FOOTBAll FlAVOR
Football was the flavor of Parliament last week with Sports Minister Vijay Goel urging MPs to promote the sport in their respective constituencies in the run up to the FIFA under-17 World Cup in India in October. The Ministry also set up a giant board inside Parliament complex giving details about how the MPs can encourage football amongst youngsters as part of ‘Mission X1 Million.’ Former India football captain and TMC MP Prasun Baneerjee also presented a football to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Kolkata will host the final of the prestigious tournament hosted by India for the first time.
ESCAPE FROM HRD RANKING
Efforts by HRD Ministry for ranking of educational institutions by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), have turned futile. The proposal garnered cold response from higher educational institutions this year with numbers of participants dropping by 800 compared to last year. Grapevine has it that 2,735 institutions participated in this year’s ranking as against last year’s 3,563 participants. The NIRF is a methodology adopted by the Ministry to rank all institutions of higher education in the country. This was launched in September 2015. JNU and Hyderabad University, which witnessed massive unrest last year topped the list of Central varsities in 2016 while IIT-Madras and IIM-Bangalore led among technological and management institutions.
PMO WATCHING
Though there were rumors abuzz weeks ago that PMO was studying the IB’s adverse reports against many officials after Gopal Reddy, a senior officer in Home Ministry, was repatriated to the State cadre. Reddy was heading the sensitive Union Territory section and his abrupt removal is attributed to adverse IB report. Grapevine has is that in the coming weeks many officers are expected to face the axe for various type of misdeeds.
OFF TRACK MUlAYAM
During the debate on GST related Bills in the lok Sabha, members broke into smile when SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav was speaking on the subject. Barring the GST, the 77-year-old leader touched on almost all the political issues with main focus on BJP’s victory in UP polls. He gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJP’s sweeping success in the State saying Modi ka mahol tha (Modi wave). By the time the Chair asked him to speak on the GST, the SP veteran had finished his political speech.
HOMEBOUND TO NATH
Rumors are doing the rounds that AICC general secretary and former Union Minister during UPA regime, Kamal Nath, is keen to return to the State politics. According to Congress leaders, Nath is lobbying these days to become Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee chief . Nath is a popular figure in his Chhindwara Constituency, which first elected him in 1980. After years of engagement in national politics, Nath wants to lead the party to revival in the next year’s State elections.
IN THE CROSSFIRE
Puducherry lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi is not happy with Chief Secretary Manoj Parida who had issued orders transferring Municipal Commissioner R Chandrasekaran without keeping her in loop. Parida followed orders from Speaker of Puducherry Assembly who had given him a note stating that the Speaker’s ruling was final and would stand in front of law. But Parida’s act has reportedly annoyed Bedi. Officials of Raj Niwas of Puducherry claim that the order to transfer the Municipal Commissioner was issued without her consent which is in violation of the business rules. Parida is caught in the cross fire.
BAR TIMING
last week when the hearing on shifting liquor vends from highways saw no signs of ending in a day, senior advocates representing the wealthy liquor merchants sounded impatient. Noticing their concern, Chief Justice of India JS Khehar remarked, “Don’t be in a hurry. We are not in a hurry, unless you have some liquor vend waiting for you outside.” Prompt came the response, “The liquor vend opens only by 7 pm.” The lawyers were obviously implying that their drinking hours started only after 7 pm.