Key Role

While Arvind Kejriwal has been trying to act revolutionary,it is the efforts of his associate Prashant Bhushan that got the India Against Corruption team maximum eyeballs through the allegations on Robert Vadra

While Arvind Kejriwal has been trying to act revolutionary,it is the efforts of his associate Prashant Bhushan that got the India Against Corruption team maximum eyeballs through the allegations on Robert Vadra. The press conference to announce the expose on Vadra was advanced by a day to adjust for Bhushans travel plans. It was Bhushan who appeared on all television debates that evening. And now that DLF and Vadra have come out with rebuttals,the delay in a response from the Kejriwal camp is because Bhushan is currently out of the country.

TEXT CASE

THE single member B S Baswan committee set up by the HRD Ministry to fix responsibility for allowing inappropriate cartoons in NCERT textbooks,it seems,was compelled to hold someone guilty. And almost apologetically,it appears,it has named Prof Krishna Kumar,the former NCERT director. While absolving all NCERT officials of any wrongdoing,the committee has said that the one person to be held responsible if at all is Prof Kumar. But then it also takes pains to emphasise the great work done by Kumar at NCERT and gushes admiringly about his integrity and intellect. For the record,the Baswan committee says that there was no malafide intention on part of the NCERT officials and textbook making was a collective decision.

DISTURBED ENVIRONMENT

IT is now no secret that the transfer of Vishwapati Trivedi from the Mines Ministry had something to do with the tabling of the Justice M B Shah Commission report in Parliament before it was debated in the Cabinet. In fact,at the Cabinet meeting held immediately after the report was tabled in Parliament during the last days of monsoon session in September,the person most agitated about this happened to be Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan. She is understood to have raised the strongest objection to the development. It is no coincidence that the Commissions report on the illegal mining activities in Goa has made some rather unpalatable remarks about the role of the Environment Ministry as well.

SUSPECT STILL

THE CBI has scuttled the attempts of VRS Natarajan,the former chief of BEML,to get his suspension revoked by the Defence Ministry. Natarajan,who is facing corruption charges in the Tatra-BEML truck case,had made a representation before the ministry,asking for his reinstatement in BEML. The ministry,however,sought a status report from the CBI inquiring about the seriousness of charges against Natarajan. The CBI told the ministry that Natarajans role was suspect and he must not be reinstated.

REFRESHING HIKE

IN these troubled times when the Indian Railways is struggling to earn every penny to tide over a severe financial crunch,it has gone ahead and enhanced in a big way the amount it spends on refreshments served in its various internal meetings. Each of the 16 zonal railway can now spend up to Rs 35 lakh per year on refreshments at meetings an increase of Rs 10 lakh. The per head per meeting refreshment budget has been hiked from Rs 12 to Rs 18,a 50 per cent jump. Officials say the increase was necessary in view of complaints from zonal railways that they were not getting palatable food and beverages due to the meager budgets. But while hiking the budget for refreshments,the Railway Board has also advised its zones to observe strict austerity.