Deputy chairman's accented Hindi needs an interpreter in Smriti Irani

With Opposition agreeing to set aside differences and let the legislation for the welfare of disabled get through in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, it fell on deputy chairman PJ Kurien to rush through the Bill before disruptions began.

As Kurien proceeded in English with 119 amendments, Social Justice Minister TC Gehlot, who is comfortable in Hindi, was helped by Smriti Irani.

The textile minister sitting right behind Gehlot was seen prodding Gehlot at every call from the Chair for moving amendment lest he missed the call in Kurien’s accented English.



Yechury’s pun on the bill
Even as RS rushed through the law for the welfare of differently-abled, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury took a dig at the vague definitions of intellectual disability and memory impairment in the Bill.

He said Opposition charges the Treasury Bench of lacking in intellectual ability, a charge the ruling party reciprocates.

He pointed how it was prone to misuse, jovially suggesting the vague definitions may place members from both categories in the disabled lot. Though the joke was lost on most MPs in the rush to pass the legislation, Arun Jaitley was seen smiling over the pun.



Change please
Former finance minister P Chidambaram came to the rescue of another leading lawyer of the Supreme Court recently in a private airline.

Senior advocate A Sundaram had only a Rs 2,000 note to buy sandwiches off the in-flight menu. But the air hostess refused to take the note, insisting on a smaller denomination.

Before Sundaram could ask for help, the former finance minister, who was sitting diagonally opposite behind him, fished out a Rs 100 note to help him out!