Discipline issues
If locking horns with the chief minister over a host of issues was not enough, Mayor Arti Mehra found herself caught in a wrangle with her own councillors this week. Even as she welcomed the three former defence servicemen picked by Lt-Governor Tejendra Khanna to “instill” discipline in the corporation with much fanfare, the initiative backfired. Within two days of the officers joining duty, Mehra was busy trying to quell a mutiny of BJP councillors led by Leader of the House Subhash Arya. While the rebellion was successfully contained, it’s now the BJP that needs some self-discipline!

Fogged out
The weather wasn’t the only thing that kept airport officials on their toes this past week. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s run-in with the fog at the Delhi airport further caused a flutter on the radars. Her chartered plane had to hover around for at least an hour before landing, which turned out to be equally eventful. First, the VIP gate got jammed leaving the protocol officers sweating in the bone-chilling cold. While the gate, with a little help from the CISF personnel, was finally wrenched open to let her car pass through, the airport staff spent the entire day trying to fix the gate back before any other VIP landed!

Vanishing Act?
The United States may be keen to help New Delhi combat polio and HIV but the state government does not seem to be equally enthusiastic. The indifference was evident recently when Michael O Leavitt, the US Secretary for Health and Human Services, visited a MCD-run maternity centre and administered polio vaccine to children. While the invites clearly proclaimed the presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit among other officials, they failed to mention Leavitt. The diplomatic response: “We did not expect that he would (come).” Well said!

Jamia heat
Delhi’s winter couldn’t keep US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O Leavitt from sweating. At an interactive session with the students of Jamia Milia Islamia, he came under fire after he expressed “happiness” over visiting “an Islamic educational institute”. His remarks invited a rather uncomfortable question from a student: “If that was the case, why did the United States attack and devastate two Islamic countries?” Secretary of Health and Human Services’ fumbling response was drowned in the resounding applause that followed the question. Leavitt was spotted wiping the sweat from his face.

Act for media?
Jawaharlal Nehru University is famous for the agitations by its student leaders against the varsity administration. But behind-the-camera camaraderie between the two parties has become a joke in the university circles now. In one of the New Year gatherings on the campus, Vice-Chancellor Dr B B Bhattacharya wittily discussed the students’ penchant for the camera—and the calm that followed as soon as the media departed from the campus. Wonder if student issues are nothing more than stage-managed for camera.