Guerrilla tactics

The Congress party’s resident socialist Mani Shankar Aiyar was at his radical best at a discussion on second generation reforms at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Aiyar took the view that there is no popular political support anywhere for globalisation and economic liberalisation, “except among a few economists at think tanks like the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation”! When told that Ms Sonia Gandhi had spoken in favour of a new round of trade negotiations, Aiyar shot back, “that must be Jairam’s doing”! So what does Mr Ramesh have to say? “I learnt how to place ideas in the party leader’s speech from Mani”!

To err is...

Making a mistake is one thing. Making one in public, is quite another. Just ask the two MPs who recently raised a question in Lok Sabha concerning India’s export of betel leaf. They wondered whether our export of betel leaf to Pakistan had been affected by the hike in customs duty on it; and whether there had been a consequent increase in smuggling.

But when Minister of State for Finance, G Ramachandran, politely told them that “There is no customs duty on the export of betel leaf...therefore, the question of any increase in smuggling due to hike in customs duty does not arise,” they were visibly chastened. However, if the Minister had chosen to point out that customs duty is always levied only on imports, their embarrassment could have been much greater.

Tailpiece

The Federal Aviation Administration of the US is hoping at least the THREAT of legal action will have potential air-ragers thinking twice before slugging a fellow passenger or removing clothes and dancing a drunken fandango. The Feds have published a brochure informing passengers about the consequences and possible jail time associated with dallying with flight crews. Whether the air-ragers are also avid readers remains to be seen...