Below the line

As the Modi government completes four years in office, there is a lot of expectation that the reform momentum will continue in the last year before general elections in 2019 as well. The last significant reform was the rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July 1, 2017. Does the government have any other significant reform up its sleeve before 2019? Now that oil is on the boil, an ideal gift to the nation could be levy of GST on petroleum products to mark the fourth anniversary of this BJP-led regime, say economy watchers. Will the government bite this reform bullet? Only time will tell.

A few thousand families in East Delhi were outraged to see their favourite sports complex out of bounds for them as Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to use the Commonwealth Games sports complex near Akshardham Temple in East Delhi as helipad to fly down to Baghpat in UP.

Reason: The Prime Minister had to officially declare open on Sunday the ₹11,000 crore Eastern Peripheral Expressway and the first phase of Delhi-Meerut Expressway being constructed by NHAI. The sports complex will remain closed for patrons till 2 pm on Sunday, it was announced. It created more heartburn for kids who have just started enjoying their summer holidays. One sports enthusiast wondered why the PM couldn’t have avoided using the sports complex for his helipad, especially when the government’s focus is on having a ‘Fit India’.

The anti-Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, and the killings that followed saw reactions and censure even in London. But it does not seem to have unduly perturbed the Central ministries. While the Ministry of Mines maintained that it had nothing to do with giving permissions for expansion of the Sterlite plant, the Ministry of Environment decided to stay mum on the subject. When prodded, officials in the Environment Ministry said that they were busy with World Environment Day celebrations slated for June 5.

The Dutch pride themselves on their plainspeak. A delegation from the Indian media visiting the Netherlands recently was told several times on the first day itself that while Indians weighed their words carefully before speaking, the Dutch were more direct. But the tables got turned on the hosts soon. When a top Dutch business representative tried to dodge a question on the problems faced in India, he was immediately accused by a journalist in the group of acting the “Indian way”. The businessman fumbled for a response but could only manage a weak laughter. Indian plainspeak clearly left him speechless.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has the ability to play to the galleries. This came out again at a press meet this past week. Gadkari said that he had “good news” for his media friends, many of whom lived in locations in Uttar Pradesh adjoining Delhi, such as Ghaziabad and Noida. So what was the good news? The first phase of Delhi-Meerut Expressway — which is now complete with 14 lanes — removes a traffic bottleneck between New Delhi (where most of the ministries that the media has to cover are located) and locations such as Ghaziabad and Noida. “A lot of my media friends used to ask me when the road will be complete,” Gadkari said.

Vertical gardens

Maintaining the vertical gardens along the Delhi-Meerut Expressway may turn out to be a challenge for the Welspun Group team given that the Delhi heat would wither the plants — despite drip irrigation — and propensity of some people to just lift the small plastic pots that make the garden. Some of those pots were being sold along the highways, said an person in the know. Now, the locals have been tasked with securing the plants, it seems.

Our Delhi Bureau

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