Eavesdropper

Fri, Oct 30 01:50 AM

eGoM stories

At the first meeting of the empowered group of ministers on the KG-D6 fields, the first minister to arrive was minister for chemicals & fertilisers M Alagiri. But Alagiri's prolonged absence from the Capital meant that there were few who recognised him.

Although home minister P Chidambaram was punctual for the eGoM meeting, his car caused quite a stir at the finance ministry entrance. His driver decided to reclaim his earlier space and parked the car right at the official entrance—just as he used to do when Chidambaram was FM.

That blocked the way for other eGoM VIPs. While oil minister Murli Deora was forced to alight quite some distance from the finance ministry gate, planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia chose to take another round of Raisina Hill before alighting.

Telecom Raja-I

These are tough days for those in the telecom business. Those who are yet to begin operations are worried about the long arm of the law catching up on their licences. Existing operators are in a greater tizzy—over why minister A Raja has called them for a meeting on November 3. Industry gossip is that considering all the brouhaha over Raja's 2G auction decisions, maybe the meeting is just meant to remind players that he's still the Telecom King.

Telecom Raja-II

DoT officials never had it so good: post the CBI raids in DoT offices, work has come to a standstill as Raja is either busy defending himself or is cutting ribbons and inaugurating functions to boost his public image. Files are moving even slower than usual, which is saying something.

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