It appears that Pakistan Premier Mian Nawaz Sharief's invitation to Atal Behari Vajpayee to travel on the first bus from Delhi to Lahore almost got scuttled the way all such initiatives do. Once this newspaper published Sharief's invite, the standard ministry of external affairs' (MEA) response was to prepare a response saying that the (non-formal) invite was being considered. The response, duly vetted by senior MEA staffers, was sent on to the prime minister. By now somewhat alert to how bureaucrats scuttle the best of initiatives, Vajpayee asked that the wording be changed immediately, and a message be sent out that he would definitely be travelling to Pakistan on the bus.

Systems Overhaul

Instead of the usual files and notices, the heads of nearly 40 departments in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), a century old civic body, got a rather unusual office communique. They received a note labelled `important' along with a photocopy of an article by aleading business magazine on the fundas of a decentralised corporation.

The CEOs role should be that of a coordinator and not that of a controller, it said. And it came from Additional Municipal Commissioner Deepak Kapoor who had painstakingly made over 40 photocopies of the article and despatched it to the HoDs concerned. For the average laid-back babu, this note about the changing paradigm in the corporate world, decentralising operations, distribution of information and the role of the new CEO, must have been Greek and Latin. But can one fault Kapoor for trying to bring in sweeping reforms on the way a civic body functions?

The Last Word

To journalists familiar with Indian politicians bending over backwards to accommodate foreign dignitaries, Karan Singh, former Union Minister came as a pleasant surprise. At the Asia & Pacific Regional Conference on Education for Human Rights in Pune, Helga Klein, representative of the High commissioner for Human Rights, New York, said Indians couldlook forward to the 21st century, now that the 20th century, filled with bloodshed as it was, was nearly over. At the end of his speech, after commenting on the futility of speaking about human rights in a country where thousands of children went to bed hungry, Singh turned to Klein and said, ``And Madam, let me tell you that the 21st century is no big deal for us. We have a civilisation that goes back thousands of years, and Buddhist calendars go back even before the birth of Christ''.

Shooting Solutions

Bullet for Bullet is the title. And that's not all. One of India's undisputed supercop, former director general of Punjab Police, Julio Ribeiro, has some `shooting solutions' to the endangered human species, like top-brass politicians and municipal corporators who live in fear of their lives. ``All those precious souls who think that their lone gunman can handle an assassination attempt are grossly mistaken,'' said Riberio. Moral of the story: all gunmen are not supercops.

InvitingScandal

Many Puneites received a red envelope last week that was guaranteed to turn its recipient to a similar shade. They opened the envelope to find a condom peeping out from its torn cover, neatly pasted on the invite with the words `Dress Code' beneath it.

It was an invite for a press meet for something as unconnected to condoms, as well, fruit drinks. But the Yo Appy company had thought of a connection. The card read: ``If this card has embarrassed you, then maybe we should tell you that Pune is said to have 40 percent more AIDS cases than Mumbai, that by the year 2000 AD one in every three Indians will be HIV+... allow us to treat you to an exciting preview of the storm that is going to sweep Pune towards its bigger ever outcry against AIDS.'' -- thus combining their promotional campaign for Yo Appy with the one topic that arrests immediate attention -- AIDS. That's shock advertising at its most shocking. But given the AIDS statistics, it's hardly news that one can drink to, Yo Appy or anythingelse.

Of Dals & Daldal

What is the difference between the Akali Dal and the Lok Dal? Well, the Akali Dal fights after coming to power, while the Lok Dal fights before coming to power! And this smart remark came from none other than Lok Dal's Om Parkash Chautala.

It was at a session of the Haryana assembly where Chautala walked up to the press gallery and said he would withdraw support to the Vajpayee Government if it didn't withdraw the hike in the PDS prices. When asked if he would take the support of his ``friends'' from Punjab -- the Akali Dal -- on this issue, since both the Akalis and Chautala's party claim to represent the interests of the farmers, Chautala narrated the joke about the difference between the two dals.

One being asked whether the word dal itself was doomed, going by the experience of Janta Dal Government at the Centre, Chautala observed that only the very brave can find their way in a daldal (quicksand).

By Sunil Jain in Delhi, Balpreet in Chandigarh,Sunanda Mehta, Rachna Bisht Rawat, Anuradha Shah and Davinder Kumar in Pune