A tweet by Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao asking followers to guess “what this is” was baffling. A gate at the entrance and the impressive interiors gave one the impression that it could be a big educational institution like IIT or IIM. But no one for sure would have believed it was a government residential school for girls at the interior village of Nerella in Thangallapalli mandal of Sircilla district.
The announcement of Mr. Rao in the same twitter that there were some 700 such schools across Telangana and the government was spending ₹ 1.20 lakh on each student studying in them was even more shocking.
When a Minister floored lensmen
Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan won the hearts of photographers and cameramen during his visit to Hyderabad. Not only did Dr. Vardhan oblige lensmen’s requests for photos, he also batted for them when they were denied access. On Sunday, Dr. Vardhan facilitated access to photographers and videographers at the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species, with a quip. Officials at the lab said cameras cannot be permitted for use and barred entry to the media. The Minister retorted saying, “If the mediapersons cannot be allowed then why were they invited?” He later patiently complied with requests of photographers by donning eye and face-gear before placing genetic material of various species inside liquid nitrogen. However, journalists could not get the Minister to open up about controversial aspects related to forests and environment during interactions.
A novel way of spreading greenery
Although most of us are aware that rural and urban local bodies have been offering saplings to citizens for plantation as part of the ongoing Haritha Haram programme, the distribution of saplings along with domestic LPG cylinders is going on in different parts of the State without much fanfare. The green challenge started by an NGO, however, has been all over social media in the recent weeks. To support the government’s initiative of spreading greenery, some dealers of LPG cylinders in the State have started distributing a sapling with every domestic cylinder they deliver with the cooperation of the Forest Department. Such a novel practice has already taken roots in Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam districts with the proactive participation of the cooking gas dealers’ associations and is spreading to other areas too. The cooking gas consumers are more than happy to receive saplings of fruit-bearing and other useful varieties this way, officials involved in the programme said.
Bifurcation of the
High Court
The Telangana State Government has raised the pitch with the Central Government for bifurcating the High Court.
The Government has given a detailed presentation to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by former Minister P. Chidambaram. Armed with evidence, the government’s delegation headed by Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi submitted how the selection of judges was getting delayed due to delays in bifurcation.
As against the authorised strength of 61, the High Court of judicature presently has only 29 judges. Furthermore, 23 of these 29 were allotted to Andhra Pradesh thereby affecting the judicial processes relating to Telangana. With just six judges out of the 24 authorised functioning, one could only imagine the performance of the judiciary in the newly carved State.
The atmosphere outside too did not present a rosy picture as deep division in the High Court bar was coming into the open, the TS government said.
Hopefully, the Centre will act on the demand for separation of judiciary as its successful functioning will go a long way in the successful functioning of the new State.
N. Rahul, Rohit P.S., B. Chandrashekhar and M. Rajeev