DISTANT DIPLOMACY

Namaste is the flavour of the season, especially in Delhi’s diplomatic circles. The reason: Covid-19. Handshakes are avoided and diplomatic missions have issued guidelines to employees to avoid cheek kissing and to stay at home in case of a flu. At the International Womens’ Day celebration at the Dutch embassy, the deputy chief of mission, Anneke Adema, had the namaste down pat— each guest was greeted with one. Just for good measure, the embassy gave gifts to the attendees tiny wooden clogs and a small bottle of sanitiser.

BUILDING BRIDGES?

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla stayed away from Parliament for three days as he was reportedly anguished over the conduct of the members who disrupted house proceedings over the Delhi riots. In his absence, Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab conducted the proceedings and conveyed the speaker’s angst. This fuelled talks about the BJP allotting the deputy speaker’s post, which has been vacant for 10 months, to the BJD. Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to BJD founder Biju Patnaik on March 5 (his 104th birth anniversary) and said he had worked tirelessly for India’s progress and pioneered Odisha’s development. Modi also tweeted an unclassified page of an Intelligence Bureau report from 1945, which said Patnaik, then a pilot, had flown “underground leader” Ram Manohar Lohia from Delhi to Kolkata, and praised his bravery.

PULLING THE PURSE STRINGS