Misappropriation of information — but is it bureaucratic or ‘cultural’? From Malaysia, not India

I n an otherwise grim scenario created by the coronavirus pandemic, Delhi saw some comical moments. “Government sources”, who were dishing out alerts and nuggets of information to the media, erred in passing along a nugget without checking on the “reference material”. A “National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Office” release was sent out, but as it turned out, it came from the PMO of either Malaysia or Singapore. “Sources” were quick to tell media houses to “withdraw” the “inaccurate” and “fictitious” press release. But there were many red faces in the corridors of power.

Paramedics and security staff was in a tizzy too. However, some bright spark used a different scanner which showed the politician’s temperature to be normal. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. want Nath to stay on. By her calculation Nath alone is capable of checking Digvijaya Singh who, in Congress circles, is seen as the primary reason for Jyotiraditya Scindia’s exit. Nath’s son Nakul is Lok Sabha MP from Chhindwara. Buzz in the MP Congress is that the son is not happy with the way the Scindia episode was handled and somehow he too holds Digvijaya responsible for the fall of Nath regime. There are sons galore in MP politics: Digvijaya’s son, Jaivardhan, was a minister in the Nath cabinet. Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s son, Kartikeya, a law graduate from Symbiosis Law School, Pune, was seen holding several public gatherings during the 2018 state Assembly polls. potential of becoming a red rag. A sharp Shia-Sunni divide is emerging in places like Lucknow where the Shia clergy are open to defer jumma community prayers for a couple of weeks, but their Sunni counterparts are digging their heels in. In Delhi, the Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA stir is showing no signs of closure even though many see some merit in abandoning it now.