Festive mood

At a time when the biggest state in the country,Uttar Pradesh,is in the throes of communal riots,Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has chosen to take some days off.

FESTIVE MOOD

At a time when the biggest state in the country,Uttar Pradesh,is in the throes of communal riots,Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has chosen to take some days off to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai. This,despite the fact that he had faced a lot of flak for extended stay in the US during and after the killing of Congress leaders by Naxals in Chhattisgarh. Shindes deputy R P N Singh is visiting Padrauna to be among his electorate. R P Ns concern about Padrauna Assembly constituency is,however,understandable given the fact that he had represented it in the Assembly but when his mother contested the bypoll upon his entry into Parliament,she lost her deposit.

Sound of silence

While the nation has been anxiously watching the communal flare-up in Uttar Pradesh,prime ministerial contenders of the two principal parties Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi have maintained silence. Both also kept quiet during the raging debate on the VHPs chaurasi kos parikrama in UP. While Rahul has drawn a lot of flak for his prolonged silence,despite public outrage over incidents like the Delhi gangrape,he continues to be reticent about voicing opinion on important issues. Modi posted at least a dozen tweets on Monday,but none had any reference to the communal clashes in UP.

Tuning in

Air Force Chief N A K Browne,who is to retire by the end of this year,has,of late,been making a series of visits to various establishments and units besides international tours the last one was to the US which he extended by two days for personal reasons. One of his domestic visits happily coincided with the Zubin Mehta concert in Srinagar. The Air Chief happened to be in Srinagar on Saturday when the concert took place. He even met Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra in Srinagar. Despite his hectic schedule,Browne managed to find time in the evening to attend the Ehsaas-e-Kashmir concert.

After-job posts

As far as post-retirement jobs are concerned,Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hoodas principal secretaries are a fortunate lot. While his earlier PS,M L Tayal,was appointed Member,Competition Commission of India,Chhatar Singh,who was his PS till recently,has now been appointed Member,Union Public Service Commission. Singh,considered close to Hooda,was earlier re-appointed PS for a three-month period,a move that raised many eyebrows.

Foreign trip

Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath left for South Korea on Sunday to attend a meet on early childhood care and education. The proposal for the week-long trip moved some time back was awaiting clearance from the Prime Ministers Office. The ministrys officials had thought the trip would not materialise. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared Tiraths visit on his return from St Petersburg.