Friends and foes.

On his visit to the US the Foreign Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd suddenly announced his resignation from government a couple of days ago because he did not have the " support " of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. He was Prime Minister in 2010 but was ousted by his then deputy, Julia Gillard, the present Prime Minister. He has been angry and bitter since then and wants his job back. Ms Gillard has announced an election to choose the leader of the parliamentary Labour Party at 10am on Monday morning. Rudd speaks fluent Mandarin and may consider himself to be part Chinese because he would not allow uranium sales to India when he was Prime Minister. Australia has 40% of all uranium in the world and is necessary for us if we are to have secure supplies for our nuclear reactors. In November last year Ms Gillard reversed this hostility and has allowed Indian companies to mine for uranium in Australia. We hope she will win on Monday and pack off this Chinese lickspittle to some remote billabong in the vast outback, where he belongs. Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy, Staffan De Mistura has come hotfoot from Rome to rescue 2 marines on the merchant vessel Enrica Lexie who used 2 Indian fisherman for target practice on February 15 off the coast of Kerala. The Italians still insist that the shooting took place in international waters and, therefore, the murderers should be set free. This means that if an Italian ship passes an Indian one out in the oceans they will be at liberty to shoot and kill some of our sailors, if they are in the mood. However, Senor Mistura should not worry. The patriotism of our politicians is dictated by the ongoing elections in UP and will disappear as soon as that is over. Once the elections are over the freeloading press will gradually suppress the news under instructions. Then the 2 murderers will be quietly freed and put on a flight to Italy before anyone realises. Of course, the Italians will pay some compensation to the families but it will be a derisory amount, say Rs 1 million per family. However, the money will be paid through " proper channels " which means it will be gobbled up by local politicians and civil servants and the family will see not a paisa. Invitations to some key people to visit Italy and see the colosseum, the Herculaneum and enjoy a gondola ride in Venice will grease the wheels no end. The families, having lost their earning members, will be left running from one department to another for the rest of their lives. Or as we say in India," From pillar to post ". Two million rupees will pay for a great knees up.