Saheb Phalke award in 2003. As minister for information & broadcasting, Prasad had pointed out that Dilip Kumar had won the award in 1992 and Raj Kapoor in 1987, but Anand, the third member of the troika that dominated the screen for over two decades, had been ignored. Prasad learnt that the awardees of previous years made the selection and that Dilip Kumar did not favour Anand’s name. Prasad was usually not an interfering minister, but that year he overruled the jury’s choice of perennial villain Pran and wrote detailed reasons on the file as to why it really was Anand’s turn to be honoured.

123 licence

US Ambassador to India David Mulford is out of the country for much of the month and so charge d’affairs Steven White will officiate in his absence and presumably handle all issues relating to the Indo-US nuclear deal, popularly known as the 123 agreement. White is a tad embarrassed because by sheer coincidence his car number is 77 CD 123.

Foxy predictor

Only two people really know what H.D. Deve Gowda’s next move is. One is Gowda himself; the other is his astrologer. Even Gowda’s two sons,

H.D. Kumaraswamy and H.D. Revanna are in the dark. On the one hand Gowda has met Congress minister M.V. Rajashekharan Murthy and suggested that he take over as chief minister and his son Revanna becomes deputy chief minister. On the other hand, Kumaraswamy is hopeful of a continued BJP-JD (S) alliance. The astrologer, meanwhile, has informed the BJP that the stars are not auspicious for a BJP candidate to take over as chief minister just yet.

Incidentally, it was the same astrologer who had told the BJP, at a time when the Congress was tying up with the JD (S) three years back, that he saw a strong likelihood of the BJP in a coalition with Deve Gowda’s second son Kumaraswamy at some point. Gowda has great faith in his astrologer since he was the one who predicted that Gowda would one day be prime minister. His reputation has been further enhanced since he foresaw the Left withdrawing support to the UPA before it was common knowledge. The question is: does the astrologer advise Gowda or is it vice versa?

Unconstructive approach

There's major building activity at the BJP central headquarters on 11 Ashoka Road. Many of the cubicles and rooms constructed over the years at the back of the building meant to house RSS pracharaks and cell convenors are being demolished. These are being rebuilt on the west side of the main bungalow. It seems that the superstitious BJP president Rajnath Singh is acting on advice of a vastu expert who says the party fortunes will change if the vastu flaws are rectified. Luckily for the BJP, the CPWD has looked the other way to the many unauthorised structures on the premises.

Last journey

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munsi has invited 15 Lok Sabha MPs for a trip to the US and Mexico. Several of the invitees to this tempting junket are Opposition MPs who make the maximum noise in Parliament and created problems for the minister. Dasmunshi describes his trip as just a goodwill gesture but to one MP he confided that it was a farewell trip.

Incredible omission

Central ministers, including Kamal Nath, P. Chidambaram, Vayalar Ravi, and Pranab Mukherjee, as well as the chief ministers of Assam and Sikkim, Planning Commission vice-chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and two dozen captains of industry and an equal number of journalists flew to New York to be part of the Incredible India@60 festivities. Even former joint secretary (tourism) Amitabh Kant showed up, although he was supposed to be in Kerala, where he has been posted as secretary (commerce & industry). The only missing person was the one really responsible for the show — Union Culture & Tourism Minister Ambika Soni. She stayed back in Delhi to fire-fight the row over the Ram Sethu affidavit.