Delhi confidential: Thin Attendance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

At a Vigyan Bhawan function Monday, which was attended by PM Narendra Modi, too many seats were kept reserved for ministers and top officers in the front benches. Just before the PM was to arrive, Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha signalled to some officials sitting at the back to shift to the front rows so that Modi wasn’t greeted by empty seats. Incidentally, Najma Heptullah was the only cabinet minister to attend the session. Only five other ministers of state showed up for the meeting, which was a first of its kind interaction between ISRO and all government departments.

Smoke And Mirrors
The adage — the more things change, the more they stay the same — seems to be apt in this scenario involving Dilip Gandhi and Shyama Charan Gupta of the BJP. Gandhi, who headed the Committee on Subordinate Legislation looking into rules regarding tobacco, had argued that there was no study to prove a link between tobacco consumption and cancer. Gupta, a bidi manufacturer, was a member of the panel, which looked into a proposal to increase the size of pictorial warnings on tobacco products from the existing 40 per cent to 85 per cent. Now, with the committee getting reconstituted for one more year, both have been re-nominated.

Screen Presence
The BJP, which often takes the lead in the use of technology to reach out to people, is all set to rename its Yuva TV, launched in 2009, to BJP TV. For the time being, it will operate online. In another step to improve its presence among TV channels, the party is constructing a four-room studio in the BJP headquarters so that its spokespersons can take part in TV debates from 11, Ashoka Road itself.

War Footage
Rare footage of various wars fought by the Indian armed forces could soon be restored, digitised and made available to larger audiences. The Information & Broadcasting Ministry has asked the Defence Ministry to provide declassified audio-visuals captured by defence personnel during various wars fought both before and after Independence. The ministry has tasked the National Film Archives of India in Pune to restore and digitise these rare videos.