Pawar trip

Always juggling many hats,Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar got some reprieve from a hectic round of meetings in three different countries,thanks to some help from Pakistan.

Pawar trip

Always juggling many hats,Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar got some reprieve from a hectic round of meetings in three different countries,thanks to some help from Pakistan. Pawar had three back-to-back meetings in Jakarta,Dubai and Dhaka over the last few days. He attended the ASEAN agriculture ministers meeting in Jakarta over the weekend,and then rushed to Dubai for a meeting of the International Cricket Council. He was slated to attend the SAARC agriculture ministers meeting in Dhaka on Thursday. Pawar had left the country on Vijaydashmi with the plan to return only after completing the Dhaka engagement. However,the meeting in Dhaka had to be cancelled after Pakistan sent word that its agriculture minister would not be able to attend,enabling an early homecoming for Pawar.

Spreading Wings

Minister of State in the Home Ministry,Jitendra Singh,is finally getting an opportunity to discharge his ministerial responsibilities. Having been assigned an impressive basket of jobs,including left-wing extremism,central paramilitary forces as well as electoral reforms,Singh has decided to make his presence felt. He is scheduled to visit the office of the National Investigation Agency on October 19. He will follow it up with a visit to the headquarters of the Border Security Force. Singh is also said to be showing an interest in prison reforms.

Af-Insight

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BARELY a week after Afghanistan President Hamid Karzais visit to India,Delhi will play host to Marc Grossman,US President Barack Obamas envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. On top of his agenda clearly would be to gauge Indias expectations from the just concluded strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan. Washington,incidentally,is yet to conclude negotiations for a similar agreement with Kabul. Grossman is on a whirlwind tour of several countries in the region from September 30 and would come here after visiting Abu Dhabi,Ankara,Dushanbe,Bishkek,Astana,Kabul,Beijing,Tashkent and Ashgabat. From Delhi he is scheduled to travel ahead to Islamabad and Doha.

Avoidable Error

THIS is one scheduling goof-up that the government could have easily done without. The much awaited meeting of the National Development Council which was slated for October 15,has had to be postponed by a week,ostensibly because Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is not available on that date. Mukherjee will be in Paris for the meeting of finance ministers of G-20 countries an engagement that was scheduled much in advance. The NDC meeting,which is expected to approve the approach paper for the 12th Five-Year Plan,would now meet on October 22.

Cracking Down

WITH many officers not complying with the directive to disclose details of their immovable property annually,the government has decided to crack the whip. Those failing to do so now would be rendered ineligible for promotion. In a recent notification,the government has ruled that all officers would be required to submit their annual immovable property return by January 31 every year,failing which they would be denied Vigilance clearance.