Austerity order gets taller

SHASHI Tharoor may have had to move out of a hotel after the Congress high command wielded the austerity stick,but the party wasnt really in the dark about the Minister of State for External Affairs8217;s five-star dwellings. On the partys website,Tharoors address is listed as Room No. 112,Hotel Taj Mahal,Mansingh Road. His boss S M Krishna,who too has had to give up staying in a five-star hotel,has his address on the Rajya Sabha website as Karnataka Bhavan and 19,Teen Murti Lane. In fact,he was staying in neither and had,in fact,rejected the 19, Teen Murti Lane house.

Adding insult to injury

CONGRESS MP from Domariyaganj Jagdambika Pal ran into Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav on a Kingfisher flight from Lucknow to Delhi on Saturday. As Yadav enquired about Pals seat,the Congress MP told him he was flying economy class,citing Sonia Gandhi8217;s diktat on austerity. An amused Yadav sauntered off to his seat in business class,but not before telling Pal gently that he was reading a book written by Ram Manohar Lohia. Yadav was actually on his way to Singapore to see ailing party general secretary Amar Singh.

One trip that went abegging

THIS was one saving the government was able to effect,not owing to its austerity drive but purely owing to the lack of interest on part of the Union ministers to participate in an event. The social editors conference organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Shillong had to be cancelled recently because not many ministers were interested in going there. While Iamp;B Minister Ambika Soni wished for at least five ministers,only one apart from her was willing to participate. The ministry is now planning a similar exercise in Srinagar sometime after Diwali.

India-Pak: An iftaar story

LAST weeks iftaar at the Indian High Commission,Islamabad,made headlines because ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha showed up. Year after year,the Indian mission had been sending invites to the high and mighty of the Pakistan Armed Forces and intelligence community,but always drawn a blank. So Lt Gen Pasha did break from convention and send an important diplomatic signal with his move. However,the same cannot be said of the Pakistan High Commission here,which held its iftaar a few days before the Islamabad event. The only invitees were Muslims because the High Commission is of the view that non-Muslims cannot attend iftaars. Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan were among the handful of invitees but,like every year,the government chose not to honour the invitation. Reason: In India,such distinctions on religious grounds are against the countrys secular character.

Track corrections on Duronto

ORIGINALLY slated for September 13,the launch of the first non-stop,end-to-end Duronto train,between Sealdah and Delhi,was postponed to September 18 at the last minute. Reportedly,it was pointed out to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjees office that flagging off the train during the ongoing pitra-paksha shraddh could prove inauspicious for both the new train and the minister. While there was talk earlier that Mamata may take a ride on the inaugural Duronto,that plan too got shelved,with Railway officials realising the potential embarrassment that could result from the train failing to take one-and-a-half hour less than the corresponding Rajdhani.

Advani feels the changing wind8230;

THE new order of things for L K Advani was evident at the first meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs last week. When Advani,a veteran in parliamentary proceedings,suggested that the committee bypass scrutinising the demand for grants for the Home Ministry,he was vehemently opposed by BSP MP Brajesh Pathak. Pathak,who is much junior to Advani as far as parliamentary practice goes,rejected the Leader of Oppositions suggestion pointing to the duty of the committee irrespective of what was agreed to between the Opposition and the government. Pathak was supported by RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Ultimately it was BJP leader and Chairman of the Committee M Venkaiah Naidu who stepped in to Advani8217;s rescue,rejecting other suggestions on this count. With the BJP preparing for a change of guard later this year,the MPs were left wondering if Advani8217;s presence at the meeting headed by Naidu,and later Naidus defence of Advani,was any indication of times to come.

8230;but BJP caught in stupor

THE churning in the BJP,it appears,is taking various hues. While the website launched by L K Advani during his prime ministerial campaign lies virtually unattended,occasional posts continue to pour in. Some of the recent posts on the site are perhaps indicative of what the BJP constituency may be looking at they pertain to collective leadership,time for expansion of the party and austerity. Another senior leader,Murli Manohar Joshi,whose website never really took off,is,meanwhile,on Facebook also. But if the party activity in cyberspace is sporadic,its real-time activities,like selecting candidates for the forthcoming state elections,have come to a halt. The reason: the ongoing shraddh period is considered inauspicious. Meanwhile,BJP leaders like Joshi,Sushma Swaraj,Ram Lal,Bal Apte,Balbir Punj,Prabhat Jha and Manvendra Singh showed up at a thinkers meet organised at Thane8217;s Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini that the RSS took over since principal organiser,the Chennai-based Swami Dayanand Saraswati,was travelling abroad this year.

A thorn in Rosaiah crowning?

SHORTLY after the confirmation of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy8217;s death in a helicopter crash,as chorus grew for his son Jaganmohan8217;s installation as his successor,crisis managers of the Congress rushed to Governor N D Tiwari urging him to administer the oath of office to K Rosaiah immediately. The Governor refused to oblige asking for a Congress Legislature Party CLP resolution to this effect. After a few frantic calls to Delhi from the Congress high command8217;s emissaries in Hyderabad,it was decided that the Cabinet Secretary would intervene in the matter. Accordingly,the Cabinet Secretary,after consultations with the Law Secretary,wrote to the Governor stating that a chief minister had to be sworn in immediately. With any immediate CLP meeting ruled out by the high command and a clear instruction from the Government of India,Tiwari was left with no option. Congress circles,however,remain abuzz about the reasons for Tiwari8217;s resistance.

RAW boiler

INDIAS premier intelligence agency,the Research amp; Analysis Wing,is again the picture of a divided house with some of its officers going on leave over a promotion. There was some respite when orders came approving 1973-batch RAS officer P M Heblikar as Special Secretary last week. However,other senior RAS officers opposed to those who are on deputation continue to show defiance. While they are coming to office,it8217;s believed they have put in leave applications. These include C K Sinha,B G Rawal and A K Arni to name a few. Under pressure,RAW is said to have planned a departmental promotion review on Monday. Incidentally,Sinha,who is the younger brother of former Assam and Jamp;K Governor Lt Gen retd S K Sinha,will be reconsidered despite having been passed over earlier.

Post-Ishrat,laying down law

FOLLOWING the fiasco over the Home Ministry affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan case,Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has asked all Central government law officers to inform the Law Ministry well in advance about affidavits and other action in all contentious matters. This was done after the Centre lost face when the Home Ministry8217;s affidavit about suspected terrorist links of the four persons killed in the encounter,filed in the Gujarat High Court,came to light. While the Law Ministry said the affidavit had been filed without its knowledge,the MHA asserts that there is no system where all affidavits have to be vetted by the Law Ministry. It would be interesting to see if Moilys diktat results in more work for the law officers and his ministry,or not.

Sibal-shine on Chandni Chowk

THE 100-day dash has already seen HRD Minister Kapil Sibal quite ahead of his ministerial colleagues,but as an MP too,he is keeping his eyes on the finishing line. He brings up his constituency Chandni Chowk at almost every interaction,and never stops singing its praises. The other day he met Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy to discuss a series of plans for the constituency,which he has now won two times successively. At a recent meeting with state education ministers,Sibal called Chandni Chowk the soul of India as it hosts all types of religious places across one single street.

He too had a dream8230;

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has postponed the launch of the Indian Youth Congress8217;s monthly journal Youth March in English and Yuva Pragati in Hindi. Though conceived as an IYC mouthpiece,the ambitious journal was being planned as a commercially viable venture that would get both private and government advertisements and would be available on stands. It was planned to be different from the Congresss Sandesh as Youth Marchs contents were not to be limited to IYC activities only. The IYC magazine was to compete with existing magazines in terms of professionalism and commercial stakes. IYC office-bearers had had several rounds of discussions,including one on an ethical code refusing liquor and alcohol advertisements or anything that could adversely affect young minds. They had even interviewed many ministers in the UPA government about their respective plans for youth. Although Rahul had approved the journals launch at the conceptual stage,when it came to final clearance,he was said to have realised how big an infrastructure would be needed to sustain the magazines not just editorially but also for sales and advertisements. He was reportedly not in favour of changing the priorities and goals of IYC office-bearers either.