A sombre day in the capital yesterday. While the Prime Minister recovers from his cardiac surgery, India lost one of its former presidents R Venkataraman. The 98 year-old, who was often known as a copybook head of state, oversaw India’s the country’s first coalition government, headed by V P Singh. All official functions stand cancelled for a week. Meanwhile, other business went on as usual. One unsavoury highlight: newspapers reported that the government has proposed to more than double the funds allocation to MPs under the MP Local Area Development Scheme—the amount will go up from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. A great way to curry favour with legislators, what with elections around the corner….