Journalism of Courage
As TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu continues his fast without any indication of the government accepting his demands or reaching out to him,his partys crisis managers are now working to get political support from none other than Narendra Modi. It is learnt a senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader has managed to get Modi to issue a public statement after TDP leaders reached out to him. On Thursday,Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal visited Naidu at the fast venue in Andhra Bhavan to express solidarity. Sources said Modi may issue a statement on the Telangana crisis as early as Friday and may speak to Naidu as well. TDP leaders have also reached out to Mulayam Singh Yadav,Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik but a Modi show of support may come as a shot in the arm for Naidu and prompt him to call off the fast.
New poster boys
Maximum Promotion
The Congress is going all out to sell its recently enacted Food Security law. Food Minister K V Thomas,currently in Rome to attend the 40th Conference on World Food Security,called on Pope Francis. Apart from presenting the Pope with a memento a small bust of Buddha Thomas presented him with a booklet titled Ensuring Food Security of the Nation detailing the salient features of the legislation.
Twitter Debut
To lure more youth into its flagship employment programme for Jamp;K,the Ministry of Home Affairs is going to launch its Twitter handle and also make a debut on social media. The programme,Udaan,is a private public partnership initiative aimed to create jobs for 40,000 youths in next five years. The ministry believes that to reach the youth,they need to have social media presence. However,the move is being discussed with Intelligence Bureau and the state administration who feel Internet services in the valley are to be constantly monitored.
