Style statement

Vijay Mallya,in all-white attire from shirt to shoes was the cynosure of all eyes at the Rajya Sabha which met for hardly 20 minutes

Vijay Mallya,in all-white attire from shirt to shoes was the cynosure of all eyes at the Rajya Sabha which met for hardly 20 minutes on Tuesday. Mallya took the opportunity before the House started to have a quick word with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After his meeting,he went to his seat and sat for the next 20 minutes going through the question-list and the schedule of business handed out to every member. He even took out an inhaler and used the machine even as Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman read out the obituary references.

Thought for Food

When two lawyers and experts meet to discuss provisions of any draft legislation in detail,it is bound to take more time than usual. That was the refrain on Tuesday when Team Anna comprising Arvind Kejriwal,Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan met Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley in his Parliament office in a marathon meeting that lasted over an hour. Team Anna,which has been meeting leaders of various political parties in the run-up to the passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament,is said to have gone over the finer details of the draft Lokpal with Jaitley,even resorting to paragraphs in bulky verbatim Parliament debates dating back since 1969 to make a point. Jaitley got so engrossed in the discussions that he even missed his lunch.

Partnership Environment

If things go as planned,Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan could soon join hands with her predecessor,Jairam Ramesh,now the minister for Rural Development,to extend environmental conservation and management to areas like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,which commissions a lot of work involving agriculture. Sources said the minister is keen to work on the areas of emission of methane gas from cow-dung in rural areas and use of natural resources like water in NREGS works. Officials are certain that a partnership like this between a former and an incumbent environment minster,is hard to find; especially when one replaced the other just four months ago.

Playing by the Rules

If theres one minister who swears by the rulebook,it is Defence Minister A K Antony. The Japanese got a taste of this earlier this month when Antony visited Tokyo. Having crossed a significant milestone by deciding to make a military sale to India by offering SS-3 I,an amphibious aircraft to the Indian Navy,the Japanese government proposed to show Antony the plane during his visit as a symbol of their changing mindset. True to form,Antony turned down the invitation saying he could not possibly see an aircraft that is now participating in an Indian military tender it would just not be proper,he clarified to his baffled hosts.

Tailpiece

For the first time in recent history,the passing out parade at the Air Force Academy at Hyderabad has been delayed by about three weeks. This is because cadets have not been able to finish their basic flying training on time,the reason being an extraordinary shortage of trainer aircraft for the Air Force. While for many years,the parade has been scheduled in the early part of December,this year around,the event has been scheduled for the last week of the month.