Delhi Confidential: When Gor called Goyal a ‘dear friend’, the minister had one worry

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor mentioned External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal as his “favourite ministers” at a recent event in the Capital. "If you can't get hold of me, reach out to Piyush (Goyal) and he'll arrange it. He is a dear friend," Gor said while addressing the gathering. Responding to the declaration, Goyal said in a lighter vein, “I'm worried about calling you a friend. If you make such comments, I'll have half of these people at my office looking for US visa appointments.”

Two Secretaries of a Union Ministry housed at Krishi Bhawan recently engaged in a heated exchange during a review meeting over the performance and efficiency of their respective departments. The meeting had been convened to assess the implementation of a Central government scheme aimed at promoting pulses. As the discussions began, one of the secretaries, who participated virtually, raised concerns over the slow pace of the approvals. His counterpart strongly disputed the observations and defended the performance of his department. The two officials exchanged arguments, while the minister, who attended the meeting in person, remained neutral and did not intervene in favour of either officer.

Jal Shakti Ministers of BJP-ruled states had a “joyful” interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he invited them for tea on Thursday. The ministers — 23 of them from 14 states — came to the Capital to attend a meeting convened by Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil but were asked to stay back for a day. This meeting, coordinated by senior BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabudhe who heads the Department of Good Governance and Policy Research in the party, revived a practice that had been discontinued in 2011. Sources said PM Modi was keen to resume the practice of meeting state ministers; there will be more such get-togethers at the BJP headquarters in the coming days. BJP national president Nitin Nabin also hosted a dinner for the state ministers on Wednesday.