A chopper fit for a CM
Guess who has a new Rs 80-crore helicopter with cutting-edge features? It’s Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, who performed a prayer ceremony before boarding the Airbus H145 for the first time last week. With advanced avionics and safety features—making it suitable for challenging weather and operational conditions—as well as a spacious cabin, it’s often used for both VIP transport and emergency services, say officials.
It’s just a little delayed. The state government’s old chopper—a Dauphin N3 of 2008 vintage—was having problems and there were some safety concerns, so the replacement, to be imported from Germany, was approved by the high-level purchase committee two years ago when Manohar Lal Khattar was the CM. But the finance department put a hold on the purchase, delaying the process, and it was re-approved only after further discussions. The Haryana government now has two aircraft: this helicopter for the CM’s use, and a plane purchased during the BJP’s first term.
CJI does away with queue-and-greet
Soon after taking over the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Sanjiv Khanna has done away with the daily tradition of senior officers of the Supreme Court greeting the CJI every morning, before the judge enters his chamber in the court premises. Sources told ThePrint that this routine of officers lining up outside the CJI’s chamber every morning is decades old. It’s just that with time, the number of such officers waiting to greet the CJI-in-office has grown, resulting in a long queue outside the chamber.
Incidentally, some of these registrars are judicial officers from trial courts who are deputed to the Supreme Court by their respective high courts to carry out various administrative tasks such as protocol services, housekeeping, building maintenance etc. “When Justice Khanna noticed the queue on his first day in office, he asked the registrars to return to their respective offices, telling them they would be called in case a need arises,” one of the sources quoted above said.
ThePrint has learnt that this is not the first time that a CJI has discontinued the practice. In the past, people in the know recall, CJIs S.H. Kapadia and R.M. Lodha did not approve of it. Then, they said, the number of registrars was around four or five. However, now it has grown to almost 20.
Akash Anand missing in action
Akash Anand, the Bahujan Samaj Party’s national coordinator and nephew of party chief Mayawati, has been missing in action for the past few weeks. Last Saturday, when Mayawati addressed the state-level meeting of the UP and Uttarakhand units, Akash and his father Anand Kumar, who is a vice-president of the BSP, were absent. Akash, who was reinstated by Mayawati after the Lok Sabha polls, was nowhere to be found during the party’s campaign for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections, although he was highly active during the preceding Haryana polls. On social media, he’s been reposting Mayawati’s posts but is otherwise keeping a low profile. His close aides claim “personal reasons” behind his absence but the party cadre is still in a dilemma over his role in Uttar Pradesh. Not many are buying it, though.
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