Oil cover for Sania?

Mani Shankar Aiyar has set his eyes on the new kid on the block: Sania Mirza. The Petroleum Minister wants the state-run oil companies to ta...

Mani Shankar Aiyar has set his eyes on the new kid on the block: Sania Mirza. The Petroleum Minister wants the state-run oil companies to take her under their wings so that the new tennis sensation can settle in her game.

Inspired by an editorial in a financial daily, Aiyar wants that the outstanding star of the Australian Open should be freed of her financial worries so that she is able to concentrate on her tennis.

He has lobbied that the oil companies take lead in this game and has asked his secretary S.C. Tripathi to convene the CEOs and push the sponsorship forward as quickly as possible.

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“The returns to us in terms of overseas publicity would be considerable especially in view of the increasing interest which not only ONGC Videsh Ltd but almost all other PSUs as taking in securing positions abroad,” he adds.

The Hyderabad girl may face a tough time rooting for OVL or Indian Oil Corp in tennis-devoid Sudan, Libya, Vietnam, Myanmar, Algeria, Iran, Iraq or for that matter snow-capped Sakhalin.

Oil and gas firms do not expect an ace out of Mirza in promoting gas pipes through Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkmenistan or crude lines from Egypt, Turkey or Kazakhstan.

‘Bangladeshis’ and ‘ghuspaithiyas’: BJP MP Brij Lal stops five sanitation workers on road in to quiz them on video

‘Bangladeshis’, ‘ghuspaithiyas’: On camera, BJP MP quizzes 5 sanitation workers

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BJP MP and former UP DGP Brij Lal has sparked controversy with a video accusing five sanitation workers in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar Extension of being Bangladeshi infiltrators. Lal, a former IPS officer, claims to know how terrorism works and alleges that these workers are a threat to the nation. He appeals to CM Yogi Adityanath to deport them and claims they have fake identities.

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