Bday in office

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan who is holding brainstorming sessions with officials in the ministry has changed the menu at these meetings to make them more healthy. The chips and samosa that was served earlier has been replaced by murmura, roasted chana, lassi and occasionally bananas. The minister apparently told his staff that if the ministry was to ensure the health of the country, healthy practices would have to start from within.

SITTING TIGHT

S Suresh Kumar, the joint secretary handling Centre-States division in the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been given an extension in his present post for the third time. A 1988 batch IAS officer from West Bengal cadre, he has been handling the division which has been looking after the appointment of governors and Andhra Pradesh bifurcation among many other things. Kumar, perceived to be close to Home Secretary Anil Goswami, completed his central deputation in January but has been getting extensions.

NO ‘LOVE JIHAD’ THIS

Ever since the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit launched a campaign against “love jihad”, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain has been defending himself. According to Hussain, whose wife is a Hindu, two top Hindu leaders have given him a certificate that his marriage was not a part of the so-called jihad. He narrated an incident when VHP leader Ashok Singhal, while raising the issue of ‘love jihad’, was asked about his view on Hussain’s marriage to a Hindu girl. Singhal apparently said Hussain’s marriage was “of love” not “jihad”. Hussain says it was Uma Bharti, a leader with close links with the RSS, who had hosted his elder son’s birthday party.