Ministers grounded

Battling the image of being soft on deviant ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to curb ministerial junkets this summer as a way of signalling his displeasure with their performance. Normally, as New Delhi’s temperature rises, ministers start getting invitations to travel abroad. This year Dr Singh has been merciless in rejecting proposals for foreign travel by ministers and senior officials. He has even cancelled a couple of his own tours abroad, going only to even hotter Africa!