Delhi Confidential: Playing ball

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is dividing his time between running the state and practising his football skills these days. Sources said Reddy is devoting two to three hours every day to hone his soccer skills given that he has to face Argentinian legend Lionel Messi in the field. Messi is learnt to be arriving in Hyderabad next week when a charity game is scheduled between a team led by Reddy and another by the soccer star.

Past push

BJD Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray Thursday invoked Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s professional roots in Odisha while urging the Centre to enhance connectivity and user convenience for the people of Cuttack through a second satellite railway station. Vaishnaw, a former IAS officer of Odisha cadre, 1994 batch, spent his initial days in service as District Collector of several regions of the state, including Cuttack and Balasore. Samantaray, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, requested Vaishnaw to expedite the modernisation of the Cuttack Railway Station, one of the oldest in the country, given his experience as the former collector of the district.

Experts’ view

Former Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, who retired on November 23, is all set to appear before the Joint Committee of Parliament examining the One Nation One Election Bills. The committee is expected to meet Justice Gavai on December 17, after interacting with a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Sanjeev Sanyal, and former first deputy managing director of IMF, Gita Gopinath, the same day. As a part of the consultations, the committee, chaired by BJP MP P P Chaudhary, is also scheduled to meet Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court Kapil Sibal on December 10.