Homing In

Home Secretary R K Singh is learnt to have apologised to his boss Sushil Kumar Shinde for the error of naming three rape victims in a Parliament speech

Home Secretary R K Singh is learnt to have apologised to his boss Sushil Kumar Shinde for the error of naming three rape victims in a Parliament speech,that caused considerable embarrassment to Shinde. The Home Minister had promised the Rajya Sabha that he would fix responsibility on the officers who had cleared his speech. The speech was written and seen by several officers,including the Home Secretary,before it was sent to Shinde. R K Singh is learnt to have given a verbal apology.

Electoral Popularity

Although he retired over six months back,former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi continues to maintain a busy schedule. These days,he is in Kenya,where is overseeing the ongoing election process as part of an international group of observers. Sometime back,a senior functionary of Pakistans election authority had asked Quraishi to spare time to guide Pakistan in getting more people to vote in the next parliamentary elections.

Ready to Fire

Having been freed from the compulsions of coalition,the Trinamool Congress is now taking the lead against the government in Parliament. The party has pressed for two amendments in the Presidents address to the joint sitting of Parliament. It is not happy that Mamata Banerjees long-pending demand for a moratorium on loan repayment by West Bengal and the restructuring of its interest repayment found no mention in the address. It is also miffed that the plight of jute farmers in West Bengal was ignored. To make its point forcefully,the party has not just assigned its chief whip in Rajya Sabha,Derek OBrien,to speak on the subject,but also asked its other Rajya Sabha MP,Nadimul Haque,to reiterate its demands in Urdu. Realising that not many Rajya Sabha MPs would be well-versed with Urdu,some TMC colleagues have requested Haque to pepper his speech with a liberal dose of Hindi.

Games People Play

IN a turf war of sorts,the Commonwealth Games CWG Organising Committee OC,which is still functioning from the NDCC building on Jai Singh Road,was locked on the orders of a joint secretary in the Home ministry. Many departments of the ministry have shifted to that building,which earlier housed only the OC office. OC officials who are still working on the various legal cases were shocked to find their offices on the eighth-floor sealed when they reported for work a few days back. The OC CEO,Jarnail Singh,then called up the Sports Secretary who reportedly rang up Home Secretary R K Singh and asked him to intervene. The office was unlocked,but it is learnt that Jarnail Singh filed an official complaint against the joint secretary. He is learnt to have written that with the CBI still probing several CWG-related cases,the joint secretary would be held responsible if any files went missing.

Changing Times

There was a time when the CPIM was strongly opposed to introduction of computers,and argued that it would result in loss of jobs. The party realised its folly over the years and toned down its opposition. In an indication of how they were adapting to the changing times,the Marxists took to internet and social media platforms in recent years,especially during elections. Now,it has gone a step further. The party is using social media handles to popularise its leaderships march to Delhi from four centres. The party is uploading videos,on a daily basis,of the speeches made by its leaders like Prakash Karat,S R Pillai and Brinda Karat during the march on YouTube and its own website and has opened an exclusive Facebook account.

Tailpiece

THE decision of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania to cancel a scheduled talk by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi through video-conference has prompted a joke in Delhi8217;s power circles. As heard in the corridors: What if Wharton has said no to Modi. There is always IIPM.