Early warnings

It is well known that, unlike many other ministers, Finance Minister P Chidambaram is always on time for meetings and conferences. Now, it seems the finance minister is trying to beat his own record. A recent press conference after a meeting with bankers was advanced by half an hour. It was later discovered that this was on account of his having to take an emergency flight to Chennai to try and mollify Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi who was threatening to pull out of the government (and finally did so). A few days later, another conference by the finance minister started 15 minutes ahead of schedule, but this time there was no ostensible reason for this early start. Either way, reporters decided not to take chances and arrived early for the next press conference - sensibly, it turned out, because Chidambaram arrived early again, though just by a minute this time.