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Journalism of Courage
The Presidential bid by P A Sangma as the Opposition candidate has put his daughter Agatha Sangma,who is a minister in the UPA government,in an awkward position. So the senior Sangma is trying his best to reduce the embarrassment to his daughter. His press-conference room has been erected not in his daughters official residence,where he stays when in Delhi,but in the lawns of BJP leader Ananth Kumars home. Ananth Kumar has been assigned by the BJP to assist Sangmas bid. It is from this makeshift structure that Subramanian Swamy and Satya Pal Jain on Monday addressed the media in support of Sangmas candidature.
Railway Time Warp
Unhealthy Progress
Differences between the Planning Commission and the Health Ministry on how Universal Health Coverage has to be implemented has kept the launch of the new showpiece programme in perpetual storage. Even the Prime Ministers Office has had to step in on a few occasions to iron out the differences but without complete success. The tug-of-war has become so complex that even Sonia Gandhi has been made to keep waiting for a presentation on the issue. The Sonia-led National Advisory Council has,on more than one occasion,invited the Health Ministry to make a presentation on the issue,but Health Secretary P K Pradhan has managed to seek more time so that he gives a clearer picture to the NAC.
Life Less Ordinary
After holding some of the most important positions in government in the last eight years that the UPA has been in power,Pranab Mukherjee suddenly finds himself without any designation except as an ordinary MP. This intervening period from resigning as the Finance Minister to,most likely,becoming the President of the country may be short,but something that he is not used to. And neither is his staff. In fact,a few days ago his staff realised that Mukherjee did not even have a proper identification card with him as the need for one was never felt earlier. And therefore,with much alacrity,a requisition was made to Parliament secretariat last week and an MPs identification card made for him.
Foreign Ambitions
The last-minute cancellation of Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azads planned trip to London for a family planning summit is being read in different ways in the ministry. While the official reason is that Azad was unable to travel because of a sudden backpain,others are linking it to the upcoming Presidential election. He has apparently stayed back to do the political management to ensure that the UPAs candidate for the President and Vice-President get elected. Azads political management in the Telangana crisis has not been able to break that deadlock,but his not-so-concealed desire for the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio is learnt to be making him put in an extra effort this time.
