Sparing Swamy
Finding it odd that Swaraj Abhiyan, the party recently formed by activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, has sought an independent probe into the politically-sensitive Augusta Westland chopper scam, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued that a political party has no business to file a PIl. A lawyer who was appearing for one of the parties in the case reminded Rohatgi that the plea to probe 2G scam was brought to Court by Subramanian Swamy, a senior BJP member. The A-G who was at a loss for words found timely help from the bench. Justice Dipak Misra said, “The A-G will agree that Swamy is an individual and not a political party.”
Rail Bhawan Happy Hours
Since there will be no separate rail budget, the officers at Rail Bhawan are quite a relieved lot now. For years, months before the presentation of Rail Budget the corridors of Rail Bhawan used to be a happening place. Railways so far, in the word of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, used to be a Rspolitical tool’ where political leaders and Parliamentarians lined up with their demands at the second floor of the Rail Bhawan where top guns the railways- the Ministers, Chairman, Board Members, and Private Secretaries have their offices. Most of the demands used to be for stoppages of trains in their constituencies. The round-the-clock kitchen services during the drafting of the Rail Budget, is also a thing of the past. The only unhappy lot seems to be the lower staff who used to get overtime perks for almost two months.
Warmth between rivals
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to grants Rs2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in Patna boat tragedy and Rs50,000 for those seriously injured, is yet another indication of the growing bonhomie between the PM and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The political import of the PM’s gesture will not be lost on Bihar Rswatchers’ since Modi heaped fulsome praise on Kumar during his recent visit to Bihar to attend to Guru Gobind Singh’s Prakash parv in Patna. An invitation by the Janata Dal (U) to Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi attend the Rsmakar shankranti’ lunch has also let tongues wagging. But RJD chief lalu Prasad Yadav is unfazed by the signs of the warmth between the JD (U) and BJP and insists that all is well with the Bihar’s mahagatbhandan of JD(U), RJD and Congress.
Diary item
The newly-appointed Army Chief General Bipin Rawat faced a barrage of uncomfortable questions last week on the issue of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances against senior officers. Addressing his maiden news conference, Rawat answered the queries on this sensitive matter in a calm manner and even defended ‘sahayak’ system. Even after ninety minutes when the journalists persisted with the questioning, the Chief fended off the journos with a smile, “please ask the questions during the sumptuous lunch.”
Who is new CBI DirectorIJ
Many powerful people as well as babus and top cops are eager to see the outcome of the high-level selection committee’s meeting on Monday to select the CBI Director. The committee will consist of Prime Minisiter , Chief Justice of India and Opposition leader. The “bookies” in the power corridor are betting on Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma and Maharashtra DGP Satish Mathur.
Party time
Russian Embassy’s Christmas Party in January is always the most awaited event of the year in diplomatic circles. First , you get to see the entire diplomatic corps minus their formal lounge suits since it’s a fancy dress show. Secondly, everyone dances to the music by Russian Jazz band Stilyagi. This year it also played popular Hindi film numbers - Goron ki na kaalon ki, duniya hai dilwalon ki (from Disco Dancer), and, Suraj dooba hua (Roy). While masks and gowns remained the popular dress choice of guests, demonetization seemed to be the dominant theme as many of participants covered themselves with new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes while some wore Paytm placards.
Stars in demand
Election season is on and film and actors are in demand from political parties. While some of the big ones are refusing to take sides, others are not so cagey about joining the poll bandwagon. Actor Arjun Ram Pal has already volunteered to campaign for the BJP while ‘Dada’ Jackie Shroff is set to follow his footsteps. Amar Singh is also expected to use his pull with ‘Bollywood’ to back SP candidates of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Stars may also campaign for the Congress which already has former actor Raj Babbar as the State president in Uttar Pradesh and TV Personality Navjot Singh Sidhu as a prominent leader of the party in Punjab.