He may not have got a dish named after him yet at ITC Maurya.

Intelligence agencies have informed the Centre that the monorail projects proposed by the governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra have been awarded to a Malaysian firm whose group CEO allegedly has links to Pakistan’s rogue atomic scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Malaysia-based Scomi-Geodesic consortium’s group CEO, Shah Hakim Shahzanim Zan, is reportedly under the scanner of US intelligence for alleged links to Dr A.Q. Khan.

Wedding bells will finally ring for the 30-year-old BJP Lok Sabha MP Varun Gandhi. The BJP’s youth icon will tie the knot with a Delhi-based Bengali graphic designer, Yamini Roy Chowdhury, 30.

The architect of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Mr L.K. Advani, on Saturday visited the Somnath temple in Gujarat to offer prayers. Mr Advani had taken out his contentious rath yatra from Somnath in 1990, triggering the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Saturday was the anniversary of the senior BJP leader’s 1990 yatra.

In a last ditch-attempt to save the Commonwealth Games, due to start here on October 3, the Centre has finally decided to move in. Marginalising the controversial head of the Games organising committee, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, two Cabinet ministers — Mr S. Jaipal Reddy (urban development) and Mr M.S. Gill (sports) — are now expected to oversee all the preparations for the Games in the remaining time left and clean up the mess.

As Kashmir continues to burn, the PDP has reportedly sent feelers to the Congress high command to take charge of the government.

The Congress is apparently upset about the “attitude and arrogance” of a section of its Central ministers. They include the human resources development minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh, surface transport minister Kamal Nath, commerce minister Anand Sharma and health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Hectic lobbying has begun in the national capital for gubernatorial appointments. The governor of Uttarakhand, Mrs Margaret Alva, is reportedly lobbying hard to secure a place in the AICC during the forthcoming reshuffle of the organisation. Failing this, she would like to take up the job of Kerala governor, which would bring her close to her home state of Karnataka.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat’s style of politics is turning into an enigma for party leaders and the cadre. As the party’s position in both West Bengal and Kerala continues to weaken and the Left parties are pushed further into isolation over the nuclear liability bill, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat is busy discussing “world peace and international crises, economic and financial”, and other global issues with the Communist Party of Japan in Tokyo.

It’s time for iftar. Time for fasting and feasting and political networking under the shiny white shamianas on the sprawling lawns of Lutyens’ Delhi.
The BJP and the Trinamul Congress appear to have taken the lead in this year’s iftar politics. The first political iftar of the season was kicked off by BJP Muslim MP Shahnawaz Hussain and Union minister of state for tourism Sultan Ahmed of the Trinamul Congress.