SPlIT IN INTUC
Congress’s trade union wing is now literally split into two. One is led by Sanjeeva Reddy and the other by former Jharkhand minister Chandrasekhar Dubey. With both leaders claiming to head the INTUC, the International labor Organistaion (IlO) and several other umbrella trade unions have scrapped their affiliation. Many Congress heavyweights are trying to end the fighting and bring a unity between the two sides.
BAlANCING GAME
At the end of two-day National Executive meeting of the BJP in New Delhi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad described Prime Minister Narendera Modi’s concluding speech as “the best” he heard from the days he was attending the BJP meet. Asked about the quality of the speeches delivered by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prasad came with a quick retort “ unki vani main to Saraswati basti thi.”
SINGH IS KING
It is sheer coincidence that at a time when the first Sikh judge has become the Chief Justice of India, the Supreme Court Bar Association has got the first Sikh lawyer as its President. Senior advocate Rupinder Singh Suri was elected the President of the SCBA December last, a post that was occupied by eminent lawyers in the past. His tenure coincides with the elevation of Justice JS Khehar who took over as the 44th Chief Justice of India last week. The CJI has a little over seven-month tenure while Suri will serve a one-year term that ends in December this year.
NEPAlI VS BENGAlI
It could well have been Nepali versus Bengali at the joint Press conference by Ministers of States of External Affairs Ministry - VK Singh and MJ Akbar - had the latter not resisted the temptation of speaking in Bangla after Singh spoke in Nepalese at one point of time. While underlining the India-Nepal bonding, Singh said in Nepalese that while he was the Army Chief of India, he was also the honourary chief of Nepal Army. When asked on India-Bangladesh relationship, Akbar said like Singh he too was tempted to speak in Bangla, but then resisted that temptation and spoke in English.
COMMON BOND
Arch rivals India and Pakistan have one common bond in the present Army leadership. Both the armies recently got new chiefs. Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat took charge last week while General Qamar Javed Bajwa became Pakistan Army chief in November last year. Both of them served together as Brigadiers in 2006 as part of UN peacekeeping mission in Congo under the leadership of Major General Bikram Singh who later became the Army chief. Rawat and Bajwa reportedly share a good rapport.
RAHA SETS EXAMPlE
Recently retired IAF chief Arup Raha has been an officer of impeccable integrity. After handing over the Army Chief’s baton to new incumbent B S Dhanoa last week, Raha did not return to his official bungalow in lutyen’s Delhi and flew straight to Kolkatta. He has shifted to his two-bedroom flat there even though he could have stayed in the Delhi’s bungalow for some more time.
INWARD THREAT
They might be busy providing expertise and dealing in tackling communicable diseases like malaria and dengue, but scientists and staff of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the country’s premier health research institute dealing with different communicable diseases, are themselves under threat of non communicable diseases as has been found in its recent in-house survey. As per the study, 20-66 per cent of them were having behavioural risk factors (smoking, alcohol, and physical inactivity ) while 20-30 per cent were having metabolic risk factors including raised blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity.
HOlY WATERS!
While much has been written or discussed on the “healing” powers of Gangajal, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) has undertaken the task to scientifically explore such claims. Recently, the organisation held a conference called - “Healing powers of Ganga: A scientific perspective”- to drive in the point. The speakers from the organization claimed that research is on to establish the medicinal properties of the waters of the national river and how it is “actually different” from the other rivers of the country.