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Journalism of Courage
National Security Advisor Shivshanker Menon gathered what he called a room full of friends for Chinas state councillor Dai Bingguo,his counterpart in the boundary talks. This was a sort of a farewell banquet for Dai,who has been the Chinese interlocutor since the start of the SR-level talks in 2003. The dinner at Taj Hotels Diwan-e-Khas was graced by Dais first Indian counterpart,former NSA Brajesh Mishra,ex-envoy to the PM Shyam Saran,former Indian envoy to the US Naresh Chandra,among others. Menon said that his complaint with Dai was that he always wanted to visit other parts of the country,but could never take time out for it. Maybe thats why Menons predecessor M K Narayanan made it a point to hold the talks outside Delhi. Dai also said he had visited cities like Hyderabad,Bangalore,Chennai,Kolkata and even Khajuraho on his own.
Friendly Letters
Goa Gone?
Once an RSS choice for the BJP presidency,Manohar Parrikar is currently faced with in-house competition for even leading the party in Goa as the chief ministerial candidate. The reason being that BJP president Nitin Gadkari has propped up former Union minister of state Shripad Yesso Naik,the Lok Sabha member from North Goa,as an alternative contender for the job. Since Gadkari is angling for a second term by amending the party constitution with RSSs blessings,it makes sense for him to upstage Parrikar,a potential rival,on his home turf.
Wrong Border
At the recently concluded industry summit Bengal Leads in Kolkata,Mamata Banerjees speech raised some eyebrows. During the welcome address,the West Bengal Chief Minister inadvertently mixed up her geography,making Bangladesh the border of Pakistan. Delivered in English,the speech urged Indian and global industries to invest in Bengal because,as she said,Bengal was a gateway to Bangladesh and Bangladesh was the border of Pakistan. The audience,with top industry executives and her senior ministers on stage,listened with a straight face. Ironically,also sharing the stage at that time was party MP Derek OBrien,who has spent a lifetime asking and answering quiz questions based on history,politics,science,arts and,of course,geography.
Lalus Clout
Lalu Prasad may be down but he has certainly not lost his clout,at least not with the Congress. The latest list of Congress candidates includes Jitendra Yadav,who till now was state secretary of the Samajawadi Party,as its nominee from Sikandrabad near Bulandshahr. It turns out that Jitendra Yadavs son is engaged to one of Lalus daughters and their wedding is scheduled to be held later this month at a Delhi farmhouse. Incidentally,Yadav is also related to controversial MLA DP Yadav. It may be noted that the Congress had earlier announced the name of Nizam Malik as its candidate for this seat,but has now replaced him with Jitendra Yadav.
