The unusual visitor

Sandesh Vs Organiser

RSS mouthpiece Organiser is screaming political vendetta and discrimination after an application for a PIB card for its editor was turned down by the Press Information Bureau. The PIB,which is under the I&B Ministry,has contended that the Organiser,a weekly magazine,did not fulfil the criteria of being published continuously for 10 years and did not have a print order of 50,000 copies each time. Organiser,however,has said it was among the oldest weeklies,publishing for the last 65 years and that the denial was on political grounds. It has pointed out that Sandesh,the Congress mouthpiece,has been given accreditation by the PIB.

In the name of Ram

RESPONDING during the discussion on the Council Bill in the Rajya Sabha,Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was persistently interrupted by Opposition MPs seeking clarifications on a range of issues. An exasperated Azad said this was like asking about the relationship between Lord Ram and Sita after listening to the entire Ramayana. This comment immediately had CPM MP Sitaram Yechury up on his feet. Yechury said since the minister had now invoked his name,it was only appropriate that he too ask a question.

Lessons Learnt

THE government seems to have emerged wiser after its experience with a bureaucrat being appointed as Member Secretary in the Planning Commission. Sudha Pillai,who till recently served as the Planning Commission Secretary was made a member in the body with the rank of a Minister of State. But then,given her position and status,she started blocking key projects including the Unique Identification programme. Pillai,many in the Plan panel,say had become the focal point for dissent within the Planning Commission. Now that she has retired,the government seems to be disinclined to give Member’s status to the Plan panel secretary. Sindhushree Khullar is hence only a Secretary,not a Member-Secretary.

Playing peacemaker

FORMER Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has been telling some MPs that he had almost brokered a deal between Air India management and the 250-odd pilots belonging to Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG). While it’s still not known if his back channel talks are yielding any results,he was at the receiving end himself. He had booked Air India tickets for Monday night to Chicago,which was one of the four flights cancelled that night. But this time,he had hedged by booking a Lufthansa ticket too.

Let them store the Flour

IN their over-enthusiasm to protect the interests of Bengal,Trinamool Congress MPs sometimes come up with rather peculiar ideas. While blaming the Left regime for the decline of jute industry in West Bengal that has resulted in shortage of jute bags for wheat procurement this season,Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar came up with one such gem. She said while importing jute bags from neighbouring Bangladesh was completely unacceptable,even switching to plastic bags was not feasible as it would only compound the woes of jute industry in West Bengal. Instead,Dastidar recommended that the freshly procured wheat be milled into flour “that can then be stored for export for next 10 years”. MPs across party lines could not suppress their laughter at the suggestion considering that not only is flour a more perishable item than wheat but that flour like wheat will also require bags,mostly plastic,for storage.