Baru under attack
The Congress has accused the former media adviser to Prime Minister, Sanjaya Baru, of plagiarising the very title of his book “The Accidental Prime Minister.” The Congress said that Baru had “copy pasted” the title from an old editorial, written by former India Today Editor Prabhu Chawla, where he had addressed Manmohan Singh as “the accidental Prime Minister,” and Baru who was then serving as the Prime Minister’s media adviser had himself written the rebuttal.
CJI forewarns Bar
Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, who is known to oblige members of the Bar by allowing listing of cases out-of-turn even on urgent mentioning, last week lost his coolness over abuse of this concession by lawyers. With hardly a week remaining for his retirement, the CJI warned lawyers, “By your conduct, you may stand to lose many of the benefits you are receiving.”
Desparate Aiyar
Congress leader Mani Sankar Aiyar is upset with the Delhi media, especially with the English TV channels. Being a regular participant in TV channels debates, Aiyar expected the national media to give generously coverage to his election campaign from Mayiladuthurai lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu. While most TV channels covered the campaign trail of Karti Chidambaram in Sivaganga, few turned to Aiyar. The Congress leader will well realise that in election time journalists are forced to take professional call and ignore personal relations.
Zero loss
Union Minister Kapil Sibal, who propagated ‘Zero loss’ in the multi-crore 2G scam, is back with similar theories. Replying to questions at a Press conference last week, the Telecom Minister suggested that the UPA has been unduly attacked by the media on the issue of corruption, when there has not been a case against a single Congress Minister in any scam, including the coal block allocation issue. The very next day, Sibal who convened a Press conference again, found no mediapersons present as it coincided with the Press meet of Prime Minister’s Media Adviser Pankaj Pachauri. Sibal had no option but to defer by an hour his Press conference in favour of Pauchari. While discussing who should be given the priority, a journalist quipped: Who is interested in Zero lossIJ
CBI plight
CBI events organised at the Vigyan Bhavan have brought negative publicity for the agency in the recent past. At DP Kohli memorial lecture organised last week, the chief guest and former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi turned the tables on the host by terming the investigative body DDT (Department of Dirty Tricks). Earlier, at another event organised by the CBI at the same venue, November last year, the agency boss Ranjit Sinha invited the ire of the nation over his controversial remarks on rape.
Green issues
The environmental issues may never have become poll issues in the past, but the voters are gradually waking up to them. Nearly 3,00,000 people from about 80 villages in Chalkere region of Chitradurga district in Karnataka, boycotted the lok Sabha elections recently in protest against the illegal and secretive diversion of their grassland forests. Polling booths in these villages remained empty. Instead, there were large posters with slogans — “This is our message to the powers that be. We dare them to come again to our villages with their empty promises.”
UPA woes
One of the social media jokes on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had Sonia asking him to break his silence and say something. “Abki bar Modi sarkar,” Singh said when he finally broke his silence. The diarchy of Sonia and Singh in the UPA Government has prompted many other takes on the two. The BJP leader, M Venkaiah Naidu, has for long been saying “Prime Minster presides, Sonia decides.” But of late, the BJP leader has changed his line “Now, no one presides and no one decides.”
Relief for journos
Journalists covering Defence Ministry were back in action last week after controversy erupted on the appointment of new Navy chief and selection process of the next Army chief. Things had become quiet in the Ministry’s headquarters in South Block after the lok Sabha polls were announced on March 5 since all procurements and other related issues came to a standstill. Also, many top bureaucrats were deployed for election duty and hacks were finding it hard to get news. Now, the journos will be busy keeping track of who will be the next Army chief.