Regional journal: ‘Haryana DGP right hai’

Haryana DGP OP Singh’s recent controversial remark that Thar and Bullet are mostly owned by rogue elements has found many takers. His remark set social media afire, with the statement clocking around 1.5 million views and 1-2 lakh in engagement (likes, shares and reactions). The DGP himself shared the results. Of those, 90 per cent declared the remark was absolutely correct, 5 per cent were neutral and the remaining were negative.

Akalis’ meme reply to naysayers

During the counting for the Tarn Taran bypoll on Friday, AAP’s Harmeet Singh Sandhu (winner) and SAD’s Sukhwinder Kaur (runner-up) kept the race lively. But the real entertainment was online. Earlier, people on social media had joked, “Dinosaurs may return, but Badals will not come back to power.” However, Akalis replied in their own style — sharing a video of their party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal walking with a chained dinosaur carrying a plate marked “2027”, captioned “Aa gya 2027”.

Himachal Cong feels Bihar jolt

The Bihar poll debacle for the Congress has further dampened the spirit of the already demoralised party cadres in Himachal Pradesh. Party workers are hoping that the drubbing would hasten the long-awaited decision on the next Himachal Congress president and infusing life into the defunct party organisation. Though Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi have already interviewed six leaders for the post of PCC chief, no decision has been made yet.

Ex-IPS officer’s flop electoral show

Himachal-cadre IPS officer JP Singh’s foray into politics has proved to be a damp squib. Hailing from Bihar, Singh took premature retirement while he was serving as an ADGP to try his electoral fate. He contested the Bihar Assembly poll on the Jan Suraaj party ticket from Chapra. Having polled a mere 3,433 votes and forfeited his security deposit, Singh would have understood that politics is not easy.

‘Pat on the back’ for Punjab babus

Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu, during his recent visit to Chandigarh, blamed the Punjab Government and its bureaucrats for delaying the acquisition of land for the Mohali-Rajpura rail link. However, top officials were quick to clarify to their political masters that the delay was rather on part of the Railways in designating the competent authorities for the acquisition process. The prompt response earned babus the rare praise from the ruling party for puncturing the “anti-AAP narrative”.

Craze for central deputation

A number of senior IAS officers in Punjab Government want to move to Delhi on a central deputation and have been requesting the state government for a no-objection certificate (NOC). While three officers — Tejveer Singh, Varun Roojam and Shruti Singh — have been granted the NOC, at least four other senior officers are in line to receive the “elusive NOC”.

Mission foreign jaunts

After a state milk cooperative-sponsored foreign jaunt of officers, it is now the turn of a high-powered delegation from the Industry and Investment Promotion Department to go on a mission to seek investment from Japan and South Korea. While permission from the Centre is still awaited, preparations are in full swing by a motley group from the two departments to embark on the journey to foreign shores.

Piece of history on notice board

The Tribune’s edition of October 12, 1947, is probably the most widely read newspaper in Punjab. A majority of commuters entering the Gurdaspur railway station invariably stop to read the daily pasted on the notice board. Adjacent to the 78-year-old edition, which gives glimpses of the Partition’s aftermath on its front page, is pasted a copy of the Pakistan’s English daily — Dawn. Perhaps, railway officials want people to be reminded of what exactly happened in the months following the Partition.

Contributed by Bhartesh Singh Thakur, Archit Watts, Pratibha Chauhan, Rajmeet Singh, Ruchika M Khanna & Ravi Dhaliwal