WhatsApp woes

Those who have been unwilling recipients of WhatsApp forwards, good morning messages, and wishes will identify with this one. The latest to be hit by a WhatsApp blitz is none other than the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, who had been receiving a deluge of good wishes and messages from his junior judicial officers on the occasion of Krishna Janmastami last weekend. To put an end to this, the registrar general of the high court sent a directive to all district judges, urging them to stop the practice immediately. “Any lapse on the part of any judicial officer will be viewed seriously,” the registrar said in his directive.

Sparring over projects

One-upmanship between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his predecessor, Akhilesh Yadav, continues unabated with the two young leaders openly claiming credit for the mega industrial projects, both completed and ongoing, in the state. Some of these big projects include Lucknow Metro and the Lucknow-Agra Expressway. Interestingly, some bureaucrats have also been sparring — albeit discreetly and in hushed tones — over those. A group of officials that was calling the shots during the Yadav regime rues that it was under its supervision that some of these projects were conceptualised and started; on its part, a core group of officials in the Adityanath dispensation counters such claims, alleging lapses and budget overruns, which “had to be tediously fine-tuned for faster and economical completion”.

Minister’s time wasted

Madhya Pradesh Minister for Tribal Affairs Omkar Singh Markam was stuck on a SpiceJet flight for more than four hours at Raja Bhoj airport, Bhopal, recently. He was travelling from Delhi to Jabalpur on an early morning flight. Due to bad weather, the flight was diverted to Bhopal. The minister had no option but to sit in the aircraft. Markam requested SpiceJet and the airport authorities to let him go to his bungalow in the city. He said he would be able to do official work in this idle time and would return to the airport even at short notice. But the airline did not accede to his request. Last heard, the minister has filed a complaint on this with the aviation secretary.