Good diplomacy

Call it good manners or whatever, one important caller on former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto Sunday was Islamabad’s envoy to New Delhi Ashraf Jehangir Qazi. Now this may not have raised eyebrows in mature democracies, but it certainly did in the context of violent changes of power that take place in Pakistan. Good mature stuff! It’s another matter though that among the 100 strong diplomatic corps who landed up at Ms Bhutto’s CII lecture on empowerment, Mr Qazi couldn’t make it!

Murasoli misses
Heading a jumbo ministry comprising commerce and industry can’t be easy. But for someone who made the merger a pre-condition to taking charge, time management isn’t coming through as one of minister Murasoli Maran’s strengths. So, here he is, all the time caught up in making headlines on WTO, TRIPS, and so on, with no time whatsoever for the department of industry.

Neglected babus complain how Mr Maran didn’t take any of them to Doha, though they are the ones who deal with TRIPS. Also, that he doesn’t even answer starred questions in Parliament because he has no time for briefings! And now, his industrial policy and promotion secretary has just shot off a letter to his commerce counterpart asking him to explain what India has gained on TRIPS!

The bull returns?
Given the unusual and irrational spurt in the price of certain software and media counters, suspicious minds are wondering about the rally’s credibility. That the market is abuzz with rumours about a beleaguered Big Bull getting active once again has only served to deepen these suspicions. Indeed, some suggest that it is his operators who are jacking up the prices at the Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai bourses. If this bull is really behind the rally, it does add up. For, he owes plenty of money to a certain scam-tainted cooperative bank.