No digital payment here
The Centre may be pushing for digital payments post demonetisation, but nominees for Presidential elections must submit the nomination fee of Rs 15,000 in cash alone. Under the rules, candidate have to deposit the amount with the returning officer while filing their nomination papers for the post.A bank official sitting there would count and check the notes. The candidate can also deposit the cash at the Reserve Bank of India, enclosing the receipt with the nomination papers.
Music buries hostility
Even India and Pakistan are locked in hostile relation, music lovers in India were in for a pleasant surprise last week when FM Gold channel of All India Radio(AIR) paid glowing tributes to legendary Pakistani ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan. Some of his famous ghazals were aired by the AIR on the occasion of Hassan's death anniversary on June 13. Born in Rajasthan in 1927, Mehdi Hassan was equally loved by ghazal aficionados of both the countries. Hassan also gave many live performances in India besides singing songs for some Hindi films.
Pleasant surprise
Spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Gopal Baglay often springs pleasant surprises on the correspondents. One such occasion was last week during the weekly media briefing when a correspondent from Kathmandu Post posed a question about India -Nepal relationship in the present scenario. Before giving a reply to his query, Baglay first welcomed the reporter in Nepalese language. During his posting in Kathmandu between 2008-2010, Baglay used to deal with media at the embassy, as a counsellor (press, information and culture), hence, is well versed with Nepali language. But it is rare for a spokesperson to talk in a foreign language at a briefing.
Mango festival
A unique medley of music of traditional folk instruments of Bengal such as Ektara, Dotara, Khamak, Dubki, Bamboo Flute, Khol, Dhol, Madol and Mandira, together with instruments from across the world like Darbuka, Djembe, Kashishi, latin Percussion, Mandolin, Banjo and Acoustic Drums are set to enthrall visitors at Handloom Haat at Connaught Place’s Janpath on June 24 , when a colourful cultural soiree will be held as part of the annual Mango Mela organized by the West Bengal Government. Delectable mango varieties such as Himsagar, langra, Gopal Bhog, Amrapali, Mallika and laxman Bhog are huge draw at the nine-day festival which was kick started on June 17th.
Angry IRS lobby
IRS officers are in up in arms over the posting of retired IAS officers in the GSTN, the IT back up organisation of GST. The IAS officers have not grabbed key posts in the revenue collection domain, which also offers hefty salaries. The IRS officers contend that the management staffers posted from other private organisations and retired Babus don't have their expertise required to run the newly-floated tax collection domain. The IRS officers are gloating over the fact that the GSTN website is down and e-forms for tax collection are not ready.
Venkaiah's admission
During a recent press conference to mark the 3 years of NDA Government, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said he is neither good in Hindi nor in English. “I don't know Hindi because I didn't study Hindi after third class, and I never went to convent school to read English as I belongs to a farmer's family”, he said.