Portraying ‘Best Picture’

Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller One Battle After Another, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, seemed to have inspired Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal’s press briefing on Monday on the ongoing trade turmoil. With a smirk on his face while making the opening remarks, the officer said, “We are facing one challenge after another.” Global trade has been in a tailspin for months, first due to US tariffs and now due to the raging war in West Asia.

Lending An Ear

THE ONGOING tussle between cadre officers of the Central Armed Police Forces and the government over implementation of the Supreme Court ruling, granting the force Organised Group ‘A’ Service (OGAS) status, appeared to turn political on Monday with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visiting an injured CRPF officer at the NS Staff Camp Hospital in the Capital. Ajay Malik of the 209 CoBRA battalion, who lost his left leg in an IED blast, handed Gandhi a memorandum flagging delays in implementing the verdict and stalled promotions. The visit coincided with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge writing to PM Narendra Modi, urging immediate compliance
with the court’s order.

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