Tribute tradition

This has led to some talk in Parliament House on whether such a ceremony should be organised for departed presiding officers of the Rajya Sabha as well.

Tribute tradition

Under Speaker Meira Kumar,the Lok Sabha seems to have started a new tradition of paying floral tributes to former Speakers who are no more,on their birth anniversaries. The two former Speakers who recently received such attention are K S Hegde,on June 11,and Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy on May 19. This has led to some talk in Parliament House on whether such a ceremony should be organised for departed presiding officers of the Rajya Sabha as well. Especially in view of the fact that the Rajya Sabha chairman happens to be the Vice-President of the country and ranks higher in the order of precedence than the Lok Sabha Speaker.

Organic Indulgence

Aamir Khans organic crusade could do with S M Krishna as the brand ambassador. The External Affairs Minister is known to relish only organic vegetables and fruits from Bidadi-based Namdharis Fresh,which is also involved in natural farming. Grapevine has it that nearly 20 kg of assorted fruits and vegetables are daily airlifted to Delhi and transported to Krishnas Thyagaraj Marg residence from where they are then redistributed to senior party leaders as well. Of late though,there has been a temporary glitch in courier service with the erratic flight schedule of Kingfisher airlines.

Indirect Dividend

The Lokpal law is far from having been enacted,but the Jan Lokpal movement is certainly bringing dividends for some of the members of the group known as Team Anna. One of members of the groups core committee,Kumar Vishwas,who happens to be a poet,is set to perform at the Siri Fort Auditorium on July 1. And the tickets for An Evening With Dr Kumar Vishwas are priced at Rs 500,Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 on websites where he is described as a youth icon. Vishwas,incidentally,has just returned from a performance tour in the US.

Mission High

The British High Commission recently opened a consular office in Chandigarh,which makes Britain the country with the maximum consulates in India,ahead of the US. Chandigarh incidentally hosts a consulate of only one other country and that is not too difficult to guess considering the number of immigrants from Punjab it hostsCanada.

CPM rebel murder: State panel member to be questioned

Thiruvananthapuram: As part of the probe into the murder of T P Chandrasekharan,the police have decided to question CPM state committee member K K Ragesh. The leader was served a notice to appear before the police,to which he has sought two weeks time.