Chennai, January 01: The countrymen
ushered in 2013 with new hopes and
aspirations but in a subdued tone as the
nation still reels under the shocking gang-
rape of a 23-year-old medical student by
six men in a moving bus a fortnight ago and
her death last week.
On the first day of 2013, protests continue
across the nation, candle-light marches
being planned and, in most places, people
refraining from big ticket celebrations as a
mark of respect for the 23-year-old brave
girl, who succumbed to her injuries after
battling for life for thirteen days.
As per reports, a large number people
gathered at the historic Jantar Mantar in
New Delhi, where public rallies are being
held demanding stringent laws to ensure
safety of women and a paradigm shift
governance, policing and justice.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker
Meira Kumar, Indian Army and other top
institutions also cancelled their plans to
celebrate New Year.
Delhi: In Delhi, Connaught Place (CP), the
hotspot for New Year celebrations for
years, wore almost a deserted look at
midnight as a small crowd turned up to
celebrate the occasion.
Police personnel outnumbered the
revellers at CP. Last year, revellers had
made CP a carnival site. People visited
popular markets and fun spots on New
Year eve where police kept a tight vigil to
ensure that the festivities went ahead
without any untoward incident but the
celebrations were low-key when compared
to the past.
Several clubs, including the Press Club of
India and Delhi Gymkhana, and five-star
hotels cancelled their New Year revelries
following the death of the girl and
cremation yesterday.
Protests were held at Jantar Mantar where
a makeshift memorial was also built. All
roads leading to the CP were shut down
with heavy police deployment at key areas.
The Rapid Action Force equipped with
water cannons and riot gears was deployed
in the inner circle of CP.
Mumbai: Special crowd management
arrangements were made at popular spots
like the Gateway of India, Juhu beach and
Girgaum Chowpatty. CCTVs were installed
on roads that constantly monitored traffic
violations. Extra security was in place at
vital installations including Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre, the airport and the
Mantralaya building. Nearly 48,000 police
personnel patrolled the city in two shifts.
Bangalore: Bangalore entered New Year
Tuesday on a frenzied note amid tight
security, bidding adieu to a ''forgettable''
2012.
At the stroke of midnight, thousands of
revellers erupted in joy and greeted each
other a ''very happy new year'' while
youngsters broke into hip dance and shook
a leg to the music of gangnam at a dozen
hotspots across this tech hub to usher in
2013.
Even as hundreds of baton-wielding cops
watched the revelry with a hawk's eye to
weed out mischief makers and potential
eve-teasers, about 5,000 revellers
thronged popular jaunts like Brigade Road,
M.G. Road, Commercial Street and Church
Street in downtown to celebrate the
annual occasion, albeit on a subdued note.
With hundreds of youth resolving to keep
the event low-key as a fitting tribute to the
23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim, turnout
of revellers at pubs, clubs, restaurants and
hotels was less than in the previous years.
Kolkata: Kolkata's fashionable Park Street
was all decked up for the New Year party,
but many thought the occasion apt to
remember the Delhi gang-rape victim with
flowers and candles.
Hundreds of people were seen gathering
on the British era road since the evening,
but simultaneously there was a substantial
number who carried wreaths and lit candles
as a mark of tribute to the 23-year-old
physiotherapist trainee who was brutally
raped and grievously injured by a group of
miscreants Dec 16. She died in a Singapore
hospital Saturday.
A group of women carried posters crying
''We want severe punishment for rape
offenders''. NGO India's Smile brought out
a candle light vigil in which college students
and a large number of women participated.
There was virtually a scramble among
people to put their signatures in a 30-feet
banner that called for amending India's
age-old laws on rape and honour killings to
give the legislations more teeth.
Shillong: At the stroke of midnight, a group
of revellers in this state capital of
Meghalaya welcomed the New Year by
plunging into the icy water of a swimming
pool.
Although this time the New Year's
celebration was similar to previous years,
however, a group of 28 revellers decided to
make it more interesting by placing 50 ice-
blocks, each weighing 50 kg, in the
Crinoline swimming pool before taking a
dip.
That apart, cheers erupted in the streets of
Shillong and other smaller towns of the
state as revellers greeted one another at
the stroke of the midnight to welcome
2013.
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