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Delhi: A Full Hand As CVs go, this one is certainly impressive. It boasts of her knowledge of
English, French and Russian and her interests in Indian handlooms and handicrafts. Also,
her knowledge about contemporary, classical and tribal art is capped by a diploma in
conservation of oil paintings from the National Museum in Delhi. Sonia Gandhi nee Maino,
says her resume, is the chairperson of not just the seven Nehru-Gandhi trusts and
foundations, but also a patron of the Round Square (International Group of Schools),
United Kingdom, and a member of the International Advisory Group for the 50th anniversary
of the United Nations. Expectedly, much of Sonia's time is taken up with the work of the
Rajiv Gandhi Foundation which perpetuates her late husband's memory. The bio-data, which
also talks of her books and the role she has played as an editor, has curiously been made
available at a time when Sonia likes to see herself only as a politician. But as a
Congress leader said, this is probably her "safety net". Either way, she'll keep
herself busy with the foundations, for that is what she truly trusts.
Delhi: In God's Court
When Chief Justice of India M.M. Punchhi swore in the name of
God to perform the duties of his office, few knew he would not leave the oath ringing only
in the corridors of Rashtrapati Bhavan, but would direct-mail it to the divine destination
through a godman. Last month, days after being elevated to Court No. 1, His Lordship flew
down to Puttaparthi, the home of Satya Sai Baba, with 16 family members in tow. After
paying obeisance to the holy man, the Punchhis drove down to the Raj Bhavan in Bangalore
where they spent a day as state guests. The oath of office of Supreme Court judges enjoins
upon them to function "without fear or favour", but that obviously does not
prohibit them from being God-fearing.
Lucknow: Leftover Perks
Jagadambika Pal, who ruled Uttar Pradesh for barely 24 hours,
realised the real taste of power only after the courts declared him an illegal chief
minister. Until the court ruling came, Pal had everything at his disposal. But after 5
p.m. on February 23, the day the Allahabad High Court termed his swearing-in as illegal,
things suddenly became different for him. Though he continued to occupy the annexe in the
chief minister's secretariat and claimed he was the "real chief minister ", Pal
had to literally beg the secretariat staff for a glass of water. "I have not eaten
anything since morning and they are not providing me with even tea," he pleaded
before mediapersons. So, Pal's request for a glass of water was granted after two hours.
And when he asked for some tea and biscuits, he was again served a glass of water. Later,
after repeated requests, the canteen staff served some snacks for Pal and the assembled
mediapersons who were closeted with him in his chambers. "Saab, jo Kalyan Singhji ka
nashta bacha hai, hum wahi de rahen hein (Sir, we're serving you Kalyan Singh's leftover
snacks)," informed a peon. Pal, of course, had no option but to swallow the insult.
Patna: Unsaintly Demands
Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav, the controversial
brother-in-law of RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, seems to get away with anything. Recently,
when he was supposed to be "absconding" after a case was filed against him in
Gopalganj for violating the electoral code of conduct, the man was relaxing at Chanakya
Hotel in the heart of the city. And far from being holed up, his presence in the hotel
created some tense moments for the staff. First Sadhu insisted on placing orders after
room service had closed. When the staff expressed its helplessness, his supporters flexed
their muscles. Matters cooled down after the hotel owner intervened and agreed to comply
with Sadhu's wishes. Having had his way, the "social worker" must have rubbed
his hands in glee -- "Mogambo khush hua" -- pleased with the services rendered.
Mumbai: They Also Serve...
The ladies have finally decided to take matters into their
own hands. With their pleas for restoring the original working hours falling on deaf ears,
Mumbai's bar girls last week decided to gherao Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and give him
a memorandum seeking his intervention. In what has become an unending
"agitation", the girls, some 60 of them, descended on Thackeray's Bandra
residence under the banner of the Maharashtra Hotel and Restaurant Ladies Employees'
Union. The demand though was the same: the Maharashtra Government's order that bars have
to be shut at 8.30 p.m. has deprived them of prime-time business and so should be
scrapped. Besides, they claimed, the police and civic officials were using the order to
extract bribes from the bars. While it is not clear whether Thackeray met them, the police
were not taking any chances. Nearly 200 of them rounded up the protesters and after giving
them tea let them off. Last heard, union chief Anand Shetty was planning the next phase of
the protest.
Bangalore: War of the Roses
Whether it's red, pink or white, a rose is a rose, right?
Well, not for French customs officials who seized a Valentine's Day consignment of 41,000
roses that arrived in Paris on a scheduled flight from Bangalore. The officials termed the
flowers "fakes", unworthy of belonging to the rose family, because they violated
the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The cut-flower exporters from Bangalore retaliated
that such IPR violations are common in every flower-growing country. And South India
Floriculture Association officials maintained that plant breeders' rights are
non-enforceable in India as the country is not a signatory to the Geneva-based United
Planters Observatory Variety Convention.
Angered by the violations, major plant breeders in Germany,
the Netherlands and France have threatened Indian floriculturists that access to new rose
varieties will not be provided if the breeders' rights are not protected. The Valentine's
Day catch and subsequent threat appear to have scared Indian cut-flower exporters for the
time being. Says floriculturist Foja Singh: "The impact of denying newer varieties to
India will be felt in the coming years when the existing variety of roses will be denied
entry in the international market."
Hyderabad: Picture This
Sometimes, photographs can unravel poignant stories. When the
picture of a girl selling balloons at the Vijayawada railway station failed to fetch
29-year-old amateur photographer Tamma Srinivas Reddy an award in the UNICEF-sponsored
City and Child contest, he sent it for another competition in Indore where it bagged the
first prize. But greater "satisfaction and joy" was in store for Reddy when the
Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar published the prize-winning entry on its front page in June
last year. The photograph caught the eye of the girl's parents. Her father Uyke, who runs
a tea stall in a Bhilai cinema hall, returned to Vijayawada in search of his daughter who
was lost at the railway station while the family was returning from a pilgrimage to
Tirumala in l995. Exactly two years later, Reddy reunited father and daughter after a
five-day search in August last year.
"Ideal light at daybreak and the potential for ironic
life sequences made me shoot near the railway station," recalls Reddy, a Ph.D in
social work. "She impressed me as a girl child forced to sell balloons instead of
playing with them." Being aware about such situations as a student of social work,
Reddy treated the reunion as a routine occurrence until the local Amateur Photographers'
Association recently persuaded him to bring the story of the photograph to light. As they
say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Thiruvananthapuram: Unmasking the
'rebel'
Kerala Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar would like everyone to
believe that the high point in his political life was his role in the Kayyur uprising
against the British in 1941. That he was the third accused in the original fir against
Kayyur revolutionaries and had escaped the gallows by going underground. Unfortunately for
him, not everyone is inclined to believe his story.
A few months ago, M.V. Raghavan, the expelled CPI(M) leader,
released documents contesting Nayanar's claim. Now it's a proper 225-page book. The two
young authors of Nayanar: Kayyurinte Kapadamughom (Nayanar: Kayyur's False Face) say they
researched history for a year before concluding that Nayanar's name does not figure in any
document or book on the event -- not even in the original judgement of the South Canara
sessions court in Mangalore. So far, Nayanar's only defence in the controversy -- "I
know who is behind the book" -- has proved weak.
Jaipur: Unclear Evidence
This was one piece of evidence that was expected to lay to
rest the infamous Jalore rape case in Rajasthan. Yet, the DNA report which, say the
police, proves the innocence of Lokendra Vijay, the Jain monk who was charged with the
crime, is only bound to create further confusion.
According to the report, which has still not been made public
by the Crime Branch of the police, the semen stains on the victim's clothes were not of
the accused. Out of sheer humiliation, say local people, Vijay had committed suicide after
being released by the police last September. Apart from sparking off widespread protests
by the Jain community, Vijay's death had led to the suspension of the SP of Jalore, Hemant
Priyadarshi, who was alleged to have summoned the suspect but let him off under pressure
from the Jain community. The suspension was however revoked following protests from
women's organisations and the police top brass who pointed out that Priyadarshi was only
doing his duty.
And now the Jain community is being accused of manipulating
the report. Says Kavita Shrivastava, who spearheaded the women's agitation against recent
rape cases in the state: "In almost half a dozen cases, the DNA analysis has gone
against the complainants. We will soon begin an in-depth exercise to evaluate the
procedures and loopholes in DNA analysis in rape cases."
To complicate matters further, Vijay in his suicide note had
said that the rape charges were part of a "conspiracy" hatched by a Jain
acharya, an angle that the police now have to consider. Besides, Priyadarshi's role and
Vijay's suicide are also part of a separate judicial inquiry being conducted by Justice
V.S. Kokje, a sitting judge of the Rajasthan High Court. It will obviously be a while
before the curtain comes down on the Jalore rape case. |
