The Hindu Business Line : I buy, you read

You may not judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a man by the books he reads? Most people would say yes, you can, but there are exceptions. The other day our colleague stopped by at a well-known south Delhi bookshop and found a well-known politician inside. Known for his important industrialist friends and Bollywood relations, he was explaining to a young couple how, in spite of busy schedule, he still managed to find the time to read. “I have people who read for me,” quoth the worthy. “They give me a brief on what the book was all about.”

How do you know which ones you may like or will be good, he was asked? “That’s what I pay them for? Their job is to read and tell me whether it’s a good book or not,” was the prompt reply. He then turned his attention to the cashier. “These income-tax guys are harassing me, they don’t even spare me my reading hobby,” he complained. He walked out, ordering the owner of the bookshop to make sure the salesmen were given a commission.

Well done, boys

The year 2008 will go down as the year that the Union Cabinet was really busy. Or so the Cabinet Secretary says. Briefing newspersons on decisions taken at the last Cabinet meeting for 2008, Mr P. Chidambaram pulled out a small note from his pocket and said, “The Cabinet Secretary has asked me to inform you that this year the Cabinet cleared 518 items while the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared 254 items. This is the highest in any calendar year,” M r Chidambaram declared. Clearing is one thing. But how about implementation?

National shame

Manual scavengers in that terrible, inhuman occupation of manually removing night soil, have a sincere well-wisher in the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ms Meira Kumar. Sixty years after Independence 3,42,468 scavengers are yet to be rehabilitated. Under her direction, the Ministry has made the gigantic effort to collect data on them from across the country. A total number of 7,70,338 scavengers and their dependents have been identified, and 4,27,870 have bee n given assistance, loans and training under the Ministry’s empowerment scheme. Ms Kumar has set a deadline of March 2009, by when she would like to see the rest out of the clutches of the night-soil profession. Hmmm…

Wiki asks for more

“Wikipedia is a non-profit. It was either the dumbest thing I ever did or the smartest thing I ever did,” said founder Mr Jimmy Wales of his online encyclopaedia, according to wikiquote.org. But now perhaps the recession has helped him make up his mind. The free online encyclopaedia, which is open to all to edit, is not open to advertisements. It now needs money, and is calling for donations. An invitation to supporters to pitch in with contributions runs on the pages of one of its Websites. Its list of supporters and major benefactors includes the India-born venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. Mr and Mrs Khosla donated $500,000 in March this year.

OUR DELHI BUREAU