said TCS spokesperson.

In an innovative way to save environment, Rajasthan Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Yunus Khan has approved a project to build roads by using plastic waste and fly ash in Jaipur and Dausa districts.

A total of 24 roads – 19 in Jaipur and five in Dausa – would be built using plastic waste and fly ash under the project approved by the minister yesterday, an official release said last night.

Of the 74 km-long road, plastic waste would be used in the construction of 62 km. Fly ash would be used in the foundation of roads, Khan said.

The minister said use of plastic waste and fly ash is an innovation in road construction to help save environment from pollution and bring down cost as the expenses on tar and other conventional materials would be brought down by 10 per cent.