Big BJP boss steps in to save proteges

New Delhi, March 14: The shock outburst by a clutch of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs over the women's reservation bill left some party satraps red-faced after they put up a spirited defence in the Rajya Sabha. But when there's a crisis, there's big boss L.K. Advani.

Opposition to the bill by controversial Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur and Hukumdev Naryan Yadav from Madhubani was seen as a clear challenge to the leaders of opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha - Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Swaraj and Jaitley are party patriarch Advani's proteges and vocal supporters of the bill that seeks to reverse decades of male-dominated decision-making. It finally necessitated all the formidable powers of the octogenarian Advani to quell the simmering rebellion.

Just goes to show that though there may have been a change of guard, the party is finding it difficult to look beyond Advani in crisis situations.

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How to dodge media

It was their first direct taste of the media. Nearly two dozen probationers of the elite Indian Foreign Service (IFS) batch 2009 faced some journalist interrogators at a mock briefing.

In a drill organised by the publicity division of the external affairs ministry, each of these budding diplomats had to take turns at posing as the official spokesperson and answer tricky and delicate questions. These ranged from the future of composite dialogue with Pakistan and the course of boundary negotiations with China.

Some of them showed signs of stage fright, some stammered, but most seemed to have learnt the tricks of the trade fast enough. "We will get back to you with more details," was their stock reply to many questions, triggering peals of laughter from journalists.

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Key to women's bill

In the end, the seminal bill on women's reservation was passed by the Rajya Sabha. And although the debate was marked by bitterness, political division and ugly scenes in the upper house, it had its lighter moments.

When the decks were cleared for voting after the house witnessed high voltage drama, the presiding officer suddenly realised that the keys to the electronic voting machine were missing and a desperate search was launched.

Ahead of the voting, around 50 marshals were called in to evict seven errant MPs from the house to bring order and it suddenly dawned on the officials that one of them had perhaps yanked the key in the din.

There were some anxious moments but a duplicate key was immediately secured and the voting proceeded according to plan.

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Lucky 5

Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh is clearly a firm believer in numerology and has found number `5' to be his lucky number. Singh was born on June 23 (2+3=5) and the number has caught his imagination in more ways than one. Those close to Singh say his personal and official vehicles in Delhi are also numbered (0005).

By an amazing quirk of fate, Singh is the country's 32nd Steel Minister (3+2) and the gate to his office in Udyog Bhavan is also number 5. Not only that, he is also a five-time chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, and is on his fifth term as MP and is reasonably sure of smoothsailing.

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Woman power at work

One of the many women at the forefront of women's activism is Ranjana Kumari, whose Centre for Social Research has been training women for leadership roles. She has been much in demand for consultation on the issue by leaders and MPs of all parties, so much so that she was asked to be present in parliament when the Rajya Sabha took it up for debate.

But since passes for the visitors' gallery are given only for an hour at the recommendation of an MP, and the debate went on for several hours, Ranjana Kumari had no dearth of sponsors as influential MPs ensured that her pass kept getting extended hourly as long as the debate lasted.

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Caught on camera

They were meant to ward off terror threats, but CCTV cameras at some elite clubs in the city have not been catching quite the people intended!

Security has been beefed up in many of the high-profile clubs in the city over the last few months and places like the India Habitat Centre and the India International Centre now have their fair share of CCTV cameras, private security guards and metal detectors.

The new security regimen is in the wake of recent intelligence inputs that terrorists might target these centres.

At the prestigious Gymkhana Club, a stone's throw from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, CCTV cameras are strategically positioned at the entry and exit gates as well as the terrace garden bar to keep an eye on suspicious characters and activities.

But instead of keeping a watch on shifty and iffy characters who may up to be no good, the CCTVs have captured footage of members walking away with mobiles on the bar and even a bicycle stolen from the premises.

Members are now extra alert knowing the cameras are rolling 24x7.

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Thrill of women's bill

No maharani airs, no nakhra. Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, an ex-royal and wife of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, is candid enough to admit that she is a first-time minister and needs some time to adjust to her high-profile job.

"I am still learning," an unassuming Kaur told diplomatic correspondents at an interaction hosted by the external affairs ministry. She has, however, strong views on some issues.

For one, she minced no words in airing her distaste for the Taliban who are fiercely anti-women. Thrilled at the passing of the women's quota bill in the Rajya Sabha, Kaur said with dismay that there are still some in the region who are determined to subjugate women.

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Will Preity kiss and tell?

Actress Preity Zinta is now the goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS. At a function in Delhi, she was caught off guard when an inquisitive scribe wanted to know if she too would kiss in public like her fellow colleague Shilpa Shetty while spreading awareness against the disease.

But she nimbly dodged the question and the organisers were not giving away anything.

A couple of years back, Shilpa while endorsing an anti-AIDS awareness campaign courted controversy after Hollywood actor Richard Gere kissed her in a public podium in Delhi.