This Wednesday (October 9), all eyes will be on oil minister M. Veerappa Moily, as he plans to travel to his office by public transport as a part of an effort to save fuel.
This Wednesday (October 9), all eyes will be on oil minister M. Veerappa Moily, as he plans to travel to his office by public transport as a part of an effort to save fuel. Moily will be travelling by public transport to his office every Wednesday. However, it would be interesting to see who among the high profile oil ministry officials and chiefs of big oil PSUs will follow the minister. Many chiefs of oil PSUs are known to enjoy a swanky lifestyle but may be forced to follow the minister to remain in his good books. On his part, Moily has said that it’s a voluntary act and he cannot punish anyone for not taking public transport.
Beating a hasty retreat Union minister Jairam Ramesh sensed an opportunity to score some political brownie points over Narendra Modi’s “toilet first, temple later remark”. He called a press meet at his official conference hall but ended up being ambushed by the media. Claiming to have first propounded the idea but hounded by Sangh affiliates, Ramesh sought to castigate Modi for his late awakening. But when told that he had enraged people by suggesting that coconuts be offered at toilets and not at temples, Ramesh called it media’s “misinterpretation”. On his question to Modi — if he agreed with BSP founder Kansi Ram’s solution to Ayodhya issue by building a grand toilet there — Ramesh was taken aback when asked if he himself agreed with the idea. In the end he made a hasty retreat, literally running away even though the media kept asking more questions.
Dearth of bright ideas The various Central ministries and government departments seem to have run out of bright ideas to work for ensuring the safety and security of women! Sources in the government pointed out that the '1,000 crore Nirbhaya fund that was created in the wake of public outrage over the December 16 Delhi gang rape, is still waiting to be spent for dearth of innovative ways to spend it. It is soon going to be a year since the horrific crime took place, but the large amount set aside especially for securing women’s safety has still not been spent. Officials in the government conceded that there is a real need to fast track such efforts.
Diplomacy meets glamour Last week, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid had an unusual visitor during his visit to New York when actress Kajol came calling. Hard-nosed diplomacy and Bollywood glamour came face to face as Kajol is a ‘hand washing ambassador’ and advocate of ‘Help a Child Reach 5’ campaign. Kajol, who was in NY to attend a special UN event on sanitation, had actually come to call on India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Asoke K. Mukerji. However, she had a brief meeting with the minister too, who happened to be present in India’s permanent mission to the UN. Incidentally, Khurshid is no mean actor himself, having been active in theatre right from his college days. Besides, he’s also penned a play called Sons of Babur.
A month of generational shifts It is a season of coup of sorts in the Congress and the BJP. September 2013 will be long remembered for generational shifts, which did not take place without some kind of acrimony. It was for the BJP to first witness the change in leadership position on September 13 when Narendra Modi was formally declared its Prime Ministerial candidate despite strong protests being registered by party stalwart L.K. Advani. The octogenarian leader has, however, since then conceded ground. Just 14 days later Congress witnessed its bit of upheavals at the highest level when party vice president Rahul Gandhi termed a cabinet decision “nonsense” and both PM Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi quickly changed their minds to suit his demands. Thus, if the coup in BJP was turbulent, it was somewhat smooth for the Congress!
Silence is CBI’s tool Journos covering the CBI beat have seldom had it easy in getting the officials to talk about various cases. However, these days, the senior CBI officials seem to have adopted the strategy to maintain a stoic silence even over routine matters. Every effort to get even a “yes” or a “no” is met with silence. While for designated officers, it may be a handy tool to avoid uncomfortable queries, for journos it becomes an uphill task to get the right answers. The saving grace though are the “sources” who always come to the rescue of the beat journalists in getting the right answers.
The young & restless At a recent official defence function, a smiling minister of state for defence, Jitendra Singh spoke about the eagerness of the youth to get things done quickly. Speaking at a defence accounts function that was attended by both the Navy and IAF chiefs, the defence secretary and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the young minister said, “As a young person in government, I want things done yesterday”. However, the minister was quick to recognise that various procedures in government functioning had to be followed since these were crucial to ensure transparency.
Tangles in the tie-up At a time when BJP’s central leadership is looking at expanding the NDA fold, its Andhra Pradesh unit declared that the saffron party would contest the general polls alone after reports of a possible tie-up in the wake of TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu meeting with BJP chief Rajnath Singh. In fact, the state leadership even cautioned party top brass that Naidu wants to ride on the NaMo wave and benefit from it at a time when TDP’s poll prospects are not very bright.
