Building bridges

And talking of TR Baalu, this was a project that he—for some reason—wanted to honour at all costs. When External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked him for help in building a Bailey bridge in Malda, Baalu took a personal interest in it, asking the NHAI to move heaven and hell to make it. It was not a bridge that fell on a NHAI-controlled route, but officials were inundated by reminders—some not so polite—that forced the NHAI to roll out the machines. Finally, the project is on its way, but the question in everyone’s mind remains, “What made Baalu go out of his way on this?”

Yes Ma’am Sir

Now, Haryana may have a dismal record in female infanticide but it was a PR coup for the state when the Samjhauta blast investigators met the media. One face that flashed across television screens worldwide was that of Bharati Arora, SP, Railways, Ambala. She was part of the briefing by Haryana IGP Sharad Kumar at Panipat, and she performed admirably as the team held up evidence and released sketches of the two suspects. Arora answered questions, while displaying bottles of lethal fuel and twisted remains of suitcases in which the explosives were packed, even discussing the finer points of a clock as a timer. One wonders if it had the desired impact both in her neighbourhood and across the border.

Secretary-level talk

Defence Minister AK Antony is looking for a trusted defence secretary and rumours suggest he has offered the post to Commerce Secretary G K Pillai. The bureaucrat served Antony when he was Kerala CM—but Pillai is also a contender for the home secretary’s job. Now guess who is eyeing the commerce secretary’s job? It’s HRD Secretary R P Agarwal, who is deputy chief of mission (EU) in Brussels and is nursing a dream to get the commerce posting. Agarwal, who has dealt with trade negotiations at EU, is well-versed with the twists and turns of the WTO talks and is said to be instrumental in swinging the Foreign Universities Bill, which is finally listed for Cabinet approval, after months of a turf war between HRD’s Sudeep Banerjee and Commerce’s Pillai.

... contd.