Misplaced faith

People buy houses on the recommendation of a relative or friend, or depending upon the reliability of the brand name. And that’s fine as long as things go smoothly. But when things go wrong, as buyers in Chennai recently discovered when a multi-storey building under construction came crashing down, they can do nothing but rue their fate.

While a catastrophe like this is a rare occurrence, the reasons for choosing the project were the same as always: a trusted developer, the recommendation of a friend, the cheapest project.The irony in this case was that the two buildings in the project were named Faith and Belief; Faith collapsed. Where does that leave Belief?

Media on a leash

Whenever the State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, organises an event, it makes sure to deploy bouncers to ‘manage’ affairs at the venue. Recently, journalists were invited to the launch of its digital branch in New Delhi; the event was presided over by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The journalists were accommodated in a room where arrangements had been made to view the ceremony on a TV screen. Bouncers from a private security agency ensured that journalists did not go to the hall where the event was taking place. After the FM left the venue, the chairperson came to the journalists’ room and addressed them. That’s how tight a leash the bank keeps.

Welcome tweets

This week saw Pranab Mukherjee make his debut on Twitter: President of India @RashtrapatiBhvn. In four days he has over 55,000 people following him. From giving a peek into Rashtrapati Bhavan’s interiors to updates on the changing of the guard ceremony to Prime Minister Modi’s lunch with the President — the President’s secretariat puts out little nuggets of information.

It seems the tweets directly from the first citizen are signed ‘President Mukherjee’, a la Barack Obama, whose direct tweets are signed ‘bo’.

Smart city blues

Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu is a worried man. All the talk about the ‘100 smart cities’ project has completely overwhelmed him, with countries such as Singapore and Japan showing interest in assisting India.

At a conclave of urban development ministers in New Delhi recently, he said, “When I see the response to this scheme, sometimes I am frightened. Every Member of Parliament or leader who visits me hands me a paper. Initially, I thought it was for their own houses, but, no, everybody wants me to give them one smart city.” Naidu sure is running scared!

Quick learners

Clearly, the Modi Government is keen to shed the image of indecisive leadership, as seen by the way several empowered groups of ministers were dissolved. The same idea seems to have percolated down to various ministries.

On being asked whether there will be a committee to rework the New Exploration Licensing Policy, Minister of State (independent charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Committees are an excuse for not taking decisions.”

Short circuit

Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar had some sound advice for the chemical industry recently. Warning against taking short cuts to comply with environment norms, he recalled seeing a hoarding at Mughalsarai railway station which read “Short cut will cut you short”!

Fate unknown

The NDA had gone to town opposing the UPA’s Aadhaar project and said it would scrap the project once it came to power. But Aadhaar remains in place, with advertisements extolling its virtues still being played on FM channels. It looks like one will have to wait till the Union Budget for the NDA to take a decision on its future.

Tailpiece

After the railway fare hike and increase in prices of petrol, diesel and non-subsidised LPG, a wag at a petrol bunk in Hyderabad described the BJP as the ‘Bitter Janata Pill’ party!

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