Win some, lose some

Is it the season to hug and make up? Last week, Minister of State for Personnel & Training Suresh Pachauri was chief guest at the launch of a new kerosene marker. It was an honour extended by Petroleum Minister Murli Deora. Also present were Pachauri’s senior colleagues, Dinshaw Patel and Sajjan Kumar, who watched on glumly. Not surprising, Patel is MoS, Petroleum, while the launch was at Indian Oil Corp’s Bijwasan terminal, which falls in Sajjan Kumar’s constituency. Apparently, Deora is trying to patch up with Pachauri, who was peeved with the petroleum minister for not having extended the tenure of GAIL (India) Ltd’s former chairman Proshanto Banerjee. The hatchet seems to be finally buried as their speeches exuded admiration for each other.

Sweet nothings

A couple of days ago, the incessant ringing of Samajwadi Party Amar Singh’s cellphone only added to the merriment at a dinner in the Capital. The buzz was that the reigning Bollywood queen was calling to ask “Amar Singhji” if he had taken his medicines. Then, it was apparently the actor’s close rival ringing him with the same concern. As his bemused friends looked on, Singh, in his characteristic style shot out, “This will carry on till Abhishek (Bachchan) gets married.”

Closed channels

The BPO sting exposing the easy sale of data in India by the UK’s Channel Four had embarrassed New Delhi just ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s last visit to London. But it also sunk any chance the channel had for an interview with the PM. So, on the eve of the PM’s trip to London this week, Four’s application for an interview was put through the bureaucratic machine, and South Block babus finally came with an answer, “No”. The ostensible reason: the request came only a few weeks ago, and there was no time to slot the interview. But we all know when the government wants something it can get it done. Worse, the babus also quietly reminded the channel it had not sought permission for filming in India when it conducted the expose on Indian BPOs. Request turned down, matter firmly shut.

Capital fare

But guess who will be colliding with the PM’s 40-member delegation of captains of industry travelling to London this week? Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda has also left on Saturday for a four-capital tour to London, Amsterdam, Madrid and Frankfurt, with a delegation of bureaucrats and ministers. He will be looking for investors for his state.

Royal challenge

Meanwhile, the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, younger brother of Prince Charles, and one of UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, will be in India in the last week of October. Guess what for? He will be visiting top Indian IT destinations in Pune and Hyderabad. It comes barely a week after the PM’s visit to Britain, and hopefully it should put the BPO embarrassment to rest. But the Prince may just want to have a good time rather than get involved in this tiff.

Red-faced at the UN

Shashi Tharoor’s UN bid is a mishap that many in South Block want to forget. It started all too suddenly, tripping even the Ministry of External Affairs, which was kept in the dark, and the episode ended in much the same fashion. Tharoor claims he decided to withdraw after calling the PM’s staff in South Africa (where the PM was visiting) and then announced his decision to drop out of the race. The MEA was caught unawares yet again—it had no idea whether to issue a statement of withdrawal or if it should be left to the PM, who endorsed Tharoor’s decision on his flight back home. But it was not the end of matter. The UN said Tharoor’s announcement meant nothing unless India as the sponsor officially withdrew his candidature. So, a frustrated South Block sent the formal withdrawal on Thursday. The MEA now hopes the Tharoor matter is finally over.

Jubilee jumble

The IAF’s declaration of its Platinum Anniversary—it entered its 75th year on Sunday—did not come without its problems. For months, Air Headquarters has been receiving passionate letters from retired Air Marshals on the complexity of a ‘platinum jubilee’. Apparently, the term denotes 100 years in some places, 75 elsewhere. After an inspired bout of research, ordered by air chief SP Tyagi himself, officers finally occasioned upon a “knowledge book” that virtually set in stone that the 75th year was, in fact, a platinum year in South Asia. The book pointed out a 75th week run is a platinum jubilee in the Mumbai film industry too. The air chief concluded, “What’s good for Bollywood, is good for us.”

Privilege commotion

The Centre has thrown up its hands—a list of VVIPs/VIPs who are exempted from pre-embarkation security checks at all airports in the country has become such a status marker that many government functionaries are demanding the same privilege. Several chief justices of high courts have written to the Centre saying that they too want this benefit as their ranks are equivalent to that of a judge of the Supreme Court, who enjoys this privilege. The government has turned down their request. Some chairpersons of high-powered committees/commissions are singing the same tune, saying they have cabinet-rank status, and should be exempted from all security checks. “We get demands from these powerful people every month,” said a harried officer, “and we find it impossible to entertain such letters.”

Word imperfect

Why is T R Baalu, Union minister for road transport, highways, shipping and ports, in such a grumpy mood these days? At the PM’s infrastructure conference on Saturday, barely a few minutes after Shipping Secretary A K Mahapatra began his presentation on the investment requirements for India’s ports, a crabby Baalu switched on his mike and asked him to wind up fast. A stunned audience looked on as Baalu cursorily repeated, “Mahapatra, please end…”

No payoff

Over the weekend, joint secretaries in the Commerce and Industry Ministries lobbying hard for the top job in UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) received some heartbreaking news—the new country head has arrived to take charge of the New Delhi office. The post has been vacant for 20 months, despite the fact the agency is India’s biggest partner in developing small scale industries and has successfully implemented the internationally acclaimed cluster development programme. But the tug-of-war inside the Industry Ministry’s Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) for the job slowed down all such projects. While the rules clearly state no country office can be headed by its own nationals, it did not deter our bureaucrats from throwing in their hat.

Tailpiece

At a briefing for a China-bound delegation, members were reminded that in the neighbouring country, the party president is No 1 and the prime minister, No 2. The Congress delegation head could not restrain the quip, “It is a situation you are all familiar with.”