Vis-a-Vis

GEORGE FERNANDES NDA convener versus BUTA Singh Bihar governor

"Governor Buta Singh is misusing the Raj Bhavan by making money through illegal means. The President should remove him."

"Fernandes is making all sorts of statements with an eye on the Bihar elections. I do not want to react to these wild allegations."

EPILOGUE: In poll-weary Bihar, the big players seem to have put on the war paint.

VOICES

"Nobody can sell India. India is not for sale."

Manmohan Singh, prime minister, on the Left's charge that India's economic sovereignty was being compromised

"There is no need of any other agency to look after the Taj Mahal as the Archaeological Survey of India is taking care of it quite well."

H.R. Bhardwaj, Union law minister, dismissing the Sunni Central Waqf Board's claims to the monument

"The BJP has shown it is incapable of playing the role of constructive opposition. It causes concern as we approach another session of Parliament; for when issueless, the BJP deflects the session."

Anand Sharma, Congress spokesperson

"I did not get to play in India during my career and that's the biggest gap in my CV."

Greg Chappell, India's cricket coach

"Am I going to get more serious about my career now? Who says I wasn't serious otherwise?"

Saif Ali Khan, actor, after winning the National Best Actor Award

THE BUZZ OF THE WEEK

The Gandhi family's Bollywood connection continues. The Big B has been replaced by Shah Rukh Khan who is now very close to Priyanka and Robert Vadra, meeting at their house for private dinners.

PICTURE SPEAK

THE LONG WAIT: Manmohan Singh (right) with his cabinet

DELHI It has been a long, hot summer for Congressmen with ministerial ambitions. For long, 10 Janpath strategists have been promising a cabinet reshuffle but it's now clear that the reshuffle will take place only after the monsoon session in Parliament. One reason is that the cabinet reshuffle is linked to the organisational revamp: general secretaries Ambika Soni and A.K. Antony were tipped to make a shift to the Government. But Sonia Gandhi is yet to finalise her new team. Second, Lalu Prasad Yadav seems miffed that his RJD with 25 MPs does not have as many economic ministries as Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP, which has just three MPs.

The delay has left a lot of hopefuls all dressed in their new bundgalas with no place to go. These include party spokesperson Anand Sharma who was being ribbed about his new wardrobe; Antony who postponed an ayurvedic therapy session-cum-holiday; and family loyalist Satish Sharma, who has been waiting. And waiting. But for men like P.M. Sayeed the delay has come as a relief. The power minister, who is on the hit list, cancelled a dinner for journalists in the week that the reshuffle was expected, perhaps wary of answering uncomfortable questions.

-By Priya Sahgal

JAIPUR The high powered committee on forests and wildlife management constituted by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje exposed a shocking fact last week: the number of tigers at the Ranthambore National Park is 26 as against the official count of 47. This raises questions about the accuracy of earlier census exercises as also the need for different warning systems. With Ranthambore having an additional problem of too many visitors and hotels, unlike Sariska, it is clear that Rajasthan has failed to set up a proper safeguard system for its tigers. Poacher Sansar Chand has denied any involvement in tiger-killing in Rajasthan after 1998. If true, the threat to India's tigers is even more alarming.

-By Rohit Parihar

DIED: I.G. Patel, 81, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India and director of the London School of Economics. After a brilliant academic career and stint with the IMF, Patel became the economic adviser in the Union Ministry of Finance in 1954 and served in various positions in the government for 18 years.

DIED: Biplab Dasgupta, 67, Rajya Sabha member and veteran CPI(M) leader. He was also an economist of repute.

DIED: K.V. Subbanna, 74, a legendary figure in Kannada theatre, Padma Shri awardee and Magsaysay Award winner.

WON: Koneru Humpy, the North Urals Cup Women's Chess tournament, at Krasnoturinsk in Russia.

GRANTED: The World Heritage Site status by UNESCO, to the Nilgiri Mountain Railway line between Udhagamandalam and Mettupalayam,

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