Former FM P Chidambaram to spend his 74th birthday in Tihar jail

Former finance minister P Chidambaram (pictured) will spend his 74th birthday in Tihar Jail because the Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the CBI to file its status report on his bail plea in the INX Media corruption case within a week. Chidambaram, who is in judicial custody till September 19 in the case, will turn 74 on September 16 and the high court has set September 23 as the next date to hear his bail plea. Chidambaram will be produced before the trial court in the case on September 19. Other important political birthdays this month are that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on September 17, which the Bharatiya Janata Party will celebrate as “seva parva” and that of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 26.

Switzerland through Bollywood

If you are a Hindi movie buff, you will probably not require Google Maps. Watch Bollywood movies and you will figure out the topography of picturesque Switzerland, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday. Kovind, who is visiting the country, addressed a group of students and faculty at the University of Berne. While speaking on the topic “India-Switzerland new age partnership”, the president said, “Bollywood has taken Switzerland to every nook and corner of India. Whether it is the snow-clad Jungfrau or the ITU Monument in front of Einstein Museum in Berne, the Indian movie industry has captured it all ... The scenes from Indian movies can be as effective as Google Maps in understanding the topography 

of Switzerland.”

Raining trouble

So it’s not just you and I who feel we are powerless and are not being heard. Often the powerful also feel the same way. After days of uninterrupted showers inundating parts of Madhya Pradesh, some ministers in Bhopal have taken to social media to complain about their agony. Tribal Development Minister Omkar Singh Markam complained that even after repeated requests the “concerned authorities” did not heed his cry for help. Independent MLA Surendra Singh tweeted, “Heavy rain has flooded my bungalow and I am also troubled by mosquitoes. I have complained but no one responded.”