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Journalism of Courage
SENIOR BJP leader L K Advani was noticed for his presence at Shashi Kant Sharmas oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Advani was a surprise VVIP guest. He came despite the fact that his party has criticised Sharmas appointment as CAG. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley earlier this week charged that there would be conflict of interest since Sharma,as the new CAG,would be required to audit the accounts of the Defence Ministry as well.
ABSENT WISHES
REQUEST OVERLOAD
THE Central Information Commission is being sought to be put in the dock over the selection process it follows to hire legal retainers. For 16 posts,the CIC recently received about 600 applications. About 80 of them were interviewed last month. Those not shortlisted are bombarding the CIC with RTI requests. The shortlisting process was so hurriedly completed that a note of CIC itself has taken note of the grievance of those left out. A note circulated internally admits that more than 100 more applicants are meeting the criteria for shortlisting apart from those who were interviewed. The next worry is that the CIC may be dragged to courts by the rejected applicants.
WEBSITE ERROR
THE NIA has revised its chargesheet but not its website. Seven of the accused in the 2006 Malegoan blasts,who were released on bail by a court last year and do not figure in the latest chargesheet filed by the NIA,continue to find themselves as chargesheeted of the crime on the NIA website. The NIA had earlier this week filed a revised chargesheet in the case,naming four men from a Hindu terror group as accused in the 2006 Malegoan blasts case in which more than 30 people were killed.
CLOSE CONNECTION
THE two destinations that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to visit next week,Japan and Thailand,have a strong Indian bond between them. The Indian envoys in Tokyo and Bangkok are married to each other. While Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa is posted in Japan,her husband Anil Wadhwa is stationed in Thailand. Both belonging to 1979-batch Indian Foreign Service,the unofficial convention of being posted within a short flying distance has been maintained in their case.
