Wen all is well

Not every delegation visiting China gets an audience from Premier Wen Jiabao.

Not every delegation visiting China gets an audience from Premier Wen Jiabao. So when Wen expressed his desire to meet a visiting Indian youth delegation led by Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ajay Maken,it naturally came as a big surprise to the Indian Embassy. About 200 young Indians were taken to the Great Hall of People where Wen came and met them. He made a short speech in Mandarin which was translated in English on friendship and collaboration between the two countries. Maken had a prepared speech in English but taking a cue,chose to speak in Hindi instead,and recalled the long historical and civilizational links India and China have shared. Before leaving,Wen came up to Maken and asked him to convey his personal regards to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Maken now plans to brief the PM about his positive meeting with Grandpa Wen.

The Last Post

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs reservations about L K Advanis candidature for prime ministership is nothing new. In the run-up to the 2009 elections itself,the RSS was pretty clear that this would be Advanis last shot at at the post. Ek antim baar One last chance is what RSS is learnt to have offered Advani. At a meeting attended by RSS biggies Mohan Bhagwat,Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi and Suresh Soni before the polls,it was decided then that if the BJP did not gain power,then Advani must devote his time to grooming the next generation of leaders in the party.

Then and Now

Officials in Indias nuclear establishment are unable to understand the reasons for the turn of events at Koodankulam where,till not very long ago,they used to have near complete support of the local people for the upcoming nuclear reactors. They recall how a former station director was so popular in the area,many families had named their newborn children after him. The situation is so drastically different now,some officials feel it was a fit case for taking out a booklet with the title Then and Now.

Letter Bombs

Letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh written by MPs and ministers on the 2G issue,accessed through RTI,are now making news everywhere. Interestingly though,guess who has written the maximum letters to the Prime Minister in the last three years on the issue. It is former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh,who has sent almost a dozen letters seeking clarifications or posing queries on 2G. The other MP is Rajeev Chandrashekhar,himself a telecom entrepreneur who has also had a slanging duel through letters exchanged with Ratan Tata. Others who have written to the Prime Minister on the subject include Gurudas Dasgupta,Sitaram Yechury and some BJP MPs.

Left is Not Right

Poor Left parties! Every time they try putting in place a third front,their project runs into trouble due to the opportunistic attitude of their allies. Their latest trouble stems from the presence of two AIADMK MPs V Maitreyan and M Thambidurai at Narendra Modis fast as representatives of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. After the Lefts criticism of Jayalalithaa on this count,it is doubtful if the Chief Minister,given her famous ego,would take the Left parties on board an alliance for the ensuing civic polls in the state. Moreover,even if she does,the question is whether it would not dent their secular credentials.