Captain Cool!

Off the field, in the air, too, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a calm, collected person as can be vouched by a colleague who spotted him on a flight from Chennai to Delhi on Saturday evening, a day after the high tension IPL opener. Captain Cool endured being mobbed and charmingly posed for photographs without getting hassled. This prompted another colleague to liken him to tennis legend Bjorn Borg whose coolness on court was thought to be due to his exceptionally low resting heart rate, reported to be near 35 beats per minute. Later Borg's autobiography scotched that rumour pegging his pulse rate at about 50 when waking up and 60 in the afternoon. But, still wonder what Mahi's pulse rate is?

When protest might pay

Dharnas and protests are sure to pay rich dividends if recent experiences are anything to go by. The readymade garment industry was successful to some extent in its protests against excise levy. There are more in queue. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary, R. P. Singh, who is known to speak his mind, too, seems to have been bitten by the dharna bug. He had some sage advice for CII at its annual session in the Capital. “Instead of holding all these conclaves (annual sessions), you (CII) must create a situation where you also start a dharna and demand a committee or a body to look into reduction of transaction costs.” The entire gathering broke into laughter.

Cricketing spirit

For once, true ‘spirit' has taken a back seat. On Thursday, McDowell's held a press conference in Hyderabad to announce its association with Deccan Chargers for Indian Premier League (IPL) -IV. Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara, the new Captain of DC, joined McDowell representatives on the dais in a show-of-strength exercise. While the company hosted the meet to flaunt its sponsorship, a posse of reporters gathered to have quotes and ‘bites' from Sangakkara, who led the Lankans to the thrilling final in the World Cup. But the DC Captain left the scene without answering any query. Infuriated, reporters and photographers walked out. Alas, when cricket gives a better kick to the nation, who is bothered about ‘spirit'.

Holy sanctions

A colleague on a recent trip to Africa saw for himself what life under sanctions means. In Sudan, which has been under sanctions from the West for some time now, our colleague went to a departmental store where he was amazed to find Frito Lay wafers, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Apple Ipads and Sony televisions. Not only this, the television in the hotel was showing the Oprah show with subtitles in Arabic; he also had a choice between watching, BBC, CNN or an American movie. All this even as the hotel warned guests that credit cards and US dollar notes prior to 2007 would not be accepted on the advice of the Sudan central bank.

Pot and kettle

The British have always adopted double or even triple standards. So it is no surprise that their Prime Minister, David Cameron, should be asking Pakistan to tax the rich who don't pay much at all. Has he forgotten that it is his country which offers special services to those looking for low taxes?

Good news in the air

Things were warming up for low-cost airline Spicejet's press conference in Hyderabad to announce the induction of 15 Bombardier Q-400 aircraft to connect Tier-II and Tier-III cities in India. But, before its Chief Executive Officer, Neil Mills, could start making a formal announcement, a message flashed from his office in Kolkata. He was told that a lady had delivered a child in one of its Delhi- Kolkata flights. Quick to cash in on the news, Neill said “Both mother and child are fine. I think this marks an auspicious start to our new partnership with Bombardier and GMR Hyderabad International Airport”. Now, that's what one can call a smooth delivery!

Stronger than before

Contrary to popular belief, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has emerged stronger within the Congress party after the Anna Hazare affair. The party now recognises that he was right all along in saying that something had to be done about corruption. Any guesses for who stalled him?

In 'different' robe

For a change it was Montek doing a Jairam and grabbing the spotlight. At the forest institute convocation in Bhopal, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission emulated Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and shunned the conventional gown and headgear. When asked whether it was the ‘Ramesh effect', Ahluwalia quipped: The Jairam ‘effect' is showing up on many things.

Tailpiece

Spotted a Haryana number-plated Maruti racing down the highway with a bumper sticker: Jat Airways!

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