It was certainly adding insult to injury. Last month, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs handed more than the administration of the 108- year-old Gymkhana Club to MM Juneja, a government official, following very first invalidating the duly elected managing committee. Juneja, who produced ripples in the posh club by arriving with a posse of policemen, was quickly replaced by V K Yadav from the Railways. Members of the club have challenged move in the Supreme Court. However, due to the fact one of the very first acts of the new administrator was to block access to funds, the members can not avail of the club sources for any goal, like paying for a lawyer. The administrator, on the other hand, has issued a handsome demand draft from the club account to employ top lawyer Harish Salve. Ironically, Salve is a member of the club.
Report without the need of GoM
The purported report of the Group of Ministers on Government Communication which was not too long ago scooped by a magazine seems odd for quite a few motives. The report provides detailed discussions by ministers as properly as statements from journalists and businessmen as to how the Modi government can greater handle its image in the media. Since none of the ministers named, like Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani, S Jaishankar and Kiren Rijiju, have denied the reproduced PDF of the report, it is broadly assumed to be genuine. But amateur sleuths point out some anomalies. There is no gazetted notification of any such group of ministers. The document published is not signed. Normally when a document is leaked it is the photocopy so that the supply can not be traced. There is a logo on the letterhead. Participation in GoMs is conventionally restricted to bureaucrats or these formally invited to meetings, not stray persons who had been offered no indication of the goal for which they had been invited. This has led to suspicions that the report might have been a trial balloon floated by the government either to serve as a warning or test the waters.
Gag Order?
The amended guidelines for Overseas Citizens of India cardholders which need them to get permission prior to engaging in journalistic activity could silence some influential editors and columnists, generally vital of the government. OCI journalists based in India include things like Mark Tully, formerly of the BBC, and Siddharth Varadarajan, editor of The Wire. OCI journalists not based in India but who create on their nation of birth include things like Fareed Zakaria of CNN, Bobby Ghosh from Bloomberg and Somini Sengupta of The New York Times. Other professional commentators on India living abroad are Harsh Pant, Kaushik Basu, Amitav Ghosh and Pankaj Mishra.
Better Late
Last March eminent jurist Soli Sorabjee was eagerly searching forward to his 90th birthday and his family members had organised a grand bash. But as the birthday drew closer, the coronavirus spread to India as properly. A day prior to the occasion, the celebratory dinner was cancelled. A belated birthday celebration in December was also known as off. Finally, Sorabjee’s 91st birthday was celebrated on March 9 final week when a biography on him was released. While most speakers praised Sorabjee’s legal acumen, Justice Rohinton Nariman described one more aspect of Sorabjee’s multifaceted character: he is a fanatical jazz buff.
No Stakes
V K Sasikala’s announcement to quit politics promptly following her release from prison came as a rude shock to her nephew TTV Dhinakaran. He was based on Jayalalithaa’s former aide to back his AMMK in the Assembly polls, to counter the ruling AIADMK’s claim to be the accurate inheritor of Jayalalithaa’s mantle. Most assumed that Sasikala at 66, with practically two dozen pending criminal instances against her, had lost her appetite for a fight, and wanted a peaceful retirement, particularly when the BJP had place its weight behind Chief Minister E Palanisamy. But, a feud in the family members also played a element. Sasikala’s brother Dhivakaran is opposed to Dhinakaran and helped persuade his sister that due to the fact Dhinakaran projected himself as CM, Sasikala had no stake in this battle.
Reaching Out?
It has develop into increasingly hard for the media to get appointments with senior members of the government. The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) was for that reason pleasantly shocked when final week two critical politicians volunteered to interact with journalists on Women’s Day. Speaker Om Birla invited IWPC members for lunch, at which ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and more than two dozen girls MPs had been present. A journalist enquired about Parliament’s refusal to renew the annual Lok Sabha press pass for these in the Long and Distinguished category. Birla attempted to reassure her remarking, “Maybe later.” Javadekar also sought to break the ice when he came to the club for a frank off-the-record session.