Look,who pats DhumalChief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal seems to have weaved a magic spell over his partymen after receiving a basketful of development awards. And this time,surprisingly,his long-time bete noire Shanta Kumar has made a special effort to pat Dhumal for the achievement. In a letter to the CM,he even said he has started to notice his own reflection in Dhumal. Though the BJP is now flaunting the new bonhomie between the two leaders as strength of the party,many feel this is the most modest way Shanta has chosen to paying back the favours such as the Vivekananda Medical Trust at Palampur. In the line of fire,againThe case against Industries Minister Krishan Kapoor for allotting a plot illegally to himself from his discretionary quota has become a new cause for worry not only for the minister but also for the BJP Government. Set to face the music,the minister is keeping his fingers crossed. It has been just a few months that he had to lose a much lucrative transport and urban development portfolio because he failed to ensure victory of the party in his constituency in the Lok Sabha elections. Though the Government is tightlipped on the issue,sources said the ruling party was doing some serious thinking on how to tackle the controversies surrounding Kapoor and Rajender Rana,whose name figures in the case pertaining to his presence in a hotel from where two prostitutes were found on the same night. No compromise on traditionEven as the traditional act of bull-fighting during local fairs has been termed as cruelty towards animals,cabinet ministers of the Government fail to acknowledge it. This years Sair fair at Mashobra too saw a minister enjoying the event. Transport and Urban Development Mahender Singh justified it by saying some events are important to preserve the tradition. Last year,Krishan Kapoor,who was holding the same portfolio then,had presided over one such bull-fight. Reward and reprimandAs former finance secretary Arvind Mehta has been sent on Central deputation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,bureaucrats back home believe his work was noticed and he has been rewarded for his performance in Himachal. However,some others believe that he should have been reprimanded for one of his recent decisions of recovery of excess interim relief from employees that had put the Government to embarrassment. Earlier,the state Government had announced an interim relief in the wake of new payscales that were to be implemented on the lines of Punjab Government,but the hike announced by Punjab was found to be lesser. Though the Government recently announced to prevent the recovery,but damage had been done. Not the right decision?The IGP-rank IPS officer,who was posted as head of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in an unusual move over six months ago,has turned out to be a liability for the department. Though the Government had decided to give him the post for his medical background,he has failed to come out of the policing mindset,which is hampering the take-off of many new initiatives. On the other hand,a similar experiment in the Municipal Corporation of Shimla with the posting of IPS officer A N Sharma as commissioner seems fruitful till now. His skills are being used to keep the Congress-dominated MC House under control.
