Now,austerity drive in prime minister’s visit (Lead, Travelling with PM)

PITTSBURGH - Austerity starts here! That’s the message the Indian government, perhaps, seeks to convey during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit here to attend the G20 Summit.

The first casualty of the austerity drive has been the strength of the media delegation accompanying the prime minister. It now stands reduced to 29 journalists from the 35 or more who are normally part of the entourage.

This apart, gone are the days when caviar was a part of the normal indulgence and champagne flowed freely. Now, instead of a rather elaborate food menu to choose from, the choice before the prime minister’s fellow travellers was quite limited.

But scribes from south India, as also others with a taste for the normal cuisine in southern states, were not disappointed. The tradition of serving curd rice, started by former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, has not stopped.

–*–

A Hindu temple in US with a long tradition

One of the few places in Pittsburgh that is part of an excursion tour for the members of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s delegation is the imposing Sri Venkateswara Temple.

This is one of the earliest Hindu temples built in the US, dating back to 1977, and has been modelled on the famous Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam in Andhra Pradesh over a huge expanse of 3.5 acres.

The temple is as old as the Ganesha temple at Flushing in New York City which is generally thought to be among the oldest in the US at the site that originally belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Venkateswara temple, which sees some 100,000 visitors every year, is located on the immediate outskirts of Pittsburgh - called Penn Hills in the state of Pennsylvania.

–*–

Go green! Message from Pittsburgh

US President Barack Obama, the host for the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, seems to have a clear message to send while choosing the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden as the venue for the inaugural reception for invited leaders.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, here for the two-day summit at Obama’s invitation, will get to see and explore the grand steel and glass Victorian greenhouse that stands at one of Pittsburgh’s largest green spaces.

With the US pushing its own agenda for other countries to ensure their commitment to reducing emissions, the garden is seen as the right choice as it has become a strong advocate for green building practices, sustainable gardening and new environment awareness in the US.

–*–

$10,000 for a piece to camera!

There are, indeed, no free lunches in the US! The television journalists who are part of the prime minister’s media delegation to the G20 Pittsburgh Summit are learning this the hard way.

From audio-video feeds to providing a good backdrop for the piece to cameras, each and every bit of service rendered to journalists is charged. Everything costs money at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. In fact, a piece to camera from the venue could set an organisation back by as much as $10,000.

(Arvind Padmanabhan can be contacted at arvind.p@ians.in)