Assembly polls: Huge increase in demand for liquor in Madhya Pradesh

As expected, there is a huge increase in the demand for liquor in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. In November 2018, sales of liquor increased by almost 0.6 million litres compared to November 2017 and it is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming days. According to the excise department, while liquor production stood at 7.4 million litres last November, production has crossed 8 million litres this November. In the information provided to the Election Commission, the excise department has said Indore tops the list when it comes to liquor sales.

Warding off the evil eye

File photo of Jyotiraditya Scindia

You may have seen political leaders sporting garlands made of flowers during the election season but Congress leader and Member of Parliament, Jyotiraditya Scindia (pictured), who has been campaigning in Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming polls, is often seen wearing garlands made of lemons and green chillies. When some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders ridiculed him about this, the Congress leader lashed out at Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Twitter. Whether they were made of "lemon and chilli" or "potato and onion", he wrote, these garlands represented "the voters' blessings". But why should that irritate the CM, he asked. In August, too, Scindia was seen sporting a garland made of lemons and chillies while campaigning in Mandsaur. Some people believe lemons and chillies ward off the evil eye.

Trick question

Three months into the implementation of Ayushman Bharat, CEO Indu Bhushan took to Twitter for the third time to take questions on the Centre's ambitious health insurance scheme. While a large majority of the questions was related to the scheme — a common question was how could people avail of the scheme if their state did not sign up for it — one question would have surely embarrassed the prime movers of the programme. One user wanted to know when would the Ayushman Mitras (recruited to assist patients) in Haryana be paid their salaries. While that question remained unanswered during the session, the CEO did mention an alternative helpline number when someone complained that the regular helpline number (14555) was not working.