lalu’s Man Friday at RlyIJ
Even as the lookout for a new ‘dynamic’ Railway Board Chairman has begun, the Rail Bhawan is abuzz with whispers that former Railway Minister lalu Prasad’s trusted senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar may find an important slot in the scheme of things of Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu. Impressed by the file notings and work done by the 1982 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, Prabhu had invited Sudhir for discussion/suggestion for revamping the national transporter. Presently, Kumar is holding the crucial charge of Principal Secretary Road Construction Department under lalu’s son and Deputy CM of Bihar Tejaswi Yadav.
Army’s Super 30
Fifteen candidates from Kashmir cracked the tough JEE test for the year 2016 courtesy the Army. Inspired by the success story of Super 30 organisation run by Anand Kumar in Patna, the Army formed its own Super 30 Engineering Coaching programme two years back. Initially trained by Kumar, some of the teachers were hired by an NGO in Srinagar. The Army provides free boarding and lodging to 30 candidates selected through a State-level test. Buoyed by the stupendous result, the Army plans to have more such centres in other parts of the State next year.
Wildlife on sale
Wildlife lovers are outraged over online sale of protected wildlife species as sea horses, star fish, butterflies etc, by amazon.in. The online portal is also selling animal snares, wildlife trophies and manuals on hunting. The horrified green fraternity has called it “poaching at the click of a mouse”. It has signed a petition asking amazon.in to stop selling snares and other items that encourage or propagate maiming, hunting and killing of wildlife. love for wildlife seems to have transcended all boundaries and the petition has since then gathered nearly 7,000 signatures from animal lovers across the globe.
CBI shake-upIJ
Grapevine has it that there may be soon a shake-up in CBI’s top levels. Some of the officials brought to the CBI by Modi Government have not been given important works, and crucial divisions are still handled by the officers of the UPA era. The delay in Agusta Westland chopper scandal probe has left a question mark over the CBI chief completing his remaining seven-month, tenure.
Israel day
Compared to the sober celebration held by embassies to mark their National Days, the Israeli envoy hosted a dance party in ITC Maurya Hotel on May 11, their Independence Day. Top diplomats, their wives, businessmen and journalists danced to the music by DJ Daniel Marium, who was flown in specially from Tel Aviv for the occasion. Jewish wedding dance by Israeli children and delicious Israeli food added to the excitement of the evening.
Dinner diplomacy
The elevation of senior lawyer and former ASG l Nageshwar Rao as a judge of the Supreme Court became the talk of the corridors in the apex court last week as senior advocates failed to comprehend how Rao decided to leave his flourishing practice and accepted judgeship. last time, when Rao’s name was being considered by the Collegium in 2014, he politely turned down the offer. But this time, with CJI TS Thakur in command, things were different. Grapevine has it that CJI called Rao over for dinner at his house and used his persuasive skill prevail over Rao, asking him to oblige in “national interest”. In the next hour, the recommendation was sealed and sent to the Government for approval.
Publicity blitzkrieg
Under the vigilance of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), a group of young officials at the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) are busy compiling the publicity materials to highlight the achievements and work done by the NDA Government on its completion of two years in the power. The PMO will finalise the content and design for the publicity material by May 23. Six sectors including infrastructure, youth and women, governance and farmers have been selected to showcase the achievements in 16 regional languages. The Government has plans to release the publicity material on May 26 across the country.
Media friendly
Union Health Minister JP Nadda has instructed his senior officials to ensure regular interaction with the media to make sure correct representation of the functioning and policies of the Ministry in the newspapers and electronic media. Grapevine has it that all the Joint Secretaries are being asked to give their views daily on the content of the news, particularly the so-called negative ones, published in the media related to the Health Ministry.