The latecomers

Meenakshi Lekhi was missing when her name was called for handing over a bouquet to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Old habits die hard. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi, true to his reputation of being an invariably punctual person, was at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium well before the national council session was scheduled to begin, two of his ministerial colleagues, Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman, were “late-lateef”. Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi was missing when her name was called for handing over a bouquet to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. It was finally left to one of Delhi mayors to do the honours.

Train for a house

With the process of allotment of official residences to the newly elected MPs proceeding at a slow pace, BJP’s Kirit Somaiya, who heads the new 12-member House Committee, was the butt of jokes in Lok Sabha when he rose to offer his views on Railways amendment bill. As soon as he started to speak, members from both Opposition and government sides interrupted him, saying that he should provide houses to fellow MPs first and then worry about other matters. The House burst into laughter as Somaiya struggled to start his speech. Taking it in his stride, Somaiya said jokingly he would urge the railway minister to give a train to each MP who has not yet got a house.

Judicial pride

An elderly man approached the CJI’s court Monday, demanding that his plea against corruption in judiciary be heard only by R M Lodha. Petitioner N S Hoon said only the CJI had the courage to hear such a matter. Sitting alongside the CJI on the three-judge bench, Justice Kurian Joseph, however, cut him short and asked him to never repeat such a thing. Justice Joseph made it clear: “The Constitution of India gives courage to judges. Even the CJI gets the courage from the Constitution.”

Taking it too FAR

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Bharat Ratna for Gautam Buddha? Amid speculation that the government may confer the highest civilian award on Subhas Chandra Bose and A B Vajpayee, politicians of all hues are demanding the honour for some personality or the other. So, there are demands for bestowing the honour on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Acharya Narendra Deo, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jaiprakash Narayan, Kanshi Ram, Bhagat Singh, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan among others. CPM veteran Sitaram Yechury had a humorous take on the expanding wish list. He told the government in Rajya Sabha that if it were to go back in history to bestow the honour, then it should consider starting from Gautam Buddha.

Musical evening

Senior IAS officers of several departments will display their flair for singing at a musicial evening being organised on August 16 by the Association of British Scholars. To be held at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, the event will see senior IAS officers, including a joint secretary in the Ministry of Health and another posted in the CVC, sing songs from films made in the 60s and 70s.

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