In pipeline - India's balancing act

New Delhi, Nov 8 : The Iranian pipeline may be turning out to be a pipedream, but the Iranians are not the kind to give up easily.

Barely a week before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to Washington for his White House meeting with US President Barack Obama, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will be in New Delhi to remind his Indian counterparts that Iranian gas could perhaps have more answers for India's energy security than the much-touted India-US nuclear deal.

Not that there is much enthusiasm in India about a pipeline that will pass through the terror-infested tribal areas of Pakistan. But it will be a good photo op for the Manmohan Singh government to flaunt its ties with Iran just to tell the world that India can do business with Washington and Tehran with ease without compromising its much-vaunted independent foreign policy.

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Home ministry 'babus' back to basics

Two months ago, Home Minister P. Chidambaram was keen to usher in a culture of punctuality by introducing biometric machines in the home ministry offices. Many of the 5,500 'babus' battled hard to meet the deadline - 9 a.m. sharp - and there was marked improvement in arrivals.

But two months after the scanners were installed, data that has now been scanned show many are falling back to their old ways - coming in late. Instructions have now gone out to all departments that things need to improve. Or else?

--IANS