It was left to Congress leader P.R. Das Munshi to inform the MPs in the Lok Sabha that K. Venkataswami, the retired judge probing the Tehelka affair, had a second government job under his belt. But the information was already posted on the Department of Revenue's website (finmin. nic.in/revhq/revnew/AFARCCE.htm)

The website not only defined the scope of Venkataswami's new assignment as head of the Authority for Advance Rulings for Customs and Central Excise but mentioned his salary (Rs 30,000 per month), named his colleagues in the authority, stated that he would function from Samrat Hotel and confided that the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet was "still awaited" (till June 26, when the page was last updated).

Wiser after the event, the Revenue Department withdrew the page from the Net the same day.

Now that he has additional brief of the Commerce Ministry to tackle, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie is getting down to business at Udyog Bhavan.

When a file on a proposal to send a bureaucrat to Bangkok to "study globalisation" landed on Shourie's desk, he swiftly shot it down. He informed ministry officials that guidelines for babus travelling abroad must first be inked out. In the meanwhile, the officials have been asked to get down to business and familiarise themselves with complex WTO negotiations.

Indian Navy warships are shedding their trademark dark grey colours-which they have sported for nearly a half-century-for a new paler NATO-like light grey. Naval brass say the paler paint helps blend in with the sea.

The navy, whose six months at sea since the attack on Parliament was the longest operational deployment, discovered that while its dark grey warships melted into the night, they stood out during day. Now all warships going in for refits are being given new coats of paint.

The naval submarines, of course, remain black. The colour doesn't matter underwater.

CONFESSIONAL

UMA BHARATI
The Union minister for Coal and Mines spoke to Editor Prabhu Chawla on Seedhi Baat on her stand on NALCO disinvestment

Q. Are you a minister or an opposition leader?
A. I am a representative of the public in the Government, not the other way round.

Q. Don't you think ministers like you are creating problems for the Government?
A. My line of thinking is the same as Vajpayeeji's.

Q. Do you support him on Godhra?
A. Election should never be fought on religious issues.

Q. The prime minister supports disinvestment but you oppose it.
A. Vajpayeeji said at the Planning Commission that we have to be careful that public interest should not be ignored in the process of economic reform. He is aware of the experiences of the underprivileged as he himself reached this position after much struggle.

Q. What's the relation between NALCO and the poor?
A. Definitely there is a relation and I have explained it where I needed to.

Q. Don't you think bureaucrats benefit most from government ventures?
A. Bureaucrats spend very short tenures in PSUs. It's not fair to allege that bureaucrats oppose disinvestment just for perks. In my ministry officials don't think like this.

Q. But the prime minister has supported the process of disinvestment.
A. I am not against disinvestment, but the manner in which NALCO is being disinvested.

Q. You have differences with Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie on this issue.
A. The difference is not between Uma Bharati and Arun Shourie but between the Disinvestment Ministry and my ministry.

Seedhi Baat is telecast on Aaj Tak on Wednesdays at 9.30 p.m.
and on Thursdays at 12.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m