Delhi Confidential: House Tales

Timing it well
There was a glitch in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to visit Nepal on a Shravan Monday — August 4. Given that his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala was away in New York being treated for lung cancer, it was unclear whether he would be back in Nepal in time adding uncertainty to  the proposed trip. But after several rounds of radiotherapy, Koirala will return to Kathmandu Tuesday. Even though Modi’s trip is still not entirely certain since deliverables are being worked on, there is now a brighter chance of a visit with Koirala returning. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj travels to Nepal next week to prepare the ground.

Secy search
The Women and Child Development Ministry is waiting for a Secretary yet again — fifth time in a span of two years. In a bureaucratic reshuffle early this month, the government announced the name of Vinay Sheel Oberoi to replace WCD Secretary Shankar Aggarwal. Oberoi, who was posted with the UNESCO in Paris, is yet to join though.

Ground Realty
With new IITs having been announced, there is now the issue of where to locate them in the beneficiary states. Seemandhra is rooting strongly for the IIT to come up at temple town Tirupati which is Chandrababu Naidu’s constituency. However, the HRD Ministry is not all that convinced as the new IIT would then be in close proximity to IIT Chennai and is likely to be overshadowed by the latter. Faculty and students would also prefer the older IIT. Vishakhapatnam is pitched as a better choice but is unlikely to be picked by the Naidu government.