Of films 038; foreign lands

Apart from other things,Spanish King Juan Carlos I talked films with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the banquet hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee in the honour of the visiting royal last week

Apart from other things,Spanish King Juan Carlos I talked films with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the banquet hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee in the honour of the visiting royal last week. And not surprisingly,the film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,which has almost entirely been shot in Spain,came up for mention. The king praised the film and asked the PM whether he had watched it. Singh replied in the negative. The king then told the PM that because of the film,the number of Indians coming to Spain had increased substantially. Curiously,among the songs that the Rashtrapati Bhavan chose to play in the background at the function was Chal ud jaa re panchchi ki ab ye desh hua begaana.

New life for proposal

Less than a month back,when then minister of state for defence Pallam Raju had called on then HRD Minister Kapil Sibal with a proposal to mainstream NCC into the education system,the proposal was put on a file and given regular treatment like hundreds of other suggestions that are considered. No one thought that Raju would end up taking over the ministry soon. Now that Raju has replaced Sibal,ministry officials will surely fast-track this one proposal before any other.

Experiments in Science

There have been only three Cabinet reshuffle exercises in UPA II,but the two closely related ministries of Science amp; Technology and Earth Sciences have had six different ministers. Throughout this government,the ministries,generally headed by the same minister,have become parking places for those who have either been stripped of other important charges but need to be accommodated still,or have been given as additional charges to ministers with more important portfolios. In the past three years,the ministries have been headed by Prithviraj Chavan,Kapil Sibal,Pawan Bansal,Vilasrao Deshmukh,and Vyalar Ravi. Now they have been given to S Jaipal Reddy. No wonder that,in terms of major initiatives,these two ministries have very little to show for.

Sushma present,Jairam absent

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi seems to be personally keeping track of the careers of the young promising MPs of the party. After the swearing-in ceremony,she went looking for Sachin Pilot,elevated as MoS with Independent Charge and given the important ministry of Corporate Affairs. She asked Pilot if he had been informed by the PM about what he had to do. Pilot replied,Yes maam. Meanwhile,the presence of Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj at the swearing-in function attracted a lot of attention from the UPA floor managers. She was seated between outgoing Parliamentary Affairs minister Pawan Bansal and Ghulam Nabi Azad,who once held the portfolio. Incoming Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath was not far way,seated next to Azad. Jairam Ramesh and Jayanthi Natarajan,who managed to save her Environment Ministry,were conspicuous by their absence. The first one amongst those who took oath to have arrived at Rashtrapati Bhavan was Ranee Narah from Assam,who has been made MoS for Tribal Affairs.

An ignored ministry

While speculation abounded around all the key ministries ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle,there was absolutely no premium being attached to the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry. Even after the incumbent Mukul Wasnik resigned on Saturday,there was no buzz about who will succeed in his place. The ministry obviously does not figure high on the priority list of ministers,despite the fact that it runs several important schemes that are dear to the heart of the Congress-led UPA government. The ministry has gone to Kumari Selja.