Meeting each problem

The Union Home Ministry is in 8220;conference mode8221; these days. Close on the heels of the national conference of DGPs and IGPs last month, officials are in the thick of 8220;action8221; again, though this has nothing to do with matters like internal security. Their twin headache? Making a success of the International Conference on Federalism and the Asian Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction being held in the Capital this week. The buzz is that the conferences are very close to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil8217;s heart8212;he has managed to convince Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to address both the meets. But an overlap8212;the conference on federalism ends on November 7 while the meet on disaster management begins the same day8212;has posed a bit of a logistical challenge. Little wonder then that the ministry8217;s media managers are an anxious lot, working overtime to get due coverage for both the events even though the participating countries have been less than enthusiastic about sending delegates.