Always a babu

Former Home Secretary V K Duggal represents the classic case of a bureaucrat who never retires.

Former Home Secretary V K Duggal represents the classic case of a bureaucrat who never retires. It has been more than four years since this 1968-batch IAS officer retired from service. But he has never been without a job,managing to bag one post-retirement assignment after another. Immediately after his retirement,he was appointed as member of the commission on Centre-State Relations. Shortly before that commission was to submit its report,and thereafter cease to exist,Duggal was appointed a member of the Telangana Committee. Once that committee finished its work,he got yet another assignment,this time as member of the task force headed by Naresh Chandra to review the countrys security apparatus. Duggal heads a sub-group on internal security.

Anything for photo-op

Friends,we have won a municipal committee in Tamil Nadu, a beaming BJP general secretary Ram Lal announced at a function held at party headquarters to commemorate the 60th foundation day of the Jana Sangh,the previous avatar of the party. Everybody,including party president Nitin Gadkari,applauded. Minutes later,the proceedings halted for a short while to welcome our winner of the Hisar by-election. Haryana Janhit Congress president Kuldeep Bishnoi stepped on to the podium and hugged Gadkari. The photo-op over,he quickly made an exit. For a party starved for good news,any victory is a trophy worth showcasing be it in an obscure civic body or by a new-found ally.

Closing in on deal

The hotly contested competition to provide fighter aircraft worth 10 billion to India is drawing to a close with commercial bids set to be opened next week. The two remaining contenders in the deal Frances Dassault and European Consortium EADS are now awaiting formal letters that will call them for the opening ceremony of the commercial bids. Word has it that the letters will reach competitors by Monday. Senior management from Dassault are already learnt to be in town and the ongoing visit by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe is being seen as a happy coincidence!

Few Takers

When he had taken over Health Ministry,Ghulam Nabi Azad had sought to discourage foreign trips of officials,and put a cap of three trips in a year. The minister himself is known to be unenthusiastic about foreign travel,although he does travel extensively within the country. Azad issued instructions that officials who put up their request for foreign visits must mention their previous visits in a year. His instructions have,however,failed to have much impact with Ministry officials. They have largely ignored the limit and some have even travelled abroad twice a month. What can the minister do? He has to take work from the same officials, said one ministry official.