PMs wife gets her own officer

and her appointment is likely to be announced soon.

Suspense continues over JPC chairman

True to its style of functioning,the Congress leadership did not consult its MPs before nominating them to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that will look into the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The MPs learnt about their nomination after the names were announced in the Lok Sabha. They are now wondering who the chairman of the JPC would be as the name has been kept a secret. Initially,when the members saw the list,they assumed the chairmans post would go to V Kishore Chandra Deo,as his name figured on top. To their dismay,the party leadership explained that there was no final decision on the chairman as yet and the names on the list were in alphabetical order,not by their names but by the states they come from. Strangely,the alphabetical order is applicable to only eight Congress members on the 20-member list from the Lok Sabha and not to members from other parties.

Ravi has some teething troubles

Set to face Parliament for the first time as Civil Aviation Minister,Vayalar Ravi summoned his officers to brief him on important issues of the ministry. But he was said to have been dissatisfied with the quality of briefing he got. When he inquired,an interesting fact emerged. The officers were not accustomed to giving an effective briefing to the minister to face Parliament. Ravis predecessor Praful Patel was in the ministry long enough to know its affairs like the back of his hand and never asked for any briefing from his officers. An upset Ravi has now instructed his officers to brief him thoroughly on all issues. So much so that he has issued orders that senior officers cannot go on leave during Parliament session. But it is not that the minister is entirely unsympathetic to his officers needs. Ravi is said to have asked the Airports Authority of India to ensure that all his officers are provided food and refreshments in office whenever required since many of them are working overtime these days.

CVC makes his presence felt

Even as the controversy over his appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner refuses to die down,P J Thomas surprised many by turning up at a function organised by the Delhi Archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the capital. He rubbed shoulders with senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes,Union Ministers K V Thomas and Agatha Sangma and several party MPs from Kerala. Having largely stayed away from public glare,Thomas decision to attend this programme is being seen in many quarters as an attempt to ensure that he continues to get the support of the Church.

Free ride home from troubled waters

Indians being evacuated from Egypt and Libya,where a wave of public protests has led to unrest,have got an unexpected free ride back home. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna was asked by Opposition MPs in Parliament whether the government intended to charge the stranded passengers for their flight back home. Keen to ensure that the government did not look unsympathetic,Krishna announced that no one would be charged. This,despite the fact that his ministry was planning to ask the companies for whom these Indians were working to pay for the passage. But once the minister gave the assurance,it became clear to the bureaucrats what decision to take.

A long hunt for a good office

Congress MP Ashwini Kumars wait to return to the government was over last month. Now another wait has started that for a good office room for himself. Kumar was appointed Minister of State in three ministries Science and Technology,Earth Sciences and Parliamentary Affairs all of which are under the overall charge of Pawan Kumar Bansal. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs functions from Parliament House Annexe and is active only during sessions. The Ministry of Science and Technology is located near Qutub Institutional Area,far away from the political epicentre of Lutyens Delhi,and,understandably,no minister wants to go there. So Kumar set his sights on a room in the CSIR headquarters near Parliament House,which previous S&T ministers Kapil Sibal and Prithviraj Chavan also used to occupy. However,he was politely told that the room was meant only for Cabinet ministers in S&T ministry in their capacity as the ex-officio vice-chairman of CSIR and therefore belonged to Bansal. Left with little option,Kumar is now getting a room prepared in the Ministry of Earth Sciences in the CGO complex. Meanwhile,he is functioning from a makeshift office in the Planning Commission.

Sahay has a say after all

Subodh Kant Sahay might be low profile but he doesnt seem to be a lightweight in the government. Sent to the Tourism Ministry after the last Cabinet reshuffle,Sahay is said to have been disappointed to know that neither the draft speech of President Pratibha Patil at the beginning of the Parliament session nor the draft budget speech of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had any mention of his ministry. He quickly got down to correcting that and succeeded in getting one paragraph on Tourism Ministry inducted in the Presidential Address. It remains to be seen whether he has managed a similar feat in the budget speech as well. Meanwhile,the ministry seems to have been suddenly flooded with requests for voluntary retirements. In the last few months,four officers have opted for the VRS scheme while one has asked for a transfer out of the ministry.

Lafarge gets a helping hand

Facing allegations of illegal mining in Meghalayas pristine East Khasi hills,Lafarges cement company got a big boost when the government last week said in Supreme Court that the demand for environmental clearance was absurd. The government pulled out some long-forgotten reports that showed the East Khasi hills as type-6,non-deciduous forests with hardly any thick growth. With this,the status of the hill areas,which the locals contend is a no-mining zone,has suddenly become negotiable.

Different retirement dates in Army

A senior Lt General,head of the Armys veterinary corps,has approached the Armed Forces Tribunal against what he claims is his forced early retirement. Lt Gen JK Srivastava has petitioned that he was asked to retire this month even though his retirement date,as fixed earlier,is four months from now. The Army says it is a case of genuine clerical mistake as the records department had thought that the post created a few years back had a fixed tenure of two years,when in fact rules say that the DG can serve for either two years or till the age of 61,whichever is earlier. In Srivastavas case,he turned 61 this month. While the tribunal will now suggest the way forward,at the heart of the tussle lies the issue of different rules of service applying to different DGs in the armed forces. While most Lt Generals retire at 60,the DG AFMS (Armed Forces Medical Service) retires at 62 or after two years of service. The DG Veterinary Corps retires at 61 or after two years of service. The Army did take up the case of equating the tenure of the DG Veterinary Corps with the DG AFMS but this was turned down by the Defence Ministry. However,after the current crises,the ministry may consider adopting a more uniform policy.

Govt preparing for litigation onslaught

Anticipating a rise in litigation involving the Union government in the Supreme Court,especially with regard to revenue matters,the Law Ministry has decided to engage five advocates-on-record (AoR). The selected lawyers would be responsible for all filings in the apex court. Among other things,the selected lawyers would be required to liaise with officers of the Department of Revenue on court matters. This is the first time in many years that the government has initiated steps to recruit AoRs.

Aide spoils poll plans of Capt Amarinder

Last week,when the CBI finally filed a chargesheet against former Sangrur (Punjab) MLA Arvind Khanna for allegedly violating the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA),it also upset the calculations and poll plans of former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh. While Khanna was denied the partys ticket from Sangrur constituency in the 2007 elections,Amarinder was keen that his close aide Khanna be fielded in the next years Assembly elections. However,the high command may not play ball now,especially in view of Khannas family close links with former external affairs minister Natwar Singh.

2G spectrum? What on earth is that?

Notwithstanding the fact that over 80 per cent of our Parliamentarians are graduates or postgraduates,the general impression is that many are not able to grasp the complex subjects debated in Parliament or in the confines of the standing committees. This was evident once more at the standing committee meeting for Information Technology that had decided to invite Telecom Ministry officials to discuss the spectrum issue in the wake of the 2G controversy. The standing committee on IT has telecom as its subject but could not take up the matter as it was already being discussed by the Public Accounts Committee. It is learnt that after a lengthy discourse from telecom officials on the nuances of the 2G issue in the meeting,one of the MPs suddenly raised his hand to speak. Expressing gratitude to the officials for the excellent briefing,the MP said he could still not figure out what exactly spectrum was. The briefing then went back to the basics with MPs getting a lecture of the ABCs of telecom and spectrum functioning.

No sympathy for outgoing CBI official

Few tears are being shed in the CBI for its joint director Y P Singh who has decided to quit and join the International Cricket Councils anti-corruption unit. A 1981-batch IPS officer,Singh,who has been investigating some politically sensitive cases,including the 2G spectrum scam and CWG irregularities,was often the person with the other point of view. In the CWG case,he had opposed the decision to go ahead with some arrests without collecting full evidence. The arrested persons easily got bail later as the CBI was still in the process of getting evidence from abroad. A very hard taskmaster,Singh was not popular with his juniors as well. Not surprisingly,therefore,many in the CBI are actually relieved to see him go even though it would be at least three months before Singhs transition actually happens.

Wholl be the next Cabinet Secretary?

The two-month extension to Finance Secretary Sushma Nath has left the bureaucratic establishment wondering whether she could be appointed as the next Cabinet Secretary. Originally set to retire on March 31,Nath will now function till May 31,just days before the current Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhars term comes to an end. But many bureaucrats are of the view that if Nath can be considered for the Cabinet Secretarys post well after her scheduled retirement date,then so can some other secretaries who are serving in the government beyond their retirement date because of the fixed tenures of the positions they occupy,like say the Defence Secretary or Home Secretary. On the other hand,more astute watchers of the bureaucratic space are laying their bets on Pulok Chatterjee,known to be close to 10 Janpath,and also has good rapport with the Prime Minister. Presently serving in the World Bank,the word out is that Chatterjee is now ready to return.