Prakash Javadekar
Some in the government admit there is a need for awareness to remove the stigma against Covid-19 patients and those who have recovered. While calls from public figures like actors Amitabh Bachchan and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to deal with it as just another disease have been appreciated, some ministers are taking extra steps to convey the message. One such move was made by Union minister Prakash Javadekar. PIB Director General K S Dhatwalia was apprehensive about sharing a dais for a cabinet briefing as he had recovered from coronavirus infection. But Javadekar insisted that Dhatwalia be seated with him to send the message that once recovered, one is perfectly fine.
More Rumblings
While the crisis in the Rajasthan Congress is far from over, it is said there are rumblings in the Jharkhand Congress as well. The Congress shares power with the JMM in the state. A section of Congress MLAs is demanding the removal of the state Congress chief Rameshwar Oraon. At least three of them have landed in Delhi and met Ahmed Patel, and are learnt to have urged him to implement the one-man-one-post policy in Jharkhand. Oraon is the state Finance Minister apart from being PCC chief.
New Post
Hardik Satishchandra Shah, a 2010-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, will be the new Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Shah, said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training. He is currently posted as Deputy Secretary in the PMO. He will replace Rajeev Topno, a 1996-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, who was appointed senior advisor to the World Bank Executive Director last month.