Opinion Belated realisation

To coincide with the Commonwealth Games,the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) arranged a series of cultural events for the benefit of visitors to the Capital.

September 19, 2010 01:36 AM IST First published on: Sep 19, 2010 at 01:36 AM IST

To coincide with the Commonwealth Games,the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) arranged a series of cultural events for the benefit of visitors to the Capital. Dastkar was asked to advance its annual Nature Bazaar. In addition,major exhibitions on puppets and masks were to be held at the IGNCA. INTACH,meanwhile,sponsored an exhibition on the City of Delhi. Last week,when Dastkar asked the Delhi government how it was expected to arrange bringing in 500 craftsmen,carrying Rs 10 crore worth of goods into the city in view of the sealing of the borders and security arrangements,the Delhi government did a U-turn. It has now ordered that all cultural events slotted during the Games be postponed because of security and traffic problems.

Defiant Stand

FINANCE Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony have taken diametrically opposite positions from the Prime Minister on the dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Mukherjee dug in his heels and ensured that the scheduling of a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security was delayed so that no announcement on AFSPA could be made before Eid as the PM had initially intended. The CCS meeting was postponed from the Monday before last to Friday and finally fixed for 11 a.m. on Saturday. But,on Saturday,the meeting had to be deferred yet again since Mukherjee had left Delhi,even though Manmohan Singh had suggested the Finance Minister delay his departure. The CCS was finally held this Wednesday and Mukherjee argued forcefully against lifting AFSPA in a sensitive border state.

24×7 channel extravaganza

IN the fourteenth Parliament,Speaker Somnath Chatterjee started a full fledged 24×7 Lok Sabha channel to relay not merely live telecast of House proceedings,but to also telecast various public interest programmes throughout the day. Then chairperson of the Rajya Sabha,Bhairon Singh Shekhawat,declined to follow the Lok Sabha example,dubbing it a waste of public funds since the channel would cost some Rs 200 crore and it was not part of Parliaments annual outlay. The present chairperson of the Rajya Sabha,Hamid Ansari,has reversed Shekhawats decision and a full time Rajya Sabha channel is to be set up shortly.

Solidarity of youth

THE night before Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the new chief minister of J&K in January last year,his father had announced on television to an anchor,You are speaking to the next chief minister. The next day,however,in front of another TV channel,he did a somersault and declared he was handing over the baton to his son. Farooq appeared to have been persuaded by his wife Molly and Rahul Gandhi to give Omar a chance. Interestingly,during the present debate as to whether Omar should be removed as CM,two Kashmir Congress leaders and an important minister from Delhi who were in touch with Mufti Mohammed and Mehbooba,were keen to emphasise the governance deficit in Kashmir and deny that Rahul and Sonia had any role in Omars appointment. However,Rahuls endorsement of Omar at his Kolkata press conference,belied their claims. The Gandhi and Abdullah families share a long history and the younger generation is not just in the same age group,but they have many common interests,including fast cars,motorbikes ,and video games.

Parliamentary privilege?

As Lok Sabha Speaker,Somnath Chatterjee refused to permit former US President George Bush to address MPs in Parliaments central hall and the function had to be shifted to Purana Qila. This time,not only has President Barack Obama been invited to address Parliament,but the winter session has been advanced by almost a month to suit the convenience of the US president. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal announced that Obamas speech was scheduled for November 8 and Parliament would reconvene at the same time. It is,normally,Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumars prerogative to announce the dates.

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