At a lunch hosted in his honour at Race Course Road, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair held forth on climate change and pollution control. Blair was keen that India agrees to the western world’s roadmap for pollution emissions. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listened politely but didn’t make any commitment. Singh also added wryly that, despite the US push for carbon emission reduction, Americans still drive big cars. Blair agreed, giving the example of California governor and former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger who drives a hybrid version of the gas-guzzling Humvee, a US military modified station wagon that only the richest and most powerful Americans can afford.

Guests leaving the PM’s residence are dropped at the parking lot at the Race Course Road entrance since private vehicles are not permitted beyond this point. For the short shuttle to the parking lot most guests were provided standard sized cars. But for the Blairs, there was the indigenously made, environment friendly and electrically driven tiny Reva car. Clearly someone in the PMO wanted to make a point.

No leak-proof evidence

At the conference of the Director Generals of Police in New Delhi this week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brought up the subject of frequent leaks from the ATS and other police investigations. The PM attributed the leaks to the competition among various police departments to take credit and professional rivalry within the media to break news. In the case of news stories giving details of narco analysis tests, it was possible that it was not the senior police officers, but technicians who were responsible for passing on confidential information to journalists, Singh suggested.

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