Ansaris Turkey link

The death of Steve Jobs triggered reactions from unexpected quarters. BJPs Rajya Sabha member Tarun Vijay compared Jobs with Swami Vivekanand a great soul who inspired the young generation. Jobs,he said,was the self-realised yogi who controlled destiny through faith and good karma,and pitched for making Jobss famous Stanford speech a part of the school curriculum. Vijay,like other Rajya Sabha MPs,is entitled to get an Apple iPad. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj took to Twitter to mourn the death. Jobs,Swaraj said,was entrepreneur and inventor par excellence.

Mulayam echo in UN

Senior SP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav spoke on Rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict situations at the UN this week. Yadav cautioned against unauthorised intervention in states internal affairs or use of force to bring about political change a reflection,his party colleagues said,of Mulayam Singh Yadavs opposition to the US intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq. Ram Gopal Yadav got the opportunity to travel to the UN after Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav pulled out at the last minute to continue his mass contact programme ahead of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Congs cop-and-Modi game

Having taken a conscious decision not to play into Narendra Modis hands by harping on his politics of communal polarisation,the Congress is taking up the issue of alleged victimisation of government officials by the BJP regime in Gujarat. After suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatts arrest,the ruling party at the Centre is preparing a dossier of cases in which IAS and IPS officers in the state were targeted for speaking against the Modi regime. By taking up their cause,the party is hoping to get a section of the Gujarat bureaucracy on its side ahead of next years Assembly elections.

Ministers Dussehra holiday

It seems that Fridays cabinet meeting was affected by the festive spirit most ministers were absent,and the meeting was wound up in less than half an hour. Even ministers whose ministry items were on the agenda were absent. Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna had one and two items respectively from their ministries on the agenda,and the cabinet cleared them in their absence. Their cabinet colleagues said the items were just bilaterals,which could be cleared even in their absence.