Monumental slumber

On June 19, the ASI registered a complaint at the Rakabganj police station against unauthorised construction being carried out within the regulated area of the Agra Fort.

The superintending archaeologist wanted the police to 8216;8216;stop such illegal construction forthwith and lodge an FIR against them so that the persons responsible for such illegal construction can be brought to book.8217;8217; A simple case of covering their own back sides rather than protecting the Taj!

Excess neighbourliness

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was so pleased with the power situation in the Capital after the distribution was privatised that she recently decided to sell 500 MW of excess power at night to other states.

But ever since the sale of the so-called 8216;8216;excess power8217;8217; there have been a dramatic increase in load shedding and power breakdowns in Delhi. Since the power is sold largely to Rajasthan and MP, which have acute power shortages and upcoming assembly elections, it look suspiciously as if Sheila wants to bail out Congress chief ministers, Digvijay Singh and Ashok Gehlot. Especially as power which was bought by Delhi from the NTPC grid at a rate of Rs 2.75 per unit is being sold at around Rs 2 per unit.

Fully fit at 73

What makes George Fernandes tick? At 73 he has more physical endurance than men half his age. On a recent visit to the Siachen glacier, Fernandes was happily striding ahead in the icy terrain, while a burly member of the TV crew which had come to do an interview with him fainted at the high altitude.

In the last four-and-a-half years Fernandes has visited the glacier 32 times. Last week the Defence minister flew 25,000 feet above the ground in a supersonic Sukhoi 30. A few days earlier Fernandes was equally comfortable in a naval submarine.

When Fernandes visited China last month he was escorted by two women major generals who were stunned to hear his age and wanted to know the secret of his fitness.

Perhaps Fernandes8217;s physical fitness and mental alertness is due to the fact that he eschews both alcohol and cigarettes, has regular habits, eats frugally and keeps a very active schedule. He gets up every morning at 4.30 am and on days when he is busy he can go to sleep as late as 2 p.m.

Non-PLU politicians

They may belong to different parties but Uma Bharati empathises with politicians like Lalu Prasad Yadav and the late Devi Lal who she feels suffered a similar handicap. The urbanised English speaking media make them the butt of jokes and delight in portraying them as unbalanced, country hicks. Lalu fought against such patronising propaganda by converting the very flaws which the media mocked 8212; his accent, his dangling pajama strings and tousled hair 8212; into lovable trade marks.

Uma, who is doubly disadvantaged as a woman OBC and a sanyasin has learnt to be pragmatic about-below-the-belt remarks, like sexy sanyasin. But occasionally she resorts to such tactics as filing a defamation case in an out-of-the-way court and spreading the word that her followers would be pelting the erring journalist with tomatoes on his court appearance. The threat worked with a top editor who sued for peace and wrote a complimentary piece as a peace offering.

In the Madhya Pradesh campaign, Uma8217;s speeches are devoted to bread and butter issues such as poverty, unemployment power and roads, but the media still plays up only references to Hindutva, even though she is convinced that in Madhya Pradesh the key issue is poor governance and not Ayodhya.

Mayawati in Toonland

UP Chief Minister Mayawati refused to cut short her American tour even after she learnt that Ajit Singh8217;s RLD had quit the NDA and Mulayam Singh Yadav was threatening to bring down her government. In Washington, Mayawati and her BSP colleague Kanshi Ram were keen to meet some American think tanks. But the intellectual interaction did not materialise. Either because our embassy in Washington or the American intelligentsia did not take the BSP8217;s request very seriously.

The highpoint of Mayawati8217;s trip was a visit to Disney World in Florida. Mayawati was so enchanted with the cartoon world that she happily agreed to pay the extra amount so that all the cartoon characters from Mickey Mouse to Lion King marched in a special parade for her benefit.