Seating woes

At the prestigious Padma awards function in Rashtrapati Bhawan on Saturday,staffers acting as ushers had a bad day

At the prestigious Padma awards function in Rashtrapati Bhawan on Saturday,staffers acting as ushers had a bad day. Some of them failed to recognise a few of the awardees and almost ended up guiding them to the rear seats. Industrialist Adi Godrej,who is also president of CII,was the victim of one such faux pas. Godrej,who was being awarded a Padma Bhushan,was led to the last row instead of the first before someone realised the mistake. Actor Nana Patekar,of course,was the star of the function,with everyone jostling with each other to get a picture clicked with him.

Brand building

THE Enforcement Directorate,it seems,is keen on a brand building exercise for itself. The investigating agency that probes cases of money laundering and FEMA violations,will celebrate its foundation day on May 1,and it has invited deputy commissioner of the Australian Federal Police,Andrew Colvin,to be one of its keynote speakers. The foundation day function had not been held for over a decade and the event is being resurrected in a bid to assert its presence among the various investigating agencies. Colvin,who is one of the representatives of Financial Action task force for Australia,will be speaking on international money laundering operations.

Welcome Break

ANDHRA Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy had a gruelling brainstorming session with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders here last week. Shortly after he returned to Andhra Bhawan in the national capital after the meeting,the CM sneaked out in a private car leaving his security personnel in a tizzy. Much to their relief,he was back in a couple of hours. While there was no official word about his vanishing act,sources said that the CM had gone for a spa at a five-star hotel.

Logo Watch

AS head of the Planning Commission,Montek Singh Ahluwalia has his hands full in managing the macroeconomics of the country. But he still seems to find enough time to pay attention to smaller details. Recently,Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel received a letter from Ahluwalia asking for his personal intervention in getting the logos of important PSUs changed. Ahluwalia is of the view that most of the PSUs,even navratna companies,have dull and boring logos that seem out of place in modern day. They reflect neither the changed global economic scenario nor Indias,or their own,power and influence in it.

Judicious Delay

WITH the Opposition sharpening its knives to attack the government on a number of issues when Parliament opens after recess on Monday,UPAs political managers are working overtime to ensure that the government does nothing to add fuel to the fire.

This seems to be one of the reasons why the appointment of former Supreme Court judge Cyriac Joseph as a member of the National Human Rights Commission has been put on hold for the time being. The Opposition parties,mainly the the BJP,is strongly against the appointment,but the government is keen to give him the job anyway. A government that is bracing up to face attack from all sides has decided to avoid the fracas on this issue at least. Any decision on the appointment is now likely to be taken only after the session ends,or towards the end of the session so that the Opposition cannot raise it in Parliament.