Pet Project

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has found a new pet a squirrel. It was found in his garden some time back when it was hardly a few hours old

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has found a new pet a squirrel. It was found in his garden some time back when it was hardly a few hours old. With its mother nowhere to be seen,the Azad family adopted it gladly. Now it is a part of the household and has a spacious cage to live in. This is not the first time that Azad an avid gardener has had unusual pets. When he was chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir,his garden had a beehive and he used to gift honey to all his acquaintances.

Justice Served

Former Chief Justice of India J S Verma is learnt to be upset and embarrassed by the Grenadiers Associations attempt to bolster their PIL in the case relating to the Army Chiefs age by making his expert opinion a part of their petition in the Supreme Court. Verma was clear that his opinion was never meant to be used in a litigation. The Grenadiers Association has angered the SC Bench led by the CJI to such extent that it passed a specific order to the SC Registry to not entertain petitions carrying such opinions. As Justice A K Patnaik remarked at the end of the hearing: We are not bound by their former judges opinions,but only by their judgments.

Obama Fan

US President Barack Obamas State of the Union address has earned him a new fan. Impressed by his great inspiring speech,Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has written on the micro-blogging site Twitter that it looks like Obama would get a second term with Republicans struggling. He added: Obamas open support to the American corporate sector should be understood by Indian politicians also instead of running them down8230; Contribution of Indian Corporates in the growth of Indian Economy must be recognised.

Star Crossed

Dev Anand is clearly not the favourite actor of Justice Markandey Katju,chairman of the Press Council of India. Recently,he had criticised the media for giving disproportionate coverage to the death of the legendary actor. On Wednesday,he found himself at a function where Additional Solicitor General Bishwajit Bhattacharya was singing songs of Dev Anand as a tribute to the dead star. Justice Katju requested the ASG for one song. It happened to be Ye Raat Bheegi Bheegi that has been picturised on Raj Kapoor and Nargis. Every other song that the ASG sang at the function had been picturised on Dev Anand.

Missing In Action

At a function organised by the Election Commission to mark the second National Voters Day,political parties were all conspicuous by their absence. The Commission had invited the heads of all prominent parties and hoped to put them all on stage. But shortly before the function was to start,the name-plates of all these leaders were slowly removed. Chief Guest APJ Abdul Kalam noticed the absence and started his speech by greeting the representatives of missing political parties busy in Assembly elections.