Gill's googly

Stoic Manmohan has his methods in his silence. The row triggered by Sports Minister M S Gill's order on fixing the tenure of members of the various sports federations and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) may have escalated to the Prime Minister's Office but there is no give there.
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Having cast the first stone, Gill expected a high-level backlash from the high-flying sports czars whose wings he is trying to clip.

Gill and Suresh Kalmadi, president of IOA and head of the Games coordination committee, have been sparring on the sidelines for some time now.
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But the PM's timing is rarely something that is rash or rushed.

The sports bosses may scare us that Gill's order will jeopardise the Commonwealth Games but they just hope that the games will be their safety net and the Prime Minister would not wish to rock the boat just now.
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But the row at BCCI makes the public sentiment nudge in favour of Gill's move.

The satraps of sports are now also preparing to challenge the order in court. So the battle is far from over. In fact, it may have only just begun!

Breathing easy

The air in Dilli's Connaught Place is cleaner, thanks to a filtering machine that reduces air pollution in the area. With a filtering efficiency of 95 per cent, the pilot project has been declared a success.

During its trial run, the machine soaked up 212 kg of particulates in the CP area, confirming that Delhi's air remains rather highly polluted despite the introduction of CNG and cleaner fuels.

The municipal authorities have forwarded their findings to the Central Pollution Control Board for verification.
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If approved, the CPCB may decide to install this technological lung, which inhales polluted air and exhales filtered air, in other areas too.

Dilli's successful experiment with the air filtration machine may well become a nationwide programme.

"Image Guru", Dilip Cherian is part time spin doc and full time analyst of issues, food, cities. He awaits your tweet @DILIPtheCHERIAN.