The Hindu Business Line : Air India butter

That Air India is an airline for government officials is an open secret. Where else will they get free upgrades? To formalise many such conventions, customs and traditions, the airline decided to set up a booking office on the premises of the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, North Block. The idea is to provide the Ministries and government departments housed there the convenience of reservation facilities at their doorstep, the airline said in a statement. But, as a Finance Ministry official said, if the Maharaja wants Rs 5,000 crore, what better way than to set up shop outside the Finance Ministry, now known to all as ‘The’ ATM?

Clueless on Lodhi Road

A senior official of the World Bank which, like God, has all the answers, called our reporter for a meeting this week to discuss the Millennium Development Goals. Our man asked about India’s progress in these areas, only to find the official frantically searching for documents and repeating words such as corruption and mismanagement over and over. Then he gave up and promised to send a mail with the required details.

Coffee, tea or profit?

The return of consumer interest in the housing market has not only pepped up the general mood in the industry, it has also restored the sense of humour among realtors. Earlier this week, Parsvnath Developers announced a 180 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit for the second quarter of FY-10, its performance aided by sale of stake in a Delhi project and lower overheads and expenditure. The media briefing, held late evening in the conference room of Par svnath office, dragged on interminably. At the end of it, a journalist enquired if the cost-cutting drive initiated by the company last year was still in place. “Yes, of course,” replied the Chairman, Mr Pradeep Jain. “Didn’t you realise? We have not served you tea or refreshments,” he said, spurring an embarrassed staff into action.

Low Customer Care

SpiceJet and IndiGo — the two Delhi-based domestic low-cost airlines, known as LCCs — should probably add a statutory warning: “Buying our tickets could give you high blood pressure”. One passenger was forced to buy another ticket to fly her teenaged son to school in south India despite the child holding a boarding card, and another is still waiting for the airline to mail the e-ticket despite close to a week having passed since the booking and paym ent for the ticket was made. Moral: When you pay peanuts, expect to be treated like a monkey.

No-holds barred

Controversy is not something new for the Director-General, Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), Mr V. K. Sibal. However, this time he not only found himself being drawn into the ongoing gas war between the Ambani brothers, his children were also dragged in. The issue evoked a strong reaction from many on the role of the media. The Petroleum Ministry’s stoic silence ruffled not only investors in the oil and gas business but also those in high places. The timing of the controversy was perfect, as the DG’s current stint in his capacity as the upstream technical regulator ends this month.

OUR DELHI BUREAU