AAP sets precedent by forming Transgender Cell
The Aam Aadmi Party has set an example of sorts by establishing a Transgender Cell. The initiative will be led by Bobby, a transgender municipal councillor. Notably, the national capital’s transgender community comprises approximately 1061 eligible voters in Delhi, according to the Election Commission.
All not well between AAP & Congress?
Though the top leadership of both the AAP and the Congress claims it will fight elections together under the newly-formed alliance called INDIA, everything doesn’t seem well between them. Recently, Karnataka minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, after visiting a Mohalla Clinic set up by the AAP-led Delhi government, tweeted that he came back feeling “disappointed.”
Interestingly, his visit had been welcomed by CM Arvind Kejriwal, who said the governments of Delhi and Karnataka can learn from each other. The AAP later claimed that Rao received a phone call following which he made an excuse and left the clinic in a huff, and then posted the said tweet.
Why PWD put apology signboards on Mathura Road
People travelling to various locations on Mathura Road can see ‘maafinama’ (apology) billboards erected by the PWD department in the midst of several small growing trees. The story behind the boards goes back to a High Court order, in which the civic authorities faced the court’s ire following damage to a large number of trees during a development project. The court even imposed a jail term for the head of the streetscaping project division, but following a representation from project officials, it let him off.
In exchange, 1,600 trees were to be planted by PWD around the Supreme Court, Mohan Cooperative, Lodhi Road, Vikas Marg, Jamia Millia Islamia and Majlis Park. The issue began last year after green activists complained to the forest department regarding the damage caused during PWD’s streetscaping projects at Lodhi Road, KN Katju Marg and Vikas Marg.
Short tenure of NDMC’s publicity wing officials
Publicity directors in the NDMC seem to be becoming a scapegoat for the media giving adverse coverage to it. The council appointed a new head of the publicity division on Thursday, the sixth person to hold the position in the last 1.5 years. At the current rate, NDMC has shuffled a publicity director every three months. Notably, none of the officials so far came from the Indian Information Service (IIS) which serves the purpose of handling media in government agencies. The first director in the current streak of 1.5 years was from Uttar Pradesh’s Police Service. A few months ago, a senior official from the horticulture wing was suspended after he was quoted by a national newspaper.
Contributed by Anup Verma, Amit Pandey, Jaison Wilson, Ashish Srivastava
