Late awakening

It is better late than never. Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma,who is known to enjoy his afternoon naps,seems to have woken up more than eight months.

Late awakening

It is better late than never. Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma,who is known to enjoy his afternoon naps,seems to have woken up more than eight months after he was given charge of Steel Ministry in January. On Tuesday,his ministry released its agenda for the next 100 days something that ministers generally do at the start of their tenure. The agenda has about 30 items that the ministry plans to act upon. Given the fact that his attention would be required primarily on the upcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh,it remains to be seen whether he would have time to take stock of the much-delayed agenda.

Undercutting Rivals

With elections approaching,political gamesmanship in Uttar Pradesh has begun in right earnest. Determined to cut into the support base of RLD leader Ajit Singh,the UP Chief Minister is learnt to have decided to create three new districts in Jat-dominated western Uttar Pradesh,traditionally the stronghold of Ajit Singh. Mayawati is slated to visit Moradabad,Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad on Wednesday,and it is expected that she would announce these new districts Sambhal,Shamli and Hapur to be carved out from them. By fulfilling a long-pending demand of the locals in this area,Mayawati hopes to not only split Ajit Singhs vote-bank but also spoil the game plan of the Congress which is likely to ally itself with the RLD for next years Assembly elections.

Security Scare

Security inside CBI headquarters went into a tizzy on Tuesday as one its senior officials at the agency headquarters came under attack by a member of the force which is deployed to protect them. A constable posted with CISF and stationed at the CBI building walked up to the 10th floor of the building where the joint directors of the agency sit. The constable created a ruckus on the floor outside the office of one of the joint directors,threatening to quit his job due to strenuous work schedule. He was finally overpowered and handed over to to his senior officer and now awaits disciplinary action.

Resigned to its fate

When it comes to the Congress regime in Rajasthan,even the high commands hands seem to be tied. Following an adverse report by party MPs against the Ashok Gehlot government in the Bharatpur incident involving the death of Muslims in police firing,central leaders find themselves in a piquant situation. They are finding it hard to act against Gehlot due to the TINA There Is No Alternative factor,especially when the Congress regime enjoys only a slender majority in the Assembly. Party MPs who had visited Bharatpur wanted Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal to be sacked,but the minister is often called the most resourceful in Gehlots Cabinet. There is demand for the resignation of another minister Mahipal Maderna whose name was recently included in an FIR in connection with the abduction of an Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife. The Congress high command is,however,finding it difficult to remove Maderna as he belongs to the influential Jat community.

Out of Line

The government is learnt to have decided to overlook the transgressions of the IBN7 news channel during the Anna Hazare agitation. The channel had attracted the ire of an inter-ministerial panel looking into telecast of objectionable content on television channels. One particular news programme was aimed at instigating people and foment anger and resentment,the panel thought. But the channel was not penalised as the panel felt that the programme was only trying to reflect the prevailing mood of the time. Another offending channel,Sony Pix,has not been spared,however. The channel was found to have shown films having adult and obscene content. The ministerial panel found that the channel did not take the mandatory certificate from the Censor Board before screening the films. It has issued a notice to the channel for the violation.