Minority report

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair seems keen to know about the initiatives taken by the UPA government for minority communities.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair seems keen to know about the initiatives taken by the UPA government for minority communities. Blair is set to meet Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday. The ministers office was in fact surprised to know about the high-profile visitor. The meeting being organised at the initiative of The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was apparently an attempt by him to understand the working of the Ministry and the schemes for minorities.

Neighbourhood Watch

After the United Nations General Assembly session,the next major foreign affairs engagement for India would be closer home,in the form of Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarais visit next month. After taking over in August this year,Bhattarai had made it clear that his first trip abroad for a bilateral visit would be to New Delhi. Though the dates for the visit are yet to be finalised,officials are said to be looking at October 21 as the likely date.

Knockout Punch

Last years Irfan Khan-Sanjay Dutt thriller Knockout may have bombed at the box office,but it has earned one ardent admirer: senior BJP leader L K Advani. Addressing a party gathering on Sunday,Advani,who is an avid film buff,exhorted those present to find time to watch the movie. Theres a more subtle reason: a remake of the 2003 Hollywood thriller Phonebooth,Knockout deals with black money,an issue which Advani has been raising for some time now and will be using as a campaign issue during his proposed Rath Yatra next month. The Mani Shankar directed film talks about Rs 70,000 lakh crore of black money lying in banks abroad.

Business as usual

Amidst the political storm surrounding Finance Ministrys 2G note,Home Minister P Chidambaram went about attending his normal duties. On Tuesday,he chaired the GoM on media which meets everyday to finalise governments response to various pressing issues. While the 2G note did not come up for discussion,the meeting deliberated at length on the governments response to the Telangana agitation.

Cleverly Constructed

Convinced of the correctness of its argument,India had no hesitation in letting the Kishanganga hydel project be taken to the International court of Arbitration by Pakistan. But New Delhi seems to have been taken by surprise owing to a clever trick adopted by Pakistan to get an interim stay on construction activities. Pakistan had petitioned for a stay in January but did not press for it then. In the meanwhile,the court told both parties to file their affidavits. Pakistan was asked to file its affidavit first and India was to file its response within next six months. Islamabad presented its case in its affidavit and then pressed for an interim stay on construction before India could file its counter-affidavit. The court allowed Pakistans petition in August and halted construction work. The Indian officials,still in the process of preparing the counter-affidavit,are hoping they would be able to convince the court enough to lift the stay.