Games bureaucrats play

All work and no play would make the bureaucrats dull. So over the next two months, there are a number of sports events coming up for central government employees. An inter-ministry chess championship will be held in Delhi from November 5 to 15, followed by a two-day inter-ministry athletic meet on November 8 and 9. The most prestigious of them all would be held in Bhopal that will host the All India Civil Services Lawn Tennis tournament from December 10 to 14. Professional sportspersons amongst the civil servants are not allowed to participate. And in case, you are wondering about the prize money, well it's not much. According to the rules, the first prize is a cash award of Rs 2,500 while the second and third fetch Rs 1,000 each.

The show goes on

That the Russian President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to come on November 1 was quite well planned. But Moscow, reportedly not happy with India’s decision on Kudankulam nuclear power plant to be brought under the nuclear liability law, deferred his visit and set a new date in December last week. While South Block played it down by saying that Russian heads have always come in December and that there was nothing unusual about it, ICCR had planned a massive cultural performance of the Russian Bolshoi Ballet in the Capital, which was to be attended by Putin and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. While Putin's visit was cancelled, it was decided that the ballet performance by the

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