Jaswant Sniffs a Rat

Unwelcoming Swagat

For 22 years, Swagat has been the in-flight magazine aboard Indian Airlines aircrafts. But a BJP-friendly publishing group, which has survived largely thanks to advertising hand outs from official agencies, wants to cut into its territory.

The publication has friends in high places ready to oblige. However, a major snag is that the Swagat contract is till 2004 and cannot be easily terminated.

To get around this hurdle, a businessman close to a key Cabinet minister summoned an official from the Media Trans Asia group, which published Swagat, and threatened him. He warned that the BJP friendly publishing house was the government8217;s palltu kutta pet dog and if they wanted to throw him a bone, no one could come in their way.

He claimed he and his friends ran eight ministries in the GoI and knew how to settle scores.

When Swagat still declined to bow out, the new contender was awarded the contract for a duplicate in-flight magazine, on far more generous terms than were offered to the Swagat publishers.

While Swagat pays a license fee of Rs 1.05 crore, the rival has a licence fee of only Rs 12 lakh. Swagat assures IA a circulation of 60,000 copies, the newcomer offers only 20,000 copies, Swagat8217;s deposit with IA is Rs 55 lakh, the new entrant8217;s Rs six lakh. Not surprisingly the new magazine Darpan can afford to drastically undercut Swagat on its ad rates!

Shotgun8217;s Triple

Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha8217;s lucky number is three. Which is why he delayed taking up his new position till July 3 and then moved into his office at exactly three minutes past three pm.

Wife Poonam, after surveying the minister8217;s first floor office at Nirman Bhawan, requested a shift to the third floor, because of the number 3. So the two secretaries in the ministry, health and family welfare, have relocated from the third floor to the first floor while Sinha has moved upward in conformity with his numerologist8217;s advice.

Sinha, incidentally, was quite a hit on his maiden foreign assignment as minister, attending a conference on AIDS at Barcelona. Journalists at the press conference were impressed with the actor8217;s quick repartee.

In his stylish black silk flowing achkan and narrow churidars, selected by Poonam, Sinha was the best dressed minister at the conference. When word spread that he was a former film star, several foreign television networks and radio channels requested interviews with the Indian health minister, who in the past have been ignored at such meets.

Rainbow Colours

CPIM MP Somnath Chatterjee, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, had last year criticised Prasar Bharati for showing special favours to the Kolkata-based television company, Rainbow Productions despite the checkered past of owner Romesh Gandhi.

Following the concern expressed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee, the CBI raided Gandhi8217;s offices and registered a case.

Recently, several prominent politicians from Bengal, including Trinamul Congress leader, Mamata Bannerjee, Ajit Panja and the Congress8217;s Somen Mitra have petitioned Prasar Bharati for an extension for Rainbow Production8217;s Janmabhoomi programme which had completed over 1,000 episodes.

In a strange turn-round, Chatterjee has also written to Prasar Bharati on behalf of the television company!

New Age Guru

Jayendra Saraswati, Shankacharya of Kanchi, is a new age guru in more ways than one. It is not just that he is techno-savvy and media conscious.

Ever since he was dubbed mediator by the government on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue scores of businessmen and job applicants have been flocking to his Math in New Delhi seeking favours. Recently, one GoI secretary blew his top at the number of requests emanating from the Shankaracharya.

Out of the Loop

Arun Jaitley8217;s appointment as the government8217;s interlocutor for autonomy in Kashmir is yet another sign of Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani8217;s increasing clout.

Jaitley8217;s appointment was made after consultations exclusively between Advani and Vajpayee. The PM8217;s Principal Secretary, Brajesh Mishra, who believes that Kashmir is his baby, was not kept in the picture.

Mishra, who has been backing former RAW chief A S Dulat8217;s track two efforts at mediation, was taken aback by the turn of events. Another Kashmir negotiator side-lined is Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, K C Pant, also a PMO nominee.

Not many are aware that Jaitley has a long standing Kashmir connection.

His wife Dolly8217;s father was the late Girdhari Lal Dogra, twice Congress MP from Jammu and a prominent Congress leader in the region since independence.

Illustrations by Ajit Kumar