Heavy Duty
The Supreme Court will have a change of guard this week with CJI-designate Dipak Misra set to take over the reins of the judiciary from CJI JS Khehar. It will be an eventful week for the CJI Khehar considering that he has to deliver path-breaking judgments on the right to privacy and the validity of triple talaq. The fact that this CJI does not shirk work became evident last week when he decided to hear another crucial matter concerning a central mechanism to select judicial officers for district courts in the country. Grapevine has it that ever since the Union law Minister spoke at the Independence Day function on the need for a central judicial selection mechanism, CJI wants to make it a reality beating all odds.
CRB Race
With Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Chairman Railway Board (CRB) AK Mital not on "good" terms in recent times, the race for a new CRB has gained momentum. Mital has served one year of his extended two-year term. The buzz in Rail Bhawan has it that if D K Sharma, now General Manager of Central Railway, becomes Member Electrical, then Ghanshyam Singh now Member Electrical could take over as CRB. Sharma is a close relative of a top RSS functionary. Then again, Air India CMD Ashwani lohani's name too is doing the rounds. lohani has time on hand as he retires in December 2018 and he too has his BJP and RSS connections.
Bigger shuffle
Grapevine has it that a reshuffle bigger than the last one is in the offing this month in the Modi Cabinet. The last cabinet reshuffle took place in July 2016 when 19 new faces were inducted and Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar was elevated to the Cabinet rank. Five junior ministers were also dropped. Many fingers are crossed expecting re-arrangements of seats within the council of ministers and in the party with Mission lok Sabha 2019 in mind. "Some may see their rise and some may also fall," said a party leader.
Urban change
The discussions in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) often lead to the impending Cabinet reshuffle of the Modi dispensation and whether a full-time Minister will be appointed for the Ministry or Narendra Singh Tomar will continue to hold it as an additional charge. In the past, the MoHUA was given to those who held the portfolio of parliamentary affairs ministry. After the election of M Venkaiah Naidu as Vice President of India, there were talks in the corridors powers that MoHUA may be given to Ananth Kumar, who is holding the charge of parliamentary affairs ministry.
Raag Beraag
The regime change in Rajya Sabha TV is likely to lead to some skeletons tumbling out of the broadcaster's cupboard. Grapevine has it that the RS TV's move to produce the period film Raag Desh at a cost of Rs 10 crore has come under the scanner. The Tigmanshu Dhulia-directed movie on the historic 1945 INA trials hasn't done well at the box office with its collections standing at a mere Rs 1 crore despite much money having been spent on its promotion too.