Snap shots

Basu On The BallHe launched a cheery onslaught on the Opposition, which brought a no-confidence motion against his government in the State...

Basu On The Ball
He launched a cheery onslaught on the Opposition, which brought a no-confidence motion against his government in the State Assembly with great vigour and proved why he was still indispensable to the ruling Marxists in the State. And last Sunday he donned battle gear and took on the Opposition on an equally strong wicket. But the turf was different and the mood was friendly. Jyoti Basu led the ruling party in a friendly cricket match against the Opposition comprising the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the BJP at Calcutta8217;s Mohan Bagan ground. And among the ministers who pitched in for the ruling party were Minister for Finance Ashim Dasgupta and Sports Minister Subhas Chakravarthy. The proceeds from the match were donated to the Chief Minister8217;s Relief Fund for those hit by the Orissa cyclone. 8220;The CM was in high spirits. Who will say he is 86,8221; Trinamool leader Subrata Mukherjee asked.

Flying Clear
Indian Airlines chief Anil Baijalwhose term as joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation runs out in April 2000 is all set to take IA into the new millennium, as the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Sharad Yadav has just cleared a three-year term for him. The papers were despatched last week and are now with the Department of Personnel amp; Training for 8220;processing8221;. The decision has led to several glum faces as several top officials were gunning for the job. Some went to the extent of appealing to Yadav8217;s OBC sympathies by citing their stellar OBC credentials. Says a senior official: 8220;It8217;s bad news for Naresh Goyal, the owner of Jet Airways, but worse for us as it is such a great job8221;.

Mindless Copying
Politicians make good copycats. Ever since the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu used information technology to tone up his administration and get votes, his counterparts in other States have been trying to emulate him. The biggest surprise is Punjab Chief Minister Parkash SinghBadal. He has installed a new desktop in his office. The idea is to wire the entire administration and access information 8220;in a jiffy8221;. There is a slight problem though: Badal, unlike Naidu, does not know even the basics of computers. But the bureaucracy is more than willing to help the Chief Minister. 8220;If Badalji can8217;t operate the computer what are we here for? We will get the information for him,8221; said a senior bureaucrat. Small wonder the State is in the state it is in.

Cash Rich
If you think Mac and Jack are American or British names, you are clearly not in tune with the times. Any college student in Gujarat can tell you that Mac is Mukesh and Jack is Jagdish. So what should Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel be called? Mukesh or Mac! Patel, president of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, posed the question at a seminar and also gave the answer: Cash. And if Mukesh Patel is to be believed, the name was suggested by an American businessman in Mumbai wherethe Chief Minister was hawking Gujarat Inc to foreign investors. 8220;He asked me the Chief Minister8217;s name and I said it was Keshubhai, he repeated it as Cashubhai and said: He must be bringing in lot of cash to the State8217;,8221; recalled Mukesh Patel. One doesn8217;t know if the American was being witty or whether he had heard stories about the relationship Indian politicos have with cash.

Healthy Message
Gujarat Health Minister Ashok Bhatt8217;s ingenuity is matchless. First he introduced lullabies on cassettes now he has come out with a greeting card which he will be sending to mothers of new-born babies all over the State. As many as 1.2 million cards have already been printed. They have a picture of a flower on the cover and photos of Bhatt and Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel on the back. Bhatt greets the mothers as dear sisters8217;, and advises them to keep their babies healthy. While Bhatt8217;s intentions are noble, one wonders how he is going to keep track of all the births and find time to send hisgood wishes to the mums.