Swamy 038; Friends

V Narayansamy,the Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office,is never short on words. But on this occasion,he managed to resist getting provoked

V Narayansamy,the Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office,is never short on words. But on this occasion,he managed to resist getting provoked. As people started gathering in the Central Hall of Parliament to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Morarji Desai on his birth anniversary,Narayansamy suddenly realised that Subramanian Swamy had parked himself near him. And to his horror,Swamy shot off a query at him,loud enough for everyone to hear: Where has your Madam gone? Completely stumped,Narayansamy did not know what to say. His hands folded,and head bowed,he only returned a smile in response,probably hoping for the function to get over quickly.

Wrong Shot

If only the alleged contract killer of RTI activist Shehla Masood had given some information about himself to the CBI before getting arrested,he would have earned more money than he got for carrying out the murder. The arrested person has apparently confessed that he,and his two accomplices,were hired for Rs 3 lakh to kill Masood in Bhopal last year. The CBI,on the other hand,had declared a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone providing information on the killers.

Touch Down

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd,the countrys leading aircraft manufacturer,is finally set to get a full-time chairman after a gap of four months. The government is learnt to have finalised the appointment of R K Tyagi,CMD of Pawan Hans Helicopters,for the post. An announcement is expected shortly. P V Deshmukh,an HAL old-timer,has been officiating as the chairman ever since Ashok Nayak retired at the end of October last year.

Odd Choice

Quite a few eyebrows have been raised in the establishment over the presence of Nandan Nilekani who holds Cabinet Ministers rank in a panel that has authored Nonalignment 2.0,a foreign and strategic policy for India in the 21st century. Nilekani,the head of the Unique Identity Development Authority of India,is one of the eight authors. Among others are Sunil Khilnani,Shyam Saran,Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Lt Gen retd Prakash Menon. Bad timing hasnt helped either: the document that proposes aggressive measures against China in the event of a major offensive from Beijing was released on Tuesday,a day before Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechis visit to India.

Cop Shop

The IPS lobby has started staking its claim for the post of Enforcement Directorate chief which has fallen vacant because of the retirement of Arun Mathur,an IAS officer. The IPS officers are arguing that since the ED is primarily an investigating agency,its top job must go to a policeman. The government is yet to decide on the claim.