Royals outrank

Who is the most powerful man in our defence establishment today? Not defence minister Jaswant Singh, who is busy with his external affairs portfolio, not the three service chiefs and not the defence secretary. It is the officer on special duty (OSD) in the ministry Arun Singh who calls the shots. At the Tuesday meeting at South Block attended by the heads of the army, navy and air force and senior defence ministry officials, it is Singh who generally presides since Jaswant Singh does not always turn up.

The OSD has a major say in senior appointments and organisational decisions. He is the guiding force behind the move to re-structure the defence establishment and institute a chief of defence staff. Most important files in the ministry are shown to him and though the minister may initial the orders, he relies largely on his OSD’s advice while making decisions.

Arun Singh has emerged as such a powerful extra constitutional authority because Jaswant Singh trusts him implicitly. Rajiv Gandhi’s estranged best friend may have very different political views from his present mentor, but both bond thanks to their common royal links.

Fashionable cut

JACQUELINE Lundquist, wife of the former US ambassador to India, is the chief patroness of a fashion show featuring the outfits of six leading Indian designers which is currently touring America. The show began in New York where controversial restaurant owner and Clinton supporter Sant Singh Chatwal underwrote some of the expenses.

Since news of Chatwal’s fresh troubles with the CBI for defaulting on huge bank loans broke in the media shortly before the New York launch, Lundquist kept a low profile at the Big Apple do. Lundquist’s invaluable assistance in promoting Indian fashion in the USA is not purely out of benevolence: with American enterprise she has ensured she receives a sizable cut from the sale of each garment.

Slow witted PR

PAKISTAN invariably steals a march over us during a detente thanks to smarter press relations (PR). While our neighbour is quick to provide information to the media, whether true or false, the MEA spokesperson spends most of her time simply reacting to statements from Pakistan.

Consider the following: Long after the USA and Pakistan had announced the dates of Musharraf’s arrival in India, the MEA was still hesitant to disclose the timing. While Indian journalists waited for the MEA to confirm whether Vajpayee had telephoned Musharraf to congratulate him on taking over as president, across the border full details of the conversation were leaked. The canny general has held select interviews with the Pakistani and Indian media on the Agra summit, while the MEA simply stonewalls.

Musharraf even stole the headlines by mischievously suggesting that India was holding the summit at the behest of the Americans, though Advani’s supporters claim that Musharraf’s invitation was at the home minister’s suggestion.

The new MEA spokesperson Nirupama Rao cannot be blamed for this flat-footed reactive PR. Rao herself is often kept in the dark. Hours after Musharraf ’s oath taking ceremony as president which was attended by our deputy high commissioner, Rao was unable to give a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ to the question as to whether India was taken by surprise by Musharraf’s elevation.

It was only halfway through her press briefing when she received a telephone call from the MEA’s Pakistan desk, that Rao was in a position to explain the official Indian line.

No brotherly love

RIVAL Jat leaders Om Prakash Chautala and Ajit Singh are touring western UP propagating the cause of Kisan Pradesh and Harit Pradesh respectively. Both have basically the same demand, carving out a separate state in western UP.

Last week Ajit stole a march over his rival by getting Chautala’s brother Pratap to attend his rally and attack the Haryana CM publicly. UP voters, unfamiliar with the squabbles in Devi Lal’s clan were taken aback. Professor Pratap, the only academically inclined member of Tau’s family, has incidentally filed a PIL calling for all central ministers to declare their assets. Another PIL petitions that Chautala and his right hand man Sampat Singh should reveal their wealth.

Southern style

ARE Delhi students less bright than kids from the south? Though Delhi accounts for more than one-third of all CBSE students in class twelve, students from outside the Capital have topped in most subjects whether chemistry, biology, computer science, English, Hindi, political science, geography, Hindi and Sanskrit. Most of the toppers are from Chennai where a mere 24,000 students sit for the CBSE board. Considering that Delhi students hold their own in national competitive exams, the poor performance in the CBSE seems due more to variations in correcting papers at different CBSE centres.

It is not just the southern CBSE centre which seems to mark more generously, those who appear for the state school boards of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which favour objective multiple choice question papers, score higher than children from most parts of the country. In engineering colleges like BITS at Pilani, where school board marks are taken into account, there is an inexplicably high percentage of students from the south.

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