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Journalism of Courage
Who fixed whom?
Insiders in the CBI think the agency itself was fixed8217; while investigating the cricket match-fixing probe. Otherwise, why would most of the bookies in the CBI report belong to Delhi? Of the eight bookies named, five are from Delhi, only two from Mumbai and one from Chennai. One name that8217;s missing is that of Shobhan Mehta or Shobanbhai, who8217;s said to be connected with the Chhota Rajan gang, as well as that of his associate, Hiren Hathi. Mumbai may be India8217;s commercial and cricketing capital of India and a very important stopover for London bound bookies, yet, there are few names from there.
Flying high
Even before Air India is disinvested, foreign airlines are moving in for the kill. Three new airlines have got themselves registered and even got licences to operate. One companiy is owned by Neera Radia. Until the other day, she was the Indian representative of Singapore Airlines. Today, she owns Crown Airways. Since SIA is in league with the Tatas to buy AI and can8217;t bid for Indian Airlines, these new small airlines will work as a feeder service for AI. Radia was fully backed by the Sangh Parivar, from Ananth Kumar to Chamanlal Gupta. And Modiluft is paying off its sizeable debts and will be reinvented as Royal Airlines, backed by another foreigner.
Demolishing Jagmohan
Demolition man Jagmohan is getting a taste of his medicine. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vijai Kapoor and Municipal Commissioner S.P. Agrawal identified 16 posh colonies for Operation Demolition and also zeroed in on areas in Jagmohan8217;s own New Delhi constituency. When residents informed Jagmohan, the Urban Affairs Minister expressed surprise over the move. He said he hadn8217;t issued any orders. But the residents wouldn8217;t believe him. Finally, Jagmohan had to issue an order saying no demolition should be carried out without informing his office. Not that there are too many takers. Sheila Dixit has already declared her support for Sainik Farms. Another Jagmohan baiter, V.K. Malhotra was put in charge of Delhi in the party, while two other opponents 8212; Sahib Singh Verma and Madanlal Khurana 8212; are back in the saddle.
Media-savvy Sushma
After she bounced back into the Information and Broadcasting ministry, Sushma Swaraj wants to get going on her agenda. If she granted industry status to the entertainment sector, she8217;s got another executive order tucked away in the pipeline. Swaraj has directed a corpus for the welfare of journalists, and Director of Audio and Visual Publicity DAVP is to put in three per cent of its advertisement funds in this corpus. The scheme would help journalists working in small and medium newspapers who do not follow wage-board awards. Swaraj has also decided to fill vacancies at a faster rate in the Prasar Bharati board and have a permanent CEO. This effectively means that R.R. Shah could be moving elsewhere, since he8217;s due for promotion as secretary.
Reshuffling the pack
E.A.S. Sarma8217;s decision to quit at secretary in the economic affairs ministry has made the Prime Minister8217;s Office think twice before shuffling secretaries in January 2001. Since four more secretaries are retiring within the next three months, the PMO will simply fill up the posts by promoting additional secretaries. The Vajpayee government has been reshuffling secretaries like a pack of cards. One reason for the mass transfers 8212; effected around four times during the past one year 8212; was that some secretaries refused to bend before the mighty PMO or their favourite ministers. Some secretaries have not completed even two months in one posting.
The government is now trying to mollify Sarma by offering him a stint at the Administrative Staff College, Hyderabad. Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has also sounded him for the post of advisor. But Sarma hasn8217;t yet decided whether he8217;ll be a crusader or crucified.
The author can be contacted at harishgupta45hotmail.com
