UNION MINISTER for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav, a first-time Lok Sabha MP from Rajasthan’s Alwar, has devised a novel way to be in touch with the party workers in his constituency. Whenever Parliament is in session, he will invite five mandal-level office-bearers to the Capital. They will be shown the new and Old Parliament buildings, their surroundings, Pradhanmantri Sanghralaya and other offices. They will have lunch with the minister during which they can raise the issues of the constituency and can give him feedback about different Central government programmes. There are 40 mandals in Alwar. With Parliament having an average 400 days of sitting in five years, around 2,000 party workers are expected to get this opportunity.
Mic Management
When it was Congress MP S Jothimani’s turn to speak on a Bill in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, she and other MPs could be heard asking for her microphone to be switched on. This led Speaker Om Birla to reiterate that he did not control the Members’ microphones. He stressed his point with an anecdote about Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto who visited India in January. The Speaker said President Subianto may have heard somewhere that the Lok Sabha Speaker has the microphone control, so when he visited the House he checked for the mic control at the presiding officer’s chair. Recounting with a laugh, Birla said he had to explain to the guest that it wasn’t there.
Tech Talk
Ahead of the first edition of what it is calling the global media dialogue to be held in Mumbai this May, the government will reach out to the global community, inviting ambassadors and high commissioners from all 140 foreign missions in New Delhi on Thursday, and sharing with them concerns on issues pertaining to digital content, in the wake of a recent controversy on obscenity. Lined up for the meeting are Union ministers S Jaishankar and Ashwini Vaishnaw, along with host state Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who will also talk about the rise of India’s media and entertainment sector.
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