It looks like your minipulator is in Pivot Mode. This happens when you've selected a tool from the Tool Box (e.g. move, rotate, ..) and the [Insert] key is pressed. Then you're only able to move/rotate/rotate the pivot point of the object and not the object itself. Until you press the [Insert] key again or choose another tool.

Hope it's what you're looking for.

See Using Maya > General > Basics > Transforming objects > Change the pivot point in the Maya manual.