Below the line

Bank union leaders are clearly able to read the pulse of this government. So much so that they have now warned the bank employees and their comrades not to let their guard down in their ongoing fight against bank privatisation. Don't call it a win too soon is the advice from AIBEA General Secretary CH Venkatachalam, who has cautioned the bank employees that government not introducing Bank privatisation Bill in just concluded Winter session — although a good news for bank employees — does not mean that the Bill has been shelved or will not be brought in future.

The bank employees have been told to see this as just a temporary reprieve, at the best. “Beware, it is just a reprieve and not a retreat,” according to Venkatachalam’s recent message to bank employees. This is sage advice with the government preparing to introduce the Bank privatisation Bill in upcoming Budget session, say banking industry observers. Big message to bank employees is that government may have lost the recent battle (unable to move the privatisation Bill in Parliament), but it could still end up winning the war in the upcoming budget session! Action has clearly shifted to the budget session.

The famous yellow bag — manjapai in Tamil — is back in demand in Tamil Nadu thanks to Chief Minister MK Stalin last week starting a movement to propagate the use of cloth bags instead of plastic bags to reduce pollution. The manjapai has always been associated with the traditional Tamil functions and it is given to those who attended when they leave and usually contains coconut, betel leaves and nuts and given as Vethalaipaaku.

Interestingly, Stalin’s father and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi always had a yellow shawl around his neck. One wonders if there is a connection between the yellow shawl and the yellow bag.

The President of BJP’s Andhra Pradesh unit created a furore last week when he made a passionate appeal to liquor lovers to vote for his party and get cheap liquor at just ₹75.

“Why, if voted to power and things go well, we will offer it at just ₹50,” Somu Virraju said, triggering an uproar.

“There are about one crore people that consume liquor. Do vote for us in the next elections, we promise you to provide cheap liquor at affordable prices,” he said, addressing a public meeting.

His statement comes in the wake of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government hiking the liquor prices significantly over the last two years.

As this clip went viral, the social media platforms were flooded with memes and criticism, flaying the BJP leader. Some even trolled him on Facebook and Twitter, adding 'sarai' (liquor) before his name.

The BJP leader's tongue-in-cheek comments caught the attention of leaders beyond the two Telugu States as well.

In a damage-control bid, he later explained that his comments were misunderstood and that he just wanted to make liquor affordable for the poor.

The late MV Kamath, one of the noted journalists of India, had covered many milestone events of independent India.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recalled some of his assignments in the MV Kamath Centenary Memorial Lecture, organised by Manipal Academy of Higher Education, recently. She said that Kamath was sent from Mumbai to Delhi to cover the Constituent Assembly debates even when it was in the final stages of finishing the drafting of Indian Constitution. He also covered the trial of Nathuram Godse.

Kamath also covered the midnight of August 14 and 15 of 1947 when India got Independence. He covered all these epoch-making events when he was barely 26 years old. He was one of the earliest to write the biography of Prime Minister Narendra Modi also, she informed the virtual gathering.

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