Factory over party

It remains to be seen what Hooda thinks of Amarinders idea.

Factory over party

As Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda tries his best to engineer a compromise in the workers strike at Marutis Manesar plant,his Congress party colleague Capt Amarinder Singh has gone ahead and invited the company to shift its operations to Punjab. Amarinder on Thursday criticised Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for failing to take the initiative to invite Maruti to Punjab,which he feels could offer a better labour environment. It remains to be seen what Hooda thinks of Amarinders idea.

Use your judgment

The issue of retired judges taking up post-retirement assignments came up for discussion in the Supreme Court Thursday. A senior lawyer objected rather bluntly to a retired high court judge accepting a job at a commission,even though he already held two or three other positions. What kind of a judge is this, asked the lawyer. An irked SC bench interrupted him saying it would not hear such language against retired judges. The court explained that the issue was left entirely to the judges discretion and his capacity to work.

Straight and narrow

These days,nobody wants to risk being accused of irregular practices. After it became known that a few projects and consultancies in his ministry had been awarded to private entities by nomination,External Affairs Minister S M Krishna shot off a note warning all his officials against such practices. Everyone must strictly avoid nominations,and the process must involve open tenders and transparent procedures,Krishna stressed. Non-adherence to these norms would invite disciplinary proceedings.

A new launch

A key member of visiting Nepal PM Baburam Bhattarais delegation has got security agencies interested. Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun,also called Ananta,is better known in intelligence circles as a skilled Maoist commander who shot to fame by bringing down a Nepalese Army chopper with a rocket launcher in the days of the Maoist military campaign. But clearly,the ministers new job has no need for his old skills.

V-Ps wisdom

The Ministry of External Affairs had to scurry at the last moment to find a suitable venue for an international relations conference which Vice-President Hamid Ansari will inaugurate over the weekend. Vigyan Bhawan had been identified earlier,which would be the venue for meetings of the National Development Council on the same dates,the ministry was told. The organisers tried to argue that the Vice-President is higher in protocol,but backtracked after Ansaris office said that the NDC meeting was more important. The conference will now take place at the India Habitat Centre.