Hawk Eye
The South Block, housing Defence Ministry headquarters, will soon have turnstiles at the entry points in order to regulate flow of visitors and keep tab on officials. Modeled on such gates called automatic fare collection (AFC) gates at Delhi Metro stations where the commuters swipe their smart cards, the Defence Ministry will issue such identity cards to its staff. It will ensure proper attendance records as the existing biometric machines installed in the high security zone are not effective. In fact, installation of the turnstile gates has already started and will be functional by this month-end.
Name Game
India’s security agencies and legal wings are researching to give the exact name of the dreaded IS in the Courts. When the files started moving, the deadly organisation was known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), then it was known as ISIl (Islamic State of Iraq and the levant). It is now currently known as IS (Islamic State). This has given a headache to the agencies that are in the legal process of banning it in the designated Courts. Grapevine has it that legal experts have suggested that all the three names be given to designated courts with a short note of their changing names.
Pest Mess
Fighting a battle with termites, stray dogs and cattle in its secure zone, the Delhi Cantonment Board recently floated tenders seeking help from aam janata. It advertised for hiring services of cattle catchers -- vehicle with men who can grab stray cattle and pick animal carcasses from Cantonment area. There was also an advertisement for experts who can sterilise and immunise stray dogs in the Cantonment and those who can save the Forces from pest/ termites menace.
Swachchh Sarkar
The Modi Government is taking no chances to keep the government ‘clean’. To keep up with its promises of proving a transparent government, the PMO and DoPT has reportedly prepared a list of over 100 IAS, IPS, IRS and IFS officials who are non-performers and allegedly corrupt thus proving to be potential threat to its good governance image. Grapevine has it that these officers will be soon asked to quit.
PMO’s HRD rap
It will now be almost a year that the main arm of the secondary education of the country- Central Board of Secondary Education- has been without a full time Chairman thus affecting various important functions. While different officers of the HRD Ministry were being entrusted with the responsibility to handle specific work of the CBSE Chairman from time to time, one effort to select a new chairman got mired in controversy. The PMO denied the HRD Ministry’s recommendation of Additional Secretary Satbir Silas Bedi. PMO has now asked the HRD Ministry to complete the process within a month. This time, HRD Ministry’s role has been contained only to advertise for the Chairman’s post. The PMO would monitor the process of appointment of a regular CBSE head.
Gadkari & RSS
At a media interaction last week, when some reporters sought to corner Minister of Roads, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari calling him a favourite of Prime Minister Narendra Modi owing to his RSS affiliations, the minister quipped, “Do you see me in half pant and half shirt. What makes you think that my projects get PMO clearance because of my RSS leaningsIJ”
Bihar Ho
Bihar is the flavour of the season and most BJP leaders and office-bearers -barring the headquarters-in-charge- have taken flight to the poll-bound State. The poll frenzy has taken all top and central BJP leaders and those in the inner circle of BJP President Amit Shah to Patna and from there to the nook and corners of the state. “The scenario in the BJP office would remain unchanged until November 5, the last polling,” affirms a BJP National Secretary.
Not Interested
The online course launched by the Urban Development Ministry last month as a part of the Swachchh Bharat Mission for municipal employees dealing with sanitation and solid waste management across the country seems to have not enthused the intended beneficiaries. While a limited number of staff has registered for the e-course, only a handful of personnel have actually undertaken the test to pass the course. Praveen Prakash, UD Joint Secretary, has shot off a letter to Mission directors to ensure dubbing of audio and translation of text into vernacular languages also. The E-learning program aims to build capacity of municipal functionaries to achieve objectives of the Mission.