Embarrassed Sibal
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal could not hide his embarrassment last week when a petitioner appearing in person in Supreme Court turned down the offer to have his legal services free of cost. The petitioner, who was ranting against lawyers, was asked by Justice TS Thakur to engage an advocate of his choice. To everyone’s surprise he chose Arun Jaitley. After apprising him that Jaitley was now a Cabinet Minister, the Bench advised the petitioner to instead choose Sibal, who sat next to him in the court. The petitioner dropped another bombshell saying, “I don’t want him. He will not be able to argue my case properly.” Though the Bench heaped praise on Sibal, the veteran Congress leader stood up and said, “It’s a democracy. Everyone is entitled to his view.”
When women tussle
The last day of the lok Sabha proceedings witnessed ugly scenes after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan lost cool when Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur disobeyed her repeated directions to keep quiet, forcing the Speaker to twice adjourn the House. Grapevine has learned that the BJP floor managers tried their best to bring about a rapprochement between the two women, but they failed miserably.
Phir se
Demand for sending the GST Bill, which was already vetted by Standing Committee and a Select Committee, to another parliamentary panel, prompted Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu to recall a funny habit of influential communities (Reddys/Naidus) in his village in Andhra Pradesh. “They would come midday through a play and order ‘phir se suru karo’ (enact play from the beginning).
Experience best teacher
Experience makes a diplomat perfect. At least Israeli Ambassador Daniel Carmon believes so. While elaborating the relief operation by his Government in Nepal after the earthquake, Carmon and his diplomats posted in New Delhi embassy had tough time arranging for 11 tonnes of water, medicines and ready-to-eat food for the quake victims in Nepal. That too in New Delhi which was already overstretched due to Indian relief operations. The Israeli diplomats scouted for water, medicines and food within the city and in less than 24 hours the relief material was airborne for Nepal. Terming this as an adventure, Carmon said: “In diplomatic academies they do not teach you collect so much relief material in 24 hours.” But experience is the best teacher, he added.
Quake panic
Thousands of Central Government personnel rushed out of their buildings at the CGO Complex at the lodhi Road here following the earthquake that rocked Nepal and parts of India on Tuesday. The CGO Complex houses the headquarters of paramilitary forces like CRPF, ITBP, BSF and CISF besides other Government departments. The entire open area in the complex was flooded with people, who took preventive measure and got out of the decades-old buildings following the quake.
HRD’s Vaastu
HRD Minister Smriti Irani has taken the Vaastu route to consolidate his position within the Modi Cabinet. In a re-do of the office, Irani has sealed the main entry/exit door of the HRD Minister’s office on the thirds floor of Shastri Bhawan. According to general layout of the building that houses offices of several Ministries, the sealed door was used by personalities like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Murli Manohar Joshi and Arjun Singh during their tenures. This is the second restructuring or remodeling of Irani’s office in less than a year. Grapevine has it that she has ordered for a new conference room adjacent to her office that will usurp the space of her Private Secretary’s office. The PS room, which has undergone a complete change, also being redone.
Humouring media
Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has upped his public relations machinery after the recent controversy over the release of the CAG report alleging financial irregularities by his Purti Group. After the CAG storm jolted Gadkari, senior officers in MoRTH have put in the extra effort to invite reporters over tea to discuss achievements by the Ministry.
A different cop
A reporter of this newspaper was witness to a touching gesture outside Parliament last week involving a Delhi Police head constable and a poor man. Posted on security duty for the Budget Session , the head constable was about to have his lunch under the shade of a tree when a bedraggled man approached him with folded hands. The policeman gestured him to sit beside him and gave him chappatis and subzi from his lunch box. No doubt some cops are rough and abusive, but some of them are saviour indeed.
Remedial measure
In an embarrassment to the Government, Union Rural Development Ministry recently asked the special categories States to procure Bailey bridges from three companies, one of which happens to be from the private sector while two other are Public Sector Units. Realising the mistake of promoting a private sector compnay, Joint Secretary (rural connectivity) Rajesh Bushan has withdrawn the circular from Ministry’s website. The construction of Bailey bridges, which are sturdy and can be constructed in a short span, are being proposed by the Ministry in the Naxal-hit areas.