| Published on 12-11-2007 In National |
| Viewed 1658 times |
| Corridor Whispers - Nov 12 Part - 1 |
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Written by
Insider |
Renuka Chowdhary at it again
Union minister for Women and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdhary is likely to get into trouble once again. This time it may be bigger than the "black label" controversy she had got into when she was Tourism Minister and was quietly moved out of that Ministry.
The Supreme Court and the Planning Commission have directed that under the ICDS ( Integrated Child Development Scheme) hot cooked meal should be served , raw material for which is locally procured by the Anganwadis and food is cooked at these Anganwadi's.
The Minister under the influence of a lobby of some businessmen is advocating that RTE (Ready to Eat) meal should be supplied to the Anganwadis. The RTE would be precooked at the factories of the businessmen, the cost of which runs into multiple thousands of crores and is therefore of interest to many. However the interest of the children and the government's policy to provide healthy and hot cooked meal is being ignored.
Renuka Chowdhary is also famous for transferring the Secretary if they do not sing her tune on such proposals. She got the Secretary Deepa Jain Singh and the Jt. Secretary Chaman Kumar transferred as they had reservations towards the RTE. Now the minister feels she is in a position to take the entire project through without any hindrance. This is a repetition of history of sorts, as she had done exactly the same thing earlier. As the tourism minister, she had got Secretary Uma Pillai transferred when she did not want to give her consent to the Black Label deal.
Another big issue in her ministry is about kits for children . The Minister wants to centralize the purchase of the kits. At the moment it is de- centralized and the states purchase them. Can someone ask her why she insists on purchasing rights?
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Ajit Singh on "Reduced Rates"
Chote Chowdhary Ajit Singh is not too happy these days. Ajit, having parted ways with Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, has not got anything in return such as a cabinet berth in the Centre. Chote Chowdhary is nowadays reduced to consulting leaders like Raj Babbar. In political circles, it is being said that Ajit Singh is working on "reduced rates."
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Off-screen theatrics of Bhansali-Shah Rukh
More than the on-screen clash between Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya the off-screen clash was hotter. In Mumbai, Bhansali was missing from the star-studded trial of Om Shanti Om despite the special invite Shah Rukh Khan extended to him.
The two were on a collision course from the beginning. Bhansali decided to hold the premiere of Saawariya in Mumbai a day earlier knowing that Om Shanti Om's premiere was on the next day at Leicester Square in London.
Before leaving for England, SRK held a trial of OSO at the Yash Raj Studios that was attended by the who's who of Bollywood town.
Shah Rukh personally called Bhansali. The badshah of bollywood was told that Bhansali would let him know via SMS or a phone call which trial he would attend as there were two shows — at 6 pm and 9 pm. But the call never came.
Bhansali is known to provoke bollywood bigwigs. Sample this: "I haven't yet seen Main Hoon Naa or Chak De! India because I was busy with Black and then Saawariya. Frankly, I wasn't excited enough to watch those films. To tell you the truth, I'm not excited enough… I don't want to see Om Shanti Om."
At another occasion, Bhansali made a dig at SRK's six-pack abs to the media. So has the time come that top filmmakers will stop watching each other's projects?
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Brinda's Welhams nostalgia
CPM's Brinda karat was the chief guest at the Welham Girls School golden jubilee in Dehra Dun recently. Brinda who had passed out of this school in 1962 and was a great athlete, began her speech in great style. Taking a leaf from Amitabh-Shah Rukh's famous line from Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), she asked the audience --- what is a Welhamite. is it (a) - Pliant. (b) - obedient or (c) - independent. "And the answer is C," she said amid lusty cheers.
Some old timers were heard commenting that now they know whom to blame for Brinda's sense of independence that is giving the UPA cabinet so much heartache. More so when some ministers in Manmohan regime are from the nearby Doon School.
Brinda also recalled how one of the teachers had found a (love) letter written from a dosco (Doon school student) where he had quoted Elvis Presley and wondered why the Doon guys did not quote a more literary source.
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Now it is Politicians' progenies in Bollywood
A new star has arrived. Union chemical and fertilizer minister Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag has announced his debut in tinsel town. Chirag says he is following in the footsteps of Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh' s son Ritesh Deshmukh.
Papa Paswan is extremely happy. He said a number of "big time producers and directors " are lining up to sign Chirag who celebrated his birthday this week. "We were worried about what he was going to do next but now that he has declared his acting ambitions, we are happy for him," the Lok Jan Shakti party chief said. The budding actor, seems like a dutiful son to the fullest. "I've learnt everything from my father, I always look up to him," he said.
Another star is waiting in the wings in Bollywood. He is Pankaj Kesri, grandson of late Sitaram Kesri. Pankaj first tried to get in politics but there were no takers for him in the grand old party. For weeks, Pankaj ran from one room to another in 24, Akbar Road but without luck or success. He has now turned to bollywood to try his luck in Bhojpuri films. |
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