Power centers in the corridors of power, Extra Con

[Guest]

Presidential pique

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Because of the severe cash crunch in AIR, one of the new economy measures is that foreign correspondents may not travel without the express permission of the head office. Thus when President Abdul Kalam visited the UAE to condole the death of UAE President Sheikh Sayed bin Sultan al Nahayan, the AIR correspondent stationed in Dubai could not travel the 150 km from Dubai to Abu Dhabi to report live on the President’s visit. Doordarshan did not even bother to carry the news of the President’s visit.

On the other hand, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for the EU a few days later, two AIR correspondents accompanied him as did a DD crew. The President’s Office is reportedly miffed with such stepmotherly treatment. An additional grouse is that neither the Prime Minister nor Sonia Gandhi attended the President’s Id party. Was it a mere coincidence that President Kalam did not show up for the samadhi prayers on Pandit Nehru’s birth anniversary, as is customary?
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