By IANS,
Woman power to the fore at foreign office
New Delhi : Women have not only broken the proverbial glass ceiling at the foreign office, but have shattered it. So much so that Secretary (West) Vivek Katju finds himself the odd man out at the top level of the Ministry of External Affairs hierarchy.
There’s of course Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, the second woman foreign secretary after Chokila Iyer who cracked the top bureaucratic job, that was till then a male preserve, in the mid-1990s.
And now two out of the three secretaries at next level in the Ministry of External Affairs headquarters are women – Vijaya Latha Reddy, secretary (East) and Parvathi Sen Vyas (secretary-Economic Relations). And then, Mitra Vashisht, special secretary, Public Diplomacy, keeps the flag flying high for the fairer sex.
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A friendly guerrilla act in North Block
Busy fine-tuning the government’s anti-Maoist strategy, Home Secretary G.K. Pillai these days finds himself vulnerable to a guerrilla attack, albeit a very friendly one – by Home Minister P. Chidambaram!
The minister keeps appearing unannounced in his close lieutenant’s office, revealing only the good rapport the two top internal security managers enjoy and the confidence the minister has in him. But for outsiders, a boss pouncing upon his subordinates without notice is not particularly welcome.
Chidambaram handpicked Pillai, who was earlier commerce secretary but had served a previous stint in the home ministry handling conflict areas like the northeast, for the top internal security manager’s job and is probably the only secretary (other than the foreign secretary) who is allowed to interact with and speak on policy matters to the media on behalf of this important ministry.
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‘Limited mandate’, unlimited reaction
Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s “limited mandate” remark on fighting Maoists has upset many Congress leaders. That’s why PC, the home minister, later sought to mend what he had stated on NDTV.
The remark means the central government has a limited role to play in a state’s law and order problem – that is how he explained it to the party to avoid any misunderstanding. But it hasn’t really helped as his detractors saw this as his way of getting back at he being restrained from going all out militarily against the Maoists.
Party leaders are still saying he should not have spoken so openly about cabinet meetings, more so on security, in order to defend himself after the latest Maoist attack. Chidambaram had clearly said he would go back to the cabinet committee on security for more powers to tackle the Maoist threat.
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Tale of two Shah Rukhs
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is not known to be a movie buff. But was it love for the Bollywood superstar that caused him to mistakenly introduce the chief of Pakistan’s Jang media group Shah Rukh Hassan as Shah Rukh Khan?
The slip of the tongue sent the audience at an India-Pakistan business meet into bursts of laughter. Next when Hassan got up to ask Infosys chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy a question, he quipped, “This is Shah Rukh Khan here!”
And at an interaction with Indian women journalists, it was ordered that he should not be referred to as the actor. But Hassan said he was ready to “change my name”.
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A CM’s show of strength – in Delhi
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was in Delhi for much of last week discussing his state’s anti-Maoist strategy with Chidambaram and other officials involved in formulating anti-Maoist strategies. But he did find time to meet friends and acquaintances outside of North Block as well and more than made his presence felt with his large retinue of security agents and courtiers.
When he dropped in at one of the five-star hotels in the capital, he was ringed and followed by no less than ten officials and security agents, leaving many foreign guests and those who dont know him to wonder who this ‘very important personality’ was.
A curious foreigner who literally had to quckly move out of his way to avoid being jostled by his retinue was heard remarking: “Is he that important that he needs have so much security even inside a hotel? Such muscle power is really not a good advertisement for a people’s democracy like India!”
But the chief minister, who has been not been particularly successful in battling the rampaging Maoist extremists, was certainly not in earshot, nor did he probably care.
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No ‘blunders’ for Antony
Known for his Mr.Clean image, Defence Minister A.K. Antony has the uncanny knack of steering clear of any controversy. During his trip to Oman when a group of expatriates from his home state Kerala asked if he could ever be prime minister, Antony cautioned them: “Don’t make blunders.”
A close confidant of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he also rules out returning to the Kerala chief minister’s post that he relinquished in 2004 after a silent coup by some state Congress leaders.
“Swaram nannayirikkumbol paattu nirthi (I stopped singing when my voice was good),” Antony said quoting a Malayalam saying.
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Public schools make Sibal touchy
He may be vigorously trying to privatise education in India, but Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal got touchy at a function when a person representing some private college asked about the poor performance of public schools.
Sibal almost scolded him. “Don’t tell me government institutions are not doing well. Look at the private engineering and medical colleges where they teach nothing.”
However, in a balancing act later, he said lots of work needed to be done to improve education standards in the country. “Let’s not criticise each other.”
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Escaping Jharkhand heat
As the power-sharing battle with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) produces scorching heat on Jharkhand’s political turf, top BJP leaders, including party president Nitin Gadkari, are either on vacation or planning one.
Gadkari flew to Europe for a 15-day vacation with his family early this week and Prakash Javadekar is off to Leh for a week. Senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad is also flying to America to meet his son.
Never mind if Chief Minister Shibu Soren is out to demolish the BJP’s plan to rule the state!
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Celebs add to Delhi’s heat
The mercury is soaring high, so is the the number of celebs in the captial. From superstar Shah Rukh Khan to heartthrobs Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, they have all braved the infamous Delhi heat.
While Delhi-born Shah Rukh flew in to promote a luxury watch, Ranbir and Katrina scouted the city promoting their forthcoming film “Raajneeti”.
Amid the blazing sun, Bollywood’s handsome hunk Arjun Rampal was seen sporting a woollen cap to conceal his “Ra.One” look. Minissha Lamba too didn’t stay far behind when she cut the ribbon to launch a new spa.