‘Off the Record’: Phone mix-up, missed orders and a midnight scramble...

'Off the Record' is your weekly wrap that stitches together the quieter, off-the-record hum of the country’s power circuit -- the moments that don’t appear in official minutes but say a lot about what’s happening behind the scenes.

This week, we have a Cabinet minister’s unintended phone swap with a well-known NBFC chief, a ministry’s delayed action that triggered panic calls during a riverside brainstorming session, and an IPO that took longer than usual to clear.

Accidents happen! A Cabinet minister and an NBFC chief get their phones exchanged

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During a recent visit by a Cabinet minister to the NCR, the minister met a group of reporters and offered the adjoining seat on a sofa to the NBFC head. After the informal interaction, the NBFC chief quickly and mistakenly slipped the minister’s phone into his pocket, while the minister unknowingly picked up the NBFC head’s phone.

A few minutes later, the NBFC chief realised the mix-up and requested his phone back. The minister immediately quipped, “You must have something suspicious on your phone, that’s why you picked mine so quickly.”

The NBFC head defended himself, saying he didn’t want the minister to be troubled by constant calls. The minister eventually lightened the mood with a smile and a humble apology.

Not taking timely action on conglomerate spoiled ministry’s brainstorming session

In the recent past, one ministry fell behind in initiating action against a conglomerate. While every other agency had moved, this ministry had not passed the investigation order.

During a Triveni Sangam ghat brainstorming session, the top head received multiple calls regarding the pending action.

The head immediately asked subordinates about the status of the investigation order. Upon returning to Delhi, the ministry finally passed the first order against the conglomerate, which had been pending for months.

The brainstorming session remained tense for a few hours after the calls received by the department head.

Sebi official's extra safety delayed IPO approval by a notch

One of the IPOs cleared by Sebi last week had taken extra time because several of its officials are shareholders in the parent company.

SEBI officials are always cautious about their actions and tend to take additional safety steps. In this case, those precautions delayed the IPO clearance, as many of the officials involved in the approval process were also shareholders in the parent company.

To avoid any future controversy, the officials recused themselves from approving the IPO.

The proposal finally moved ahead after top-level approval. Meanwhile, media reports about a trademark issue -- not mentioned in the DRHP -- had also surfaced in the recent past.