Driving home a point

At a lunch hosted in his honour at Race Course Road, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair held forth on climate change and pollution control.

At a lunch hosted in his honour at Race Course Road, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair held forth on climate change and pollution control. Blair was keen that India agrees to the western world8217;s roadmap for pollution emissions. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listened politely but didn8217;t make any commitment. Singh also added wryly that, despite the US push for carbon emission reduction, Americans still drive big cars. Blair agreed, giving the example of California governor and former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger who drives a hybrid version of the gas-guzzling Humvee, a US military modified station wagon that only the richest and most powerful Americans can afford.

Guests leaving the PM8217;s residence are dropped at the parking lot at the Race Course Road entrance since private vehicles are not permitted beyond this point. For the short shuttle to the parking lot most guests were provided standard sized cars. But for the Blairs, there was the indigenously made, environment friendly and electrically driven tiny Reva car. Clearly someone in the PMO wanted to make a point.

No leak-proof evidence

At the conference of the Director Generals of Police in New Delhi this week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brought up the subject of frequent leaks from the ATS and other police investigations. The PM attributed the leaks to the competition among various police departments to take credit and professional rivalry within the media to break news. In the case of news stories giving details of narco analysis tests, it was possible that it was not the senior police officers, but technicians who were responsible for passing on confidential information to journalists, Singh suggested.

The Prime Minister hosted a dinner for 28 DGs and heads of various central police agencies who were in the Capital to discuss the country8217;s law and order situation. Home Minister Shivraj Patil inaugurated the three-day conference. For some reason President Pratibha Patil broke with tradition and, unlike her predecessors, did not invite the delegates to a meal at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The president seems to have been poorly advised by her staff since this is an important occasion for the Head of State to interact with the top policemen in the country.

Lacking intelligence

The Mumbai terror attacks shows the lacuna in our intelligence gathering networks. One reason for this is the way key appointments in intelligence are made. After the Gujarat and Delhi blasts, the government set up a special task force on intelligence. The man selected to head the new outfit, R.D. Pradhan, an academician, has no operational experience. He was originally recruited by RAW on the basis of his media analysis. His latest job seems a sine cure since his term as chairperson of JIC ended in February this year.

Fringe group

The confessions of the arrested men in the Malegoan bombs blasts are turning increasingly bizarre. Apart from a Bangladeshi connection it seems there was also a link with Nepal. Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit had met several senior army officers in Nepal, which he could not have done without the clearance of the Indian Army. It is highly unusual for high-ranking officers in the Nepal Army to be interacting with a Lt Colonel. The fate of the world8217;s last Hindu king, King Gyanendra, seems to have been the subject of discussions. It is not clear to what extent Purohit8217;s involvement was at his own initiative and how much at the behest of military intelligence.

Those caught in the Malegoan conspiracy do not fit the conventional profile of terrorists. The key players are oddballs who harboured personal grievances including rivalry and revenge rather than single-minded devotion to their cause.

No rehab plan

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After her fall from grace, former Congress general secretary Margaret Alva met both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Her meeting with Rahul lasted almost an hour and some of her supporters took this as a sign that she will eventually be rehabilitated. But there is little evidence on the ground that that Alva has been forgiven. When a stamp to commemorate Alva8217;s in-laws was released in Parliament8217;s Central Hall recently, no one from the Congress was present.