President George W. Bush seems to have thrown a protective ring around the controversial World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to save him from the ‘hounds’ who are baying for his blood.
The White House spokesman, Tony Snow, told reporters: “He (Wolfowitz) made mistakes, that is obvious. On the other hand, it’s not a firing offence.”
The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, admitted Mr Wolfowitz’s error, but said it was not serious enough to cost him his job. “It doesn’t seem to be the kind of thing that you would want to see the dismissal of the World Bank president over,” she said.
“Mr Wolfowitz’s greatest strength yesterday appeared to be his support from the administration he served. Mr Wolfowitz was the number two figure at the Pentagon and a prominent architect of the Iraq war until he joined the bank two years ago, says Suzanne Goldenberg of The Guardian
“Mr Wolfowitz secured a promotion and $60,000 (£30,000) rise for Shaha Riza, a communications officer. In its report to the bank board on Monday, the committee investigating Mr Wolfowitz’s handling of the conflict of interest between his post as World Bank president and his personal life was unsparing.
“Not only did the panel find that Mr Wolfowitz broke bank rules in the compensation package for Ms Riza, but it said that he had put the institution in danger.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.