Sunday, November 13, 2011

ehelka armtwisted Goa govt into funding its literary fest : DeccanHerald

Tehelka armtwisted Goa govt into funding its literary fest

A crusader turns collector
Devika Sequeira, Nov 12, Panaji:

After several preliminaries and high-power calls—some of them from Sonia Gandhi's political adviser Ahmed Patel —''Tehelka'' publisher and chief operating officer Neena Tejpal met Chief Minister Digambar Kamat in Goa weeks ahead of ''Think 2011'', the magazine's 'festival of ideas' that was held here from November 4 to 6.

Neena Tejpal, sister of "Tehelka" editor Tarun Tejpal, was business-like and downright arrogant with the Goa chief minister, leaving his aides quite stunned. "If Tarun was here, he would have asked for Rs 1.5 crore. How much are you willing to give?" she asked Kamat quite bluntly, a government source told Deccan Herald. The source expressed shock at Neena's tone and tenor, considering she was talking to the chief minister of a state. An embarrassed Kamat asked his aides to see which departments could be tapped for funding the fest and the chief secretary finally came up with a figure of Rs 50 lakh for the magazine's event.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/204473/a-crusader-turns-collector.html

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