Union minister Hardh Vardhan Union minister Hardh Vardhan

Fact Check

UNION SCIENCE Minister Harsh Vardhan in an address to a women’s group in Delhi’s Model Town over the weekend said that he felt predictions by Nostradamus about India are perhaps coming true and that person could be Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vardhan, who tweeted this statement, appeared to be referring to a 2017 blog post, which was later found to have been carrying fake Nostradamus passages claiming that the French physician and seer had predicted that a supreme leader will be born in the state of Gujarat and his first name would be Narendus (Narendra).

Green Tip

AT A national consultation on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, Maneka Gandhi had a suggestion for all visiting state government officials. Discussing measures to secure the life and future of a girl child, she said they could encourage planting of two trees for every girl child born in their states. She went on to give the instance of a place in Maharashtra where she said Alphonso mango saplings are planted for every girl child born. Once the trees bear fruits, the proceeds from the sales are transferred to a bank account in the girl’s name.

Playing Safe

WHILE DECIDING the venue for their upcoming national conference, which is to be attended by department heads from across India, a particular vertical of Railways was toying with various options. Requests were trickling in from various senior officers to keep the meeting in a place like Dehradun, Srinagar or Shimla to escape Delhi’s summer. As an anti climax, however, the Railway Board member concerned, who will chair the conference, decided that it is not a good idea to go very far from Delhi. So now Udaipur in Rajasthan has been fixed as the venue. Not everyone is looking forward to visiting a place, which is even hotter than Delhi.

Sport Break

THE CHINESE embassy organised a table tennis tournament for the diplomatic missions over the weekend. The popular tournament was attended by diplomats from various embassies and high commissions. The embassies of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea and Romania participated. Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui was also seen trying his hands on the TT table.

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