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Railway Budget 2013
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May focus on capacity building, say experts
New Delhi, February 25 With Congress’ Railway Minister Pawan Bansal in the driver’s seat, expectations are that the Ministry of Railways may opt for a performance-oriented Railway Budget concentrating on capacity building rather than indulge in populist moves like announcing non-viable new trains and projects which Congress allies have been doing in the past. PSLV puts 7 satellites into orbit NCTC powers must be within ambit of Constitution: BJP
Govt to confront Agusta with facts
Jawan to get pension 22 yrs after dismissal
SC allows repairs at Ram temple
Drug haul: Lt Col removed from MoD
Saurashtra strongman, son quit Congress
PM to visit UAE next month
Major involved in road accident to get war injury pension
SC notice on plea to reduce pilots’ workload
A musical journey into Guinness Book
Bihar asks Centre for copter to fight Maoists
Bomb scare outside Mukesh Ambani’s house
Jantar Mantar
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Railway Budget 2013
New Delhi, February 25 As this Railway Budget may well be the last one before the next round of general election due next year, the question paramount is whether or not Bansal is willing to ditch populism and raise fares and freight charges once again to nurse railways back to health. The diesel price hike has already wiped out Rs 3,300 crore of the Rs 6,600 crore which Bansal had planned to raise from the fare hike. With Bansal insisting that his main aim is to improve not only the safety on the railways but also various other services such as catering and cleanliness, it will be interesting to note how the Railway Minister, who presents his maiden Railway Budget tomorrow, will steer the finances of the public sector behemoth to keep it afloat. Although the Congress, which has got back the key ministry after almost one-and-a-half decade, is not in favour of another hike in passenger fares, experts point out that Bansal’s only way out is to be innovative in raising both tariff and non-tariff resources. The Railways will have to find other ways and means such as commercial leasing and licensing of land, getting private players to execute infrastructure projects and reducing the dependence on diesel locomotives to tide over its financial requirements. The Railway Minister has already held several rounds of discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and the Planning Commission in connection with the Rail Budget. He is also understood have discussed the possibility of fare hike with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Speculation is rife about announcement of 100 new trains, including AC double-deckers, extension and increase of some popular passenger services. Since high-speed train is the latest buzz in the Railway Ministry, some proposals are likely in the Budget. The ministry is going ahead with the proposal for setting up Rs 1,000 crore MEMU (mainline electric multiple unit) coach factory in Rajasthan to cater to the growing demand of faster local and suburban service. What is likely to trouble Bansal more is that while he has sought about Rs 38,000 crore as budgetary support from the Finance Minister, he is not likely to get more than eight per cent of the hike over the last year’s allocation of Rs 22,000
crore. The challenges
What’s expected?
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May focus on capacity building, say experts
New Delhi, February 25 The Tribune talked to experts to find out their expectations from the minister. Though the general feeling is that the Budget may be sort of “repetitive” and also hold “poll sops” (perhaps also a project for the minister’s home constituency Chandigarh), there is hope is that Bansal’s presentation would be more “professional”. He is expected to announce increased spending on capacity building for freight and passenger traffic like doubling and adding new lines and safety and amenities of travellers on board and at stations. Former member traffic VN Mathur says there is really no need to introduce new trains and projects when so many “nonviable”, though socially desirable, announcements made in previous years have not been implemented, primarily duo to paucity of funds. Former chairman of the Railway Board Vivek Sahai is of the opinion that the government should instead concentrate on creating and enhancing capacity than announcing new trains and projects some of which have not been able to see the light of the day. So what Bansal should not do, says RC Acharya, former member, Railway Board, is announce new trains, extension of the run or increase in frequency of existing trains. “He should also not propose any new projects unless these are meant to enhance section capacity or boost freight business as has been recently. He should also not order surveys for new lines - which only raise hopes,” Acharya says. There is also a feeling that Bansal should not be hesitant in increasing fares, because that is where real revenues come from. But he should leave the freight untouched because India is currently running the costliest freight business in the world, Sahai explains. However, sources say there are possibilities of minor tinkering in freight rates despite resistance from the industry due to the slow economic growth. So what really should be Bansal’s priorities? Acharya states that he should prioritise projects already in the pipeline. He should enhance passenger tariff not only to reflect inflation but also increased fuel costs, if necessary as a surcharge (though sources say that a section of the Congress is not inclined towards another round of fare hike as the general elections are not far away). “He should set up a high-power committee to prepare a road map for reducing manpower by introducing new technology, such as EOT (End Of Train) device or FRED (Flashing Rear end Device) to eliminate guards on freight trains - a practice introduced in the US about three decades ago,” says Acharya. KL Thapar, chairman, Asian Institute of Transport Development, sums it up saying, the Railways is the most socially benign and environment friendly mode of transport. “The transport sector consumes six to seven times more fossil fuel than railways. The government should spend more money on improving the Railways,” says Thapar. What experts say
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PSLV puts 7 satellites into orbit
President Pranab Mukherjee, who, along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, Governor ESL Narasimhan and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office V Narayansamy, was present at the ISRO centre at Sriharikota to witness the launch, congratulated the organisation on its success. “The PSLV has become a household name in India,” Mukherjee said. Like it happened at the time of the launch in September last year, space debris once again gave some anxious moments to the scientists. Debris delayed the launch by five minutes, one-fourth of the 20-minute window available to ISRO for the launch. Instead of the scheduled 17.56 hr launch, the rocket hurtled toward the sky at 18-01 hr. By around 18-22 hr, all seven satellites had been put into the orbit successfully. The first to be put in the orbit was the Indo-French SARAL (Satellite for Argos and AltiKa) which will be used to monitor oceans. The remaining six satellites were: Canadian Saphire for space surveillance (which will contribute to the US Space Surveillance Network); Canadian NeoSSat with a dedicated telescope for tracking asteroids and satellites in geostationary orbit; Austrian UniBrite and Brite for studying stars brighter than visual magnitude; Denmark-made AAUSAT3 for a feasibility study of receiving AIS signals from ships in Arctic region; and STRaND-1 from the UK. The objective of the UK satellite is to study fly-state-of-the-art technologies and other new developments in low earth orbit.
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NCTC powers must be within ambit of Constitution: BJP New Delhi, February 25 Ever since blasts at Hyderabad last week, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is attempting to build consensus on NCTC by reaching out to states opposed to vesting the powers of search, seizure and arrest to the intelligence agency. “The fight against terrorism can and must co-exist with federalism. It would be meaningless to debate an imaginary 'federalism versus terrorism' issue,” BJP leader Arun Jaitley said in response to the Home Minister s plea for setting up the NCTC. He said collecting cross-border intelligence and keeping vigil on the activities of those who foment trouble from outside falls within the domain and capacity of the Centre and since terrorist modules have inter-State operations, collection of intelligence on a national level and passing on relevant information to the States is also the responsibility of the Central Government. Under the plan, NCTC is proposed to be set up under the Intelligence Bureau (IB) with its Chief reporting to the IB Director. Comparing it with the American NCTC, he said, the latter deals with only strategic planning and integration of intelligence without any operational involvement with the joint terrorism Analysis Centre plays a coordination role.
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Mamata not entirely opposed to NCTC, says Shinde
Kolkata, February 25 Shinde, who held a four-hour tour to review the law and order situation and security arrangements of the coastal areas of the Sunderbans with the Chief Minister, said he held detailed discussions with Mamata on various matters, including the NCTC. “Our meeting was very fruitful. Like some other Chief Ministers, Mamata also has some reservations on certain clauses of the NCTC, which can be resolved by further talks with her along with other states,” the Home Minister said. All states should cooperate with the Centre on combating terror, a problem faced by the entire country, Shinde said. Shinde, accompanied by Mamata and senior officials of the Home Department, the BSF and the state government, visited the Jambu island, which remains inaccessible to the common people. After touring the coastal areas, Shinde landed at the island adjoining Bangladesh in a hovercraft. The island is seen as a haven for pirates, smugglers, criminals and lately terrorists, who have reportedly set up a base there. During his recent visit to Dhaka, Shinde had assured Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of visiting the island to assess the security situation there. The visit was part of the security review of the coastal areas and Mamata joined the Home Minister at his request. Shinde did not comment on the overall law and order situation in the state but assured the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee delegates, who met him yesterday, that he would discuss their complaints with the Chief Minister.
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Govt to confront Agusta with facts New Delhi, February 25 The AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, has sent a three-page reply to the MoD’s show-cause notice served on February 15. It has tried to disassociate itself from the parent company by terming itself as a “separate legal entity”. It has termed all allegations of illegal pay-offs to the tune of Rs 350 crore as “media speculation”. It has denied any wrongdoing and goes on to say that there was no such evidence either. Suspension of payments was “not justified”, it has said. The MoD had asked the firm to show-cause “why steps should not be initiated for cancellation of the contract (for the supply of 12 VVIP copters at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore) and recovery of all payments made by the MoD to AgustaWestland International Limited (AWIL)”. The copter maker has posed questions to the MoD in its reply saying “allegations are in general terms, it (MoD’s show-cause notice) does not provide the source of those allegations and nor has any evidence been provided in this connection”. The reply submitted by Raymond Edwards, managing director of AgustaWestland UK ( copy with The Tribune) goes on to say: “The allegations in the show-cause notice appear to be based entirely on unsubstantiated news and other media reports. Furthermore there appear to be no such allegations against Agusta as the seller, which is a separate legal entity.” Sources said the MoD had taken note of the reply and now it was awaiting a report from the CBI and the MoD team headed by a joint secretary. “The MoD will confront Agusta on facts, especially the arrest of Bruno Spagnolini, its CEO and the arrest of Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi and with relevant papers which the CBI has obtained from prosecutors in Italy,” sources said. One of the crucial evidences that the CBI has got from Italy is the warrant its prosecutors had submitted in the court. The warrant speaks about a meeting that took place in December 2005 at a small city Cascina Costa in Italy where a contract was signed between Guido Haschke’s company Gordian Services Tunisia and AgustaWestland’s Bruno Spagnolini. The warrant says the investigators in Italy have found transactions of “amounts agreed by representatives of AgustaWestland ( Joseph Bears and Spagnolini) with intermediaries Guido Haschke Carlo Gerosa and Christian Michel, including bribes to be paid to public officials in India to fulfil their duties and in particular to manipulate the call for tenders”. In its reply to the MoD notice, Agusta says: “Allegations against Spagnolini have not been tested in court.” The Agusta reply reminds the MoD that its actions are not in line with the contract. “The MoD has suspended the contract and all payments due to the AWIL. We submit that the MoD’s actions in this regard are not justified by the relevant circumstances or the terms of the contract …. Adverse media speculations cannot be proper grounds for cancellation of the contract.” FIRMSPEAK
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1 cr take holy dip on Maghi Poornima Lucknow, February 25 After taking the ritual bath, approximately 5 lakh kalpawasis headed homes. These are pilgrims who undertake a month-long penance by taking one self-cooked meal and three baths in the Ganga a day. They spend this month in prayers and meditation virtually taking time off from materialist life. Following the Hyderabad blasts, the Kumbh mela administration today took special precautions and bomb disposal squads and police sniffer dogs continuously combed the mela grounds. Extra police forces were deployed at major intersections and roads across the sprawling 52 sq km mela premises. On the basis of a high court directive, photographing bathers at the ghats has been completely prohibited. To avoid any untoward incident like the railway station stampede on Mauni Amavasya day that had killed 37 pilgrims, the Railway Protection Force (RPF), civil police, Government Railway Police (GRP) and Indian Railways had made elaborate arrangements for the return of the crowds after bathing. To meet extra rush, additional coaches were added to trains plying between Allahabad and Lucknow. Additional ticketing counters had also been opened at Prayag Ghat, Rae Bareilly, Lucknow, Faizabad, Ayodhya and Sultanpur stations.
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Suspicious bags trigger panic in Delhi New Delhi, February 25 Around 2 pm, two men on a motorcycle played a prank on Makar, a resident of Gurgaon, by throwing a bag in his car and fleeing. Makar dumped the bag outside the main gate of the Army Base Hospital and informed the police. The bomb disposal squad, the local police, teams of Delhi Police’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and its counter-terror agency, the Special Cell, besides the National Security Guards at the scene and threw a cordon around the hospital. “The bomb squad scanned the bag and found some wires. They asked everyone to back off. A brick, soap and a towel were found in the bag,” a source said. Sometime later, another suspicious bag was reportedly found lying at Gopinath Bazaar, a short distance from the hospital, in Delhi Cantonment. “We found some pieces of paper inside the bag after we opened it,” a police officer said. Around 5 pm, a police patrol found another bag lying on a motorcycle, bearing a Rajasthan registration plate, in the M-block market of Greater Kailash-I. The police scrambled to call the bomb disposal squad. The motorcycle owner, Arvinder Singh, later arrived and was questioned by the police. Arvinder markets a chemical used for cleaning floor tiles. The police made him open the bag and found some bottles of the chemical inside. “We verified his antecedents and let him off,” a police officer said. Around the same time, another suspicious object was found at Mangolpuri. It turned out to be a hoax. Around 6.30 pm, a passerby informed the police about a suitcase and a bag lying in old Delhi’s Daryaganj area near an Indian Overseas Bank branch and a post office. The bomb disposal squad found documents in the suitcase and carpentry tools in the bag.
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Jawan to get pension 22 yrs after dismissal
Chandigarh, February 25 In 1991, Ghan Shyam from the Regiment of Artillery was dismissed by a summary court martial and awarded six months of rigorous imprisonment for “having overstayed leave from September 1990 to May 1991 without sufficient cause”. In his petition against his court martial sentence, the jawan stated that he had been posted to a field regiment in Bikaner, where due to harsh service conditions he suffered a mental breakdown and was downgraded to low medical category for psychiatric evaluation by a medical board in April 1990. After a month, he was again sent to the Military Hospital, Delhi, for re-evaluation of medical category with a view to discharging him from service on grounds of medical disability. He was granted 10-day casual leave in September 1990 but he fell seriously ill during the course of his leave and was treated at a government hospital. His family sent a telegram to his unit informing them of his sickness. In response, the unit instructed the petitioner to report to a military hospital, which, according to the petition, advised him to continue with his treatment at a civil hospital. After being declared fit to travel, the jawan reported to his unit but was not allowed to join. Instead he was told to report to the Artillery Centre at Nashik, where he was placed under arrest in May 1991. In its order, the tribunal observed that the plea of guilt has necessarily got to be signed by the petitioner to give it authenticity. In this case, the signatures of the petitioner do not appear on the plea of guilt. It was, therefore, to be presumed that the petitioner did not plead guilty and the SCM proceedings should have been conducted on such premise. The tribunal ruled that he will be entitled to pension and other such retirement benefits under the rules barring the salary. had a breakdown
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SC allows repairs at Ram temple
New Delhi, February 25 Earlier, the Bench had directed the authorities to ensure that the ongoing excavation work at Ayodhya does not affect the status quo ordered by it while staying the Allahabad High Court verdict for a three-way division of the disputed Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhhoomi structure. The HC had been allowing the periodic replacement of tarpaulin and other material since 2003 when the title suit was pending with it. But since the appeal was now pending in the SC, the HC Registrar had approached the SC seeking permission for the purpose. On May 9, 2011, an apex court Bench of Justices Alam and RM Lodha had stayed the September 30, 2010 verdict of the Allahabad HC. The SC had described the HC verdict as “strange, surprising and not asked for” the order for trifurcation of the disputed structure. Ordering status quo at the place, it had allowed worship of the “Ram Lalla” at the make-shift temple. In a 2-1 split verdict, the HC had ruled that the central dome of the demolished structure was the birthplace of Lord Rama and as such one third of the disputed area would go to the Hindu petitioners representing the “Ram Lalla.”
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Drug haul: Lt Col removed from MoD
New Delhi, February 25 The Lt Col was on deputation with the MoD. However, for matters of his pay pension and disciplinary actions, he was covered under the permanent establishment rules. Hence, he was drawing his pay from the Army. The MoD today asked the Military Secretary Branch that it would be untenable for him to carry on at the post of PRO Army. Meanwhile, reports from Manipur said Lt Col Chaudhary and five others arrested for allegedly transporting illicit drugs estimated at over Rs 24 crore for smuggling to Myanmar were today remanded in the police custody till March 8. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thoubal, passed the order for the police custody of the six accused, following an application by investigating officer A Ghanashyam Sharma. Cases have been filed against the accused under Sections 21 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act following the seizure of drugs at Pallel in Chandel district yesterday when they were headed in a convoy for the border town of Moreh. Lt Col Chaudhury was arrested along with his assistant RK Babalu, IndiGo airlines assistant manager Ngairangbam Brojendro Singh, besides Haopu Haokip, Minthang Bongel and Milan Haokip.
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Saurashtra strongman, son quit Congress
Ahmedabad, February 25 Later, they submitted their resignations as MLAs to Assembly speaker Vajubhai Vala. Radariya was the MLA from Dhoraji in Porbandar district and Jayesh was elected from Jetpur in Rajkot district. Piqued over denial of the post of the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly, Radariya had earlier made no attempt to hide his displeasure against the Congress. His intention to return to the BJP fold became clear when he briefly met Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar yesterday. Modi is believed to have given the duo an assurance that Jayesh would be given the BJP ticket to contest the byelection from Dhoraji and accommodated in the state Cabinet if he won. The elder Radariya would be fielded by the BJP for the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat both in the byelection and in the general election and would be recommended for a Central berth if the NDA returned to power in the 2014 Parliamentary elections. Radariya was a Lok Sabha member from Porbandar, which he vacated after he was elected to the state Assembly on Congress ticket in the December 2012 elections. The Congress high command had kept the options open for Vithhalbhai whether he wanted to retain the parliamentary seat or opt for the Assembly membership but he preferred to stay in the Assembly hoping that he would be nominated for the post of the leader of the opposition after the defeat of most of the party stalwarts in the elections. The high command, however, favoured former Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela for the post, who enjoys the status of a minister of state.
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PM to visit UAE next month
New Delhi, February 25 Official sources said the PM will visit Abu Dhabi on his way to Durban to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit to be held towards the end of March. The trip to the UAE will be significant since the Gulf state is home to nearly 1.75 million Indians, hailing from different states. The visit is also expected to substantially boost trade and economic relations between the two countries. The sources said there was a possibility of the two countries inking a bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement during the course of the PM’s visit. Manmohan Singh is expected to seek investments in India by NRIs as well as UAE nationals and address their concerns over various economic policies of his government. From the UAE, the PM will go to Durban for the BRICS Summit. But more than the summit, the focus will be on his meeting with the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the margins. Xi is set to take over as China’s President in early March. This will be the first major interaction between the leaders of the two countries following the change in leadership in Beijing. It would give Manmohan Singh an opportunity to gauge the new Chinese leadership’s approach towards India. The two countries are, of late, pursuing a policy that involves building on the convergences while trying to end differences. The PM will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of other BRICS countries attending the summit.
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Major involved in road accident to get war injury pension
New Delhi, February 25 The Pay and Accounts Office and the Armed Forces Tribunal had rejected Major Arvind Kumar Suhag’s plea for war injury pension, contending that his disability could be attributed only to the accident and not war. Posted with the 402 Light Air Defence Regiment at Batalik, Ladakh, Suhag sustained the injuries while being moved from Batalik to Leh. He has been decorated with the Operation Vijay Medal and the Operation Vijay Star for his role in the Kargil War. Suhag had claimed war injury pension, citing pension rules E (f), (i) and (j) dealing with “war like situations, including cases which are attributable to/aggravated by extremist acts, exploding mines etc while on way to an operational area and operations specially notified by the government from time to time.” He had also contended that the Commanding Officer of the unit and the Adjutant General’s office had recommended war injury pension for him, but the Army authorities and the AFT did not accept it. Describing the authorities’ reasoning as “deplorable,” a Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudershan Kumar Misra said the sacrifices of army personnel should not be subjected to such “abstract rationalisation”. “This court cannot resist observing that when individuals place their lives on peril in the line of duty, the sacrifices that they are called upon to make cannot ever be lost sight of through a process of abstract rationalisation. This case amply demonstrates how seven years after the (Kargil) conflict - in the thick of which the petitioner was deployed after having participated in the Kargil operation - his injuries were casually classified as those ordinarily suffered whilst proceeding on duty in a government vehicle,” the Bench ruled. The HC ordered payment of the differential between the disability and war injury pensions within six weeks with 12 per cent interest since October 10, 2007 and also a litigation cost of Rs 50,000. CASE FILE
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SC notice on plea to reduce pilots’ workload
New Delhi, February 25 Arguing for the SWIP, senior counsel KTS Tulsi said most of the flight accidents were being attributed to pilots’ fatigue caused by long working hours. The society has in fact sought action against former DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan and the present head Arun Mishra for their alleged failure to implement an apex court order for introducing an improved flight duty time limit (FDTL) regulation after conducting a thorough scientific evaluation in that regard. The petition has cited eight major air accidents, beginning from the April 26, 1993, crash of Indian Airlines Boeing 737 at Aurangabad in which 55 persons were killed to the May 22, 2010, Air India crash at Mangalore that claimed 158 lives. “How many more crashes they are going to wait for” before reducing the workload of pilots, Tulsi wanted to know. Pilots in India were being subjected to working hours that were 25 per cent in excess of international norms being followed in the United States and the United Kingdom, he contended.
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A musical journey into Guinness Book Guwahati, February 25 A large number of singers and musicians got together for the event -- ‘A Musical Journey for World Peace’ -- at Jorhat in eastern Assam. They played 315 musical instruments during the musical journey as accompanying vocalists presented the biggest non-classical symphony of its kind in the world. The earlier record of using the largest number of musical instruments in one such event was 181 at a musical concert in Japan. The event was organised by Mazumba Media and Entertainment and the music presented at the event was composed by Rupam Jyoti Sharma, an engineer from Jorhat who is now based in California, US. The musical soiree that lasted about 45 minutes showcased a rich tapestry of folk and religious melodies from the soil of Assam besides presenting glimpses of Indian classical music, jazz, combination of melodies from Ireland, Latin America etc. Hollywood lyricist and music producer Alan Roy Scott did the honours ‘behind the scene’ during the event while Ken Koshio played the Japanese Takio drum. Jack B Brockbank, an adjucator from the London headquarters of the Guinness World Records, presented the certificate to Rupam Jyoti Sharma in the presence of the artistes, musicians and a cheering audience. 45-minute wonder
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Bihar asks Centre for copter to fight Maoists Patna, February 25 The state government has written to the Centre recently and would do so in the future, requesting it to provide a helicopter to deal with the Maoist insurgency, Chaudhary said while replying to a short notice question . Regretting the delay in requisitioning a helicopter, he said the state government had written to the Centre in 2011 seeking guidelines for availability of one to Bihar. — PTI
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Bomb scare outside Mukesh Ambani’s house Mumbai, February 25 The driver hurried away when the security men called out to him. A dog squad and the bomb disposal unit of the police were rushed to the spot. However, within a few minutes, the driver of the vehicle, one Mohammad Naseem, rushed back and claimed his vehicle. — TNS
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Jantar Mantar
‘Watchful’ preparation
Samajwadi Party MP and Mulayum Singh Yadav's brother Ramgopal Yadav approached a senior BJP leader last week with an unusual request. Having recently become the proud owner of a designer Patek Philippe watch, Yadav wanted the BJP leader to brief him about the background of the famous Swiss watchmaker so that he would have ready answers in case people in his home state, Uttar Pradesh, asked him questions about his new acquisition. The BJP leader, who is known to be a collector of designer watches and is equally knowledgeable about the history of each watchmaker, was only too happy to oblige. He went on to give Yadav a lowdown about the Swiss manufacturer which has been in the business since 1839 and whose clients included Queen Victoria of England. Needless to say, Yadav was mighty pleased with this nugget of information, particularly when he was told that this brand is the preferred choice of the old rich. Bhutanese red chilies for Louise
External Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed and his wife Louise struck up a warm friendship with the Queen Mother of Bhutan Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuk and the neighbouring country's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema on their visit to Thimpu. When the royal couple visited India for the Republic Day celebrations, Louise sent a vermin-compost kit, containing a packet of worms, through them for the Queen Mother whose interest in horticulture and organic farming is well known. Last week, Louise received an affectionate hand written card from the Queen Mother, thanking her for 'the wonderful worms'. She also reciprocated the gesture by sending six packets of special Bhutanese red dried chilies for Louise. Although the minister's wife is known to be a good cook, she does not know what to do with the chilies and is planning to write to Queen Jetsun Pema for some traditional Bhutanese recipes.
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Bangalore, February 25
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath acquired the reputation of being a tough negotiator during his tenure in the environment ministry and later in the commerce ministry. Having honed his negotiating skills over the years in the international arena, Kamal Nath now uses these to drive a hard bargain in all his interactions back home. His usual opening line is "What's the deal. What can you do for me if I agree to your demands?" The minister's favourite story these days is about a request for land from the service chiefs. Kamal Nath, who also doubles as the Urban Development Minister, told them bluntly that for every acre allocated, they should promised to employ 100 youths from his constituency Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. "Nothing comes for free," he repeatedly pointed out. Similarly, when opposition parties said they wanted to raise the AgustaWestland chopper deal issue in Parliament on Friday during a meeting of party leaders, Kamal Nath insisted that the damage wrought by a recent hailstorm in Chhindwara should be taken up first. As it happened, neither issue figured in Parliament as members were understandably more keen to discuss the Hyderabad
blasts.