On the move

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh might not be attracting the same kind of headlines as he used to in the Environment Ministry.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh might not be attracting the same kind of headlines as he used to in the Environment Ministry,but some things have not changed. His weekend getaways to various states,for example. In the seven weeks that he has been in his new job,Jairam has travelled to Chhattisgarh,Andhra Pradesh,Orissa,Rajasthan,Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir. The visits are intended to touch base with the state administrations and also have a first-hand feel of the projects being implemented by his ministry. In keeping with his trait,Ramesh is off to Patna this weekend.

Reality Check

Riding high after getting a thumbs-up from his electorate for donning an Anna cap while facing protesters at Vile Parle,Mumbai North,MP Sanjay Nirupam was in for a reality check when he came to Parliament on Wednesday. His colleagues in Parliament,cutting across party lines,wore an et tu,Brute? expression as they minced no words in disapproving of his action. Nirupam was later heard telling a colleague in the Congress that the anger in the political classes about Anna Hazares campaign was a revelation to him.

Prolonged Age

While formulating a reply to the Defence Ministrys instructions to change the date of birth of Army Chief General V K Singh,the Army has gone ahead for more legal opinion on the matter. Besides the three former CJIs who were consulted for an opinion on the matter,a fourth retired CJI R C Lahoti has also given an opinion in favour of 1951 as the correct year of birth. This has also been backed by an opinion of the former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam who has gone against the opinion of his former colleague Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati to say that 1951 should be considered as the correct year of birth.

Metro Route

Having been stopped by the police repeatedly,supporters of Anna Hazare discovered an ingenious way of reaching close to the Prime Ministers residence to protest. They travelled through the Delhi Metro to the Race Course station which is only a short distance from the Prime Ministers residence. It took the cops a while to realise what the protesters were up to. With some difficulty they caught hold of protesters,put them on a bus and dropped them at the Ramlila grounds.

Failed Exercise

Embattled former Military Secretary Avadhesh Prakash,who is currently facing a court martial in the Sukna land scam case,did a Suresh Kalmadi by insisting that the proceedings be postponed as he was suffering from dementia. While the proceedings were in a fairly advanced stage,the officer insisted that he be given permission to visit Delhi for treatment. However,after a check up at the command hospital in Kolkata,the officer was sent back to Guwahati to face the music,considering that several serving officers had been summoned for the proceedings.