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Sunday, February 21, 2010 (14:46:33) |
| Tags : Twitter, Bahrain, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, India, Shashi Tharoor |
New age, tweet-up diplomacy |
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| New Delhi: This is instant diplomacy in the twitter age. When Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa met Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor last week, a ministerial tweet-up followed. This was perhaps the first time there was real time reporting on a bilateral diplomatic meeting in India - by the participants themselves!
The two reported it to the world, just like any two avid twitter users, by photographing themselves on the camera phone. And then, it was uploaded on to twitter.
The Bahraini minister has been in regular touch with Tharoor over twitter. He had even had what he called as a 'tripartite' meeting over twitter when the Bahraini and Egyptian foreign ministers met at a cafe and then sent a friendly message to Tharoor.
A tweeting advice for PM, Rahul
Will Twitter have takers in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi? Twitter's staunchest advocte Shashi Tharoor certainly believes they have a large audience waiting on the social networking and microblogging site.
"If Manmohan Singh or Rahul Gandhi join twitter, they are also assured of a large audience," Tharoor, who has created a flutter with his Twitter posts, declared at a press meet organised by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ).
Elaborating on the advantages of signing up on Twitter, Tharoor said it was increasingly proving to be a fast communication tool and those signing up had an early bird advantage.
Tharoor, who has a fan following of over 600,000, brushed aside the controversies some of his tweets had created and talked of the immense advantages it offered to the tech-savvy, modern communicator.
Who is getting Shyam Saran's room?
There is a buzz in the corridors of power at the Prime Minister's Office after Shyam Saran, special envoy on climate change and on the India-US nuclear deal, decided to call it a day.
Already there is huge speculation over who will inherit Saran's spacious office in the second floor rear corridor of South Block. There are only three other offices in that corridor, those of National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon, prime minister's principal secretary T.K.A. Nair and prime minister's personal secretary Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, whose office is next to that of Saran's.
Bureaucrats say those who have offices in that corridor are specially close to the prime minister; so the choice of who will occupy that office after mid-March will be a strong indicator of Manmohan Singh's preference.
Economics-cum-politcs, Azhagiri way
When it comes to articulation, Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister M.K. Azhagiri may not be the best performer in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's team. But he has certainly managed to exhibit some new tricks.
During the latest meeting of the federal cabinet, the proposal to hike urea prices and the launch of a new fertiliser subsidy policy, no doubt, came from Azhagiri, as his more senior colleague Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee coerced him.
But those at the meeting were flummoxed when Azhagiri also came armed with a two-page dissent note and why the cabinet should defer the controversial decision -- which he made his party colleague and Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran read out.
This evoked equally curious responses. One minister quipped: "So far, I thought it was either a case of good economics or good politics. But with our fertiliser minister, it is a rare combination of good economics and even better politics."
Dividends of the BJP do
A three-day national conclave of the BJP has reaped rich dividends for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Not only has it raised his stock in the party, but, more importantly, the low-profile leader seems to have developed a tremendous rapport with newly elected BJP chief Nitin Gadkari.
A close confidant of Chouhan said this has brought great relief to Chouhan's supporters within the state as not so long ago they were worried over the possibility of the return of Uma Bharati to the BJP fold.
For the time being Chouhan can breathe easy as he is on the right side of Gadkari and both in fact shared the dais, belting out popular Hindi songs at the party's Indore conclave.
Chidambaram's 'near zero' rating!
Self-deprecatory is not how many would describe Home Minister P. Chidambaram. But while answering the query of a scribe on how he would rate his own performance, he said with a smile, "Pretty close to zero".
Chidambaram added, "It is not zero. I said, pretty near zero." Recently, there were reports that the government had initiated a Performance Monitoring System of various ministries. It was later clarified that this programme would be driven by the ministers themselves, instead of being judged by bureaucrats.
Simians at Shastri Bhavan
A remarkably large group of monkeys have always been known to cause havoc at government offices in both North Block and South Block. The aggressive animals swing effortlessly between the offices of the defence, finance and external affairs ministries and have even been spotted in the Prime Minister's Office.
But now they have extended their reach and are moving effortlessly around Shastri Bhavan, a stone's throw from there. Professional monkey catchers have been employed as the larger and more dominant black-faced langur strolls down the aisles of the crowded government offices.
For Games, a surprise check
The Congress is taking no chances with preparations for the Commonwealth Games, even if it means conducting surprise checks!
Organisers have been assuring all and sundry that everything is on track and all deadlines would be met much in advance. But their headquarters in the capital's commercial hub had an interesting visitor in Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh last week.
If party insiders are to be believed, he came to get information to update the Congress high command, no less.
And now, cigar art
There's arty news for those who love a good puff - art inspired by cigars! Kastros, a cigar shop, in association with the Enigma Art Gallery has launched a first-of-its kind venture, The Cigar Art Company.
To begin with, Cigar Art has started a week long art camp where 14 artists from all over the country are being taken through the world of cigar. They will interpret their experience and indulgence of cigars on canvas which will be showcased.
Manish Dutt, managing director of Kastros, says: "The idea is to translate and portray the opulence, the luxury, the feel of cigar in varied mediums of art, be it canvas, photography, installation or abstract or any other."
Warning aside, a good puff can be also a work of art! (IANS) |
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