Nitin Gadkari Green cause: Nitin Gadkari, who has earned praise from fellow party men as well as MPs from other parties for the pace in highway construction now appears to be keen on championing green initiatives. The Union minister, who has taken initiatives in production of bio-fuel and organic farming, makes it a point to show to visitors a room heater that runs on ethanol at his residence in the national capital. The fireplace burner, which looks like a gas burner, is kept in the visitors’ room. According to Gadkari, it works for 6-7 hours with one litre of bio ethanol. The heater produces no carbon and he argues that it would be necessary to adopt such items as the nation is moving towards zero-emission and cheaper sources of energy.
Language barrier: Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was at the receiving end of Opposition’s anger on Thursday when he refused to switch to English while answering an MP from Tamil Nadu, who asked him a question in English. When DMK’s Veluswamy P asked him whether the government would consider giving an airport to Palani to facilitate Hindu pilgrims under the UDAN scheme, Scindia replied in Hindi that it was not connected to the original question about Jewar airport. But Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was not amused. He said the minister can speak both English and Hindi and he should answer in English to an MP from Tamil Nadu. Tharoor said it was an insult to the MP. But Scindia said: “Why would there be a problem if I speak in Hindi? There are translators. It is very strange.” DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran then reminded Tharoor that “he (Scindia) has joined the BJP”.
No rewrite, please: When TRS MP K Keshav Rao reiterated Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s stand on changing the Constitution as “secularism is under threat” under the present regime, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge interceded, saying that if the TRS wanted to change the Constitution, then Congress will be the first to oppose it. “We will never accept it,” he said. Kharge said amendments could be brought in instead. The Chief Minister had mooted the proposal to rewrite the Constitution at a press conference held in reaction to the Union Budget, where he said it was required to prevent the Centre from usurping states’ powers.
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