Lecture time

Movement Orders

A major bureaucratic reshuffle is on the cards in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry with at least three top officials headed for fresh assignments. Additional Secretary Rajiv Takru is supposed to be a candidate to become a member at the Telecom Commission,though this is not yet final. But two of the three joint secretaries in the ministry are on their way out. Khurshid Ahmed Ganai,a 1982-batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre,is moving to the Home Ministry,while D P Reddy,a 1985-batch officer,is headed back to his parent Punjab cadre. The ministry is yet to find replacements for them and,in the case of Ganai at least,the movement of the officers is getting delayed.

Anger Management

THE Trinamool Congress is yet to recover from the setback it received for Mamata Banerjees attempt to prop up A P J Abdul Kalam as a Presidential candidate. The party is now taking out its anger at all the other political parties,mainly the Opposition,for their failure to support Kalams candidature. The partys mouthpiece,Jaago Bangla,said TMC was stunned and ashamed at other political parties reluctance to back Kalam. The editorial has also suggested that,considering the prevailing times of political instability and economic crisis,the TMC would have preferred an apolitical President like Kalam,who,it says,would have been much better than the candidates in the fray right now. It did not name either Pranab Mukherjee or P A Sangma,the two candidates for the post.

Delayed Action

A FALLOUT of Pakistans domestic instability with the Pakistan Prime Minister being replaced could be a rescheduling of the India-Pakistan meeting next month. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna,who was scheduled to go to Pakistan on July 18 for a bilateral meeting with his counterpart,is likely to postpone his visit because Pakistans parliament has some engagements on that day. While there is constant back-and-forth happening between Delhi and Islamabad on rescheduling the dates,there is a possibility that the visit could get delayed till August end since the monsoon session of Parliament will begin in the last week of July. This year has seen rescheduling of talks on Sir Creek,

and also the forthcoming Foreign Secretary-level talks which are now expected to take place on July 4 and 5.

Cadre Monopoly

OFFICERS of AGMU cadre better known as the UT Union Territory cadre are the ones calling the shots in the Central Bureau of Investigation when it comes to running its various anti-corruption units. The latest to join is 2000 batch IPS officer Meenu Chaudhary who is now SP in the unit handling cases like the CWG scam. That unit is headed by Praveer Ranjan,a 1993-batch IPS of UT cadre. Another UT cadre officer,1992-batch Satish Golcha is heading the second anti-corruption unit in CBI. Both Golcha and Ranjan are also involved in the investigations into UPs NRHM scam cases as part of the SIT formed to look into the alleged irregularities.