Pioneer In Short
Delhi race club reduced to rubble
The Delhi Race Club's nearly century-old racing legacy suffered a dramatic blow on Thursday as the Union Government took possession of the Lutyens’ Delhi property following a court order. Bulldozers demolished several historic structures, including the stables, bookmakers’ ring, winning post, photofinish camera and saddling enclosure, leaving rubble where generations of horses and racing workers once gathered. The Patiala House Court dismissed the club’s plea seeking an interim stay on an August 11 eviction order issued under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act. Of more than 250 thoroughbreds housed at the club, only 52 remain. About 200 have been moved by owners to racing centres in Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Older horses no longer fit for racing have gone to riding schools or a facility in Meerut. Nearly 5,000 families, including trainers, jockeys, contractors and workers, have depended on the racecourse for decades. Trainers and workers described the demolition as a painful end to a historic workplace. Established at its present location in 1926, the club is also fighting a legal battle over the government land. The Land and Development Office had ordered it to vacate the property, saying it was required for public purposes.
Ramesh said the Chandra settlement was “not just a haircut” but a “mundan”. The tribunal’s third member, Nilesh Sharma, approved the resolution plan after a split verdict between two NCLT members. He noted that the plan had received 80.81 per cent voting support and that Chandra’s personal estate was valued substantially below the claims. He said creditors could recover more by pursuing the principal debtors after Chandra’s insolvency is resolved. Chandra, meanwhile, said the total claim against him was Rs 3,992 crore and stressed that he was a personal guarantor, not the borrower.
Student stir continues at IIT-D
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has reconstituted its external panel probing the death of a 31-year-old MSc Physics student, appointing retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Mukta Gupta as its chairperson, officials said on Thursday. Student protests have continued on the campus following the student’s death on August 22. The move came a day after former Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar, initially named to head the panel, recused himself citing personal reasons. The reconstituted panel includes Pratap Sharan, head of the Department of Psychiatry at AIIMS, New Delhi, two student representatives and the IIT Delhi registrar. The student allegedly died by suicide after jumping from the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex. Police have registered a case of abetment to suicide against unidentified persons.
Investigators have seized the student’s mobile phone and are examining counselling records and other relevant information. IIT Delhi said student well-being was fundamental to creating a supportive campus environment. It cited measures including reduced first-semester credit loads, life-skills courses, smaller first-year classes, flexible credit distribution, mental-health support, mentorship and grievance-redressal mechanisms.
