WHEN THE Bhopal police recently busted the illegal weapons factory of Naxalites, the top Range official Sanjeev Kumar Singh had just left for Afghanistan. Incidentally, Singh was also away when a dreaded gang of Bangladeshi dacoits was caught nearly three months back.
In some other recent achievements also, the Range IG could not share the honours as he was out of station. Naturally, police circles are abuzz about the strange coincidence.
Jakhar keeping low profile?
Governor Dr Balram Jakhar, whose speeches in various functions created storm of sorts in the State politics, seems to have decided to maintain a low profile. He was the chief guest at the State-level convention of Akhil Bharatiya Anusuchit Jati, Janajati Alpsankhayak Adhikari-Karmachari Kalyan Sangh (APPAKS) held on Saturday at Samanway Bhawan. A section of gathering expected a punch-packed speech from the Governor against “follies in the system”.
However, he shattered their hopes by saying, “It is improper to speak on this occasion”. He, however, said he fully agreed that demands of SC, ST, OBC and minorities should be fulfilled on priority basis.
Gods and demons
After the two-day much-hyped Manthan-2007, the brainstorming session of ministers and bureaucrats in the State, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the press conference spoke of the ‘nectar’ coming out of “Manthan”. Obviously, Manthan denotes the mythological churning of ‘Samudra’ between gods and demons out of which came out ‘amrit’ and ‘vish’. After this exercise, the corridors of power are abuzz with speculations, obviously in a lighter vein. Both officers and politicians are eager to know as to who represented the gods and who represented the demons. Naturally, nobody would like to see himself dubbed demons.
Gods and demons
After the two-day much-hyped Manthan-2007, the brainstorming session of ministers and bureaucrats in the State, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the press conference spoke of the ‘nectar’ coming out of “Manthan”. Obviously, Manthan denotes the mythological churning of ‘Samudra’ between gods and demons out of which came out ‘amrit’ and ‘vish’. After this exercise, the corridors of power are abuzz with speculations, obviously in a lighter vein. Both officers and politicians are eager to know as to who represented the gods and who represented the demons. Naturally, nobody would like to see himself dubbed demons.
Media mismanagement
Although the two-day Investors’ Meet at Khajuraho was successful in attracting promised investments through signing of MoUs worth almost Rs 40,000 crore, along with the participation of some 45 odd NRIs, what the event lacked a media-centre at the venue. Though, a big contingent of journalists were brought to Khajuraho from Bhopal, Delhi and other places, they were found running around to send reports to their respective offices.
Even the fax and photocopy machines were initially found non-functional. Before leaving Khajuraho, the scribes were heard advising the media managers to take care of the basic requirement in future, especially during the forthcoming global summit. Participation of the media in all the events was initially in doubt – as it was told that they could cover only the inaugural session. However, only after the Chief Minister’s intervention they were allowed to cover other sessions as well.
BJP office and vaastu
Certain additions in the State BJP president’s and organising general secretary’s rooms at the State BJP office made after Uma Bharti episode to conform to the ‘vaastu requirements’ hardly surprised anyone. But things are not going well for the occupants of the offices. This period has seen departure of the Satyanarayan Jatia and Kaptan Singh Solanki from the posts of presidents and organising general secretary respectively.
Some BJP workers hope that there might be further vaastu adjustments in the party office premises though the new occupants Narendra Singh Tomar and Makhan Singh have taken utmost care to choose auspicious time to enter their offices.
Contributed by Manish Dixit, Shams Ur Rehman Alavi, Debobrat Ghose and Ranjan