Pratibha who?

THE PMO and cabinet secretariat breathed a sigh of relief last month after the Delhi High Court stayed till August 31 a central information commission order seeking disclosure of official files regarding the appointment of Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. The government had not bargained that the indefatigable former Bangladesh High Commissioner Veena Sikri would approach the central administrative tribunal. Last week, the tribunal sent a notice to the concerned government departments on the very same issue. The MEA, meanwhile, has taken its revenge by not offering Sikri, who still has 17 months to go before retirement, any posting.

Hard to zip

SINCE former Foreign Secretary Shayam Saran8217;s position as special envoy for the Indo-US nuclear deal has become virtually redundant, the prime minister wants to compensate him. Manmohan Singh agreed to moot his name as the Indian nominee for chairperson of the commonwealth secretariat, but Sonia Gandhi nixed his proposal since she already had UK High Commissioner Kamlesh Sharma in mind for the job. It has been made clear by 10 Janpath that appointment of ambassadors to the US, UK and Russia should be made with her prior knowledge. As a sop, Saran has been made a member of the task force to ensure that there is no deviation from the official line on nuclear non-proliferation issues. But can the committee zip the mouths of officials giving the media unofficial briefings diverging widely from the government position?

Procedure bypass

TRANSPORT Minister T.R. Baalu considers the Kathirpara multiple-entry flyover his baby since it falls within his constituency. The prime minister has got interested in the project ever since a close associate in Chennai complained to him that the project is at a standstill for a year and there are perennial traffic jams. The prime minister has held two review meetings to find out the cause for the delay. The Tamil Nadu chief secretary has explained that there is a problem over acquiring the land because of an existing housing colony and petrol pump. The blame for the mess rests largely with the minister, who was in a hurry to hustle the scheme through without following administrative procedure. But Baalu seems keen to make the hapless chairperson of the national highway authority the scapegoat.

Verified fact

A RECENT CAG report confirms the general suspicion that police verification for those applying for passports takes far longer than the stipulated time limit of 21 days. The report found that between 2001 and 2004, 75 per cent of all applications for PVR police verification records were not received in time. In fact, the director-general of Uttar Pradesh police has admitted candidly that in view of limited staff the time constraint was unrealistic. The MEA has suggested to the Union home ministry that the police should create a special cell to handle passport related matters.

Early birds

DURING the prime minister8217;s visit for the G8 summit in Germany, most of the 30-odd media team bunked going to the venue at Heligendamm, deterred by the prospect of starting the journey at 2 am and also the massive security deployment. Most journalists assumed that whatever took place would be well-reported on TV. They did not reckon that the prime minister would meet US President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the summit. Only four intrepid Indian journalists who made it to Heligendamm got the scoop. It was the Indian foreign secretary requesting an American photographer for a photograph of the meeting that tipped off the Indian media.