Delhi confidential: Iftar Again

This time, while leaders of almost all the like-minded parties have been invited, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is reportedly not on the guest list.

Rahul has invited Mukherjee to the iftar he is hosting, and Mukherjee has accepted the invite.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will come face to face with former President Pranab Mukherjee, for the first time since the latter’s visit to Nagpur for an RSS event, on Wednesday. Rahul has invited Mukherjee to the iftar he is hosting, and Mukherjee has accepted the invite. There was much speculation on whether the Congress would invite Mukherjee, and whether he would attend. Such iftar dinners were used to send a message of Opposition unity. This time, while leaders of almost all the like-minded parties have been invited, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is reportedly not on the guest list.

Civilisational Connect

Japanese ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu is on a tour of Bihar. Called “Japan meets Bihar”, this is the first of a special series by the Japanese embassy, “Dialogue with States”. The Japanese envoy told interlocutors in Patna that Bihar is not only the ‘Heart of India’ but also represents spiritual and religious ties that ushered in the deep, wide-ranging relationship between Japan and India. He told officials that the two civilisations were first connected through Buddhism, which was virtually born in Bihar.

Unexpected Offer

Union minister Piyush Goyal caught a journalist off guard when the latter offered a series of “solutions” to problems of Railways during lunch. Visibly in a jovial mood after a press conference on four years of the achievements of Railways and Coal, Goyal “offered” that the journalist become railway minister for a day, like in the movie Nayak, and implement the ideas himself. He even asked the Railway Board Chairman to set a date for the event, in mock seriousness, to everyone’s amusement.