The unusual delegate

The Prime Ministers entourage to Japan this time has an unusual delegate former principal secretary to the PM T K A Nair

The Prime Ministers entourage to Japan this time has an unusual delegate former principal secretary to the PM T K A Nair,who is now an Advisor in the PMO. In fact,Nair was taken instead of Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterji. The reason: Nair,even after moving out of his previous office,continues to handle all the key Japan-promoted infrastructure projects such as the Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai as well as Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridors. Incidentally,unlike Chatterji,Nair never accompanied the PM on his foreign visits as principal secretary because he considered that to be the domain of the National Security Advisor.

FAREWELL SPEECH

DEFENCE Minister A K Antony took a detour during his address to DRDO scientists at an awards function Wednesday. Antony departed from his formal address to mention the contribution of DRDO chief V K Saraswat,who is retiring this month,repeatedly thanked him and wished him the best for future endeavours. However,many in the audience saw the farewell speech as a firm indication that Saraswat would not get an extension as DRDO chief.

BIRTHDAY PRAYERS

WHEN most ministers seek cooler climes abroad at this time of the year,MoS for Personnel and Training V Narayansamy religiously heads for Udupi in Karnataka. For over two decades now,Narayansamy has been visiting the Mookambika temple in Kollur on May 30 to offer prayers. The day,of course,is his birthday.

DEFENDING SPORTS

Jitendra Singh had a tough time at a Defence function in the Capital Wednesday as he was hounded by questions on the cricket scandal since he holds additional charge of the Sports Ministry. He refused to make a statement or answer questions. Finally,Defence Minister A K Antony,came to his rescue,telling the TV crews that Singh would not be making any statement on sports while he was inside the defence establishment and that they should catch him later.

BOOKLET BLOOPER

CHINESE diplomats last week raised an important query as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was scheduled to call on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan. They asked whether Omita Paul has been replaced as Secretary to the President by Christy Fernandez,her predecessor. Flummoxed by the query,South Block checked and responded negatively. The origin of the confusion came from the protocol booklet,which had the minute-by-minute programme of Lis visit and was distributed among officials involved in the arrangements of the high-profile visit. The booklet said Mukherjee will be accompanied by Fernandez,and then named other Indian officials like Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and Indian envoy to Beijing S Jaishankar. The presence of Fernandezs name puzzled the Chinese,who were prompt to point out the blooper in the booklet.