Date trouble

Lack of suitable dates is coming in the way of Indias efforts to engage Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping,who is slated to become the countrys President next year.

Lack of suitable dates is coming in the way of Indias efforts to engage Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping,who is slated to become the countrys President next year. Indias Vice-President Hamid Ansari was scheduled to travel to China in June this year to meet him. The visit had to be put off because the Chinese Vice-President had to attend a Communist party conference on the same dates. August was ruled out because of ongoing Parliament session. Now the Chinese Vice-Presidents plan to visit India later this month has also been put off because of some other pressing engagements. The two countries are now said to be frantically looking for a suitable date later this year for Xi to come to India.

Weak Defence

It has been more than two months that the website of the National Investigation Agency NIA has been shut down. The premier investigating agency claimed that they are bolstering their website in the wake of the recent attacks on NSG and CBI websites by cyber warriors and hackers. But a long delay by the agency in setting up of website is being seen as deliberate. Insiders say that some of the chargesheets and other documents filed by the agency in some sensitive cases are weak and if uploaded on the website,can provide ammunition to the accused persons.

Capital Hospitality

A bench of Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik on Thursday cracked the mystery on why so many retired judges prefer to continue in Delhi. The question before the bench was whether poor people from outside Delhi were also entitled to get free treatment at private hospitals set up on government land. Justice Patnaik interjected to say that one of the most attractive things about Delhi was its hospitals. Himself a native of Orissa,the judge said it was difficult to find good medical care in places like Cuttack. As an afterthought,Justice Patnaik added that this probably was the reason why so many judges prefer to continue to live in Delhi even after retirement.

Quiet Farewell

Vivek Katju,Secretary West in the Ministry of External Affairs,was given a farewell on Tuesday. While Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai described him as a brilliant officer,there werent many who attended the farewell party. A man of few words,Katju represented the alternative view in the MEA on Pakistan,which he expressed without fear. Though not very popular with younger colleagues,he was held in high respect by the External Affairs Minister. Katju plans to teach and lecture after his retirement.