Prime Minister is better, watches Television

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had gone through a coronary bypass surgery on Saturday at AIIMS, is making speedy recovery. On Monday, Dr Singh watched the Republic Day parade on TV from his hospital bed. Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi visited Dr Singh and inquired about his health.

AIIMS authorities said the Prime Minister continues to make “excellent progress” and had “some semi-solid food” on Monday. He had been on a liquid diet till Sunday evening after the surgery. Authorities said several invasive monitoring lines have been removed and the Prime Minister will be given physiotherapy once he is out of the ICU to enable early mobilisation. Though the date of discharge has not been finalised, considering his progress, doctors do not think that Dr Singh would have to stay in the hospital for long. “The PM is showing further improvement in his health. In the morning he watched the Republic Day function on television,” said AIIMS medical superintendent D. K Gupta.

Dr Singh, 76, underwent an 11-hour bypass heart surgery at the AIIMS. He is expected to be in the hospital for about a week.

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What protocol for Sarkozy girlfriend?

The ministry of external affairs is working out what could become a new protocol for the girlfriends of visiting heads of state and government and lead the government to call on the First Gentleman of India, Mr. Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat, husband of President Pratibha Patil, to play host to model-turned-singer Carla Bruni, who is expected to accompany French President Nicolas Sarkozy to India.

Mr Sarkozy is the chief guest on the invitation of President Patil for the Republic Day parade. Under well laid out protocol, the spouses of visiting dignitaries are escorted to the parade by the spouses of the President of India. Mr Shekhawat, who is now living with his wife at Rashtrapati Bhavan, can be expected to do the honours for Ms Bruni, provided of course the MEA works out the current confusion and decides to give a "girlfriend" the status of a "wife".

At the moment the reluctance in the government to bend protocol rules is palpable. Officials are not willing to go into what many in government consider a "grey" area that could lead to all kinds of "complications". As a girlfriend, Ms Bruni, if she decides to brave the Indian moral code of conduct, will at best be a member of the presidential delegation and will then not be escorted to the parade by the First Gentleman. Instead, like the other delegates, she will be seated in the VVIP enclosure earlier to await the arrival of President Sarkozy with President Patil. It is pointed out that the government is not required to give spouse-level recognition to a dignitary's girlfriend, and it might not be diplomatically correct to equate the wedded husband of President Patil with the girlfriend of President Sarkozy.

The seating arrangements at the presidential banquet for the French President will also need some skilful handling if Ms Bruni is elevated to the status of a "wife". President Patil and President Sarkozy will sit opposite each other as is the custom. Ms Bruni will then be seated with Mr Shekhawat on the banquet table with the onus on him to entertain the glamorous visitor and toast the visit with a glass of apple juice. Ms Bruni might be surprised in Mr Shekhawat as he is clearly not a conservative man.

When asked by reporters earlier as to who would call the shots in Rashtrapati Bhavan, he said, "She (President Patil) will be the head of the family. It will now be a matriarchal family."

Ms Bruni could well launch the MEA into the 21st century if she does not back out of the visit and is given the status of a "spouse", or something higher in the protocol hierarchy than a girlfriend. It was not too long ago that a Canadian diplomat posted in India faced the brunt of MEA conservatism when his gay partner was not recognised by the government as a

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