Much ado about Mittal

It was astonishing to read a full page article on the exploits of Mr. Mittal in the Times of India today. Ofcourse, its big news but it was the context of the article that surprises me. Why is Mr. Mittal celebrated as a Indian who has acheived big things. He has nothing to do with India expect maybe maintain an ancestral house. He has no investments in India (some of his estranged brothers do have) and only recently has he announced some investments in Jharkhand.

Jharkhan investments are no love for the land, it is because it makes business sense first. He is just following the herd which is looking towards India. Mr. Mittal has, on the other hand, exploited his Indian tag. The whole government machinery was falling over one another to support him in the Arcelor bid. Mr. Manmohan Singh infact made a personal attempt on getting support when Mr. Jacques Chirac came over to India recently.

A man of Mr. Mittal's stature does call for respect but the context should be his business acumen and not how a great Indian is conquering the world. We should wish him all the best and welcome him as a guest. He has made a choice to live elsewhere, we must live with that choice.

Saurav Ganguly and the CAB

After a long time, the CAB elections will see some hectic competition. Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya has - for the first time - some serious competition to deal with - The Kolkata Police Commisioner Mr. Prasun Mukherjee

The fact that the West Bengal govt. too wants to see a change in the CAB leadership is also good news for the commissioner. But what is really funny is the issue on which this election is being fought - Saurav Ganguly.

The chief reason why everyone wants Mr. Dalmiya out is that he has been unable to retain Saurav in the national squad. Any person with little common sense would appreciate that Saurav has been dropped from the team on the basis of perormance. There have been umpteen articles written in many newspapers where ex-cricketers and other knowledge persons have commented that he is well past his prime form and has not performed for the team. I fail to understand how a change in the CAB leadership will be able to bring back a non-performer to the national squad.

The plot of the opposition is to create an issue which will generate strong emotions - I'll not be surprised if it works ... after all this is West Bengal !