Two tweets for Africa - from Tharoor

New Delhi, Sep 20 : Call it a curious blend of arrogance and ignorance, but Africa is virtually a dark continent for the Indian media, specially for its TRP-obsessed TV networks. Amid all the hullabaloo about Minister Shashi Tharoor's 'cattle class' tweets, nobody in the media bothered about the first ministerial visit from India to Liberia in nearly four decades - by him.

Tharoor, the minister of state for external affairs, posted tweets about his Africa visit, but the media hardly bothered. "terrific mtgs today with President Sirleaf and most of her cabinet. India extends hand of friendship & solidarity as Liberia rebuilds," Tharoor wrote. Incidentally, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is African's first elected woman head of state.

Compare the Indian media's benign neglect of Africa with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's whirlwind visit to seven African nations, including Liberia, one of the success stories in Africa and a US ally. Clinton posted regular tweets on her Africa visit which was scrupulously followed by the American media. It might explain why Africans choose to look the other way when India goes scouting for votes for its bid for a seat in the UN Security Council.

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High command's mind - revealed at a wedding

"Individual is not above party," Congress president Sonia Gandhi was heard saying at a wedding, making amply clear her thinking on Andhra Pradesh.

In full hearing of several supporters of Jaganmohan Reddy, the son of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Gandhi said: "An individual is what he or she is because of the party. I am what I am because of the Congress party."

She was speaking at the wedding of the son of G. Venkat Swamy, MP. It left little doubt that she had no time for the tactics of YSR's son who is seeking to succeed him. Gandhi added for good measure that whatever YSR had become was because the party had reposed faith in him and made him chief minister.

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After ensuring punctuality, home ministry preaches safe sex

After installing a Biometric Attendance Control System (BACS) at North Block to ensure timely attendance, the home ministry has now put in condom vending machines as part of its safe sex awareness drive for employees.

The machines installed by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) dispenses Josh condoms. Ministry officials say each machine has 16 condoms and some employees were seen minutely studying the instructions for their use.

In fact, according to a ministry official, within two days of it being installed, one machine had to be replenished!

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Civil versus defence - who will triumph?

It normally attracts attention every year and this year too; as the high-profile and elite Gymkhana Club gears up for its presidential elections, the politics of this exclusive club has spilled into the public domain.

However, this time around, it's attracting attention for what is being described as a 'breach of convention'. The custom followed since 1950 is that the presidentship of the club is rotated between civil and defence services every two years, though each presidential term is for a year.

The contestants for the top post this time are its current president, Air Marshal (retd) P.S. Ahluwalia, who represents the defence services, and Prakash Chandra, director general, International Taxation, representing the civil services. Ahluwalia, who had also contested the election in 2007 against the then serving Army Chief J.J. Singh, only to bow out just before the election, still remains popular among most members of the club.

Those in favour of Ahluwalia's re-election argue that the practice has been breached in the past. But civil services members are closing ranks and mounting a fierce campaign to see that Chandra gets elected. How it will play out will be known when voting happens next week.

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What irks Mallikarjun Kharge?

Cabinet ministers often get irritated when things do not go according to plan, especially at mega events. In recent times, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad have expressed their annoyance publicly. This time it was the turn of Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge.

He could not help display his irritation when his own bureaucrats could not play a CD at an event of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It was later discovered that the CD on AIDS awareness was corrupt and the audience was denied the opportunity to see the power point presentation.

"Let's get on with the programme. Give us the CD, we will watch it at home," said a visibly peeved Kharge. And if that was not enough to displease Kharge, the lights went out twice.

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Superstition, thy name is Congress

Wondering why the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) did not announce their tie-up and candidates lists all this time, despite assembly elections in Maharashtra being scheduled for Oct 13? Blame the inauspicious time in the Hindu calender for it - pitra paksh.

During the fortnight-long period for ancestor worship, people avoid new decisions and also don't buy new objects. And sure enough, with the start of Navratri - the nine-day Hindu festival - the seat sharing announcement is not far behind, as a senior Congress leader indicated.

Better wait - for the right time on the calendar - than be sorry, seems to be the Congress mantra!

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No more effigy burning, please

Days after his insensitive remark about toxic remains left behind by the 25-year-old Union Carbide tragedy in Bhopal led to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh being burnt in effigy, he was twice shy.

During a press conference in Delhi, he was at pains to explain to Tamil scribes that he had not given the green signal to Kerala's Mullaperiyar dam, but only allowed a study.

Tamil Nadu has for long opposed the plan as it would reduce the water flow to the state.

"I don't want more of my effigies to be burnt in Tamil Nadu," Ramesh quipped.

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Nilekani, in government job, feels heat

After being with the corporate world all this while, the Unique Identification project head, Nandan Nilekani, is learning how the government and the bureaucracy function in India the hard way - though without losing his understated sense of humour.

He was frank enough to admit that the issues involved with public projects were far more complex and difficult to achieve in a bureaucratic system. "I sympathise with the amount of complexity that they (people handling public projects) face and still get things done. I have started feeling the heat lately," Nilekani said at a book launch.

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Does the Chinese dragon snarl?

Is the Chinese dragon snarling again? Well, thanks to the relentless onslaught of 24x7 news channels, the Chinese dragon became the new obsession of India's chattering classes. When the hype was on the verge of spinning out of control, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to gently chide journalists at an iftar party at his residence that he saw no evidence of Chinese aggression.

The China threat may be a dramatic story for news-starved channels, but people plain forgot that Chinese dragons, unlike the European dragons, are neither evil nor aggressive. In Chinese mythology, dragons symbolise potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall and floods. So much for the China threat!

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Be austere, eat austere

Some ministers have taken the government's austerity drive a tad too far. Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi, while briefing the media on his ministry's quarterly achievements, invited journalists to have lunch with him but was quick to point out that it would be a spartan affair.

And what was on the menu? Vegetable sandwiches, gulab jamuns and vegetable patties.