Press-ing the advantage

The World Hindi Conference, held this month in New York, was to propagate the cause of Hindi at the UN. But it also provided an excellent opportunity for our MPs to beat the heat and take a break in the cool climes abroad.

The World Hindi Conference, held this month in New York, was to propagate the cause of Hindi at the UN. But it also provided an excellent opportunity for our MPs to beat the heat and take a break in the cool climes abroad. Unfortunately the 15 MPs who were scheduled to attend the conference had to drop out since their respective parties issued instructions that all MPs were to remain in India for the presidential election. Journalists were the beneficiaries of the high drop out rate — some Hindi scholars also did not go at the last minute in sympathy with their colleagues who were denied visas by the Americans. Several journalists were inducted as delegates and in all there were 40 newspersons at the conference. Apart from Anand Sharma, the only politician of note who showed up was Karan Singh, who was appointed special envoy. Since Singh had been knocked out of the presidential sweepstakes thanks to the Left, he was free to attend.

Acting frank

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s 15-year old grandson Abhimanyu Singh is a talented actor. He made his debut in films at the age of seven, playing the young Amitabh Bachchan in Lal Badshah, directed by K.C. Bokhadia. The director was visiting his grandfather in Jaipur and decided the little boy would be ideal for the part. At present Abhimanyu combines his schoolwork with acting as a child star in Ramanand Sagar’s TV serial Sai Baba. So does he plan to become a professional actor when he grows up or is he more interested in his grandfather’s profession? “Politics, only politics,” he said firmly. And what does he think are Shekhawat’s chances in the presidential election? “I stopped thinking about it,” he says disarmingly.

Securing entry

An SPG official, who surveyed the Lodhi Colony crematorium before the funeral of industrialist Bharat Ram, ordered that the central divider on this busy main Delhi artery be broken so that the VVIPs could avoid a slightly longer journey under the Moolchand Hospital flyover. One is not sure whether it was the PM or the Gandhi siblings for whom the traffic deviation was conceived. All three were at the funeral.

Delayed vendetta?

Story continues below this ad

The monsoon session of Parliament was scheduled to start around July 25, since by then Pratibha Patil would have been sworn in as president, and could deliver the joint presidential address. But it has now been postponed further to August. Shekhawat retires as vice-president on August 18 and some in the Congress want to ensure that he does not preside over the Rajya Sabha for even a day.

Politician’s pastime

With both the UPA and UNPA arriving at a Muslim candidate for vice president, the NDA is thinking of following suit. The name of the dynamic Najma Heptullah is making the rounds. With not too much on her plate at the moment, Heptullah has taken up her old hobby of painting and has turned her garage into a studio. She hopes to hold an exhibition of her silk lampshades and scarves with floral patterns painted on them. Heptullah has been interested in art since she her childhood and attended a course on painting on silk in Malaysia.

Staying on

DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s sons have been putting pressure on Dayanidhi Maran to give up his Rajya Sabha seat. Maran was inclined to do so but after his successor as communication minister A. Raja has tried to throw mud at him over the controversial BSNL tender he has decided to stay put and fight back. Maran wrote a letter to the prime minister pointing out that the decision was taken by the BSNL board and he was not in the picture. He alleged that an NRI businessman was behind the move to try and re-open the tender. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has backed Maran and refused to order a CBI inquiry which has annoyed the DMK, especially as the CBI is looking into the attack on the Dinakaran office in Madurai.