Being noticed

Pak delaying Kishenganga project

SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday accused Pakistan of trying to delay the Kishenganga Hydroelectric Power project along the Line of Control in Gurez,saying both parts of Kashmir were constructing power projects on Kishenganga and the project that is completed first will get benefited the most. The government of Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir want us to delay the project, he said.

Anna-shy

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is said to have resisted plans of the Central government to send Anna Hazare to his home state after releasing him from Tihar jail. Chavan apparently did not want his state to become the centre of Annas agitation. After Hazares 13-day fast ended on Sunday,BJP Rajya Sabha member Prakash Javadekar is learnt to have called up Chavan to say that he might never have to worry about Anna any longer. Governments in Maharashtra have been at the receiving end of Annas fasts many times. Javadekar told Chavan that considering the huge nationwide popularity of the latest fast,Anna was unlikely to confine himself to Maharashtra any longer.

Some coincidence

While initiating the debate on Lokpal in the Rajya Sabha,Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley recalled that it was L M Singhvi who had first coined the term Lokpal way back in 1963. He did not elaborate further on the issue. What had happened was Singhvi then a 31-year-old Independent MP had visited some Scandinavian countries in 1962 during which he got to know about the concept of Ombudsman. On his return,he told the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru about it. Nehru,interestingly,is said to have remarked,which zoo this animal belong to?,and told him to Indianise the term. It was then that Singhvi coined the term Lokpal while participating in a debate in Parliament in 1963. It is a sheer coincidence that Singhvis son,Abhishek Manu Singhvi,is now the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which is tasked with preparing the final draft of the Lokpal Bill.

Last chance

Though Rajya Sabha has already passed the impeachment motion against Justice Soumitra Sen,the Kolkata High Court judge can still avoid the ignominy of becoming the first judge to be impeached. Some political parties and a few individual MPs are said to be making frantic efforts to convince Justice Sen to resign from his post before the Lok Sabha takes up the impeachment motion in the first week of September. Till the President signs the order removing Justice Sen,the judge can resign and would deemed to have not been impeached.

Publicity stunt

BJP MPs Anant Kumar and Gopinath Munde might have thought that visiting the Ramlila grounds at the height of public anger against politicians was a brave thing to do. But that is not the way it is being viewed. After they were publicly ridiculed and jeered by the protesters gathered for Anna Hazares fast,the two leaders are finding little sympathy within their party as well. After the initial anger at their mistreatment,a section of the party is said to be wondering whether it was the right thing to do and whether it had the sanction of the top brass. The common refrain among many party leaders is that the two went there to gain some publicity for themselves.