Delhi Confidential: Low-key birthday
PREPARATIONS WITHIN the Congress have begun for Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's 55th birthday on June 19. The party wants to keep the celebrations low-key this year in the wake of the recent Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. Sources said the Congress's frontal organisation — Indian Youth Congress (IYC) — is planning several programmes across the country, including seminars on the caste census, a matter considered close to Gandhi's heart. Other programmes include a job fair at Delhi's Talkatora Stadium and in some other cities, blood donation camps, free medical check-up camps across India, among other events.
African Trail
In its efforts to advance talks on importing more cheetahs, a delegation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority went to South Africa last week. South Africa was one the source countries for the cheetahs translocated to Kuno in Madhya Pradesh at the start of Project Cheetah. The delegation met wildlife officials and held discussions on importing a new batch of cheetahs for the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Botswana has already agreed to give eight cheetahs to India.
Lutyens' Address
A year after being elected to the 18th Lok Sabha, several MPs have finally moved into their official bungalows in the Capital. Some of them are planning to host guests and acquaintances at their new address in Lutyens' Delhi. One MP has called an informal meeting with journalists where he will also give them a tour of the bungalow. Another one has invited her relatives from Uttar Pradesh for a tea party at the bungalow. While the bungalows were allotted soon after the Lok Sabha election results in June last year, renovation work and delay in previous residents vacating the premises resulted in the new MPs moving in after more than a year.
Meet Rescheduled
A press conference of Union Science Minister Jitendra Singh scheduled for Friday was cancelled a night before following the Ahmedabad plane crash. The conference, which was rescheduled for Sunday, started with a two-minute silence in memory of the victims.
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