The royal ‘miss’

Israelis are known across the world for maintaining perfect time for most formal occasions. From their recent visit to the country,however,Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his entourage did not learn any punctuality. The CM could not reach on time for an official presentation of the report of his trip to the Haryana governor. The invitation cards stated that everyone should reach the Raj Bhawan at least 20 minutes before the actual printed time of 7 pm. Those who followed the suggestion found the organisers arranging flowers at the venue. Worse,none from the otherwise hyperactive PR team of the chief minister was there to attend to the guests who reached on time.

Sukhbir does a Santiago

Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister,who went on a weeklong visit to China to study renewable energy models,should read celebrated writer Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’,in which the lead character,Santiago,goes on a trip to find a treasure trove,which was actually hidden at his home. This nugget of wisdom for Sukhbir Badal comes from a green energy entrepreneur from the USA who has been working in Punjab to generate power from the velocity of water in canals. Sukhbir went to China to study the technology,which already exists in the state,and approval to it for generations has been hit by red-tape,says the man who developed it. Read the fine print,Deputy CM!

Doctor of all maladies

Dr Karamjit Singh Sra,the secretary of Punjab Mandi Board and now Chairman of the Khalsa Heritage Complex,Anandpur Sahib,seems to be a doctor of all maladies,literally. After media reports of poor progress of the heritage complex under Tourism Secretary Geetika Kalha led to her being divested of the charge,Sra was the man asked to put the project on road to recovery. And local television channels were quick to queue up for ‘bytes’. They got that and more. Words of philosophy,anecdotes of his village to parallels with real-life issues. The man of medicine gave them more ‘bytes’ than they could chew.

‘Power’ at play

Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh is not known to give away a chance to take on the Badals. Not until there is a divine intervention. At a recent press interaction at Panjab University,Capt was asked by reporters if the politics of vendetta would continue if the Congress came to power. But the power went off before he could respond. The reply came from one in the audience. “May be the Akalis (behind the power failure). They prefer being in the dark about what lies ahead when there is no power,” he said. Capt couldn’t help but agree.