Delhi Confidential: Thumping, win

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered the room for the Cabinet meeting in the Parliament House building on Wednesday, the ministers welcomed him by thumping the desk, a gesture for the recent electoral victory in Bihar. Sources said, the PM spoke a few words on the election result and also mentioned the NDA, saying the coalition is organic, stable and will stay beyond elections. Later, BJP president J P Nadda organised a dinner at his official residence for leaders who contributed to the party’s Bihar win.

Veteran voices

Two of India’s nonagenarian politicians—Murli Manohar Joshi and Karan Singh—shared the stage at an event that saw deliberations on protecting the fragile ecology of Himalayas. At the fag end of Joshi’s speech, which the 91-year-old delivered while standing for 40 minutes, Karan Singh requested him to end soon. With a smile on his face, Singh, 94, shared with the audience that he is diabetic, and has to eat on time to avoid a medical emergency. He then proceeded to speak, while helping himself with a little food and juice on the side.

Nut tracker

A recent circular on refreshments for official meetings of Railway Board has left officials amused. The circular prescribes a fixed menu for two types of meetings—short-notice/short-duration and scheduled ones. For the short meetings, the menu is one of the beverages (tea/ coffee/fresh fruit juice/masala chhaach/sweet lassi), “six” roasted almonds or peanuts, and a couple of coo­kies. The menu for sch­ed­uled meetings will have two more items from among veg sandwiches, paneer cutlet, aloo bonda, dho­kla, and samosa. Offic­ials are amu­sed at the mention of “six” nuts, wondering who will keep track of the number and what will hap­pen if someone exceeds the limit.