A selfie with the face of Amul! 

Clearly, the 75-year old Amul brand is only growing young when it comes to striking a connect with the new generations. A testimony to that was seen at the recently-concluded International Dairy Federation’s World Dairy Summit 2022, where young attendees and the delegates — Indian and foreign — seized the opportunity to get selfies with the face of Amul!

No, it wasn't the cut-out of the popular Amul Girl, but the man himself — RS Sodhi, MD of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF).

Though the brand is etched in people’s memory, one foreign delegate was seen asking around the name of the Amul gentleman he just clicked a photo with!

Double whammy for CCI? 

The chatter these days in policy circles and the corridors of power in the Capital is about the impending merger of the National Anti-Profiteering Authority with the Competition Commission of India. The buzz is that the transfer of NAA will happen with effect from November 1 along with all pending cases.

Most observers are bemused as they see this proposed move as an “uneasy alliance” put through at the behest of the government! Reason: The approach and the mandates of both the regulators are different.

Though the government wanted to dismantle NAA soon after the GST regime stabilised, huge pendency at NAA ensured its survival. With the declared policy of “minimum government, maximum governance”, government is in no mood to allow the NAA to become permanent fixture, which, to begin with, was conceived as a temporary arrangement to ensure passing of reduction in tax rates to consumers!

What’s in a PIB card? 

It was an ordeal for journalists covering the inaugural session of the International Dairy Federation's World Dairy Summit 2022 on Monday, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Greater Noida. Several Delhi journalists were taken by surprise, when the local authorities and police declined to accept the accreditation card issued by the government’s Press Information Bureau.

“Surprising is that the State authorities aren’t recognising the PIB card instead they are relying on the names of the journalists shared by their media agencies. After much running around, we could get this bar-coded entry card to cover the PM's event. If a PIB card can’t get you access to the PM's event, what's the use of it then!,” quipped a senior journalist covering Central secretariat for years.

Courtesy call 

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday night even as his war of words with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan escalated.

The meeting took place the evening after Khan had accused the Left government of preventing the police from registering a case in an alleged attempt to attack him physically during a History Congress in 2019. The Governor's office said Khan had a brief meeting with Bhagwat, held at an RSS leader’s house in Thrissur around 8 PM.

“It was a courtesy call. It was a pre-planned meeting.” But the timing couldn’t have been more significant coming as it did in the midst of the ongoing tussle between the heads of the government and State over a series of issues, political and non-political.

Jack of all 

Last week, Sunil Barthwal took over as the Union Commerce Secretary. This is the third time in the National Democratic Alliance government that someone without any economic or finance ministry background has taken over the reins of the Commerce Department. Barthwal is a veteran in the labour sector, having served as provident fund commissioner.

The earlier secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam, had a background in security, though he served as the deputy secretary in the department. His predecessor, Rita Teotia, had more experience in health, women and child development. Our Bureaus

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