<p>‘Jinxed’ CM house being made Covid centre</p>.<p>The palatial eight-bedroom bungalow, designated as the official residence of the Uttarakhand chief minister, is being converted into a Covid Care Centre. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat, who stays in smaller government accommodation, appeared keen to avoid shifting to the official bungalow which is considered “jinxed” by politicians in the hill state. Built according to Pahari architecture in 2010 at a cost of Rs 16 crore, BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was the first chief minister to move into the bungalow, but could barely complete two years in office. Vijay Bahuguna, who became the chief minister after Congress came to power in 2012, shifted to the bungalow, but had to step down. The next chief minister Harish Rawat preferred the official guest house to the bungalow. BJP’s Trivendra Rawat set aside superstition and moved into the bungalow in 2017, but his ouster earlier this year strengthened the ‘jinx’ label.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Sagar Kulkarni</span>, New Delhi</p>.<p class="Briefhead">Covid-19 fear kills Egrets</p>.<p>Over 200 Egret chicks died and scores became homeless after a bamboo groove was chopped off in western Assam’s Tangla town on June 25. The groove was axed based on fears that droopings from the egret nests could spread Covid-19. Tanga Municipal Board executive director Santanu Das issued an order to five owners of the bamboo groove on June 8 citing a complaint that feared the spread of Covid-19 from the droppings. Nearly 80 chicks were recovered and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Kaziranga, about 300 km away. An FIR was lodged against Das and an inquiry was initiated by the Assam forest department on June 26 after the incident invited a sharp reaction.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Sumir Karmakar</span>, Guwahati</p>.<p class="Briefhead">‘Suffer it’, Vijayan gets a reply</p>.<p>Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recently alleged that Congress’s new Kerala president and Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran again planned to abduct his children to settle political scores. He said he did not complain about it to the police and didn’t reveal it to his wife to avoid panic. This comes close on the heels of Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson M C Josephine, who is also a CPM central committee member, telling a woman suffering domestic violence to “suffer it” as she did not complain about it to the police. Josephine had to quit the commission owing to protest over the reply. The social media trollers are now using Josephine’s answer to the woman as a reply to Vijayan for not reporting the alleged kidnap bid to the police.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Arjun Raghunath</span>, Thiruvananthapuram</p>.<p class="Briefhead">Salman Khan helps cine workers</p>.<p>Bollywood actor Salman Khan has once again extended the helping hand to lakhs of cinema-industry workers in Mumbai. The workers are going through a rough phase because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The actor, who runs an NGO Being Human, has honoured his commitment and transferred Rs 1,500 into the accounts of those who belong to various departments of the workers’ union. Western India Cine Employees president B N Tiwari said: “Salman Khan is one of the large-hearted actors of Bollywood who has continued to help us whenever we need any support. He had helped our members in the first lockdown too. We are grateful to him. He has told us that he will continue to help our workers in the future too”.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Mrityunjay Bose</span>, Mumbai</p>.<p class="Briefhead">Wanting to be relevant in politics</p>.<p>Top politicians from Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers who recently held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seem to be over satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, where actually, no big development took place on June 24. While Modi did not make any commitments in his concluding remarks, earlier during their address, the invitees didn’t demand much beyond the restoration of statehood. But then, what happened to the hue and cry that was raised by the Kashmiri politicians over the abrogation of the special status on August 5, 2019? Why couldn’t the politicians demand rollback of the clock to August 4, 2019 status? Well, it seems that the politicians, left virtually jobless since the historic decision, only want to be relevant in politics. And, thus they are ready to work not only on old salary but even on salary cut.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Zulfikar Majid</span>, Srinagar</p>
<p>‘Jinxed’ CM house being made Covid centre</p>.<p>The palatial eight-bedroom bungalow, designated as the official residence of the Uttarakhand chief minister, is being converted into a Covid Care Centre. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat, who stays in smaller government accommodation, appeared keen to avoid shifting to the official bungalow which is considered “jinxed” by politicians in the hill state. Built according to Pahari architecture in 2010 at a cost of Rs 16 crore, BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was the first chief minister to move into the bungalow, but could barely complete two years in office. Vijay Bahuguna, who became the chief minister after Congress came to power in 2012, shifted to the bungalow, but had to step down. The next chief minister Harish Rawat preferred the official guest house to the bungalow. BJP’s Trivendra Rawat set aside superstition and moved into the bungalow in 2017, but his ouster earlier this year strengthened the ‘jinx’ label.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Sagar Kulkarni</span>, New Delhi</p>.<p class="Briefhead">Covid-19 fear kills Egrets</p>.<p>Over 200 Egret chicks died and scores became homeless after a bamboo groove was chopped off in western Assam’s Tangla town on June 25. The groove was axed based on fears that droopings from the egret nests could spread Covid-19. Tanga Municipal Board executive director Santanu Das issued an order to five owners of the bamboo groove on June 8 citing a complaint that feared the spread of Covid-19 from the droppings. Nearly 80 chicks were recovered and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Kaziranga, about 300 km away. An FIR was lodged against Das and an inquiry was initiated by the Assam forest department on June 26 after the incident invited a sharp reaction.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Sumir Karmakar</span>, Guwahati</p>.<p class="Briefhead">‘Suffer it’, Vijayan gets a reply</p>.<p>Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recently alleged that Congress’s new Kerala president and Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran again planned to abduct his children to settle political scores. He said he did not complain about it to the police and didn’t reveal it to his wife to avoid panic. This comes close on the heels of Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson M C Josephine, who is also a CPM central committee member, telling a woman suffering domestic violence to “suffer it” as she did not complain about it to the police. Josephine had to quit the commission owing to protest over the reply. The social media trollers are now using Josephine’s answer to the woman as a reply to Vijayan for not reporting the alleged kidnap bid to the police.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Arjun Raghunath</span>, Thiruvananthapuram</p>.<p class="Briefhead">Salman Khan helps cine workers</p>.<p>Bollywood actor Salman Khan has once again extended the helping hand to lakhs of cinema-industry workers in Mumbai. The workers are going through a rough phase because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The actor, who runs an NGO Being Human, has honoured his commitment and transferred Rs 1,500 into the accounts of those who belong to various departments of the workers’ union. Western India Cine Employees president B N Tiwari said: “Salman Khan is one of the large-hearted actors of Bollywood who has continued to help us whenever we need any support. He had helped our members in the first lockdown too. We are grateful to him. He has told us that he will continue to help our workers in the future too”.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Mrityunjay Bose</span>, Mumbai</p>.<p class="Briefhead">Wanting to be relevant in politics</p>.<p>Top politicians from Jammu and Kashmir, including four former chief ministers who recently held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seem to be over satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, where actually, no big development took place on June 24. While Modi did not make any commitments in his concluding remarks, earlier during their address, the invitees didn’t demand much beyond the restoration of statehood. But then, what happened to the hue and cry that was raised by the Kashmiri politicians over the abrogation of the special status on August 5, 2019? Why couldn’t the politicians demand rollback of the clock to August 4, 2019 status? Well, it seems that the politicians, left virtually jobless since the historic decision, only want to be relevant in politics. And, thus they are ready to work not only on old salary but even on salary cut.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Zulfikar Majid</span>, Srinagar</p>
