Delhi Confidential: Naqvi invites the public to celebrate Holi with him at his residence

Holi invite: After a good two years, Minorities Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is throwing his doors open to the public for Holi celebrations on Friday. The minister has traditionally celebrated Holi in a big way and this year, with the pandemic having slowed down, he has issued an invitation to the general public to celebrate Holi with him at his official residence at 7, Safdarjung Road between 9 am and 11 am on Friday. At his last Holi celebration, the minister had regaled visitors by playing the “dhol” as well.

Double check: A team from the Ministry of Home Affairs along with officers of the CRPF will soon leave for the US to test a technology that can scan vehicles for contraband and arms among other things. The static scanner technology called Multi-Mode Passive Detection System was tested recently through some companies but the ministry is not satisfied with the results, CRPF DG Kuldiep Singh said on Thursday. Now to ensure that the technology is fail-safe, the team will visit the US to test it at the company site. The decision to purchase the technology has been taken in view of the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Term extension: T S Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, who was to retire this month, has been given a three-month extension. A 1985-batch IFS officer, Tirumurti has led India’s diplomacy on the Ukraine issue at the Security Council from the start, and the extension will give Delhi continuity at a crucial time at the UN.