Regional Journal: Wildlife institute head punished

The Centre has repatriated Virendra Tiwari, director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, to his original Maharashtra cadre following a controversy. An official WII email had threatened to withhold the salary for poor attendance on International Yoga Day. Though the notice was withdrawn, the damage was done. Now, Tiwari, who was the first IFS officer from the Maharashtra cadre to head WII in 2022, has been repatriated.

25 global honours for PM

PM Narendra Modi this week received his 25th international honour — The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Modi has been conferred with several notable awards, including the Order of St Andrews the Apostle by Russia, the Legion of Merit by the US, from the UAE, Saudi Arabia & many more. Late PMs Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had together received six international honours over decades in power.

Staff shortage hits border schools

Punjab’s Education Department is facing a teachers’ shortage in border schools. The reason is that the teachers, recruited under the Border Area cadre, are transferred to their home stations after three years. This leaves border schools understaffed again. The department is now contemplating incentives to retain teachers in these areas.

Watching for ‘unlucky’ CM invitee

Ahead of the Punjab Cabinet reshuffle, all eyes were on CM Bhagwant Mann as well as his house. Since it was clear that one minister from the 16-member Cabinet would be dropped, everyone was keenly observing ministers being called to the CM’s residence. This is because everyone believed that the one to be called would be the one to step down. The speculation proved right as Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who was asked to resign, was among the three ministers who visited.

DISHA losing direction

District-level DISHA meetings, which are held to monitor central funds, have lost their sheen due to politics. Chaired by local MPs, these meetings often see boycotts from MLAs of opposing parties. If DISHA goes, corruption may creep in and districts may remain starved of central funds. And if it stays, it will continue to be boycotted by opposition legislators. As an officer said, “DISHA is without a proper disha (direction)”!

Kangana at it again

Known for her outspoken nature, MP Kangana Ranaut continues to stir controversy. Facing flak on social media for her absence from the disaster-hit Mandi, she put the blame on former CM Jai Ram Thakur, claiming he advised her to wait till connectivity was restored. When BJP president JP Nadda was asked whether this was due to lack of communication, he just said, “Communication with her is very good, she’s on her way.”

Can HP deflect blame?

Following the collapse of a building in Shimla, the NHAI and road construction firms are drawing flak for their “reckless approach”. Though locals had flagged risks earlier, neither the state government nor the companies did anything. Now, ministers are blaming the companies. But the question is, why did not the state agencies intervene earlier? A debate goes on as locals grapple with ground realities.

Contributed by Aksheev Thakur, Aditi Tandon, Rajmeet Singh, Ruchika M Khanna, Ravi Dhaliwal, Pratibha Chauhan and Subhash Rajta

India