Sorry, sir!

Leaders of the local traders’ union had to cut a sorry figure before a senior UT official when they came up with their charter of demands. Without going into the details, the official was generous enough to accept their demands and even called the dealing hand in front of the delegation to ask him to the needful. However, the officer reminded the traders that they had turned down a request from the Administration for arranging a CSR activity. This made the delegation seek an apology from the officer, who made them realise that the Administration was accepting their demands despite their non-cooperation. 

Minister’s partner!

A leading businessman from Maharashtra visited a top UT official the other day. Saying he was referred by a minister, the businessman made his request before the bureaucrat, who endorsed that he had got a call from the former. Even as the official gave a patient hearing to the businessman and called officials concerned asking them to do the needful as per the law, the honcho could not resist sharing with the bureaucrat that the Maharashtra minister was his business partner.

Showering praises

Bollywood actror-turned-politician Kirron Kher took a dig at former UT Adviser Vijay Kumar Dev without mentioning his name while praising the functioning of the present UT Adviser, Parimal Rai. The occasion was to make an announcement regarding the decision of the UT Administration allowing the transfer of residential properties from leasehold to freehold. The saffron party’s first-time MP said there were many officers who, in the past, conducted surprise visits to various parts of the city for mere publicity, but the outcome was zero. Praising Rai, Kher said the functioning of the present UT Adviser was different who worked from behind the scene tirelessly and remained away from the media glare while getting the most challenging works done. She said Rai even accompanied her from one ministry to another in the national capital to get the file cleared. In a way, Kher drew a parallel between the two officers.

Undercover followers!

Dera Sacha Sauda followers, who had gathered outside the Panchkula district courts complex, had to take shelter under tin sheds as it was raining heavily. Some of them even managed the traffic on the route leading to the DC office and the court.

Juicy stuff!

Dr VK Saraswat had come to Panjab University for a seminar on “Developing Country Specific Models for the Promotion of R and D via PPP Mode”. Being the Chancellor of the JNU and a member of the Niti Aayog, journalists kept asking him questions related to the display of an Army tank on the JNU campus. The organisers had a hard time and had to intervene so that issues related to the seminar could be addressed. In the end, Dr Saraswat said: “Journalists needed juicy stuff.”

(Contributed by Nitin Jain, Ramkrishan Upadhyay, Rajinder Nagarkoti & Bhartesh Thakur)