Delhi Confidential: Union Minister Bhupender Yadav’s pet project

Union minister Bhupender Yadav had set up a library in his native village, Jamalpur, bordering Gurgaon city, just over a year ago. The library, with free internet and work stations, has been a huge hit among students, who can access a wide range of books and use the premises to prepare for exams. The crowd of students peaks after exams are over, with children of the village coming there. Yadav has ensured that special informal classes are conducted for the children at regular intervals. The library had a special visitor this week: having heard of the library, Advaita Kala, author and screenwriter for movies such as Kahaani and Anjaana Anjaani, visited Jamalpur on Monday. She spent the afternoon there and interacted with the children.

Remembering Tagore

Several Union ministers remembered Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy on his birth anniversary this week. While Home Minister Amit Shah said the National Education Policy was inspired by Tagore’s model of education, which the Nobel laureate had introduced at Santiniketan, Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy announced that Santiniketan has been recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In fact, India has been striving for a long time to get a UNESCO tag for this site in Birbhum district of West Bengal. This will be announced in the World Heritage Committee meeting to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September.