Delhi Confidential: Is appointment of Raman Bhalla as JKPCC president a signal to Ghulam Nabi Azad?

The Congress on Thursday appointed senior party leader from Jammu, Raman Bhalla, as the party’s working president of J&K Congress. The move is interesting since Bhalla, once a loyalist of party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, is now considered close to state Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir. Some weeks ago, several Jammu Congress leaders, considered loyal to Azad, quit the party virtually raising a banner of revolt against Mir. On Wednesday, the party accepted the resignations of some of these leaders. And the next day, the party high command appointed someone close to Mir as the working president. So is it a signal to Azad, who has been addressing rallies in various parts of the Union Territory triggering much talk about his future plans?

The search

At a time when many higher educational institutes are running without full-time heads, the posts of UGC chairman as well as vice-chairman have fallen vacant. Prof D P Singh, who had taken over as UGC chairman in January 2018, demitted office on December 7 upon turning 65. The government issued an order on Wednesday, directing Higher Education Secretary K Sanjay Murthy to discharge duties as the chairman of the regulatory body. Murthy will hold the post for six months or till a new chairman or vice-chairman is appointed. While the search for a new chairman had begun in November, the UGC has now advertised the vice-chairman’s post also.

Meat on plate

The Chairperson of National Commission for Minorities, Sardar Iqbal Singh Lalpura, has written to Punjab government, asking it to issue directions to restaurants to display whether meat being served at their outlets is halaal or jhatka. The advisory, sent on Thursday, was issued after the Commission received a complaint that restaurants in Punjab were serving halaal meat despite it being prohibited in Sikh tradition. The advisory said if the type of meat is displayed, customers would be able to make an informed choice without it hurting religious sentiments.