Maneka Gandhi
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is pulling out all the stops this year to promote the Women of India National Organic Festival, a brainchild of minister Maneka Gandhi. True to Maneka’s style, the festival even introduced a vegan corner this year. The minister, in fact, bought much of her Diwali gifts from the organic festival, and many ministry officials faithfully followed suit.
Calling For Role
New university chancellors appointed by the HRD Ministry have been unhappy with the lack of power. The post of chancellor is titular in nature, which seems to have caused some heartburn between the chancellor and vice-chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University. Apparently the newly appointed chancellor, Firoz Bakht Ahmed, wants more responsibility, and this is being perceived as interference in varsity affairs by vice-chancellor Mohammad Parvaiz Aslam. The ministry is aware of the power tussle between the two.
Temple Template
The jury may still be out on whether the BJP’s temple pitch is making much headway among the people, but that has not stopped party leaders from taking up the issue. For instance, Union Minister of State Vijay Goel has installed a replica of the proposed Ayodhya temple’s model in the middle of the circular driveway at his official residence on Ashok Road.