Heard: After yoga day, PM Modi wants to set another Guinness record by opening 12 crore insurance accounts by August 31
Overheard: M.J. Akbar, nominated by the BJP for the Jharkhand RS polls, might replace V.K. Singh as external affairs MoS
Outlook — Regret
A satirical snippet titled "No Boring Babu" published in the 'Deep Throat' column has attracted plenty of attention and criticism since its publication in the July 6, 2015 issue of Outlook.
Even though it did not cite names or specifics, newspapers, TV news channels and websites have carried news of a legal notice purportedly issued by a bureaucrat in Telangana, although Outlook is still to receive it 36 hours since the media blitz was launched.
On social media, the magazine's correspondent in Hyderabad has been subjected to vile and personal attacks, and her physical safety has been threatened.
Outlook wishes to clarify that the said piece was part of satire carried in the magazine in the usual course, was not intended to be derisive or derogatory, and was meant to be received in a lighter vein. That said, being conscious of sensitivities, Outlook has taken down the satirical piece entirely.
Outlook expresses regret if any offence has been taken.
Objective readers would consider Outlook's established record of preserving, promoting and projecting human rights, women's rights, minority rights, and free speech since its inception 20 years ago.
Also see:
New Delhi
50-50 Joint Venture
It’s not just disgruntled ex-AAP lawyer Prashant Bhushan or exasperated BJP lawyer Ram Jethmalani who is raising the red flag over K.V. Chowdary’s appointment as chief vigilance commissioner. Some BJP leaders break into a chuckle every time Chowdary’s name is mentioned. Reason: the CVC’s appointment is being read in conjunction with Vijai Sharma’s appointment as chief information commissioner, an act of “diplomacy” by the ruling party with the Congress. At a recent dinner to celebrate the coming of the two new recruits, some senior BJP leaders exchanged pleasantries with Congress counterparts with the catchline, “Ek aapka, ek hamara” (one is yours, one is ours). The message wasn’t lost on those who read the tea leaves in Raisina Hill.
Bihar
Two To Tango
Laloo Yadav and Nitish Kumar are so different, can they really work together? The grapevine is abuzz with the BJP assiduously wooing Yadavs in urban areas and instigating those in rural pockets to vote for Laloo’s picks and not those fielded by Nitish. In the midst of all this, talk of frantic phone calls allegedly made by Laloo to officials in Patna and Arrah to let off a powerful member of the sand mafia is doing the rounds. While the arrest is said to have been cleared by Nitish himself, it gets complicated because Laloo’s family members are said to be sleeping partners in the business.
Uttar Pradesh
Say Statue
Statues are causing some heartburn in Allahabad University, once described as the Oxford of the East. The campus apparently has three statues of eminent people, all Brahmins with one of them, Madan Mohan Malviya, being described as a ‘rank outsider’. The other two statues are of ex-V-C A.N. Jha and renowned Hindi poet Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’. The murmur over the omission of Urdu poet Raghupati Sahay (aka Firaq Gorakhpuri), who taught English at AU, and equally renowned Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, has stoked the Brahmin-Kayasth caste rivalry once again. ‘Nirala’, point out irate Kayasths, had all his life fought and wrote against ‘Brahminism’ but after his death the community appropriated him as their own. And why Malviya, who had little to do with AU?
The item "No boring babu" and its accompanying illustration have been removed.
Contributed by Madhavi Tata, Prarthna Gahilote, Uttam Sengupta and Pranay Sharma
