Delhi Confidential: Air Force’s top conference is back after three-year hiatus
Filling a gap: As the pandemic continues, albeit on a small scale for now, one of the Air Force’s top conferences is finally back after a nearly three-year hiatus. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will deliver the 37th annual lecture, named after Air Chief Marshal PC Lal (Retired), Chief of the Air Force during the 1971 war, who was also Chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Indian Airlines and Air India. The conference was last held in 2019; Singh will deliver next Thursday. The serving Chief of Air Force, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, and his predecessor, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria (retired) will attend. Bhadauria, who served as Air Force chief between September 2019 and September 2021, will attend as president of the Air Force Association.
Slow hit: Central Secretariat Service (CSS) staff, who had recently protested the delay in promotions in the halls of the Home Office, have now threatened to strike from May 4, albeit in a unique way. In a letter to the Secretary of DoPT, the CSS Forum threatened that starting May 4, staff will adopt a “slow and dull” attitude to work and “observe the old customary, slow and procedure” of the Department in holding their promotions. Staff will also refuse to work past 5:30 p.m. One day a week, CSS agents will wear black “as a sign of desperation”. The Forum said that if the issues – related to the reservation in promotions – are not resolved by May 15, this “non-cooperation movement” will end in an “indefinite strike throughout the Central Secretariat from of May 20, 2022”.
Live : Soon, the Telangana High Court may also broadcast its proceedings live on YouTube. Prompted by the judicial side of HC in a PIL, the administrative side of the court wrote to the state government to release its rules for livestreaming. While Gujarat HC was the first court to broadcast its proceedings live, the HCs of Karnataka, Patna, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa also broadcast the proceedings live on YouTube. All eyes are now on SC, which approved live streaming in a 2018 ruling and even released draft rules last June.