Below the line. Silence more damaging

Urjit Patel is the man making news without uttering a word. Action speaks louder than words. The tension between the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the Finance Ministry, which has been brewing for last six months, hit a now low when RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya made that explosive speech. Patel still remained silent, but talks of him resigning gained momentum.

“He could resign after the November 19 board meeting,” said a person in the know. But it might not be political right for the government, which is dealing with CBI controversy right now, he went on to add. “We are unhappy, disappointed, and frustrated with the top boss of Reserve Bank of India. But, we are not saying or pushing for anyone’s resignation. We won’t do anything radical,” said a top politician.

Asked if Patel chose to quit will the government try to hold him back, the answer is met with a ‘silence’! So, the buck stops with Patel.

The grapevine among the top agricultural scientists is that the government tweaked the recruitment rules for the post of Agricultural Scientists’ Recruitment Board (ASRB) Chairman keeping a particular bureaucrat, who superannuated recently, in mind.

Disregarding the recommendations of an official committee specifically set up to review the functioning of ASRB, the government decided for the first time to allow career bureaucrats to apply for the position, always headed by an agricultural scientist in its 45-year-long history.

The retired babu ’s proximity with a powerful bureaucrat in the Prime Minister’s Office — incidentally belonging to the State of the former — may land him the plum job which is the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.

Minister for Law, Justice, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad created quite a furore during the last Cabinet briefing. Prasad was speaking about the move to sell shares held by those who had moved to Pakistan during partition and classify the proceeds as disinvestment gains.

While speaking about this decision, Prasad said that these shares ‘were’ worth ₹3,000 crore in 1968. Financial journalists present at the briefing were shocked as these shares could be worth lakhs of crores of rupees at the present valuation.

By all estimates, this sale alone would have given the Centre enough money to comfortably meet the fiscal deficit and the oil import bill. Later a government statement clarified that the ‘present’ valuation of these shares is estimated at ₹3,000 crore, dampening the sentiments.

It is hard to erase one’s digital footprints on social media. Supreme Court senior counsel Amarendra Sharan, recently in news for representing erstwhile number two man in CBI, Rakesh Asthana, had taken a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet dated June 13, 2013, from his Twitter handle @SharanAmarendra. He claimed that powers that be are a serious threat to Indian democracy. But that was 2013. He is now independently representing Asthana who is known to be hand-picked by the powers that be. Is Sharan still of the same opinion?

Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved recently forayed into the apparel segment. In an unique press conference, Baba he did a walk-through of the entire store, showcasing all the products on TV live.

However, when Baba moved to a section where accessories were on display, he couldn't help but make a wisecrack.

Pointing to a loyee (shawl) made of sheep wool from Uttarakhand, he said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal may find it very useful and that he will definitely send it to him as a gift.

Our Delhi Bureau

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