live by your name

last week, the surcharged debate in the Rajya Sabha on law and order situation in the national Capital saw some lighter moments, too. Expressing concern over rising crime rate in New Delhi in the backdrop of JNU controversy and alleged violence by lawyers in Patiala House Courts, Congress member Anand Sharma became agitated. The BJP leader Avinash Khanna quipped “aap ka naam to Anand hai, pyaar se baat karo”. The entire House, including Anand Sharma, burst out into laughter.

Behenji’s Ek Minute

HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s freewheeling speech in the lok Sabha became talk of the country and social media until the next day when she was to reply in the Rajya Sabha and counter the eloquence of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Sitaram Yechury. The HRD Secretary and Joint Secretary were personally present in the officer’s gallery. Every time BSP leader Mayawati came out with an allegation in the Rohith Vemula case Irani rushed to BJP’s man in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and sought his guidance apparently on the matters pertaining to Constitution of judicial commission, etc. The Upper House witnessed frequent laughter when Behenji sought “Sir Ek Minute, Bahut Important Hai Yeh Baat” to finish off her speech.

lost Apple

The Supreme Court missed out an opportunity recently to receive an I-pad for free from a senior lawyer. last week, when the case of the arrested JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was taken up, there arose a technical issue on how to transmit the original video recording of the Patiala House Courts violence from the I-phone of one of the court commissioners to the software of the Supreme Court Registry. As the Registry does not possess any Apple devices, Justice J Chelameswar asked the lawyer to gift an I-pad to the court, which will work out to be half the cost of the lawyer’s phone. While the lawyer, readily agreed, the Court changed its mind and got the file on a pen-drive.

Advantage Print

Reporters from television news channels were put to disadvantage during an “informal interaction” by outgoing CRPF DG Prakash Mishra last week with beat reporters. While the television news reporters were not allowed to take along their camera persons, the scribes from the Print were able to churn out stories based on the interactions that transpired during the meet.

Need for update

It’s almost a month since Vinod Agarwal took over as Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of People with Disability (PwD), but the website of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment continue to show the name of his predecessor lov Verma as holding the post. lov Verma, IAS (UP cadre) had retired on January 30, while Agrawal from Jharkhand cadre was Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes prior to joining this post.

Kudos to Indian diplomats

It is rare to find a diplomat praising another from his tribe, that too from another country. But Russian Ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin is all praises for the Indian diplomats. “Indian negotiators and diplomats are of highest professional caliber. We highly value our interaction with them, they are excellent negotiators. A special trademark of Indian diplomacy is their preparedness for talks. They are thoroughly versed in their subjects have flexible briefs for talks. There are many things we can borrow from our Indian colleagues,” Kadakin said. A big thumbs up to Indian officials!

Tigress Sonakshi

Danger Se Dar Nahi lagta Endangered Se lagta Hai...” This modified dialogue from Bollywood flick Dabangg seems to be the latest catchphrase of actor Sonakshi Sinha, who is now engaged in promoting tiger conservation of the country. After John Abraham and Amitabh Bachchan, who promoted tiger conservation campaigns in the past, Sonakshi is the latest to be roped in for the campaign called “Where Tigers Rule”. It will have the “Dabangg” actress inviting viewers to watch the month-long program on tigers shot in the premier tiger reserves including Corbett, Kanha, Ranthambore, Sariska among others.