Odds and Ends

Numbers man catches travel bug

A top man involved in balancing books in an office that is foreign has caught the travel bug. So what better way than to begin with a probe of books for bogus numbers in our offices in the regional capitals? He has taken wing to Male, Delhi, Chennai, Dhaka, Islamabad, Karachi and Kathmandu.

But the poor tax payer will have to foot the bill estimated at 650,000 smackers. This reminds us of a state top number sleuth in the eighties going on a much bigger snoop to bigger capitals, but the big man in the Ministry at the time known as All Countries Seen and having savoured epicurean tastes had much to hide.

So naturally the top number snoop came back with a container load of goodies from the land of the cherry blossoms.

Ex-b.i.l. rewarded again

Believe it or not a politico’s ex-brother-in-law who was posted to a crucial regional capital as a minister counsellor, has now been promoted in the same station as Deputy High Commissioner, a post almost always held by a senior career officer up to now considering the importance of the station and the post. An old foreign office wag commented that a man who regularly gets slippered certainly has no shame.

Number cruncher throws in towel

Our peacock proudly announced the appointment of its new CEO this week, but what it did not release to the world was the resignation of its chief numbers man. Questioned also about other top level impending changes, which some see as a clean up, those handling media relations within are tight-lipped. But a little bird whispered that it was a combination of factors, including some questioning over missing figures and a dinner date with an ex-top notch frowned on by the present bosses.

There is fear that former top men might even be coaching some to cover their tracks. They are pointing to a hill.