Hack the Mac
With politicians hyperactive on social media, Home Minister Rajnath Singh appears to have found virtue in the new trend.
A number of firms approached his office to run his social media campaign, but they were surprised when his office sprung unique demands, which included that the account be handled only through Apple Mac computers to avoid hacking. The firms had to explain not computers but programming helps avoid hacking.
Channelising News
Taking on private news TV channels, I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has asked all his Cabinet colleagues to give exclusive interviews to Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) to bring a sense of completion in the national broadcasters. Naidu has also asked ministers to project positive stories of their ministries to DD and AIR. He cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat’s popularity to engage with common views. He added that private media entities focus only on profit and sensationalism.
Hard Taskmaster
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s private secretary Ashish Madhaorao More, a 2005-batch officer of the UT cadre, will quit within three months of taking over from Sanjeev Kumar. More is Prabhu’s second private secretary in two years to relinquish the post. According to sources, the reasons could be that Prabhu is a workaholic and a hard taskmaster.
Accidental Gain
Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma got a lot of media attention when he visited Ayodhya to inspect land for the proposed Ramayana museum. He is a chief ministerial hopeful and has been working to cultivate an image of a Hindutva hawk. He has been a regular to Dadri, where Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched on the suspicion of keeping beef. “The visit was planned two months ago as part of the Budget announcement for the Ramayana tourism circuit. But it was an accidental political gain for him as his visit came a day after the ruling Samajwadi Party jumped into the Ayodhya issue by announcing a theme park,” said a close aide of Sharma.
Tooth & Nail
“Both SP and BSP have looted the state (UP). There is mafia raj in UP, which needs to be freed from both parties.”
Rita Bahuguna-Joshi,
former UP Congress chief after joining BJP
“She (Rita Bahuguna-Joshi) searched for safe seats in BSP, SP. Now she has joined BJP. Tomorrow, she’ll go somewhere else.”
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress general secretary