On the face of it, getting a bus service started between Amritsar and Lahore is a simple affair. Security and other related procedures have already been worked out for the service, which is essentially a truncated version of the Delhi-Lahore bus.But there is still a delay and the problem is with a law that prohibits Pakistanis from visiting or residing in Punjab. This was enacted by the Punjab government during the days of militancy to prevent ‘‘Pakistani influence’’.Exemptions to this rule can be made and, in fact, have been on several occasions like the India-Pakistan cricket series. But then, a regular bus service can’t run on exemptions. This needs to be sorted out by the Home Ministry and the Punjab government. In fact, the word is out that the trial will take place very soon and the law possibly scrapped.No chairman, no planes for IAThe absence of a permanent CMD for Indian Airlines has landed the national carrier in all sorts of problems. Technically, it should not be difficult to get on with work except for some Civil Aviation Ministry bureaucrats who have propped up the rulebook.With its aircraft acquisition plan cleared, the airline wants to move quickly on leasing 12 wide-bodied aircraft to strengthen its international operations. And with no satisfactory response to the first tender, it was decided that a new one with revisions—increasing the period of lease from three to five years—will be floated.But the IA board, which has to pass this tender, is still to meet after Sunil Arora relinquished charged on June 12. Reason: Babus in Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan feel a board meeting with an interim chairperson is not appropriate. Then again, being a routine matter, it can be approved through circulation among board members. But, all have approved—except for the Ministry representative.The red tape means that IA loses out commercially even though the Ministry has given complete autonomy to national carriers on leasing aircraft. Going by the pace at which the appointment of the IA CMD is proceeding, the airline may have to wait at least another month before pushing the tender through.At South Block, a US-US rivalrySouth Block has discovered with a degree of amusement that the tense competition to sell fighter aircraft to the IAF has resulted in healthy rivalry between the US Air Force and US Navy. Last Thursday, when a team comprising both forces arrived at South Block, the USAF which flies the F-16, entered the briefing room, after requesting the ‘‘US Navy guys’’ to stay out. When it was the US Navy’s turn to brief the IAF on its F/A-18 Super Hornet, it was the USAF’s turn to cool their heels in the corridors of Vayu Bhavan. ‘‘They work together where it matters. This is business,’’ an IAF officer said.One US call that would have meant a lotOn Friday, Indian Ambassador to US Ronnen Sen met Marsha Evans, President and CEO of American Red Cross, and handed over a cheque of $5 million as Indian contribution for Hurricane Katrina relief. India, thus, became the first major contributor towards US disaster relief efforts after Sri Lanka, which contributed $25,000 for the same. But what was missing from the Indian side was a personal touch from the UPA leadership.Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh sent condolence messages to President Bush, that crucial phone call didn’t happen. When US shuttle Challenger disintegrated on January 28, 1986, then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was woken up at 2.30 am and informed about the incident. Rather than wait to sent condolence messages, he just picked up the phone and called then US president Ronald Reagan to express his sympathies. It mattered a lot.For Indian PM, a family reunion abroadThe buzz is that during his tour to Paris and then New York, for the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister has no breathing space—his schedule is packed with meetings. From George W Bush, Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao to NAM leaders, Manmohan Singh has agreed to spend time with all.But there is still a window left in his weeklong schedule. That is September 16, when the PM is expected to address the Indian media in the morning. The rest of the day is free for Singh, who is expected to meet his daughter Amrit who is doing her PhD in Columbia University. This will be a sort of a family reunion as Gursharan Kaur, Singh’s other daughters and grandchildren will be there, too. But while the family may meet up in advance, Singh would get just those few hours with them before departure the same evening.Burying the hatchet on China in 1962The verbal exchange between Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Consul General of China in Mumbai Song Deheng on 1962 took place last Sunday, but the reverberations were felt in South Block this week. The Ministry of External Affairs informally took up the matter with the Chinese, only to be told that there was no reason for Mukherjee to blame the Chinese for the ‘‘invasion.’’ Keen not to spoil the ambience during Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s visit to Beijing, South Block decided not to rake up the issue—so what if a junior Chinese diplomat had ticked off the Government’s seniormost minister.Then, rather than join issue with the Chinese, Mukherjee vented his ire in the Defence Ministry this week. The Defence Minister wanted a hotline to be set up with his Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs after he could not get Army chief J J Singh on phone for over 15 minutes to coordinate relief efforts on Hurricane Katrina. It is another matter that the Army chief was in his office throughout the day.In Maharashtra Cong, a case of Kati PatangThat is how Maharashtra Congress leaders are describing the fall from grace of State Minister Patangrao Kadam. Cooperation Minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh Cabinet, Kadam was set to go places—even hoping to be CM. But he has failed to find a place in the 51-member MPCC executive list released last week. Reason: Congress president Sonia Gandhi is not happy with him.Kadam, according to Congress grapevine, pulled strings at 10 Janpath to get Sonia to stay overtime at his constituency, Bhilwadi Vangi, during her visit to flood-hit areas of Maharashtra. Sonia, apparently, realised this only after reaching there. Thereafter, Kadam was at the receiving end. According to eyewitnesses, when an overanxious Kadam grabbed a memorandum submitted by someone to the district collector, Sonia took it from him and handed it back to the official.Blairs in India, can tabloids be far behind?A lunch party hosted by the Indian Women’s Press Corps for his wife became a major source of embarrassment for British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This is where Cherie is said to have spoken out against Islam and its treatment of women. The problem was she was then quoted extensively by the British press, which was not present at the event. So what if none of the 65 Indian women journalists there don’t remember her having made any such remark. Blair was left red-faced when a British tabloid journalist later asked him about his wife’s ‘‘remarks’’ at the lunch. Collective amnesia among the Indian journalists or British tabloid journalism at its best?On 11, Ashoka Rd, Pyar Mein TwistFor three straight days last week, scores of journalists hung around the BJP headquarters waiting for a ‘‘compromise’’ that would heal the Atal-Advani rift. Party functionaries at 11, Ashoka Road, were equally clueless though the ever-smiling spokesman Prakash Javadekar was confident that the ‘‘delivery’’ would take place any moment. Despite efforts by Jaswant Singh and Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday and Friday, there was no ‘‘breakthrough’’.An unfazed Javadekar told reporters on Saturday that a third dai (mid-wife) was on the job and the baby’s birth was imminent. Pramod Mahajan’s skills as an obstetrician, however, were equally unsuccessful.Never mind, said an optimistic BJP functionary. Atal and Advani had been friends for more than five decades. The latest spat was only a case of ‘‘Pyar Mein Twist’’ that would end as happily as the latest Dimple-Rishi starrer in a day or two. We are still waiting and watching.
