below the line

Well said

The Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh’s extensive tour of Seemandhra and Telangana over the past few days, explaining his party’s stand on the division of Andhra Pradesh, has earned him nicknames on regional TV channels; they refer to him as JaiRome and JaiRoam Ramesh!

Keeping tabs

A change of leadership can impact the work culture in many ways. And who would know this better than junior officers in the “happening and sensitive” Petroleum and Natural Gas ministry whichrecently saw a change in its top brass. The new boss, who is wary of confidential government information being leaked, has asked his officers to install cameras in their rooms as well as in the corridors. Though many officers have opposed the fixing of cameras in their rooms, the corridors may end up being under surveillance. It will be interesting to see how the boss keeps tabs on leaks.

The business of caste

Is there some connection between communities, business acumen and politics? It would appear so going by what columnist and corporate adviser S Gurumurthy says. In the case of one set of communities that entered business, it has proved beneficial, while for another set that chose politics, the consequences have been disastrous. Studying the interaction between caste and enterprise will help arrive at the appropriate approach to domestic economic policies, feels Gurumurthy. In Tamil Nadu for instance, he said, six caste groups accounted for 90 per cent of the population. Of these, three had taken to business and the five western districts of the state where they predominantly lived, accounted for over 60 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s GDP. The three others had taken to politics, to disastrous effect.

Media shy

Bureaucrats in Bengal have perfected the art — or shall we say, sport? — of avoiding media queries. A senior police officer took the stairs all the way to the 13th floor to shake off by reporters. Those who attempted to keep pace with him were in no position to shoot questions. And a bureaucrat took the fire exit all the way down to the basement parking lot.

Dada’s blessings

A much decorated former IPS officer recently wanted to gift a photo frame with a small poem praising Lord Ganesh to a local temple in Baramati. When the officer approached the trustee of the temple about it, the trustee said, “Without Dada’s permission, it cannot be exhibited in the temple.” ‘Dada’ being Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.

Winning shots

Want to practice your tennis shots? Learn from the staff in Chennai’s five-star hotels swinging racquet-shaped gadgets to swat mosquitoes in the hotel lobby. While some guests are busy taking pictures of this spectacle, others try their hand at it.

Lalu logic

Speaking about the effectiveness of education while inaugurating the IIT Madras Centre for Technology and Policy, Nasscom president and former telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar had this interesting story to tell.

He said faculty from universities in Bihar met the then chief minister Lalu Prasad to complain that they had not been paid their salaries for six months. Even if they were not exactly expecting to be paid immediately, they were hoping for some words of sympathy and a cup of tea.

But Lalu responded by asking each one’s qualification. After listening to them, he gave them a withering look and said (in Hindi): Here I am running a State without any money, and can’t you run one university without money? What’s the use of being highly educated?

COMMENT NOW