Reaching Out

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rarely deviates from protocol. However,he did to reach out to ministers from Asian and African countries who had assembled in Vigyan Bhawan for a rural development meeting

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rarely deviates from protocol. On Monday,however,he did to reach out to ministers from Asian and African countries who had assembled in Vigyan Bhawan for a rural development meeting. As is usual at such functions,the Prime Minister was slated to leave immediately after the vote of thanks at the inauguration of the meeting. On this occasion,however,the Prime Minister,on his way out,paused and returned to invite the visiting ministers,sitting in the audience,for a group photograph. He then greeted and shook hands with every minister present before leaving the venue.

Poll Dance

After the end of the protracted poll campaign for Uttar Pradesh,a Holi Milan programme hosted by BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Monday turned out to be an occasion for leaders from the main Opposition to relax and enjoy themselves. The UP results could hardly be far from their minds though. Good that you hosted this programme before the results are out. Who knows,you may not have an occasion to celebrate, said one of the guests. What do you mean? retorted Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj. We are celebrating today and will celebrate tomorrow too, she added.

Common Cause

The India Against Corruption movement may have lost its influence but it certainly retains an effective publicity mechanism. That perhaps was the reason why a group of civil society activists many of them powerful retired bureaucrats decided to use the IAC vehicle to circulate their letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stating their objections to his recent remarks on foreign funded NGOs. The letter has been signed by a list of usual suspects amongst them former CEC J M Lyngdoh,former Navy chiefs Admiral L Ramdas and Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat,former Power Secretary E A S Sarma,and former chairman of AERB A Gopalakrishnan. The list has only two members of Team Anna Prashant Bhushan and Medha Patkar. On earlier occasions,this group used to reach out to the public on its own to circulate its anti-nuclear views.

Taking on America

One unstated agenda at the BRICS summit a meeting of Brazil,Russia,India,China and South Africa later this month is likely to be an informal agreement to unitedly challenge American hegemony at the World Bank. The tenure of the present World Bank president is coming to an end at the end of June. As an unwritten rule,that position is reserved for an American candidate,because of the large share of voting rights that the United States has. A strong and common candidate from the BRICS grouping can prove to be a serious challenger. If the backroom efforts succeed,there is even a possibility of these countries announcing their common candidate during the summit. Sensing the seriousness of the challenge it faces,the Western world,in the meanwhile,is learnt to be working to put forward a woman candidate for the post.

The View on a Room

Its been almost three years that the DMK has been waiting for bigger office space in the Parliament building. After persistent demands,the party,which won 25 seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections,was allotted the office used by the TDP,which has only 10 MPs now. But the TDP has still not vacated the space. Exasperated,the DMK is using every occasion to raise the issue with Speaker Meira Kumar the latest being the all-party meeting on Monday. The meeting was called to discuss the upcoming budget session of Parliament,but the DMK requested the Speaker to resolve their issue before the session. Kumar had no option but to assure the party that she would certainly look into the issue.