A skit in time

Venu Rajamony, joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has been appointed press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee. From handling multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, he will now be handling the press at Rashtrapati Bhavan. How did an Indian Foreign Service officer get this job? A skit performed by finance ministry directors at a DEA retreat earlier this year portrayed Rajamony as an official who would not miss a chance to publicise any government initiative in the media. Officials who put up the spoof are now taking credit for highlighting his press publicity skills.