Catch them young

The Shiv Parivar Rally,organised by BJP MLA Yogesh Patel’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram Samiti and Late Dr Indumati Thakorebhai Patel Trust,which was to take place on August 28 and was called off following the building collapse in Vadodara,will now be celebrated on September 2. State ministers Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and prominent politicians will be guests at the event,even as several residents of Atladara’s Madhavnagar apartment continue to live in make-shift shelters in absence of a rehabilitation plan. However,two ministers,Saurabh Patel and Nitin Patel,who were supposed to lead the rally last week,will skip the celebrations. Sources say the ministers,who were booed by angry residents at the site on Wednesday,have chosen not to be seen at the rally. Nilesh Shukla,who is coordinating the rally,says,“Change in dates meant that some prominent leaders may not be able to make it .”

Wearing too many hats

Dr Manjula Subramaniam,retired IAS officer,suddenly has her plate full. Within a week of her appointment as the head of the Sabarmati River Front Development Corporation Limited,of which she is yet to take charge,Manjula has been given the job of probing into the collapse of two buildings meant for the economically weaker section in Vadodara. The SRFDC is a full-time job. This additional work of investigating building collapse case will divide her attention. This is perhaps the first time that a full-fledged chairperson has been asked to head an inquiry panel too.

Tall order

Dr A Sivathanu Pillai,well known defence technologist and chief executive officer of BrahMos Aerospace,was in Ahmedabad last week. Having worked with the likes of Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr A P J Abdul Kalam,he shares some personality traits with these luminaries. This was evident in his 90-minute Sarabhai Memorial lecture. It was a treat listening to his lessons in self-reliance and national pride. There was no trace of jingoism in his speech,but what he prescribed as India’s vision for global leadership was a tall order. The qualities he insisted on in a “creative leader” doesn’t match our current crop of politicians.

Surprise question

Vismay Shah,the BMW hit-and-run accused,now features in a general knowledge test to recruit drivers. Recently,the Gujarat High Court conducted an examination to recruit drivers and peons. One of the questions was,‘who did the BMW hit-and-run accident’. The examinees were given four options with Vismay as option ‘D’. When contacted,Registrar General of High Court M J Thakkar dismissed the issue and refused to comment. Vismay had allegedly mowed down two persons on the Judges’ Bungalow Road in February while driving his BMW.

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