Journalism of Courage
CRACKING THE WHIP
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has taken a serious note of the recent controversy involving him during the photo-op with actress Kangana Ranaut at the music launch of her movie Rajjo on the day of serial blasts at Patna. The Home Minister wants to put a public relations machinery in place at the North Block and has ordered change of the spokesperson. Earlier,the charge was held by Joint Secretary Police-II,Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi,a Punjab cadre IAS officer,but a new joint secretary Naxal management M A Ganapathy,an IPS officer from Uttaranchal cadre,has been now given the charge of the Home Ministrys spokesperson.
QUOTA MOVE
The issue of inclusion of Jats in the OBC list to make them eligible for reservation in Central government jobs has not reached the Cabinet yet but the Minority Affairs Ministry is already planning to link it with its proposal for sub-quota for backward Muslims. To start with,Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan has started demanding that there should be an inter-ministerial consultation on Jat reservation issue.
PARTY TIME
With the winter setting in,outdoor parties are the order of the day in Lutyens Delhi. One of the largest such parties in recent days was thrown by Air Chief N A K Browne Thursday evening. The Air Chief,who is retiring in December,had a large open house at his official residence at which top serving officers had been instructed to come. Several senior retired officials were also spotted at the mega event that some described as chock-a-block with starred officers. The occasion was the wedding anniversary of the outgoing Air Chief.
VISA WOES
While it has almost become common for relatives to travel with ministerial delegations abroad,every now and then hiccups do occur,especially when it comes to nations with a strong bureaucratic set-up. A case in point is Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katochs upcoming visit to Russia next week. While the minister is travelling to Russia for almost a week-long official visit,it seems that her son too wants to accompany. Till Friday afternoon though,the visa for her son had not come through despite efforts being made by the Ministry of External Affairs. The reason being that a formal invitation had not yet arrived from Moscow and given strict Russian visa rules,officials at the embassy could not proceed.
