Buttons up

With dengue cases spreading rapidly in the national Capital, the CRPF is not taking any chances with the health of its soldiers guarding various sensitive buildings including Parliament, South and North Blocks. These jawans now have to button up their full-sleeve shirts and are not allowed to roll them up to beat the heat. Full-sleeves are a preventive measure to avoid mosquito bite. In fact, security forces personnel serving in the North-East and Assam follow the dictum ‘sun down, sleeves down’ to fight malaria.

Soft but tough

A Supreme Court judge who had to discuss a case with companion judges sitting with him on the Bench had an unpleasant experience last week when he failed to measure the sharpness of a pencil on the table on which his arms accidently landed. Reacting to the sharp-edged pencil piercing the skin of Justice Anil Dave, his companion judge Justice Kurian Joseph remarked, “It is not that the pencil is sharp, but my lord Justice Anil Dave is soft.” Incidentally, Justice Dave had displayed his toughness recently when he disagreed with Justice Joseph for setting aside the death penalty of Mumbai blast accused Yakub Memon. This split verdict was later decided by a three-judge Bench which paved the way for Yakub’s hanging.

Dad and son

Time played truant between a father and son who appeared as lawyers in a case on opposite sides. The son in question, senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal appeared before a Bench headed by Chief Justice Hl Dattu to seek three weeks’ time in the case. But his father, legal luminary KK Venugopal needed the matter to come up after four weeks. Stating his dilemma, the CJI said, “Dad says four weeks, son says three weeks, what to do nowIJ” Ultimately, the father prevailed and the matter was moved to a date after four weeks.

Need quota

The CRPF has requested the Railways to provide reservation facilities to its jawans under the Emergency quota for taking urgent journeys to provide VIP security. As the programme of VIP movement is received at the eleventh hour, the jawans  have to travel in overcrowded unreserved compartments. The request for pool/reserved quota for movement of troops engaged in VIP security is to avoid any untoward incident.

IM’D’ boss

India Meteorological Department (IMD),  which is facing challenge from a private weather forecaster agency, has something to cheer about. While the private forecaster had predicted surplus rains this season, the IMD stuck to its forecast of 12 per cent deficit. With monsoons now set to withdraw, even rain gods seem to favour the predictions of IMD. The private forecaster has no choice but to concede that with the season nearly over, rainfall is not likely to increase.

Bihar-bound

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced `1.25 lakh crore package to poll-bound Bihar, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu named two Central Government complexes in Patna after Jayaprakash Narayan and Karpoori Thakur, both regional stalwarts. Inaugurating the office complex and laying foundation stone for Central Government officers’ residential complex, Naidu asked the CPWD to complete the construction within the next two years. The accommodation is expected to benefit about 2,100 Central Government staff working in Patna.

Unenthusiastic Min

The slugfest between the BJP and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on PM’s Bihar package has led to some interesting observations.  Senior BJP Minister Nitin Gadkari recently recalled that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ‘huge package’ from the dais at a meeting “all except one” loudly applauded it. “When I later checked the identity of the lone unenthusiastic gentleman, he turned out to be a Minister in the Nitish Government,” quipped the BJP leader.