Banned band exchange
An Indo-Pak backchannel meet on confidence building measures (CBM) in the armed forces was held in Dubai last week. The conference,funded by the US,UK and Canada,was attended by former military personnel,diplomats and politicians from both sides of the border. Curiously,the issue which seemed to generate the most heat and monopolised a lot of time was whether there should be an exchange of naval bands between the two countries. The Pakistanis opposed the suggestion on the grounds that their band players are largely non-commissioned officers and they think differently. A retired admiral joked that the Indians would not be missing much anyway,the naval band was in pretty poor shape.
Picnic in park
It was an unusual sight for visitors to Delhis Lodhi Gardens last Sunday. Priyanka Vadra and her two kids were eating brunch on a grassy slope along with some tiny tots. The group was joined by half-a-dozen high speed cyclists,including Robert Vadra. After the meal,Priyanka packed up the large picnic hamper and left with her kids in a car,while Robert continued on his bicycle ride with his friends.
No response to request
As part of his campaign to ensure that the Lokpal Bill is passed by Parliament in this session,Arvind Kejriwal is keen to mend fences with those who are opposed to Team Annas efforts. Kejriwal has been making the rounds of politicians houses to canvass support. One address where he has not been successful is 10 Janpath. He has sent requests to Sonia Gandhi,Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh for a meeting but there has been no response so far.
Spat over school admission
On the first day of the Parliament session,two UPA allies,Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam and the NCPs Supriya Sule were seen sparring. Nirupam,the MP from north Mumbai,was upset because the Pawar Public School had rejected a letter sent by him on behalf of a child from his constituency. Not only did the school principal toss his letter into the basket,he was rude about recommendations from politicians. Nirupams point was that while he understood if the child was refused admission,there was no cause for the principal to have insulted him. Sule took up cudgels on behalf of the principal and complained to her father,Sharad Pawar,who also adopted an aggressive tone. Some wondered whether the Pawars unnecessary offensive was because they had learnt that some years ago,Nirupam had led a delegation to break the wall of a posh private school in Juhu. The school had allegedly appropriated public land with the connivance of the authorities.
Back as negotiator
The fact that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee invited BJP President Nitin Gadkari to his house for lunch to discuss the impending logjam in Parliament indicates that Mukherjee is back as the governments most reliable trouble-shooter after being sidelined in the last session. The Congress also realises the importance of cultivating Gadkari and not just the L K Advani-Arun Jaitley-Sushma Swaraj trio. Mukherjee pleaded that the Opposition cooperate with the ruling party in the forthcoming Parliamentary session. Gadkari countered that it was the government which had vitiated the atmosphere by arrests in the cash-for-votes case,false cases by the CBI and Digvijay Singhs constant barbs.
Popularising the festival
Lalu Prasad Yadav broke tradition this year by celebrating Chhath Puja in Delhi and not in Patna. Some in the media felt he was avoiding comparisons with Chief Minister
Nitish Kumars Chhath Puja,which would have attracted a much larger crowd. Yadav dismissed such idle speculation. He explained that he stayed on in Delhi for the convenience of his grandchildrenhis second daughter Rohinis childrenwho were flying to India from Singapore. Celebrating Chhath outside the state is one way of spreading awareness about the festival in the rest of the country,he pointed out.
Hurry to exit
The three-member team of interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir which began its task with a bang,wound up last month in some haste. The three members,it is learnt,differed on the question of whether the inquiry committee should be disbanded. While Dileep Padgaonkar and Radha Kumar wanted to stick to the one-year deadline,particularly as both had other assignments lined up,M M Ansari,a former central information commissioner,was keen to stretch the task. The fact that chairperson Padgaonkar has been on the backfoot ever since it came out he had accepted the hospitality of Ghulam Nabi Fai,may have been another reason for the early closure.
