PATNA, July 10 (Agencies): A DIG of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has been accused by the wife of an IPS officer of trying to outrage her modesty in a Patna-bound train on Sunday.
An FIR was lodged by Sujata Preyasi, the wife of IPS officer Gautam Chima, with GRP in Patna against DIG P J Rawal, who is posted in New Delhi, Bihar's Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah told reporters here today.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, however, said here that RPF Director General M K Sinha had informed him that "nothing of that sort had happened".
He told reporters, "If a case has been registered by the aggrieved person, the law will take its own course." Neither Rawal nor Preyasi were immediately available for comments.
Preyasi, who was travelling with her daughter and her sister Vandana, a Bihar cadre IAS officer, entered her complaint in the register of the Sampoorna Kranti Express, charging Rawal with trying to outrage her modesty under the influence of liquor when she was asleep in the lower berth.
The incident occurred on the night of July 8 when Sujata and her sister were going from New Delhi to Patna in an air conditioned coach of the trin, Amanullah said.
"The complaint has been filed.
But since the place of occurrence is between Kanpur and Mughalsarai, it will be transferred to authorities concerned for investigation," he said.
Preyasi's daughter and sister, according to Amanullah, slapped Rawal and seized his mobile phone and identity card, which they later returned.
Women donning chef's hats, but profession still not preferred NEW DELHI, July 10 (Agencies): Women have a natural knack for cooking but men are good chefs, goes the old adage.
While some kitchen queens make their presence felt in the male dominated 'chefdom,' the profession still has very few takers among the fairer sex.
"It's generally found that women are entering almost all the traditionally male dominated areas and the hotel industry is not different.
The profession of a chef has been a male bastion but times are changing and more and more women are now entering this feild," says Rajesh Mishra, President, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI).
However, he declines to give any data about the total number of women chefs in the country.
At the New-Delhi based FHRAI Institute of Hospitality Management, there are only four women enrolled in the course.
"This field requires a lot of physical and mental strength, putting in long and odd working hours including night shifts involving a great deal of stress.
All this could be factors could make this field not a favourite for most women in the past but a lot of them have taken up the challenge and are doing well", he adds.
Veena Arora, Head Chef, Imperial hotel who began her career at her brother's restaurant in Thailand, says, "This is traditionally a male dominated profession but the perception is changing now.
Its a high pressure job and needs full time devotion.
Sometimes I don't get time for my meal and take my dinner not before midnight." Marriage brought her to Agra where she supplied food to army canteens and also conducted cookery classes at home.
"I take this job as a challenge where customer satisfaction is my ultimate goal.
So, I keep experimenting and adding new recipes to my menu," adds Arora, who has been running the hotel's south Asian eatery for the last 10 years.
"It is a fact that women are the better cooks.
Almost everybody agrees with the fact that their mother is the best cook on earth and I think it is the love and care which is a natural phenomena of every woman and with which she prepares the food that is always missing in men, no matter how reputed they are," says Samir Mulaokar, Executive Chef, Taj Connemara, Chennai.
If I talk about my hotel, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of lady chefs and it is good to see them doing well, a lot of them are at the peak of their career by becoming the outlet chefs in-charge to even executive chefs, he adds.
Nita Nagaraj, corporate chef of Jaypee Hotels at New Delhi's Vasant Continental, believes that this profession is still not the most preferred among women in India.
Women have some social and family commitments which prevents them from entering a profession like this.
They have to sometimes struggle to handle the load and the stress that comes with being a chef," she points out.
Nagaraj, a professionally trained chef, has also worked with the Oberoi group after her hotel management course from Pune.
Then she moved from Oberoi to Taj group before joining Jaypee.
A continental cuisine specialist, Nagaraj has no gender issues at work place but she feels that working in a men's forte is a bit difficult who ensures that a woman never feels like one of them.
Rajesh Wadhwa, Executive chef, Taj Hotel, working at the hotel for the last 23 years says, "Women are not opting for this profession as a career has nothing to do with the talent but it is a city specific problem.
Delhi has a very less number of women chefs in comparison to Mumbai." "Women are better cooks for sure but it's a fear psychosis among Delhi's parents that their child might get hurt physically or mentally if she joins this profession," says Wadhwa.
He hastens to add that the mindset is now changing and has even recruited two women chefs under him, who he says are doing extremely well.
"We have three women chefs in Taj out of 112.
Earlier, women chef in a five star hotel was completely unheard of but now gradually the number is increasing." We don't directly recruit from hotel management institutes but we have our agencies who do it by identifying the right candidate, he says.
Wadhwa's junior, Suparna Shah also thinks the same way.
Shah always wanted to be a chef and the dream came true when she joined Taj group in the year 2000.
"If your husband also works in the same profession then it becomes easy for a lady chef to manage work as well as home.
My husband is a chef and we take our weekly offs on the same day," she says.
Suparna's favourite chefs are Arun Saraswat and Anand Suleman.
"I like Sanjeev Kapoor also because he has made this profession quite famous by doing television programmes like 'Khana Khazana' and highlighted some of the best part of this job in a beautiful manner," she adds.
Death of girl in mid-air collision shocks family THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 10 (Agencies): It was her dream to become an astronaut like Kalpana Chawla that shattered when 17-year-old Varsha Gopinath, a trainee pilot from Kerala, died in a collision of two trainer aircraft in the Philippines.
The news of the tragedy that happened two days back came as a big shock to her family here, from which her parents are yet to recover.
"It was her dream to become an astronaut like Kalpana Chawla.
It all got shattered in a moment," Varsha's father Gopinatha Pillai said.
According to information received by the family, Varsha was killed alongwith her Filipino instructor when their aircraft collided with another plane mid-air near Manila on Sunday.
Varsha had her preliminary training at a pilot training institute in Kochi after completing her plus two.
She went to the Philippines five months back and was expected to return after the course.
According to family members, Varsha's body is expected to be brought here tomorrow.
India, Australia to finalise pact on sharing classified information NEW DELHI, July 10 (Agencies):India and Australia are expected to finalise a pact for sharing classified information to combat terrorism and discuss the alleged involvement of an Indian doctor in the foiled British terror plot during talks between Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee here Wednesday.
Nelson arrives here on a three-day visit Tuesday evening.
Although the visit was planned much before the arrest of Bangalore-based Mohammad Haneef in the foiled Britain bombings, Nelson's trip will provide an opportunity to share notes on implications of the arrest and fine-tune a strategy on combating terrorism.
An Australian Federal Police agent is also currently here to meet intelligence officials to investigate the antecedents of Haneef, Australian embassy officials told IANS.
An Australian judge Monday permitted police to question Haneef for another 48 hours over the failed bombings in London and Glasgow.
During his talks with Nelson, Mukherjee is expected to convey New Delhi's concerns over any negative fallout of such an incident on the Indian diaspora, particularly Indian doctors, in Australia.
Issues relating to the quadrilateral dialogue forum, including India, Australia, Japan and the US, launched in Manila in May this year, could also figure in discussions.
The quadrilateral forum has aroused apprehensions in Beijing, which has reacted strongly saying that such a formation was directed to contain a rising China.
Nelson will also meet his Indian counterpart A.K.
Antony and discuss the intensification of defence ties and sharing of maritime security data.
