| |
NEWSNOTES
CAPLOOKS
Power
Pull
 Delhi:
Whoever
said the Congress is just a one woman show? It's all about collective
leadership if a recent meeting called to discuss performances of Congress
chief ministers is any indication. One chief minister who was really grilled
was Maharashtra's Vilasrao Deshmukh. When he was put on the mat for his
Government's inaction on the Sri Krishna Commission report, Deshmukh put
the blame on his alliance partner, the Nationalist Congress Party. The
grilling still didn't stop. Exasperated, he said, "If you think the
coalition is hurting the party's interests, I will quit." The prospect
of losing power silenced the inquisitors.
Small
Mercies
Delhi:
A year ago, Pramod Mahajan was quite sceptical when he was appointed the
Union information technology minister. After all, a leading industrialist
had then attributed India's surge in the it and beauty sector to the fact
that there were no ministries controlling either. A year down the line,
Mahajan has reason to be happy. Last week, when he completed a year in
office the event was commemorated not through drab DAVP ads, but with
a party organised by NASSCOM. The minister must be doing something right.
Taxing
Evasion
Delhi:
Rein them in. That was the gist of Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's speech
last week at a conference of senior officials of the Income-Tax Department.
Sinha was, of course, talking about checking tax evaders, netting the
big fish and improving vigilance and enforcement. The exhortations seemed
to work. Shortly after his speech, a cluster of them headed for the cloak
rooms in the five-star Ashoka Hotel, where the senior officials-some with
up to 30 years of experience-gushed about their minister like fans.
Net Working
 Patna:
Journalists in Patna are a happy lot now. Governor V.C. Pande's mantra,
unlike his predecessors', is transparency and Raj Bhavan no longer swears
by secrecy. Pity the de facto chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav is not
it-savvy. Raj Bhavan may even have had its own website.
|
|
|
 Amongst
newcomers in the new Jharkhand Assembly, Speaker Inder Singh
Namdhari is a veteran.
Q.
Will the Jharkhand Assembly be any different from the Bihar Assembly?
A. One is very old, the other is new. Over there tensions run
high. Here I will try to keep peace.
Q.
You are likely to run into problems. How do you plan to tackle these?
A. I
am confident of solving problems that may arise.
Q.
You are well aware that the ruling and the opposition alliances
are fairly evenly matched in the new Assembly. Do you see any problems
arising because of this?
A.
The
margin is small, but that should not affect the functioning of the
House.
Q.
Do you think the tactics you used as presiding officer in the Bihar
Assembly will work here?
A.
There
I was only a member of the House, here I am the Speaker. My role
will be positive and more serious.
Q.
There are similarities with Bihar. One Jharkhand MLA is on the wanted
list and is evading arrest.
A.
This
is an administrative issue. But as far as protection is concerned,
it is my job to provide protection to all members.
-Sanjay
Kumar Jha
|
Top
|
|
Orthodoxy in economic thought is as odious as obscurantism in the socio-religious context. INDIA TODAY Associate Editor, V Shankar Aiyar, offers a contrarian take on the stock markets and the cause and the impact of policy and practice. 