Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Missing in action
BJP chief Nitin Gadkari has left for Berlin for a few days to attend a cultural festival celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Art of Living Foundation,on the invitation of its founder Sri Sri Ravishanker. So he would be missing as the political activity hots up in the run-up to the all-party meeting convened by the government to discuss the contours of the proposed Lokpal Bill. Anna Hazare and company are scheduled to come calling at the BJP headquarters on Friday to seek the party8217;s support for their version of the Lokpal Bill. After that,an internal meeting of the BJP is likely to be held,followed by a meeting of the NDA leaders to chalk out a common line.
Self Goal
A leading submarine manufacturer that inked a multi-billion dollar deal in 2005 to supply Scorpene submarines to the Navy has an interesting article in the current edition of its official magazine. The lead article says that India is in dire need of new submarines as the Navy will have only five vessels operational by 2014 whereas Pakistan and China are expanding their fleets. While the article builds on the theme that more submarines are required by India,it conveniently omits the reason for this poor state of affairs a major delay by the submarine manufacturer itself in the Scorpene contract that will see the first new submarine joining only by 2015,three years behind schedule.
Window of Opportunity
SINCE the keenly-awaited cabinet reshuffle can now happen only after July 8,when President Pratibha Patil returns from her visit to Hyderabad,a couple of ministers have decided to utilise the intervening period to take a quick break or hold their ministry8217;s consultative committee meeting,which is generally organised at outstation venues. However,everyone is expected to be back before July 8 as it is being pointed out that the window of opportunity for the reshuffle gets narrowed down to barely a week after that,the logic being that ministers will have to be given at least two weeks to prepare themselves before facing the monsoon session of Parliament that begins on August 1.
Belated Awakening
BESET with scandals and problems from all sides,the government is using desperate measures to curb the negative reports it is getting in the media. First came the Group of Ministers on Media. Then on Wednesday,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself decided to break his silence and meet some editors. Now,it is learnt that the GoM on Media will also hold formal and informal interactions with senior editors at regular intervals. The first such interaction is planned with journalists from Hindi newspapers. Meanwhile,the Finance Ministry has decided to put out weekly updates on its websites about the steps the government is taking to tackle corruption and black money. A case of too little too late?
Tailpiece
MEMBERS of the Public Accounts Committee PAC of Parliament stoutly maintained after the last meeting that nobody heckled chairman Murli Manohar Joshi. As for the voice of Congress member Jayanthi Natarajan heard across the room,a member attributed it to her efficient vocal chords,greased by tamarind-soaked rasam.
