The other PAC

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has enjoyed his moment in the media glare during the recent PAC controversy. That,however,is only half the truth.

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has enjoyed his moment in the media glare during the recent PAC controversy. That,however,is only half the truth. There is also another supplementary gain for him. Till the time he became the PAC chief,his constituents back in Varanasi used to pressure him for help to get in to another PAC,the Provincial Armed Constabulary. Since no one knows of the Parliament PAC in his constituency while the other PAC is a household name,it was becoming a problem. Thanks to the media publicity,everybody in Varanasi has now understood which PAC I preside, says Joshi,adding,and,I am sure,there will be no requests for jobs any more.

The BJP and Twitter

Technology,in the form of the micro blogging site Twitter,is catching on fast among BJP leaders. BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is the latest to open a Twitter account,a medium extensively used by Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to communicate with mediapersons as well as the public. Some of the partys net-savvy MPs also use the micro-blogging site. But what is interesting is that there are no dearth of fake Twitter accounts in the name of senior BJP leaders either. There are two fake Twitter profiles of L K Advani and one on Arun Jaitley. In fact,one of the fake Twitter profiles of Advani is called fakeadvani. Technology can have its downside.

Missing Jairam

The joint committee set up to draft the Lokpal Bill is missing the services of a sharp draftsman like Jairam Ramesh. During the deliberations at its second meeting yesterday,chairman Pranab Mukherjee remarked that the committee should focus on the basic principles and objectives that would guide the draft legislation instead of getting bogged down by clause-wise details which could be entrusted to a smaller secretarial committee once the larger framework is agreed upon. One of the members quipped that such a situation would not have arisen had Jairam been in the committee. He added that the tech-savvy minister,who always lugs his laptop around on his shoulder,would have promptly opened it to type out a draft there and then. In fact,Jairam previously was even known to carry a portable printer in his backpack,which he used to plug into his laptop and take out prints for the benefit of those present. Maybe,its time they drafted him in the committee.

The Moscow effect

On a recent visit to Moscow to attend a conference,Ghulam Nabi Azad came across a WHO study which said lack of physical activity can be one of the causes of death. Back in India,the Union Health Minister has promptly taken the first steps to ensure that his officers and bureaucrats get some physical exercise. In an amusing decision,he has ordered that no lifts in Nirman Bhawan,which houses the ministry,should stop on the first floor. He wants his officials to do some physical exercise. The flipside is that visitors will also be left with no option but to walk up the stairs. The only exception has been made for physically challenged and senior citizens.

All hail Digvijaya

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has discovered a new fan club. A magazine-launch function at the India Islamic Centre in the Capital on Monday evening turned out to be like an eulogy for Digvijay with speakers reading out couplets in his praise. The author of the controversial book RSS ki Sazish: 26/11,Aziz Burney,went one step ahead. He said he was thinking of writing a book on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Then came the punchline. He revealed his desire to write a book on Singh as well. Speaking at the end,chief guest Singh pleaded,First you wrote on Saddam Hussein,then Gaddafi and now Digvijaya Singh. Please postpone your decision to write on Digvijaya. Write it when we are not around.