Justice for J&K
Chief Justice of India TS Thakur has brought the focus on Jammu & Kashmir as never before. Belonging to the State, Justice Thakur has taken the State head on by his recent decision to allow civil and criminal cases to be transferred in and out of the Jammu & Kashmir despite an existing law to the contrary. Another instance came when a Bench headed by the CJI issued notice to the State Government on a PIl questioning the practice of doling out minority benefits to Muslims who constitute a majority in the State. The CJI also ordered a status report on the curfew imposed in Kashmir Valley to ensure citizens are not made to suffer in any way.
United in chicken
Feasting on eggs and chicken came handy as a qualification for law officers in the Supreme Court to appear in a PIl for improving the health and hygiene of egg-laying hens. When the Court sent for a law officer representing the Centre, the CJI TS Thakur asked the petitioner’s counsel KK Venugopal, “Whom do you want, a vegetarian or a non vegetarian law officer”. Venugopal said, “I am a strict non vegetarian”. It so happened that for the Centre, too, a strict non-vegetarian Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Singh appeared. The Bench remarked, “What concern can we expect from vegetarians as this issue concerns non-vegetarians more”.
Uncanny feline passion
An Indian Forest Service Officer from Uttarakhand cadre, TR Bijulal, created waves on the Global Tiger Day (July 29) with his tale of saving the big cats. Bijulal, who is DFO Nainital, released his “Mission Tiger” on the occasion. And guess what his Mission was all aboutIJ It was a full length feature film penned by the officer himself. The story is based on his real life experiences as a forest officer and his tryst with tigers in the process. “My film is a tribute to this charismatic species, aimed at spreading awareness for its conservation,” he says.
Fisticuffs over whatIJ
Speculations are rife over the fisticuffs between DMK MP Tiruchi Siva (62) and AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa (40) on Saturday at Delhi airport. The MPs from rival parties were close friends, Recently their “close” photos also appeared in public domain. A Google search of both MPs’ names will reveal their close friendship. Grapevine has it that the friendly photos of them were recently leaked by certain staffers of Siva, leading to Pushpa’s anger.
“Talks are on…”
Asked about the time frame for the constitution of the much delayed new team of BJP president Amit Shah, a Union Minister said “talks are on”. To this a scribe retorted, “This is turning like a GST Bill with consensus eluding most of the time”.
Few takers
With 18 out of the 26 Cabinet members yet to adopt any village in the second phase of the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), the Government has planned a novel way to improved the adoption rate. The Government will now come out with a progress report on the scheme next month to identify the “culprits”. The scheme which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014 has now entered its second phase and the last date for selection of the village was January 31. All 795 MPs, including 543 from lok Sabha and 252 from Rajya Sabha, must develop 3 villages each by 2019.
Old wine; old bottle
The reappointment of AK Mital as Chairman Railway Board (CRB) for a period of two years came as big relief for Railway Ministry. Amid speculations that someone from outside the railway ambit could also be appointed to the coveted post, some aspirants for the CRB post had gone planting stories threatening resignation if any “outsider” is appointed. While names of several senior railway officers including that of CMD Air India Ashwani lohani were doing the rounds, the PMO scotched all the gossips with an unexpected re-appointment of Mital. An officer of Indian Railway Store Service, Mital had sought extension claiming he was supervising several important projects including Bullet Train and High Speeds Corridors.