Nirmala ko gussa kyon aata hai
Fastest finger first is very much the norm at press conferences, getting the news out asap is priority. But a recent meeting with Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was intended as an informal chat; she was not to be quoted. However, in their enthusiasm, two reporters broke the protocol, in the process upsetting the ministerand all the mediapersons at the event ended up being viewed with suspicion.
The minister sent out an angry tweet directed against the ones who had breached the code, having zeroed in on one. Immediately there were scores of tweets in response commenting on the falling standards of journalism.
The two journalists, working with news agencies, were eventually identified, and reprimanded. They apologised. However, the others too received an unfair share of flak for doing nothing more than attend an event they had been invited to.
Electrified!
Every few days there is a power ministry statement saying how good the bijli situation is in the country now. While it is good to be transparent, this overdose of information sharing is tiring, not to speak of the claims of surplus and improved power situations being open to question.
The Government’s numbers are being endorsed through various surveys as well, making us wonder if all is well why this overdrive? Or as an industry observer stated, why keep “everyone electrified”?!
Hello, Goodbye
The launch of the Three Year Action Agenda by the NITI Aayog on August 24 was almost like a farewell function for outgoing Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Naushad Forbes, co-chairman of Forbes Marshall, who attended the event, all spoke about the good work done by Panagariya and wished him well. Panagariya demits office on August 31.
No sugar-coating
At a recent event in the capital to mark the integration of BHIM with Uber, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad did not mince words. While lauding the efforts of Axis Bank and its chief executive Shikha Sharma for partnering with Uber for the rider side integration of BHIM, Prasad stunned the audience by saying, “For the moment I am calling this as a marriage of convenience. Final comment from me will come when it becomes a marriage of conviction.” The reason for Prasad’s stance is not far to seek. Private banks have been quite reluctant to push, adopt or process BHIM when they have their own wallets or UPI solutions to promote. Prasad’s message to bankers was direct: Please ensure digital payments become a success by proper coordination with low cost technology solution providers (read BHIM).
Too big to ignore
Ravi Shankar Prasad sure has a way with words. Claiming to visiting Uber honcho David Richter, senior vice-president, global business, that India presented a “large market” and a “good business proposition”, he said: “David, I would like to tell you that India not only excels in creating low cost technology solutions, but is a good market also. We are only 1.25 billion people. In the last three years, we have added as many mobile phones as the entire population of Italy and France.” This is the scale on which India works, so it’s good Uber is in India, he said. We couldn’t agree more.
Prasad also pointed out that with regard to Aadhaar, India makes 30 million digital identity verifications every day and that too free of cost!
Old wine in new bottles
The Modi government’s obsession with repackaging is back with the introduction of ‘swachta dooths’ (cleanliness ambassadors) in ministries. These swachta dooths have been assigned tasks such as organising files and maintaining cleanliness. While this may seem a brilliant initiative to take forward, the fact is these are existing employees now wearing colour-coded t-shirts since August 15.