Below the line

Illegal immigrants who are trying to infiltrate into India now have an eye in the sky to be watchful of. India is capable of detecting any suspicious activity even in international border areas which are not currently manned by border security personnel using satellite data, claimed Jitender Singh, who is in-charge in the Prime Minister’s Office for Department of Space. Singh, who held a press conference together with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan in the Capital on Thursday, said the moment people living on the other side of the international border start moving towards the Indian landmass, satellite data can be used to get a computerised monitoring system activated helping to detect anyone trying to sneak into the country.

Popular hill stations such as Nanital, Mussoorie and Shimla may put breaks on number of people visiting them. There is a thinking to curb the number of arrivals as the existing infrastructure is unable to manage the influx. There is no denying that there are some challenges which local authorities need to address, but local authorities need to fix them and be prepared for growing domestic tourism, an official said.

Ministries with new ministers are witnessing a new kind of competition. The competition is between peons and office assistants. Those who were with precious ministers are doing their best to impress the new ones so that they continue in the same post, while a newer set of staff is wanting them to be replaced. One of new ones said that he should also get a chance to serve the ministers or their staff for five years. Another one demanded that when PM Modi has ruled out another term for PS/OSD, the same rule should be applicable to peons and office assistants too. These staff want a circular, which is yet to be issued by the officer in-charge for administration.

If you thought only Bollywood was superstitious and added another ‘K’ to its name, hear this. Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar is a busy man. As the deadline to meet renewable energy generation capacity goals nears, the ministry is making concerted efforts to boost industry sentiments. And while he works on re-powering and re-energising the ministry, Kumar has decided to add another ‘A’ to his first name — Aanand Kumar.

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan have been some of the more prominent faces brought back in the Modi 2.0. But the two were seldom seen together during the last tenure. This time both Goyal (as the Commerce Minister) and Pradhan (as the Steel Minister) jointly met steel sector representatives who are petitioning for further protectionist measures. During the meeting, Pradhan is said to have quipped that both Goyal and he are poles apart and catching both on the same table or page is an unusual phenomenon.

When Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health, assumed charge of his office for the second time, the corridors of Nirman Bhavan resounded with sounds of conch shells being blown amidst repeated chants of ‘ Bharat Mata ki Jai ,’ and ‘ Jai Shri Ram’ . Choubey was surrounded by a number of Hindu priests and godmen. Whispers in the Ministry suggest that Choubey's appointment is political in nature.

In the last term, Choubey never significantly interacted with the media about any health-related issue which is his primary portfolio and his repeat term came as a surprise. At times he has been caught napping beside the former health minister JP Nadda on the dais. Rumour has it that Choubey was given a last minute entry after Anupriya Patel, who was also being considered for a re-term, backed out following refusal of her political party Apna Dal to take a berth.

Our Delhi Bureau