Nepal looking to India to resolve impasse? (Capital Buzz)

Nepal looking to India to resolve impasse? (Capital Buzz)NEW DELHI - At the instance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon has begun discussions at various levels to see what role India can play in ending the political impasse in neighbouring Nepal that has always been wary of the ‘India factor’ in its national life.

Menon met Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav recently as India’s socialists and communists have longstanding relations with Nepali politicians. Yadav himself and some of his emissaries met Nepal’s top leaders, including Maoist leader Prachanda, and have come back with the impression that they are tiring of the infighting and will not mind New Delhi playing an honest broker.

Prachanda seems to have also realised that he cannot do without India’s backing and the China card may not work for too long. Even the former royal family is not averse to India stepping in to resolve the 100-day stalemate after Nepal’s parliament failed to elect a prime minister even after the 11th round of balloting.

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Why bureaucrats stayed away from OC

Commonwealth Games Organising Committee head Suresh Kalmadi’s reputation seemed to have come in the way of finding and retaining talented officials for the crucial preparation and planning for the Games.

Many bureaucrats left after joining the Organising Committee (OC) initially, saying it was difficult to work with Kalmadi with his “arrogant, overbearing and nepotistic” attitude.

Others who got associated with the OC from various ministries did only pro forma duties and refused to get involved “more than necessary”. There were others who found excuses to stay off various committees, saying there was too much muck associated with the Games and they did not want any of that to stick to them and spoil their career record.

After all, OC seems more largely like a family affair, with Kalmadi filling the posts with his people and their relatives, friends and cronies, making the committee, as a paper said, a Kalmadi Inc.

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Kalmadi’s post-CWG survival strategy

With Commonwealth Games half way through, the not so popular chairman of the Organising Committee must be pondering about his survival, with the Indian media clearly indicating that it plans to dig up the dirt on suspected corruption immediately after Oct 14.

Suresh Kalmadi is counting on a successful Games to dispel some of the shadows that had clouded the Games run-up and tarnished his own public image. He is also counting on his friends across the political spectrum to come to his aid, given the largesse he has been widely suspected of having distributed in the form of contracts and jobs to people from almost all parties who are part of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) fraternity by virtue of heading one sports federation or other.

After all, the IOA got Rs.1,600 crore (Rs.16 billion) to spend with no questions asked - as the condition was that this amount, that is supposed to be returned, would not be subject to financial audit.

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Veerappan nemesis for top Delhi post?

Another government official will be exiting after the Commonwealth Games, albeit in a more honourable way - Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal, who reached superannuation last month, but whose term was extended in view of the Games.

Among the strong contenders was K. Vijay Kumar (of Veerappan fame), who has now been appointed director general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Initially, leaders in the Delhi government including Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had opposed a move by the union home ministry to bring in Vijay Kumar as they wanted to continue with Dadwal.

However, a strong section in the home ministry continued its efforts to bring Vijay Kumar, who is known for his performance and qualities, to Delhi after the tenure of Dadwal gets over. And though he is not replacing Dadwal, they can still consider it a victory as he would be posted in Delhi as CRPF chief.

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Indian media ignores the big picture

Does Indian media ignore the big picture? Tech whiz and advisor to the prime minister on information, infrastructure and innovation, Sam Pitroda, certainly thinks so, going by his exasperation with the media at a recent event.

At a conference on the country’s potential for innovation, Sam Pitroda lamented the dearth of high-skilled people in India.

But the volley of media queries directed against him was only about one thing - ban on outsourcing in certain US states.

An irritated Pitroda said: “It is not that big a deal….one order here there… but what media should be talking about is the small number of PhDs and other high-skilled professionals that we produce.”

“But you don’t… you are not looking at the big picture… nobody is talking about it… media just doesn’t get it,” he said exasperatedly.

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Close shave with Chidu dampens Digvijay’s name for K-post

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh is apparently not keen on heading the team of interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir - not least because it would require being in close quarters with Home Minister P. Chidambaram, with whom he is said to share an antagonistic relationship.

Digvijay Singh’s name cropped up in the media after discussions were held in the government on appointment of an interlocutor.

Digvijay Singh has been vocal in articulating the issues concerning minorities and tribals, often against the official government position.

With the need for an interlocutor who was trusted by both sides in Kashmir, this was seen as the right qualification by the media. However, sources close to the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister say that he has conveyed his lack of interest in the post.

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Who spoilt Mamata’s London sojourn?

Leaders of the Trinamool Congress and the Left don’t see eye to eye and that is what is believed to be the reason why Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her visit to London where she was invited to speak later this month.

Officially the Trinamool chief says that “political disturbance” in West Bengal, for which she blame the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), had forced her to cancel the Cambridge lecture programme.

But party sources say it is not the CPI-M but its leader Prakash Karat who was the cause that led to Banerjee pulling out of the lecture series. Karat was also invited to lecture.

Banerjee was invited by the newly-opened wing of the Department of Political Science of Cambridge University to deliver a lecture on the topic “The Rising Power”, Oct 23. Karat is scheduled to speak on “Victor Kiernan and the Left in India” a day earlier at the university.

Unwilling to be seen as playing second fiddle to the CPI-M leader, Banerjee decided to cancel her trip.

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In environment ministry Hindi is official language!

It’s official — in the environment ministry all the communication to states and ministries should be done in Hindi. The ministry in a recent communique asked officials to ensure that letters and documents to states and other ministries be written in Hindi.

When asked about the order, a ministry official said: “We were facing some problems in communicating with states in the Hindi belt especially Uttar Pradesh, Bihar.”

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Congress hit hard by shortage of talking heads

The ruling party is running short of spokespersons at a time when the Ayodhya verdict is being hotly debated. While Abhishek Manu Singhvi has been benched over his pleading a lottery case against the wishes of the party’s Kerala unit, Jayanthi Natarajan will be out of action for some weeks due to a family wedding and Shakeel Ahmed is busy with the Bihar elections.

Mohan Prakash, who is also in the panel of five spokespersons, rarely addresses the media. Seems like Manish Tewari, the only one available, has a busy schedule ahead.

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Camera-ready Gill

Sports Minister M.S. Gill loves to be clicked. His penchant for the media has not dampened despite the negative publicity in the preparations for the Commonwealth Games. In his official duty to present medals to the winners, Gill often overshadows the real heroes. Inevitably, all the photos of the government photo agency shows a beaming Gill, while the players seem like mere props.