Prashant KishorRecently made JD(U) vice-president, political strategist Prashant Kishor’s absence at the meeting of NDA allies from Bihar at BJP president Amit Shah’s residence on Sunday raised some eyebrows. The meeting was held to discuss, and subsequently announce, the much-awaited seat-sharing arrangement in the state for next year’s Lok Sabha polls. Shah was accompanied by BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav and LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan, who was present with son Chirag. Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar was the only representative from his party when the major decision was announced.
Low-key Affair
With both National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and Union Home Secretary Rajiv Guaba missing from the event, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) lecture was a low-key affair. Union minister Nitin Gadkari, the keynote speaker, was accompanied by MoS (Home) Hansraj Ahir. In the past, the NSA and the Home Secretary have been part of the annual lecture series.
Reasoned Approach
Instead of confronting the government, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have lately adopted a more collaborative approach to resolve their disagreements with the HRD Ministry. This was evident two weeks ago when all IIM directors, in a meeting with the Higher Education Secretary, collectively urged the HRD Ministry to intervene on their behalf with the Finance Ministry on revenue authorities charging service tax on their programmes even after implementation of the IIM Act. In the meeting, the IIMs also requested the ministry to reconsider its stand on the entry criteria for BTech students seeking direct admission for PhD programmes. The IIMs want the government to dilute the CGPA stipulation from 8 to 6. Last week, the HRD Ministry played an active role in getting the GST Council to exempt all IIM programmes from service tax. It seems the government has now agreed to dilute the CGPA criterion to 6.5.
