When a strong smell wafted out of Arun Jaitley's North Block chamber

Under maintenance

With Finance Minister Arun Jaitley taking leave for treatment, the staff at his North Block office decided it was the right time to conduct some maintenance work at his chambers. For the past one week, a lot of cleaning and repairing work has been on at Jaitley's office. On Thursday, when a strong smell of anti-termite varnish wafted out of his room, a member of the minister's staff said, “The renovation of his office was long overdue. Since he is working from home at the moment we decided to carry out the repair work.” 

Angry Togadia

Former Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia has announced an indefinite fast from Tuesday to protest his 'ouster' from the VHP. Togadia resigned after former judge VS Kokje defeated Togadia's nominee Raghav Reddy for the election to the post of the organisation's international working president. The fast is being seen as Togadia's show of strength, and VHP's Gujarat unit has announced its support to the leader. On Monday, Togadia kept up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who left for his five-day visit to the UK. “Today our soldiers are not safe on borders, farmers are committing suicide and our daughters are not safe in their homes. And yet, our PM has embarked on a foreign tour,” he said. According to the VHP Gujarat unit leaders, 5,000 district-level VHP workers who support Togadia have quit the organisation. His supporters said Togadia — through his fast — wants to remind the Bharatiya Janata Party that Ram temple and abolition of Article 370 was in the party's manifesto. He may announce a new outfit soon.

Green street

The headquarters of a leading brokerage firm in Mumbai is themed around the market. The building has bear and bull symbols as lift buttons, to denote the direction in which it is moving. Also, after dark, the building is lit either in red or green light, depending on how the market closes. Thanks to eight straight sessions of gains in the domestic market, the building has given a green hue to the street on which it is located.