Some of the Congress general secretaries and AICC in charge of states met informally on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of the operational decisions of the Udaipur Chintan Shivir. Incidentally, some of them will have themselves to step aside from some positions once the new rules barring a person from holding a post for more than five years come into effect. For instance, Mukul Wasnik in a lighter vein said he will have to resign four times since he had been a general secretary for 23 years now. Of course, he will be given a new role. Randeep Surjewala is a general secretary in charge of Karnataka as also the communication department head. He will have to leave one. The buzz is that Jairam Ramesh could succeed him as the head of the communication department, which will now be expanded. KC Venugopal, too, had been general secretary for over five years now, first as in charge of Karnataka and then in charge of organisation. It is to be seen whether his tenure will be counted from the day he took charge of organisation.
Red Carpet
With India being celebrated as the first-ever country of honor at the Marche du Film at the Cannes Film Festival, the 11-member Indian delegation led by I&B Minister Anurag Thakur walked the red carpet on Tuesday. The delegation also included internationally renowned music composer AR Rahman. However, actor Akshay Kumar had to drop out of the contingent at the last minute as he got tested positive for covid-19, On the eve of the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a written note, which said India is the largest film producing country in the world. It has a “lot of stories to be told and the country truly possesses immense potential to become the content hub of the world”, the note said. Films and society, the Prime Minister said, “are mirror images of each other”.
The Vacancy
Naveen Srivastava, who is currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, handling the crucial portfolio of China, has been named as the next Indian ambassador to Nepal. Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who was till recently the Indian envoy in Kathmandu, took charge on May 1 and the position has been vacant since then. Srivastava, a known China hand, has been the negotiator in the India-China talks in the past two years, as both sides are locked in a standoff. Now, all eyes will be on who becomes the next Joint Secretary, heading the East Asia division in the Ministry of External Affairs, which manages the relationship with China, Japan and the Koreas.
,