When the minister means businessThe newly reconstituted monitoring group, chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chauhan and including Jitendra Singh, aspires to be active. Chauhan, who is now in charge of the Jharkhand polls, was late for the opening meeting due to a flight delay from Ranchi. However, he made it plain that he intends to hold two sessions per month and will keep them focused. Unlike the first meeting last week, which was attended by approximately 80 Union Secretaries, the following meetings will only include officials from departments pertinent to the topic under discussion.Not letting go of the opportunityThe first MidCareer Training Program for civil servants of BIMSTEC countries , conducted this month by India’s National Center for Good Governance, has attracted 45 mid and seniorlevel civil servant officials from the participating countries. However, officials from Bangladesh are conspicuously absent due to ongoing violence in the country. Nepal is claimed to have jumped at the opportunity to fill the additional spots that had become available. Making a switch in timeEknath Shinde made a slip of the tongue when addressing aPC on the government’s achievements, saying that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government had accomplished a lot. Fadnavis, who was sitting close, corrected him and pointed out that it was the Mahayuti government. Instead of apologizing, Shinde conveniently stated he used the MVA to compare its poor performance to that of the Mahayuti government.
