Showering gifts

President Pranab Mukherjee was overwhelmed with the gifts that he was showered with when he reached Bhadrabila,the village of his in-laws in Narail district of Bangladesh

President Pranab Mukherjee was overwhelmed with the gifts that he was showered with when he reached Bhadrabila,the village of his in-laws in Narail district of Bangladesh on Tuesday. Among other things,he was also gifted with Mishti Doi sweet curd,a traditional Bengali dessert and brass pots by relatives of his wife Shuvra. At one point,Mukherjees aides had to say no,for no other reason but that the chopper in which they had flown from Dhaka did not have any more space to carry them. I felt like like a new bridegroom on being given so many gifts, a beaming Mukherjee later said.

LUNCH PLANS

PAKISTAN Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is not getting any invitation for a meeting with the Indian PM when he comes to Ajmer on a personal visit. But the Ministry of External Affairs is said to be considering the possibility of hosting a lunch in his honour in Jaipur. Plans are being worked out to see whether Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid can play host. A venue and guest list have not yet been finalised,but the Raj Bhawan in Jaipur might be the possible venue.

HIRING SPREE

THE tough economic scenario does not seem to have come in the way of Indian Council of Social Science Research,a publicly funded institution,to hire consultants on contract. One of them happens to be well-known journalist Bharat Bhushan,till recently the editor of Mail Today daily. Four other consultants have been picked up by the ICSSR. They are Prof P C Sarangi,former Pro V-C of Hyderabad University,Prof Som Dev,former Dean of Department of Commerce in University of Rajasthan,Dr Reena Marwah,an assistant professor in the Jesus and Mary College,and Dr Rajendra Mamgain of the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies.

FORMALITY APART

APART from interacting with leaders from his own party and those from UPA alliance,Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi seems to be learning to get informal with MPs from other parties as well. Rahul,on his way to the Central hall of Parliament on Tuesday,is learnt to have patted the back of BJP MP Shahnawaz Hussain,and quickly moved ahead. Hussain turned around to see no one behind him and had to be told by Supriya Sule,standing nearby,that it was Rahul. Hussain was amused by this gesture. A day later,however,the BJP spokesperson had no option but to take a dig at Rahul when he was asked about Rahuls views on marriage. Hussain said that married people should not be denigrated in the name of service of the country.

NAME GAME

REALISING a tad late in the day that Central Drugs Standards Control Organization is a mouthful of a name for the countrys drug regulator,Health Ministry is looking for a simpler moniker. While options range from Drug Administrator not FDA as there is already an FSSAI to take care of food regulation to Drug Controller,a final decision is yet to be taken. Ironically the office of the CDSCO is housed in FDA Bhawan.