After a drubbing in a state poll in November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to overhaul his cabinet to weed out under performers and improve his government’s image. Problem is, several sources said, he can’t find the right replacements. As New Delhi buzzes with speculation about changes in several ministries, senior members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a close aide to Modi said some changes could come early next year but the talent pool was too shallow to engineer a major revamp. Pressure is mounting on Modi to revive his party’s fortunes. Nearly two years after he swept to power on a promise of jobs and growth, the shine is coming off – reforms to revive investment have withered and the economy is stuttering.
Rural distress has grown after two successive droughts. “The challenge is to identify the right candidates who can deliver fast-paced reforms and policies in their work sphere,” the prime minister’s aide said. Articulate and suave, Finance Minister has been considered for the defence portfolio, another high-profile role that is crucial to Modi’s geopolitical ambitions and plans to boost Indian industry. But there was no one to take Jaitley’s place in finance, the sources said. A spokesman for Modi declined to comment. An official in Jaitley’s office said they didn’t have any knowledge of a possible reshuffle. Modi tends to keep such decisions close to his chest, and the sources said the final decision lay with the prime minister. They added that he has yet to make up his mind on the changes, and that nothing has been confirmed. Another close aide to the prime minister dismissed talk of a reshuffle as speculation, saying it had no basis. The problem with the government’s search for talent is that Modi’s Hindu nationalist administration is loath to tap people who are associated with other ideologies, such as liberals or the left. At the same time, the right-wing intelligentsia has not developed after decades of rule by the centrist Congress party, under which liberal institutions flourished. “Compared to the Congress, we have a smaller talent pool and less exposure, but it’s only a matter of time that we expand our base,” BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said. He said Modi has “embarked on the process of fine-tuning the government machinery and also send a concrete signal that inefficiency will be checked.” BJP’s defeat in Bihar state polls earlier this year led to calls from within the party and the Hindu group that is its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to remove ministers and party officials who failed to deliver. Although a general election is not due until 2019, the government’s fortunes will depend on upcoming provincial polls, including an election in bellwether Uttar Pradesh state in 2017. Top RSS and BJP leaders are expected to meet in New Delhi in the second week of January, where these issues are likely to be discussed. A revamp is also expected to send the message that Modi will not tolerate remarks by ministers that fan intolerance against India’s non-Hindu minorities. Junior ministers and could be removed after they made public remarks construed as anti-minority, the sources said. Singh’s and Jyoti’s offices said they have no information about Modi’s reshuffle plans. Some ministers are also looking for a change. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked to be moved to a portfolio with a more domestic focus, the sources said. Swaraj’s office said they will not comment about her plans. Road transport minister was offered additional charge of the agriculture ministry, but he declined saying he already had too big a job, the sources said. A source in Gadkari’s office declined to comment, calling it a “hypothetical question.” Modi is looking to the RSS and may go further afield in southern and northeastern states to find new, lesser-known faces to bring to his government, his aide said. That would also give his cabinet a more pan-India feel, the aide said.
The arrest of an Indian Air Force non-commissioned officer, leading aircraftsman Ranjith, posted at Air Force Station, Bathinda, on charges of spying is the second such case to have cropped up in Punjab in the past 16 months wherein social networking sites were used by enemy agents to ‘trap’ Indian military personnel.
In August 2014, the Punjab police had arrested an Airman, Sunil Kumar, who was posted at the Air Force Station in Pathankot, and who was believed to have passed on information about the airbase, the equipment at the base, military exercises and the deployment of aircraft to an ISI agent through a social networking site.
In both these cases, cyber surveillance had led to the personnel being arrested. While in the case of Ranjith, he was enticed by someone by the name of ‘Damini’, Sunil Kumar was in touch on the internet with one ‘Meena Raina’. Both these profiles were found to be fake and in both instances cash had been transferred to the bank accounts of the two personnel in lieu of information.
The Indian Express had earlier reported in July 2015 that the Military Intelligence had sounded warnings that fake profiles of women were being used on social networking sites in order to extract confidential information relating to the Order of Battle (ORBAT) of various military units.
Senior intelligence officials say this trend of using sites such as Facebook and Whatsapp to contact military personnel and then lure them into friendship through sexually explicit conversation has been consistently coming to light. “In fact, many service personnel have voluntarily reported such attempts to their superior officers when they suspected that information was being extracted from them,” said a senior officer.
It is learnt that both in the case of the Bathinda incident as well as the Pathankot case, fake profiles of girls were used by ISI agents who use internet protocols of western countries instead of Pakistan in order to avoid suspicion. These agents also pose as Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) in order to allay any fear and entice the service personnel into violating security protocols.
The Army too had earlier identified three officers who were suspected to have passed restricted information about movement of units and ORBAT to a girl named ‘Simran’ on Facebook. An inquiry had been ordered against these errant officers.
Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav, who is RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s elder son, rode a horse from his parents’ home to his official residence to celebrate Christmas, drawing sharp criticism from opposition BJP.
Accompanied by a posse of security personnel and a trained jockey on another horse, Yadav junior rode the half km distance from his parents’ home at 10, Circular Road to his official residence at 5, Deshratna Marg on Friday.
Later, Tej Pratap told newsmen “I enjoyed horse-riding which I have done after many years…I had been doing it regularly years ago.”
He also harped on the environmental benefits of horse-riding saying it helps in containing pollution and referred to growing air pollution in Patna and other towns in Bihar due to increasing vehicular traffic.
Tej Pratap holds Environment and Forest portfolio as well.
His ride drew sharp criticism from the Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar of BJP who said Tej Pratap was enjoying pleasure rides at a time when patients need improved facilities in hospitals which lacked infrastructure and medicines.
2015 was a revolutionary year for the filmmakers as many scripts with a unique story line and off-beat concepts were not only critically praised but also received commercial appreciation. As the year comes to an end, dna lists out the films:
Tanu Weds Manu returns
Release Date: May 22, 2015
Story, screenplay and dialogues: Himanshu Sharma
Kangana Ranaut could not have made a better return after Queen. A sequel to the Tanu weds Manu of 2011, the film was widely praised by the viewers for its humorous screenplay and witty dialogues. Kangana’s double roles as the vivacious ‘Tanu’ and even as the fiery ‘Kusum’ were much appreciated. The film actually managed to woo the audience with its real and raw sense of comic timing.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha
Release Date: February 27, 2015
Story, screenplay: Sharat Katariya
Yash Raj films have entertained us with a lot of romantic movies but this story from the banner came as breath of fresh air. Blessing the viewers with a talent like Bhumi Pednekar, the film gave us a peek into what arrange marriages in a traditional joint family could be like. Not only were the performances great but the characterizations of every actor was commendable as well. Kudos to Sharat for this film!
Piku
Release Date: May 8, 2015
Story, screenplay: Juhi Chaturvedi
Who would have thought that a Bollywood film, which is based on the concept of ‘motions’ will be able to charm the audiences? The magic of Shoojit Sircar’s direction gave us Piku and some solid performances from the film. Not only were the two hours entertaining, it also gave us a good chemistry between the unusual pair of Irrfan Khan and Deepika Padukone.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Release Date: July 17, 2015
Story, screenplay: KV Vijayendra Prasad, Kabir Khan and Parveez Sheikh
More than the ‘sanskari’ Bhaijaan and the scenic locales of this Indo-Pakistan tragedy movie, what was much liked by the audiences was the unique script of the film. Baahubali writer KV Vijayendra Prasad impressed the critics with his writing and managed to give two superhit scripts to the year 2015 (Bajrangi Bhaijaan followed by Baahubali). Messages of love, empathy and humanity were so beautifully shared in this amazing journey.
Angry Indian Goddesses
Release Date: November 4,2015
Story, screenplay: Pan Nalin, Dilip Shankar
Not only did the film make rounds of many film festivals but also created much hype before its release – thanks to its name which irked the sensibilities of the Censor Board. However, after its release, not many could deny that its approach, its story and the screenplay was fresh and brought something new to the table. We had seen a Zindagi Na Milega Dobara with the boys but this was one of the first efforts for an ‘outing with girls’. Nouveau indeed!
LAHORE: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said it will not be fair to expect much from the talks next month between the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India. Speaking to Radio Pakistan about the possibility of peace between India and Pakistan, Aziz said it will not be fair to expect instant resolution of all issues between the two countries.
He said, initially focus will be on reduction of tension and maintenance of calm on the Line of Control (LoC) to provide relief to the people living across the border. Aziz added that in a meeting between Prime Ministers Sharif and Narendra Modi in Lahore, it was decided that the foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet in mid-January in Islamabad to decide details of dialogue on all issues. To a question, he said promotion of good relations with all neighbours is the policy of Prime Minister Sharif as this is a pre-requisite to benefit from projects aimed at regional connectivity and resolution of energy crisis. Prime Minister Modi in a surprise move visited Pakistan on Friday. This was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 11 years.
NEW DELHI: A Delhi government inquiry report on the affairs of the capital’s cricket body DDCA does not even mention the name of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who has been under opposition attack over the alleged irregularities during his tenure as its chief. The 237-page report by a three-member committee headed by Principal Secretary in Vigilance Department Chetan Sanghi has said that considering the “large number of allegations against DDCA”, the cricket body should be immediately suspended by the BCCI. Without any mention of Jaitley anywhere in the report, the committee made host of observations about alleged irregularities by DDCA which include construction of the corporate boxes without prior approval of the authorities and complaints of forgery in age-verification certificates. The panel slammed BCCI for its “inaction” in the affairs of DDCA and had recommended that Delhi government should approach the Supreme Court with a request to have Justice Lodha Committee advice regarding streamlining of the functioning of the cricket administrator. The Supreme Court-appointed Justice R M Lodha committee, which probed IPL betting scandal, is currently working on its recommendations to reform the way the BCCI functions. Jaitley, who headed the DDCA between 1999 and 2013, has been under opposition attack even though he has maintained his innocence. A probe by Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) during UPA tenure also had found nothing against Jaitley. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had alleged that CBI had raided his office to check the files on DDCA.
Country’s national carrier Air India has decided to serve only vegetarians meals in 60 to 90-minute domestic flights from January 1. Owing to the less time available for serving in these small duration flights and using too many varieties takes more time, the Air India has taken this decision. Also, non-vegetarians can eat vegetarian but vegetarians cannot eat non-veg items. A flight between 61 and 90 minute duration gives the crew a window of 30 to 40 minutes to serve passengers. CMD A Lohani said, “Air India presently provides cold veg snacks on 60-90 minute flights,however from now it will serve proper hot veg meals.” Air India has five categories of flights on the domestic sectors – breakfast from 5.30 am to 9.30 am, high tea from 9.30 am to 11.30 am and 3 pm to 6.30 pm, lunch from noon to 2.30 pm, supper from 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm; and dinner from 11 pm onwards. Flights on busy sectors like Mumbai-Delhi and Mumbai-Bangalore are likely to be affected most by Air India’s a test decision. In June 2015, Air India had to suspend two staffers after they served meat to some Jain pilgrims, who were returning from Sindhu Darshan festival, on Leh-Delhi flight. Incidentally, the 182-seater Air India flight was chartered by about 122 pilgrims who had visited Sindhu Darshan, held from June 23 to June 26, in Ladakh capital city and were returning back to New Delhi. The Sindhu Darshan Festival, as the name suggests, is a celebration of River Sindhu, also known as the Indus. It was first started in the October, 1997 and continues to be held every year since then, attracting large number of foreign as well domestic tourists.
(26 Dec) Washington D.C., Dec. 26(ANI): Kate Middleton should now be given a Master’s degree in wooing everyone with her chic style sense. During the royal family’s annual Christmas Day church service, the 33-year-old Duchess of Cambridge sported a long, forest green, belted SportMax coat and matching hat, paired with a leaf-shaped diamond brooch and black suede boots, reports E! Online. She was accompanied by husband Prince William, who was seen helping his wife carry an umbrella to shield them from the rain. The two chatted briefly with well-wishers, who gathered outside the church. The royal family recently released a Christmas 2015 card showing the couple with Princess Charlotte and Prince George. (ANI)
Chennai: People living in Tamil Nadu’s coastal districts affected by 2004 tsunami on Saturday paid homage to the thousands who were swallowed by the giant waves on this day. Eleven years ago, life had turned upside down for thousands of families living in the coastal areas like Nagapattinam, Chennai, Cuddalore, Velankanni, Poompuhar in the state. Over 8,000 people lost their lives in Tamil Nadu to the giant waves in 2004. Silent rallies were held in the tsunami affected areas to observe the day, with people offering milk and flowers at the sea for the dead. As a mark of respect to the departed souls, fishermen stayed away from the sea on Saturday. IANS
New Delhi, Dec 26 (IANS) The Delhi government has suspended three transport department officials over alleged corruption in issuing fresh Letters Of Interest (LOI) for three-wheelers, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday. “Three officials of transport department being suspended. Corruption in issuing fresh letter of interests for 3-wheelers,” Sisodia tweeted. The minister said the LOIs were being issued “randomly” despite orders to issue them in a chronological order of applications. “It was found that in many cases the LOIs were being given to dealers instead of applicants,” he said in another tweet. The Delhi government has handed over the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation. “This government cannot tolerate corruption at any level,” he added.
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