Attempt aborted?
The damming news reports in which Vivek Doval, the son of the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, is accused of running a hedge fund company from a country famous for being a tax haven and close association of his companies with his brother Shaurya at a time when Lok Sabha elections are round the corner, has rendered a setback on Shaurya Doval's plans to take an electoral plunge from Garhwal constituency. The intention of Doval junior to contest Lok Sabha elections became clear last year when his awareness and social service initiative ‘Buland Uttarakhand’ was launched. Subsequently his posters appeared in many parts of Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency which provided impetus to the buzz that he would contest from there. However the latest turn of events appear to mar his chances, which apart from giving ammunition to Congress to attack BJP have brought smiles back on the faces of BJP leaders who are in contention for party ticket from the seat which is considered one of the safest bets for the saffron party.
Fiery females
Things were never so harsh for the leaders of all powerful teacher organisations as they are now, with the department where they used to dictate terms is being helmed by two lady bureaucrats who are not giving much importance to them. One bureaucrat of the duo, a young IAS officer is running the department where officials are known for their laid-back attitude, with an iron hand. She is said to be getting unflinching support of her superior, a senior woman officer, which is augmenting her firepower. The no nonsense approach of these ladies in power has unnerved the Netas of the department most of whom are camping in Dehradun for years and are making merry on pretext of serving the teaching community. If these ladies were not enough to give them nightmares, the problem of these Netas has been compounded by the Minister who unlike his predecessors is not afraid to throw gauntlet when it comes to dealing with them.
Scared by Scare
At the time when Swine Flu is hitting most of the northern states of the country and has shown no respect even for a high profile personality like national president of BJP, the health department in the Himalayan state is hell bent on putting a lid on information regarding spread of the disease. The stinginess of the department in reporting swine flu cases is being manifested in minuscule number of swine flu cases this time around. The faux pas of the department however is revealed by unusually high mortality among the cases reported by it. In an attempt ostensibly done to ensure that public panic is prevented on the disease, the beleaguered department has constituted a team which would conduct ‘audit’ of every patient who had died from the disease. The department is particularly peeved at a private hospital whose swine flu lab is approved by none other than National Centre for Disease Control as this hospital is reporting swine flu cases with alarming regularity. It is learnt that an ambitious Babu heading the department is determined to snuff out the disease from the state and in this endeavour is adopting these tactics.