Face saver
Samajwadi Party’s popular face on television debates and Uttar Pradesh Government’s youngest Additional Advocate General (AAG) Gaurav Bhatia recently circulated a message to all his media friends that he had quit protesting over some malfunctioning in the State’s legal Department. Upon enquiry, it surfaced that Bhatia was sacked a day earlier from the AAG post by a UP Government circular dated March 22. For Bhatia, this came as a shock, and for lawyers a surprise. He was recently in the news after the president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Dushyant Dave offered to quit over differnces with Bhatia, the SCBA Secretary. Dave later withdrew his offer after speaking to Chief Justice of India.
No sightseeing for JIT
The five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team that visited India to carry forward its probe into the Pathankot airbase attack case, wanted to udnertake a sightseeing trip to Taj Mahal in Agra and the Dargah of Maulana Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer. But the Indian authorities denied permission as the same could have diluted the seriousness of purpose of the team’s visit here. The NDA Government was already facing flak from the Opposition parties over the visit of the JIT, and the sightseeing tours by the visiting team could have further strengthened the perception that the visit was conducted as mere optics and nothing substantive could be achieved.
Marathon for a cause
Commodore Joginder Chandna, a serving Naval officer and a fitness freak, has turned his passion into a social cause — to feed poor children. Along with a chartered accountant Meenal Kotak, Chandna ran marathons in various parts of the National Capital Region for the last nine days, culminating in the finale last weekend. Naming their run “Ours Miles Their Smiles”, the runners urged spectators and fellow participants to feed at least one hungry child each day during the event. Chandna hosted a langar for hundreds of children on the final day.
Opening up
Panchjayana and Organiser, both considered mouthpieces of the RSS, invited leaders of as diverse political parties as Congress and CPI(M) to write for them on Freedom of Speech and Sedition. While Abhishek Manu Singhvi penned a column for the two weeklies, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury refused to take the offer.
Vacant chair
The process for filling up the two-year-old vacant post of Chairperson for CBSE, laying vacant since December 2014, has run into fresh hurdle. The HRD Ministry’s Additional Secretary YSK Seshu Kumar, who has just got another six months extension after the search committee could not find a suitable person to head the CBSE, has so far managed the organisation without any controversy. Grapevine has it that the search-committee zeroed in on a JNU academician for the post, but for obvious reasons his name had to be dropped.
Angry Kerala CM
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy lost cool on Saturday evening when he boycotted the candidate selection process for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Chandy was upset with the high command for directing him to deny tickets to some Ministers. Grapevine has learnt that Chandy bluntly told the central leaders that he would not be a part of the selection process and left in huff for Kerala on Sunday morning.
New route
With great pomp and show, the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi last week celebrated the first anniversary of opening of new pilgrimage route to Mansarovar via Nathu-la in Sikkim. Chinese Ambassador le Yucheng, who was the first Chinese passport holder to cross over from the Nathu-la border to Tibet Autonoous Region, said he felt purified after the visit to Mansarovar. Happy with the response by Indian pilgrims, the Chinese are now planning to launch souvenirs related to Mansarovar. To begin with, the water of Mansarovar lake will now be available in packed bottles.
Beat diabetes
At a Press meet organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on diabetes recently, health-conscious scribes were pleasantly surprised when they found their Press kit containing fitness goodies like skipping rope and inch tape measurement besides awareness material about diabetes. The message was loud and clear: Tackle diabetes by adopting healthy habits. “Beat Diabetes” is the theme of the World Health Day this year being observed on April 7.