Karnataka   

Fitting tribute?

The occasion was celebration of the 47th raising day of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at its Central Office on K.H. Road last week. To make the event a grand success, KSRTC introduced brand-new air conditioned coaches (Ambari) to cater to the middle class passengers and felicitated employees who retired during the last one year. While the dignitaries, including Transport Minister R. Ashok, sat under a Shamiyana, seating arrangement for other senior officials and retired employees was made in the open. When the function began, it was past noon. The audience braved the heat and some officials covered their heads with files. One among the audience quipped, “It is a fitting tribute to the retired employees.” If it had rained, none could have withstood it, he added.

At a recent function organised by the Vigilance Study Circle, N.S. Ramaswamy, former director of the Indian Institute of Management, wondered how an ever-smiling man like Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha could hope to straighten out corrupt officials. The aged professor, with a flowing white beard, pointed to Mr. Sinha and said: “Look at him, he is clean-shaven and smiles all the time.” He then warmed to the theme of the fear-inspiring moustache his late father, a high-ranking official in Kerala, sported. Later, when it was Mr. Sinha’s turn to speak, he smiled and gave a one-line reply: “I decided not to grow a beard because my job is more about bearding lions in their own den.”

Scores of aspirants, who had applied for the vacant posts of stenographers and other clerical posts in Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to be selected on merit basis, were a worried lot on Monday. The water board’s official website seemed to have dried up. BWSSB officials attributed the non-performance to information being updated on the website. Which prompted an anxious hopeful to comment: “How could the official website of an organisation, headed by the Minister for IT/BT Katta Subramanya Naidu no less, stop functioning?”

Apprehensions and predictions about the solar eclipse were in the air on Friday, and the office of the Police Commissioner was no exception. A group of reporters went to meet a police officer minutes before the eclipse began. “Please allow me to finish my lunch before the eclipse,” the officer said. Just as he warmed to the subject, his secretary reminded him that he needed to offer his prayers as the eclipse coincided with his star. This prompted the officer to go into predictions. He said: “I am likely to face trouble from reporters.” This was an opening a wily reporter could hardly resist. “We are told the police will not share any information with us,” the reporter said, indirectly pointing to difficulty in getting information about the investigation into the serial blasts.

The Legislative Assembly last week reverberated, perhaps for the first time in its history, with “Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhoome” — Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s signature song. Predictably, it drew a mixed reaction. Some members in the Treasury benches loved it because they derived their ideological moorings from it. But it drew raised eyebrows on the Opposition side because it was rendered by a senior Congress leader. D.K. Shivakumar. No one was sure if he did prove a point but it did discomfit Leader of the Opposition M. Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramiah, strong critics of the RSS.

Anil Kumar Sastry,

Bageshree S.,

Afshan Yasmeen,

Raghava M. and

T.S. Ranganna

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