Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Hina Rabbani Khar effect was all over the India-Pakistan MPs meeting here. During the two-day closed-door meeting,almost every Indian MP praised the Pakistan Foreign Minister,who had everyone floored during her visit to Delhi. But one gets to hear that there wasnt an enthusiastic response from the Pakistani side. An Indian MP recalled,While half of them from the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party think they are senior to her and should have been the Foreign Minister,the other half,belonging to the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz,were not exactly pleased with the lavish praises. So much so that while the Indian side addressed Khar as Her Excellency in their version of the joint statement,the Pakistani side struck this down and instead addressed her simply as Foreign Minister,without any salutations.
First Among Equals
Chandy8217;s Insight
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday took his entire Cabinet to IIM-Kozhikode for some managerial skills at a session entitled The Gift Unopened: Governance Insights for Transformation. The next plan on the agenda is getting the Cabinet to Delhi for three days next week. The buzz is that Chandy and almost all his ministers have appointments with various Central ministers. Since Parliament is in session and all the Union ministers are expected to be in Delhi,the Chief Minister felt this was a good opportunity to bring to their attention various issues facing the state. Grapevine says he has also convened a meeting of MPs from Kerala.
A Jolly Good Fellow
In his speech at the farewell function for Justice V S Sirpurkar,Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia announced that he was about to reveal a secret. The CJI said that an assembly of Supreme Court judges at times witnesses debates,some of them strong debates. However,he added,the tension would immediately lift whenever Vikas that is,Justice Sirpurkar walked into the room. He is a jolly good fellow, the CJI said.
Left Out
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav,who had snapped his association with Left parties and supported the UPA in 2008,has been outplayed by the Left this time. On the day Anna Hazare was arrested,Mulayam thought of the idea of a nationwide protest or bandh in coordination with the entire Opposition and told senior party leaders about it. However,on Friday,the Left and other non-NDA parties beat him to it in announcing observation of August 23 as protest day. The SP chief himself is away from the Capital and,last heard,senior party leaders were trying to get in touch with him so that he could reveal his plans at the earliest,before the other parties walked away with all the credit.
