The Hindu Business Line : What’s the big hurry?

It is a measure of how lazily things move in the government these days that even as it heads into the Budget-making months, it will be without a chief economic advisor and a revenue secretary — unless the incumbent, Mr P. V. Bhide, is given an extension beyond January, when he is due to retire. Dr Kaushik Basu, a professor of economics at Cornell University in the US, was handpicked by the Prime Minister for chief economic advisor’s post. But his security clear ance is taking a long time, as indeed it did for Dr Subir Gokarn, the RBI’s new Deputy Governor.

Dr Gokarn’s appointment was cleared in early August, though orders are yet to be issued. But the Finance Minister has announced his appointment and said they will be issued in due course.

PC’s put-down

The Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, at a recent Cabinet briefing, took Mr Sitaram Yechury to task for charges levelled by the CPI(M) leader that the Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, had prior information about Maoists planning to hold up the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express train in West Bengal last week.

“The CPI(M) seems to know more about the Trinamool Congress than what is actually happening in their own State. The charges are entirely baseless,” Mr Chidambaram said.

Biggest and best

If advertising means making your product’s presence felt somehow or the other, media houses probably take the cake. No, we are not talking of the National Capital’s Big Two. Passengers at Delhi airport would have noticed on their baggage trolleys a regional daily’s proud proclamation that it is the “9th largest selling Hindi newspaper”. No more and no less either! Similarly, there is a channel whose punchline reads “India’s fastest growing Hindi news channel”.

All these remind us of a colleague’s school-friend, who used to maintain that his hometown was the “second best” or “third best” place in the world. And, no one would quarrel with that rather safe claim.

Tell toll

The National Highways Authority of India is soon going to have a problem caused by the rule that city roads cannot be tolled.

That is fine if the NHAI road terminates at the city limits. But some State governments refuse to take over the road and insist that NHAI should maintain it.

A stark example of this is NH-8 and the new expressway that has been built on it from a point within Delhi to a point 27 km away in Haryana.

About half the expressway runs in Delhi, which the Delhi government has refused to take over.

The other runs half in adjoining Haryana. But the toll has been calculated on the full 27 km instead of half the length.

So those who live just within the border on either side get a free ride on the expressway. How silly can you get?

Tailpiece

The newly-appointed Deputy Governor of the RBI, Dr Subir Gokarn, is a man of many hidden talents. He is believed to be a keen jazz aficionado and an even keener cook, especially of Mangalorean meals.

OUR DELHI BUREAU