When rumour is armour

India’s new Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation Anjali Prasad couldn’t have chosen a worse time for her posting to picturesque Geneva.

With India taking on the joint might of the developed world on food security matters, the landscape has turned quite ugly for the country’s negotiating team. It is no more a straight fight between negotiators in official meetings. Rumour-mongering is also in full swing to create confusion and break alliances.

One bizarre rumour that did the rounds last week was that India had broken ranks with other developing countries on food security and was backing the trade facilitation agreement (pushed by developed countries) in exchange for the presidency of Brics’ New Development Bank!

While some timely meetings with friendly countries saved the situation, predictions are that the fight is only going to get fiercer.

Refresher course

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan seems to be having a trying time explaining to the new crop of BJP MPs the procedure for asking questions. During Zero Hour last week, two first-time MPs listed a particular topic but started speaking on something else. When the Speaker asked them to stick to the listed topic, both shuffled through their papers till they found the right one, much to the amusement of their experienced colleagues.

With so many few first-timers, a ‘refresher course’ in parliamentary proceedings wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Deliberations on the dhoti

On social media, an intense debate is playing out on the case of the Madras High Court judge who was refused entry into the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association as he was wearing a veshti ( dhoti ).

After Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa issued a statement against clubs that bar people wearing traditional clothes, the debate got fiercer. Some argued that in batting for the dhoti ( veshti ) , the Chief Minister had ignored the humble lungi .

The year of long weekends

With the festival season ahead, long weekends are on the cards. The first is Independence Day, which falls on a Friday. The next is Gandhi Jayanthi, which falls on a Thursday. Dasara is on October 3, which is a Friday, and thanks to Bakrid, the first day of the following week too will be a holiday.

While some will feel cheated that Janmashtami falls on August 17 — a Sunday — spare a thought for those who would need the services of a bank!

Hooking investors

Harassed foreign investors chasing officials may soon become passe in Telangana. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao announced that his office would have a crack force of officers, unambiguously named the ‘Chasing Team’ to pick up foreign investors the moment they land at Shamshabad airport and bring them to his office where a single-window clearance system would scrutinise their projects and drop them back at the airport for their next flight! The investor would know online, within two weeks, the fate of his project. Competing with tech savvy Chandrababu Naidu?

MH 17 tragedy casts shadow

As news of the shooting down of MH 17 spread, organisers of AIDS 2014 in Australia felt its direct impact. The casualty list revealed the names of key researchers on HIV/AIDS. The event convenors ran a message on their homepage saying they would continue with the conference in recognition of the dedication of these colleagues. Back in India, people working with HIV/AIDS spent anxious moments trying to get details of the casualties.

Gas timeline

For almost a decade now, oil and gas reporters have been waiting for the “two” years to get over before ONGC starts producing gas from blocks adjacent to RIL’s D6 in the KG basin. Several secretaries have come and gone in the oil ministry but the two years never seem to end. Quipped a senior ministry official: “We asked the ONGC chief whether it would start producing gas from D6 before the current secretary’s tenure is over, but the ONGC’s chairman said perhaps it would get gas six months after the current secretary’s tenure.”

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