Good lawyer
During the debate on Union Budget, Congress leader in lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge sought to corner Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley by saying that as an “experienced lawyer”, the Minister has merely played with words to justify his lackluster Budget proposals. Jaitley promptly stood up and quipped that when the case is bad, good lawyers are engaged. As the FM turned the table on the Congress, the treasury benches lustily thumped their desks.
Chacko returningIJ
A media briefing by senior Kerala leader PC Chacko at the AICC office last week has created panic among his colleagues from State. Since one Rajya Sabha seat is vacant from Kerala next year, the Congress leaders from the State feel that Chacko is eyeing that seat. The seat will fall vacant after former Union Minister Vayalar Ravi completes his six-year term in March next year. Chacko’s opponents were relived after his loss in lok Sabha poll. But they may have reasons to worry again.
Housing woes
Just over a month in office and law officers of the NDA Government are already complaining about being ignored. While Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar has not got his allocated Government bungalow, some ASGs wants that the CPWD should fully furnish their houses before they move in. Grapevine has learnt it that Kumar was entitled to a sprawling bungalow on Canning lane, but it was offered to an ASG. After pulling lot of strings, Kumar finally managed an official residence at Kamaraj Marg.
Farewell to Delhi
One of the “longest serving” bureaucrats of Shashtri Bhawan — Amit Khare — is all set to return to his parent cadre. A 1985 batch officer, Khare hogged the limelight for unearthing the multi crore fodder scam as Deputy Commissioner of Chaibasa. An Additional Secretary, Khare was handpicked by late Arjun Singh during his tenure as HRD Minister followed by Kapil Sibal and MM Pallam Raju.
Humour in House
Healthy banter between CPM leaders Sitaram Yechury and Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien brought down temperatures in the Rajya Sabha last week which saw uproar over issues like violence in the Gaza strip, lathi-charge on civil services aspirants, and alleged force-feeding of a staffer at Maharashtra Sadan by Shiv Sena MPs. Raising the issue of hike in power tariff in Delhi, Yechury took a dig at Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and said he should make efforts to rationalise the rates as he was tipped to be the Chief Minister of the National Capital. While the Minister did not respond, Kurien wondered if Yechury was the new Election Commissioner. The entire house had a hearty laugh at the repartee.
Tightrope walk
Even if speeding up environmental and forest clearances is the watchword of the Environment Ministry, Minister Prakash Javadekar is careful in presenting a “green image” of the country abroad. When the UK Minister of Energy and Climate change Edward Davey met him recently in India, Javadekar explained to him in detail the “Green” provisions in the Budget that would lead the “Green path” of the country towards sustainable development. It is obvious that when it comes to addressing climate change issues on the international fora, Javadekar’s prime concern is once again to harp on the importance of “green funds”. He consistently hammers on the fact that developed countries have to stand by their commitments in this regard.
Knocking at HM’s door
Over 25 data entry operators (DEO) working with the Union Rural Development Ministry for years, recently petitioned Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that they are being forced to shell out money to a contractor in lieu of continuation of their contract, which expires on July 31, 2014. They have alleged that the contractor is seeking Rs 2,500 monthly for a year from each of them from their meager salary of Rs 12,000 per month.