Musical chairs

It is not uncommon to see politicians switching parties as elections start knocking at the doors.

As Telangana heads for polls next month, pole vaults are at brisk pace. Ponnala Lakshmaiah, who was with Congress for over 40 years, resigned, obviously over denial of a seat, and KT Rama Rao, Working President of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), wasted no time in roping him into BRS.

Tummala Nageswara Rao, a former Telugu Desam Party leader who joined BRS and became a Minister, resigned and joined the Congress. A few Congress leaders announced their resignations, finding no place in the first list of candidates announced by the party.

Meanwhile, Pradesh Congress Committee President A Revanth Reddy lambasted Ponnala for quitting a party that gave him everything.

A leader affiliated to ABVP in his student days, Revanth Reddy was a protege of TDP President Chandrababu Naidu and was embroiled in the sensational note-for-vote case. He quit TDP to join Congress before the last elections.

Publisher’s goof up

Last week, it was a full house at the launch of former Election Commissioner SY Quraishi’s book ‘India’s Experiment With Democracy’ in Delhi .

The discussion among the panelists — eminent jurist Fali S Nariman, author politician Shashi Tharoor, journalists Shekhar Gupta and Neerja Chowdhury — was spirited as they debated the pros and cons of simultaneous elections.

However, there was one red-faced moment on stage when Quraishi disclosed that the publisher had forgotten to print the Foreword penned by Tharoor.

Modi the lyricist

This Navratri, you may find yourself listening to Garba – Maadi and Garbo -- penned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A tweet by the Prime Minister said “As the auspicious Navratri dawns upon us, I am delighted to share a Garba penned by me during the past week. Let the festive rhythms embrace everyone!

I thank @MeetBros, Divya Kumar for giving voice and music to this Garba.

Thank you”

In another tweet Modi thanked Dhvani Bhanushali for picking his other poem:

“@dhvanivinod, Tanishk Bagchi and the team of @Jjust_Music for this lovely rendition of a Garba I had penned years ago! It does bring back many memories. I have not written for many years now but I did manage to write a new Garba over the last few days, which I will share during Navratri.

#SoulfulGarba”

A tweet by Dhvani Bhanushali read: “Dear @narendramodi Ji, #TanishkBagchi and I loved Garba penned by you and we wanted to make a song with a fresh rhythm, composition and flavour. @Jjust_Music helped us bring this song and video to life.”

Adjustable handle bar

Two-wheeler riders often have to endure back pain. To overcome this, EK Hissam, a Kochi-based mechanical engineer, has come out with an adjustable handle bar called Electronic Variable Ride Bar (EVRB) that can help riders to ride at a comfortable height.

His invention has also received a patent.

The newly developed EVRB system can be installed between the handle and fork of the bike and the driver can adjust the handle through a switch while riding. It operates with the support of the motor and gear of the vehicle. Costing ₹5,000, the device can be installed on any bike.

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