Governors rules

As the Governors approached their allotted time,they were warned thrice by a buzzer that reminded them to wind up.

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Governors rules

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Governors rules

Unlike the chief ministers who gave lengthy speeches at the recent National Development Council meeting,the Governors who assembled for the Governors Conference over the weekend had no such luck. Before anyone could begin talking,President Pratibha Patil set out the rules: every speaker was equal and no one would be allowed to speak for more than 10 minutes. Patil,who herself has been a Governor,said though the rule reminded her of her days in the Rajya Sabha,there was little that she could do considering the large number of speakers,including a few ministers,scheduled to make presentations. And she enforced her rule strictly. As the Governors approached their allotted time,they were warned thrice by a buzzer that reminded them to wind up.

Delayed Broadcast

The Information amp; Broadcasting Ministrys move to bring an ordinance to amend the Prasar Bharati Act has got stalled as it failed to make it to the Cabinet agenda for this week even as dates for the winter session of Parliament were announced on Monday. Following the recommendation of the Group of Ministers,the Law Ministry had finalised the draft ordinance early this month and it was to be cleared by the Cabinet. The ordinance would have given more say to the government in the functioning of the public broadcaster,which has been in the eye of a storm recently following allegations of financial irregularities.

Like Old Times

A DINNER hosted by Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation Srikant Jena over the weekend became a good opportunity for old friends to get together. Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai,JDU president Sharad Yadav,former minister Devender Yadav and Bhakta Charan Das,a Congress MP from Orissa,were seen engrossed in deep and prolonged conversation with Jena. Though in different political parties now,all of them share a common background and belong to the original Janata Dal parivar.

Sugar and Spice

VILASRAO Deshmukh was included in the Empowered Group of Ministers on food security when he was the Rural Development Minister. However,he continues to be a member of that EGoM even after the change of his portfolio to Science and Technology. One assumed that it was done to check the influence of his Maharashtra rival and political heavyweight Sharad Pawar. But on the issue of sugar exports,it seems Deshmukh is not just taking the same line as Pawar but pushing it more aggressively to take credit. On Monday,Deshmukh drove to Krishi Bhawan to meet Food Minister K V Thomas,who is much junior to him in hierarchy,to push for allowing more exports of sugar.

Difficult choice

THERE were many raised eyebrows in the Congress after the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs CCPA advanced its meeting from 12.30 pm on Tuesday to 5 pm on Monday. The rescheduled time meant many ministers had to choose between the Indira Gandhi award function chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the CCPA meeting. The ruling party had even cancelled its regular press briefing in view of the award function. Some ministers said there was no urgency for the CCPA meeting to be advanced by a day but why it was advanced remains a mystery.