Green signal for tee time

With the membership waitlist running into more than 10 years, the UPA Government has made the best use of the Ministry route8212;Sonia8217;s son-in-law Robert Vadra was the first beneficiary, along with Dr J M Hans, ENT specialist at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Hans did

the first cochlear implant surgery in Delhi.

The following year, the spot went to Tourism Minister Ambika Soni8217;s son Anup Soni, and friend, Khan Market businessman Navin Kalra, who joined the club in 2005. Though the Ministry has been contemplating removing these perks, it did not pursue it seriously. It certainly did not cut much ice with former minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is an avid golfer.

P.S. Ahmed Patel refused to take the membership. He, typically, backed off, not wanting to get embroiled in any controversy.

Middleman to the fore

Two years is a long time, and sundry fixers, dealers, brokers and middlemen have finally taken their place in the court of the UPA Government. A more recent entrant comes under the name of Sierra Peter, son of a high-ranking cabinet minister. The tag name has been given by official snoops, who love to use coded language even when they are cracking jokes. A businessman, Peter has not only moved to the Capital but is playing an influential role in the transfers and postings in crucial departments, and in awarding contracts to terrorist-scarred states. The snoops would like to give us one hint8212;they say the code is locked in the initials of the pseudonym. Oh, well, you don8217;t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out.

Oil8217;s not well

After the barely-concealed spat over the increase in petroleum prices, the latest squabble between Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Finance Minister P Chidambaram is about the over-staffing of ONGC Videsh Ltd OVL with the latter8217;s officials. Deora has asked the Finance Minister to instantly withdraw his official so that he can appoint a department man, another Joint Secretary JS from the Petroleum Ministry. Last year, Deora8217;s predecessor had tried to get the Finance official out of the Oil 038; Natural Gas Corp board but the attempt was foiled after an enraged Finance Secretary Rakesh Mohan questioned the Oil Ministry8217;s authority. This time, Deora is taking no chances and his argument is clear: his JS International Cooperation will be equipped to provide key inputs to OVL to 8216;8216;judge the business environment of the country, and seek diplomatic assistance in pushing its case in these countries8217;8217;.

Tax burden

Meanwhile, the helpdesks to help small businesses in filing income tax returns, set up by the FM last year amidst great fanfare, have proved a huge flop, with barely anyone coming forward. In some towns and cities, a couple of IT payers turned up in the entire year to seek assistance. So, the scheme is now being re-launched at a cost of Rs 10 crore to expand its scope to provide assistance to salaried taxpayers as well. Propaganda and promotional work is on full swing, and ministers and bureaucrats in states are readying themselves to 8216;8216;re-open8217;8217; the centres with similar dash and splash. Nobody is complaining. After all, the taxpayers8217; money is being spent to help the taxpayer.

Statistical retreat

Among Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Army top brass and Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Parliament is none the wiser on the infiltration issue. First, Patil told the House that 299 infiltrators had entered J038;K in the first six months of this year, compared with 92 in the same period last year. The next day, Mukherjee said the figure was 169, against the 91 last year. Only a few days before Parliament reconvened, the Army8217;s 15 Corps Commander Lt Gen SS Dhillon pronounced there was 8216;8216;no drastic rise8217;8217; in infiltration. However, the fact that both ministers8217; versions unequivocally point to a steep rise in infiltration has finally silenced the Army. The commandants had always shot down IB estimates of similar increases but with infiltration figures now on record, the Army has decided to keep mum.

Distance vision

Everyone is aware of the scorn and ridicule the Armed Forces have for DRDO, the country8217;s persevering defence research agency, but a top-ranking IAF officer had to quickly cover up for a particularly below-the-belt dig at the institute8217;s missile programme, during a formal interview. 8216;8216;Reach is an important issue,8217;8217; said the officer stiffly, about the missile8217;s range. 8216;8216;If we can reach Oman or Amman, we should reach Beijing too. But if the Agni-III is a failure, there has to be some other means. We are the means,8217;8217; he ended grandly. Not long after, another officer was heard saying, 8216;8216;You launch from here at Beijing, the missile hits Nepal and then the proverbial you-know-what really hits the fan. Isn8217;t it easier to give us the reach?8217;8217; he also added. These men certainly don8217;t trust DRDO machines.

Samhara avatar

Former BJP leader Madanlal Khurana is in a destructive mood, and the target is none other than his erstwhile colleagues, L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj. Ever since the Monsoon Session opened in Parliament, Khurana has appeared every day at its doors, with telltale pamphlets and tittle-tattle for all who care to listen. On Friday, he left dozens of booklets at I038;B Minister P R Dasmunsi8217;s room, titled 8216;8216;Why is Khurana Sad?8217;8217;8212;his comprehensive list of Advani8217;s alleged national security failures as Union Home Minister. Khurana has promised to be back every day, to speak on various failures of the BJP leadership. 8216;8216;It will be like the tele-serials, I will give bits every day,8217;8217; he promised. That all mediapersons gather daily at Dasmunsi8217;s room for 8216;8216;off-record briefings8217;8217; and that news cameras are always stationed outside the I038;B Minister8217;s office is an advantage not lost on the beleaguered

BJP leader.

Sponsored facelift

It was a dejected Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Subbirami Reddy who walked into his appointed office, a modest cell in the ministry block when compared with his extravagant homes and his crystal-crusted five-star party banquet halls. Not one to wait for administrative delays and frustrating postponements in renovating his room, Reddy has gone ahead and spent lakhs of rupees from his own pocket to renovate his humble work space. First, he moved out his joint secretary to the adjoining room, broke the walls, and expanded the office. Then he brought in the decorators, who redesigned the place to make it much more flashy, splashy and flamboyant, quite like their client8217;s inimitable style. It is not the first time Reddy has brought the coordinators in; as secretary of the AICC media department, he had sponsored the renovation of the offices there too.

Work the talk

A R Antulay, Minister of Minority Affairs, unlike Reddy, is unconcerned about the pace at which the Central Public Works Department CPWD is renovating his office at the CGO complex. The CPWD invited tenders only on July 8, almost two months after the Ministry had been intimated about move to the new location. Ministry officials are crammed for space at the current Jeevan Prakash Building, KG Marg, even though Antulay is on a ministry-expanding spree, with new posts being added regularly. Initially, the ministry had just a secretary and a deputy secretary with a handful of administration officials.

Then, three joint secretary posts were sanctioned, and two of them have already joined. Antulay continues to work from his residence at 1 Jantar Mantar Road, insistently reminding one and all that it8217;s the work that matters and not from where one works. Anyone impressed?

Quick on the uptake

At a meeting of Youth Congress presidents from across the country, senior cabinet ministers and party leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Shivraj Patil were heckled by activists last week. Their grouse: even after the party8217;s return to power more than two years ago, they have not been represented in any government body. Mukherjee arrogantly dismissed them saying it was not necessary, much to the irritation of the audience. But how did I038;B minister P R Dasmunsi escape their ire? Apparently, Dasmunsi had already learnt about the bristling workers before he reached the venue. He very astutely started off his speech with the need for adequate representation of YC cadres both in government and party organisations. He declared he would soon reconstitute regional film censor boards and that he would nominate two YC representatives from each state on the board. Predictably, he got the maximum applause, after Sonia Gandhi, that is.

Tailpiece

The much-awaited release of Strategic Consequences of India8217;s Economic Performance, the book by the PM8217;s media adviser Sanjaya Baru, on Saturday was a star-studded affair. The who8217;s who of Indian strategic experts and economists were present to congratulate Baru, though the absence of four speakers did dampen proceedings initially. K Subrahmanyam and RBI Governor YV Reddy fell ill and the two politicos invited, Sitaram Yechury and Brajesh Mishra, couldn8217;t make it at the last minute. Yet, the discussion was lively, and there was not a dull moment though comparisons were odiously made with last week8217;s mega release, Jaswant Singh8217;s A Call to Honour. In fact, Baru conceded he had failed his publishers by not talking of any 8216;8216;mole or moll8217;8217;. Not even sex, just Sensex, a guest added wryly.