Follow nine-page protocol or lose IIC membership
Not allowing domestic help inside a venue, not roaming around in shorts or slippers at any venue, and wearing “sober-coloured” shoes while walking or running in the country’s power park, Lodi Gardens. Not eating loudly, not walking on the lawn, never giving a tip to the staff, or eating paan.
These are just some of the protocols which are expected to be followed by members of the India International Centre, the go-to club for the capital’s who’s who.
In a recent letter to its members, the director of the IIC said since 1962, the club has been “a leading institution, known beyond the country and beyond, for fostering intellectual exchange, dialogue, and cultural enrichment in an environment of courtesy and mutual regard”. But recently, he said there have been complaints about “deviations from the norm and transgressions from our time honoured conventions”.
Attached to this letter is a nine-page ‘IIC Members’ Protocol’, full of circumlocution, clauses and sub-clauses, which enjoins members to toe the line or lose their membership, thus ensuring that the atmosphere of “intellectual exchange, dialogue and cultural engagement” at the 58-year old club is not vitiated.
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Can anyone use PM Modi’s photo in campaign? BJP can’t seem to decide
Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi Tuesday rebuked the Lok Janshakti Party, which left the NDA in the state but remains an ally at the central level, saying that only the four alliance partners in Bihar can use a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the election campaign.
BJP leader Sushil Modi, deputy to CM Nitish Kumar of the JD(U), said his party would write to the Election Commission to restrict other parties from “misusing” PM Modi’s name and photographs for the polls.
But, just about half an hour before and a thousand kilometres away, in Delhi, the BJP’s newly appointed general secretary Dushyant Gautam addressed his first press conference as an office-bearer, to give details about party chief J.P. Nadda’s first meeting with his new team.
Asked about the LJP using PM Modi’s photo and claiming his “blessings”, Gautam said anyone could use his photo because he is the prime minister of all Indians.
It is not yet known if this difference between the central and state party line was planned, or the new general secretary misfired in his first press conference.
‘Back to classroom’ feeling for BJP office-bearers
Staying with Nadda’s first meeting with the BJP office-bearers — since there are many new members in his team, everyone was asked to introduce themselves in a few lines. Many seasoned vice-presidents and spokespersons who are commonly seen defending the party on our TV screens had to stand up and give their introductions.
Many leaders said after the meeting that they felt like they were back in a classroom. But this is not a unique occurrence — when PM Modi held his first cabinet meeting in 2014, all ministers were asked to introduce themselves, including party chief Nitin Gadkari and veteran leader Kalraj Mishra.
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China versus Taiwan, now playing out in the Indian media
India was caught between a rock and a hard place over Taiwan celebrating its ‘109th National Day’, and China rejecting it in no uncertain terms.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India sent a note to all media publications Wednesday morning, stating that it would be celebrating its ‘National Day’ on 10 October. The note also said that “due to the Covid-19 situation we are unable to have a celebration in person”, but a special telecast will be shown exclusively on the WION channel.
In a promotional video on WION, Taiwan Representative to India Baushauan Ger said the “birth of a nation” will be celebrated.
However, the Chinese Embassy issued a follow-up note to the Indian media refuting the ‘National Day’ claim, and saying “there is only one China in the world and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory”.
“All countries that have diplomatic relations with China should firmly honour their commitment to the One-China policy, which is also the long-standing official position of the Indian government. We hope Indian media can stick to the Indian government’s position on the Taiwan question and not violate the One-China principle,” the note added.
The Chinese Embassy also directed the media to not to refer to Taiwan as a “country (nation), or the Republic of China, or the leader of China’s Taiwan region as president, so as not to send the wrong signals to the general public”.
Why SC panel won’t shut for a day despite 7 testing Covid-positive
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes saw seven employees from the administration and ‘class 4’ staff testing positive for Covid in the last 10 days.
The commission had already shut down its premises once for fumigation after employees on the floor had tested positive. But this week, despite the spread, the commission has not shut down its premises, not even for a day to sanitise, fearing a media backlash.
The alleged gang-rape and murder of a Dalit woman by upper caste men in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, has put the NCSC’s work under the spotlight, and officials do not want any negative publicity.
The NCSC has been under scrutiny since media reports highlighted that despite being a constitutional body to safeguard the rights of SCs, the commission doesn’t have enough members.
Number 9 can solve Bengaluru’s problems, apparently
Bengaluru is now set to have 243 municipal wards, instead of 198. And one of the reasons the joint select committee of the Karnataka legislature vetting the new bill on governing the state capital picked the number is astrology, or numerology to be precise.
The state government felt the number of wards in Bengaluru needed to increase after a delimitation exercise. But Karnataka Law Minister J.C. Madhuswamy made a special request to the committee — that the new number should add up to 9.
The existing Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act allows for up to 200 wards, but the committee is in favour of allowing the number to go up to 250, and wants to fix 243 for Bengaluru because 2+4+3 equals 9.
The committee that made the decision comprised of the law minister, primary and secondary education minister, 11 MLAs from the ruling BJP, six from the Congress and three from the JD(S).
The request for number 9 is the belief in seeking the blessings of the Navagrahas (the nine planets of astrology, not astronomy) for the well-being of the city. CV Raman Nagar MLA S. Raghu, head of the committee, said it was not a priority , but one also “needs God’s grace” to keep Bengaluru prosperous.
The previous number, 198, also added up to 9, but that didn’t seem to do much to ease Bengaluru’s woes.
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