Farewell Gift

In the last days of President Pratibha Patils five-year stint,officials have received a glossy book brought out by the three chambers of commerce CII,FICCI and Assocham.

Farewell Gift

In the last days of President Pratibha Patils five-year stint,officials have received a glossy book brought out by the three chambers of commerce CII,FICCI and Assocham. Titled Engaging the world,it is a detailed commentary about her overseas trips,and makes a case how the Presidents trips have led to more economic opportunities for Indian businesses. This has raised eyebrows in official circles,as the Presidents travel expenses of over Rs 200 crore on 13 trips had created a controversy on the necessity of large entourages and frequent travel. Interestingly,when the controversy first came out,Rashtrapati Bhawan had come up with a similar defence,saying how the landmark initiative of the President of taking business delegations on her tours had promoted economic diplomacy.

MOVING CAREER

DURING his 43-year-long parliamentary career,Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee has had to live in several official houses. His present accommodation,13 Talkatora Road,has been in his possession since July 1996. When he was elected as MP for the first time,to the Rajya Sabha in 1969,he was allotted 15,Pandit Pant Marg,which is a stones throw from his present house. In between,he has also lived in 11,Ashoka Road,which serves as BJPs party office now. On other occasions,he has occupied 7,Talkatora Road and 2,Jantar Mantar Road. For a brief while,he also had to stay at his private residence in Greater Kailash. All these will now be dwarfed by the sprawling Rashtrapati Bhawan which he seems destined to occupy very soon.

HECTIC SCHEDULE

THE last days in office for President Pratibha Patil are being spent attending farewell gatherings at the rate of almost one every day. On Tuesday,she had invited journalists for a tea and snacks party at Rashtrapati Bhawan in the evening. On Wednesday,it was the turn of senior officials of the armed forces and defence establishment. On Sunday is the farewell At Home the customary reception that the President organises every year for 500 or so dignitaries. On Tuesday next week,her penultimate day in office,she has invited the Council of Ministers for a banquet. In between,on Monday,the Prime Minister has organised a farewell reception for the outgoing President at Hyderabad House where all his ministers will also be present. Interestingly,the invitation for the Prime Ministers reception received by the ministers has gone on behalf of Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Raising Profile

THE issue related to the rank of Pulok Chatterji,Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,has finally been settled. When he had joined,he had been given the rank of an MoS,just like some of his predecesors. But that led to a hierarchical anomaly because he was junior to Cabinet Secretary in IAS though both belong to the same batch. So the MoS status was put on hold and he was only given the rank of a Secretary with a fixed pay of Rs 80000,like other Secretaries. But now the government has elevated him one notch and made him equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary. It gets reflected in his pay hike,which has become Rs 90000 per month that only the Cabinet Secretary gets.

PERSONAL TOUCH

VICE-PRESIDENT Hamid Ansari filed his nomination papers for a second term in office on Wednesday and interestingly,ensured that official trappings were kept at a safe distance. So instead of using the official car to ferry him to Parliament,he chose to use his personal vehicle. To emphasise further that he was traveling strictly in his personal capacity,Ansari even let go of his regular office chauffeur and had his daughter Nuriya drive him down instead.

Keep DNA test result confidential: Tiwari

NEW DELHI: Veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari on Wednesday pleaded the Delhi High Court to keep the results of his DNA test confidential and conduct proceedings of the paternity suit against him in-camera. Let the DNA report be completely sealed and confidential till conclusion of trial or till appropriate stage8230;Tiwari said in his plea. The test was conducted on May 29 to verify,or otherwise,the claims of a man that Tiwari is his father.