Recently senior officials of an international organisation dealing with renewable energy sought a meeting with Abdullah but were told he would only meet the top honcho. The senior executive was flown in for the meeting but he went away with the impression that Abdullah was not giving him his wholehearted attention.

The upshot was that a bureaucrat was told to look into the proposal made by the organisation with the potential to improve India's energy security manifold and move the country to a cleaner development path.

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Patil turns two at Rashtrapati Bhavan

It was an event that passed by rather quietly - the day marking President Pratibha Devisingh Patil's two years in office.

Officials at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, even released a CD and an official communique to mark the occasion last month and how she has been working towards building a 'compassionate and people-centric society'. But the media by and large failed to take notice of the event.

A day before she completed two years in the office, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called on her.

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A little help from friends

That Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury are close friends is known. But is there space for personal relations in an era of coalition politics?

Last week Chidambaram was have a light-hearted chat with Yechury in the lobby of parliament when he spotted Trinamool Congress leader, CPI-M baiter and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee coming round the corner rather hurriedly.

Chidambaram found himself in a piquant situation, especially as the Trinamool had been vociferous in the Lok Sabha about West Bengal being the country's most violent state.

Sensing the home minister's discomfort, Yechury did the vanishing act. Soon after, Chidambaram uttered his now infamous 'killing fields' of West Bengal speech.

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Whither N-powered aircraft carrier?

Has Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chief Anil Kakodkar bitten off more than he can chew with his claim that India can build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier? It would seem so.

As of now, Indian scientists have been able to develop just one 80 MW sea-borne reactor that will power the indigenous INS Arihant submarine that was launched into the waters last month and is scheduled to be inducted in the Indian Navy.

Knowledgeable military officers say the reactor has yet to be tested under ideal, let alone warlike, conditions. And assuming it is successful, it alone cannot power a nuclear carrier. Theoretically, two or three reactors in tandem can propel a carrier but that is still in the realm of possibility.

'We are not too sure of our capability of building a conventionally-powered aircraft carrier,' an officer quipped. The keel for India's first indigenous aircraft carrier was laid in February and the vessel is due for induction in two years.

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A room for Menon - will he be back?

While the official farewell took place in the last week of July, there is still a round of personal farewell parties being hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and others for former foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon.

Despite the shadow of Sharm-el-Sheikh, Menon is in all likelihood to be back in an advisory role as he has asked for retention of his National Informatics Centre e-mail account.

A small room in the second floor of South Block has been designated for Menon, where he is likely to be an advisor on nuclear energy-related matters once he ends his two-month vacation.