Odd Encounter

The legal counsel for the Italian ship detained by the Indian authorities after two of its marines on board allegedly gunned down two Indian fishermen made an interesting argument before the Supreme Court to get the ship released. K K Venugopal said supplies on the ship were running short and tempers were running high amongst the crew. And apparently the shortage of supplies was due to the presence of the seven Kerala policemen on board. Venugopal claimed that the policemen were consuming 25 per cent of the food on the ship,leaving the crew little to eat for themselves.

Self before Service

Samajwadi Party MP Shailendra Kumar seemed to be speaking on behalf of many of his fellow parliamentarians when he proposed in the Lok Sabha on Monday that the flats in the Commonwealth Games Village,which are yet to find takers,be given to the MPs at the cost at which they were built. There was a loud thumping of desks by several MPs at this proposal. Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath,however,poured cold water on their hopes later in the evening,saying these flats were in the process of being auctioned in batches and could not be given to the MPs.

Spoken Threat

Trinamool Congresss newly nominated Rajya Sabha member,senior Bengali journalist Kunal Ghosh,gave a taste of his aggressive pro-Mamata stance to his fellow RS member from CPM K N Balagopal on Monday. While delivering his maiden speech on the mass grave issue in Bengal,Ghosh was continuously interrupted by Balagopal who,along with other Left members,were seen taking exception to Ghoshs speech. As a comeback,Ghosh cautioned that if Balagopal continued to disturb him in his maiden address,he would make sure that Balagopal is unable to speak through the next six years. Much to the amusement of the House,Ghosh was then able to complete his speech without much further interruptions.

Statistical Probability

The Chief Statistician of India T C A Anant who also happens to be Secretary to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had decided not to move into his government accommodation at Moti Bagh after his appointment had been set aside by the Central Administrative Tribunal in October last year,within months of his taking over. However,with the governments appeal still pending in High Court the next date of hearing is said to be in October Anant,who continues to be in office in the meanwhile,finally moved into the house recently. Incidentally,the grapevine has it that Anant,a highly-respected economist,is a strong contender for the post of the Chief Economic Advisor once incumbent Kaushik Basus term comes to an end in a few months time.