Prithviraj Chavan.Facing flak within: The tussle in the Congress between pro-establishment leaders and the emaciated G-23 group is turning interesting by the day. A day after Kumari Selja wrote to the AICC, seeking action against her Haryana arch-rival Bhupinder Singh Hooda for meeting former party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, an AICC functionary has now approached the disciplinary action committee with a complaint against Prithviraj Chavan. Hooda had met Azad with G-23 colleagues Anand Sharma and Chavan on Tuesday.
Now, Indian Overseas Congress secretary Virender Vashisht has written to the disciplinary panel and stated that some of the comments made by Chavan, a former Maharashtra CM, to the media on the party’s organisational elections falls in the purview of indiscipline. He has claimed that Chavan has spoken falsely against Rahul Gandhi. Vashisht confirmed having approached the disciplinary panel, but did not disclose which remarks of Chavan he found objectionable. Hooda, meanwhile, proclaimed his loyalty to the Gandhi family to counter Selja.
A record campaign: An MP from Kerala has managed to get into the Guinness Book of World Records with a good cause. On Wednesday, Lok Sabha MP from Ernakulam in Kerala, Hibi Eden, created a world record by distributing the most number of sanitary products in 24 hours — 1,00,001 menstrual cups were distributed free in his constituency in that time. Eden had the backing of the Indian Medical Association’s Kochi chapter, the district administration, and CSR funds from Muthoot Finance. The Congress MP, who was a two-term MLA before he won the Lok Sabha polls, now wants to spread the campaign to the entire state.
In science we trust: It may have been an event to launch India’s first cervical cancer vaccine, but Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh used the opportunity to thank the real heroes of the achievement — the scientists. Singh said the event was organised to recognise those who worked to achieve the feat. Citing the example of an actor, Singh said people talk about the actor once the film is released, but the story would be different if the scriptwriters had not done their job. The minister said that it is essential to prevent non-communicable diseases among the young, as they will be architects of the India of 2047. He also said many diseases were not found earlier because most people died early, adding, in jest, that “many superannuated without a farewell”.