A major handicap
A hitch has developed in Minister for Urban Development Kamal Naths plan for getting some 20 individuals out-of-turn admissions to the Delhi Golf Club. The new entrants,who are to be granted limited playing rights,have to first pass an elementary test to prove their proficiency in the game. But most do not know the difference between a Birdie and Stableford,let alone the right way to swing the club. The ministry has reportedly told the club captain that the ministers nominees should be cleared,otherwise the clubs lease would be cancelled. But club members are wondering if the government can cancel a lease that has just been cleared.
Not very diplomatic
Some of the diplomats working in Shashi Tharoors former ministry are upset with his definition of the Indian governments hard power. In his just released book,Pax Indica,Tharoor has cited among other examples,the eviction of the Portuguese from Goa in 1961 and the annexation of Sikkim in 1975 as effective use of hard power. The Indian Governments official explanation is different. Goa was a liberation movement,while Sikkim willingly joined India because of a popular uprising against the Chogyal.
Pecking order
The government has still not decided on the pecking order in the Cabinet. The key question is the order of precedence between A K Antony,P Chidambaram and Sharad Pawar. For the last 10 days,the official websites of both the PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat are mysteriously blank on information about Cabinet ministers,although they provide full details of the ranking and designations of Ministers of State as well as daily uploading of new information. Some in the media have jumped to conclusions on the basis of the order of names in notifications to the Cabinet committee on economic affairs,political affairs and parliamentary affairs. Here Antony has been placed after the PM with Sharad Pawar following him. On the other hand,a government website,indiagov.in,puts Chidambaram after the PM and Pawar. The guessing game continues.
Kissa kursi ka
Pranab Mukherjees new team was hesitant to make too many changes at the Independence Day tea party at Rashtrapati Bhavan since the new President had just taken office a few days ago. But the presence of the new regime was apparent in the more relaxed ambience. Guests were able to mingle far more freely than in the past since the VIPs were not completely cordoned off from the rest of the gathering. The President himself broke the barrier to shake hands with his guests. Despite the threat of rain,the party was held in the garden rather than inside the Durbar Hall. Instead of ADCs and security personnel,the Presidents secretary Omita Paul ushered VVIP guests to their chairs. The Bengali touch was provided by some Bengali songs and the Bengali dessert,rajbhoj. Still,one major faux pas was that 83-year-old L K Advani and leaders of the Opposition in Parliament,Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj,were not offered chairs.
Bill passed in haste
The Lok Sabha is sometimes in such a hurry to pass a Bill that it is only when it comes to the Rajya Sabha that basic flaws in the draft are noticed. Last week,the Rajya Sabha took note of the Whistleblowers Protection Bill,which was passed in less than a day in the Lower House,and discovered a serious lacuna. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley pointed out that under the original draft,it would have been legitimate for anyone to release to the media former army chief V K Singhs letter to the defence minister that pointed out inadequacies in our defence purchases. It would also be acceptable to release details of Cabinet meetings. The Bill is now being amended so that issues concerning national security,public order,Cabinet papers and foreign relations fall outside its purview. When passed by the Rajya Sabha,the amended Bill will have to go back to the Lower House once more.
Revenue sharing in DD
Satish Sharma congratulated I&B Minister Ambika Soni for the Ramayana serial on Doordarshan. Several other MPs were equally effusive in their praise. A new revenue-sharing model has been conceived whereby popular programmes produced by private channels are telecast simultaneously on Doordarshan. This way,DD gets around the limitations of in-house talent and budgetary caps on programming,while receiving high audience ratings and revenue. The ad revenue is split evenly between DD and the private producers. Popular programmes like Aamir Khans Satyamev Jayate,MTVs Coke Studio,and Zees Ramayana have all been telecast by Doordarshan under this formula. In January,AR Rahmans musical talent hunt will be shown under the same revenue-sharing model.
