Twitter Tops

C P Joshi is the first Railway Minister with a presence on social networking websites,especially Twitter,where he has about 10,000 followers. Already used to making sundry announcements about his other ministry,Road Transport and Highways,on Twitter and responding to comments from the Twitterati,Joshi has of late started making such announcements about Railways as well. This has led to hopes that finally Indian Railways might also get an official Twitter account and debut in the social networking space,where its absence is conspicuous. Piecemeal efforts to start Facebook pages of zonal railways and even small divisions have not been very successful so far. Officials now hope that with a proper presence at the social media,the transport behemoth will have a direct interaction with its over 2.3 crore passengers every day.

Campus and Politics

THE Delhi University’s switch to a four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) seems to be generating a lot of interest in the political class. CPM’s Sitaram Yechury has expressed his objections,and BJP’s Arun Jaitley has written to HRD Minister Pallam Raju on the issue asking that the switch over be deferred for now. It is now the turn of Congressman Jairam Ramesh to get into the picture. Ramesh,in fact,met Raju on Wednesday to discuss the issue. The Rural Development Minister,however,has not yet taken any position on the DU move,it is learnt. Apparently,he met the HRD Minister only to understand the issues around the programme.

Search Button

THE government is looking for a replacement for R N Choubey,director general of hydrocarbons (DGHC). A selection panel comprising DoPT Secretary,Petroleum Secretary and Science and Technology Secretary are set to meet soon to decide on the next DGHC. When he was appointed about one and a half years ago,Choubey,a personal choice of the then Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy,was the first IAS officer to be appointed to the post. However,his performance didn’t endear him to current Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily,who soon made it apparent that he would prefer a technocrat for the post. The selection panel has been asked to do just that.