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	Virendra Kapoor

November 3, 2001

	Time doesn't spare anyone. Not even the defence minister of a country. So we have George Fernandes looking -- and behaving -- his archaic age. Like Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he has a problem remembering names. At a recent press conference, Fernandes fumbled trying to recall the name of a terrorist who has caused a storm the world over. Finally, it was left to a scribe to remind him that the name he was trying to dig out from the deep recesses of his 70-plus mind was perhaps Osama bin Laden. PM's media adviser needs some education Then there are people like Ashok Tandon. As officer on special duty in the Prime Minister's Office, the gent does a lot of rubbing shoulders with the media. But definitely not the way it should be done, we feel. Some days ago, the owner-editor of a major newspaper group from the northeast met Tandon in New Delhi. Asked the editor: Am I in the press party accompanying the PM on his tri-nation visit? No, replied a distracted Tandon. Do you think you could include me, the journalist persisted. Well, if somebody drops out, replied Tandon, we will see. That assurance was enough for our owner-editor to stay put in Delhi for a full week, during the course of which he tried through various contacts to get himself aboard the PM's flight.Among the owner-editor's contacts was a senior scribe who, in the face of repeated requests, agreed to speak with Tandon. Over the next few days the scribe dialled Tandon's number many times. But to no avail. It would be incorrect to mention Indira Gandhi's scholarly media adviser H Y Sharada Prasad in the same breath as Tandon, but one cannot help but recall the extreme courtesy he showed towards all journalists, senior and not-so-senior. Sharada Prasad was always polite and proper even towards Indira Gandhi's bitterest critics. Could somebody tell Tandon about Sharada Prasad? Pals all the way After the September 11 terrorist attacks against the US, there has been a marked step-up in the cooperation between the intelligence agencies of India and the US. Unknown to the world, in mid-October, senior Federal Bureau of Investigation sleuths came down to meet Indian intelligence officialsin New Delhi. They met Intelligence Bureau Director K P Singh. Later, another group from the Central Intelligence Agency exchanged views with Research and Analysis Wing chief Vikram Sood. Sources tell us that Indian sleuths provided the Americans the information that led to the pinpointed bombing of a house in Kabul where key commanders of the banned Harkat-ul-Mujahideen were meeting. Thirty-five terrorists, including 21 from Pakistan, were killed in that incident. Illustrations: Uttam Ghosh Mail us your comments Capital Buzz
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