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Journalism of Courage
Lying in comfort
Orthopaedic mattress seems to be in much demand these days at the Tihar jail. With high-profile prisoners of 2G and CWG scams being lodged in the prison,the request for the mattress at the prison cell have proliferated. The first such demand was made by Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa who complained of a back problem. Soon,other accused,including former telecom minister A Raja also requested for this mattress. The latest to follow suit is Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi.
Going Steady
Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambanis stock may be down but his weekly meeting with a top officer in the Prime Ministers Office still continues without fail. Ambani walks into the PMO every Wednesday for a scheduled appointment with this key officer. When asked what keeps these meetings going,a former officer of Manmohan Singhs PMO could not resist quipping: The two have been going steady for a long time.
Healthy Rivalry
With the tenure of Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India coming to an end this week,the Health Ministry is flooded with recommendations for filling up the six vacancies. A section of academicians are supporting Dr K K Talwar of PGI Chandigarh to head the new board,while another group is all for Dr M S Valiathan. While the lobbying continues,the Health Ministry is keeping quiet on the issue. Officials say this time preference would be given to someone who has ample knowledge of medical education and can spare good amount of time in office.
Competing Voices
The more the merrier! So it appears looking at the pace with which the number of spokespersons is proliferating in the BJP under Nitin Gadkari. The latest on the list is general secretary Jagat Prakash Nadda,who is the eighth to make the grade. While Gadkari may be simply trying to keep pace with the Congress which has 18 people designated to go to television channels to articulate the party viewpoint it is bound to aggravate the competition within. It is bad enough as it is. BJP spokespersons,jostling for airtime and newsprint space,already resort to briefings on Sundays. It only leaves one wondering what would happen next.
Civil Behaviour
The bonds between civil society activists that have come together on an anti-corruption platform seems to be getting stronger and extending to other areas as well. This was apparent during a hearing of the Obulapuram mining case in the Supreme Court last week. When the Bench headed by CJI S H Kapadia was ordering to set up a team of experts from the Department of Forests and Mines and Geology of Karnataka,advocate Prashant Bhushan interjected and pleaded for the inclusion of a representative of the state Lokayukta as well. The court acceded to his request and named the Lokayuktas representative to be part of the team of experts. Both,Bhushan and Karnataka Lokayukta,Justice Santosh Hegde,are amongst the five non-government representatives on a joint panel that has been constituted to draft a Lokpal Bill.
General Clearance
Keen to put the controversy surrounding the date of birth of the Army chief to rest,the Defence Ministry has approached the Law Ministry for advice. The Law Ministry had brought a new twist in the matter last month when,in response to an RTI query,it had said that the Army chiefs correct age was a year younger than being claimed by some. The Defence Ministry has now asked the Attorney General to settle the issue once and for all.
