No Anna effect

He has told the central leaders that the Congress would comfortably dislodge the BJP-Akali Dal government.

No Anna effect

With Team Anna threatening to campaign in the upcoming state assembly polls on the anti-corruption platform,one Congress chief ministerial hopeful has told the party headquarters there was no need to worry. Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has been carrying out a series of surveys in his state to gauge the public mood ahead of the polls. While his earlier polls were said to have shown some sympathy for Team Anna,Amarinder claims that recent such exercises have revealed that there was no support for Anna or his colleagues. He has told the central leaders that the Congress would comfortably dislodge the BJP-Akali Dal government.

AGE NO BAR

AT the final media briefing of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth,Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a second four-year term for Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma,a former Indian diplomat. There was a round of applause but a Pakistani journalist asked Gillard why couldnt the Commonwealth have a younger Secretary-General Sharma is 70. Before she could reply,Sharma responded: In life it does not matter how old you are but how young you think. More applause and the journalist sat down.

HUNGRY TIDE

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THE Jan Ahaar Yojana scheme to provide wholesome thalis at Rs 15 to advocates,litigants and visitors to the Supreme Court got off to an unpleasant start after the Delhi Police impounded the mobile food vehicle on grounds that it would create traffic snarls. With the impounded vehicle kept at the Tilak Marg police station,the formal inauguration by Justice Dalver Bhandari was canceled. It was released only after the Supreme Court Bar Association took up the issue with the Supreme Court Secretary General AIS Cheema and other senior police officers.

SHOUTING MATCH

AT a function marred by technical glitches and official mismanagement,M S Dhoni,who was given the honourary rank of a Lt Col of Indian Army,provided the humour,engaging in friendly banter with his wife Sakshi. When the event was opened for questions,Sakshi quickly grabbed a mike to ask her husband in what manner he planned to contribute to the Army. Before he replied,Dhoni told her that she did not need to speak into the microphone. You shout too much anyways, he said. With the audience in splits,Dhoni proceeded to answer her question by promising to visit soldiers at the remotest borders and draw inspiration from their dedication to the nation.

KEY APPOINTMENTS

K Salim Ali,a 1978-batch IPS officer from the Manipur-Tripura cadre,has been appointed as the new Additional Director General of the CBI. His appointment has come at the cost of his batch-mate P M Nair,currently with the CRPF,who was tipped as front-runner for the position. Incidentally,this is the second time in two years that Nair was considered for a CBI posting but did not get it. In 2009,a decision to shift him to CBI was all but announced. At that time,the CRPF is said to have been interested in retaining him and its decision prevailed. Nair was head of the operations wing of CRPF when the Dantewada massacre took place. Meanwhile,S K Goel,a 1975-batch IRS officer,has been appointed as the new chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs.