SME representatives asked Defence Minister Mohan Parrikar if the new defence procurement procedure (DPP), which is yet to be released, will represent the interests of only big defence firms.

To this, he replied that as a Goan, fish is his staple diet and he knows what it means to eat a big fish, which can sometimes “get stuck in the throat”. In other words: the concerns of SMEs will be adequately addressed.

Smart strategy

Is Tata Global Beverages living up to its name?

Instead of bringing in its global coffee brands such as Eight O'Clock Coffee from the US or Grande from Russia, it has decided to create an indigenous brand — Tata Coffee Grand — to leverage its own plantations for sourcing arabica and robusta beans belonging to its subsidiary, Tata Coffee.

Keeping prices low compared to the imported international brands that are already here?

Nobody cares

Last week, when Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge wanted to raise the issue of ‘untoward’ comments on Dalit children made by Union minister VK Singh, and his party staged a walkout after the Speaker disallowed this, some BJP MPs were heard taunting the Congress for leaving when a ‘serious issue’ such as the Chennai floods was being discussed.

Ironically, less than 50 out of the 284 ruling party MPs were present in the House while the issue was raised by the AIADMK and discussed for over an hour on Wednesday afternoon.

No surprise, then, that on Friday, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for 30 minutes for ‘lack of quorum’ when it met after 2 pm. Does anyone really care?

In denial

BJP MP Hema Malini, who hails from Tamil Nadu, did not know what hit her when she got up to express her concern over the Chennai floods in the Lok Sabha. Just as the BJP MP started speaking on the need for the Centre to provide Chennai with drinking water, medicines and food, the AIADMK MPs, numbering over 30, sprang to their feet and shouted her down, claiming “there was no shortage” of anything in the State.

Flustered, Hema Malini slid back into her seat. Quite a nightmare for the dream girl.

Scam-mongering

It’s scam time in Kerala. Oommen Chandy, 72, whose government survived the largest number of scandals and controversies in the State’s history, is now facing a scam that is personally directed at him — that he had received a bribe of ₹5.5 crore and that he had been intimate with the ‘solar scam’ accused Saritha, who has admitted to peddling sex for power and influence.

Only, no one has bothered about the credibility of the man who made the allegation — he is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife; he is a prime accused in the solar panel scam; he is a former live-in companion of Saritha, who is also a co-accused in the scam; he has been booked on several counts of fraud, cheating and misrepresentation; and he has, in the past, posed as a scientist with a PhD in solar energy, and also an IPS officer.

A wake up call. Literally

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is known for dozing off during meetings and conferences just as his HD Deve Gowda used to do, seems to have finally woken up to the woes of the thousands of software engineers who squeeze their way to their offices in Whitefield, the hub of the software industry.

This is because some multinationals have issued veiled threats to the State government that if quick solutions are not found for the traffic woes, they would look at relocating elsewhere. Every year, governments draw up a list of new roads and newer metro routes only to put the plans in cold storage as soon as the heat of the threat evaporates.

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