Two months after he was forced to stay away from a literary fest in Jaipur,celebrity author Salman Rushdie is finally coming to India to attend the India Today Conclave. The news has spooked Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan into withdrawing his own participation from the Conclave. Left Dilemma While the DMK and AIADMK have been disrupting Parliament,demanding Indias support to a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council that seeks to censure Sri Lanka on its human rights record,the CPI(M) finds itself caught between the devil and the deep sea. It would like to be seen supporting the Tamil cause but then,the resolution is sponsored by the United States and the party has in the past often complained that Washington victimises smaller countries through such resolutions at the UN. As such,while the party has been urging New Delhi to do something about the plight of Tamil population in Sri Lanka,it has stopped short of putting pressure on it to support the resolution at UNHRC. Internal Affairs Blame it on coincidence. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his cabinet colleague,and detractor,Kiran Chaudhary landed up in the Central Hall of Parliament on Wednesday around the same time. As they went about meeting Congress leaders separately each one carefully kept an eye on the other,trying to judge the significance of their rivals interaction. After a while though,Chaudhary seemed to have given up and decided to attend to more important issues as she settled down into a longish conversation with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. Fast Forward After the Mumbai fast fiasco in December,Team Anna is evidently not willing to rush into another fast without generating adequate pre-event buzz. The date of the day-long token fast at Jantar Mantar against the alleged killing of Madhya Pradesh IPS officer Narendra Kumar has now been pushed back from March 18 to 25. The official reason for postponement: lack of time for the families of whistleblowers who have been invited to be a part of the fast to reach Delhi. Decision Pending After being headless for close to a month,the office of the Drug Controller General of India finally has a new incumbent. Dr G N Singh,secretary-cum-scientific director Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission,has been appointed as DCGI. This,however,is again a temporary measure with the order stating that Singh would occupy the post for three months or till a regular person is appointed. Since November last year,the important office has only been manned by people holding temporary charge causing decision making to suffer say health ministry sources.
