The Tribune – 100 [Kashmir] Valley stone-pelters set to be released

Ehsan Fazili, Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 29. As part of the eight-point plan to ease the ongoing trouble in Kashmir, the authorities have decided to immediately release 100 youth who had been arrested for stone-throwing over the past four months in Kashmir. They would be handed over to their parents on the assurance of their good conduct in future.

Two committees comprising civil, Army and police officers, one each for Kashmir and Jammu provinces, have also been constituted to review the areas which have been declared “disturbed areas” under the AFSPA.

These decisions were taken at a meeting of the Combined Unified Headquarters (UHQ) held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here this evening, Principal Secretary (Home) B R Sharma told mediapersons.

The UHQ meeting was held following the announcement of an eight-point agenda by the Central government on Saturday after an all-party delegation led by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram visited the strife-torn state.

Sharma said the two committees would carry out a detailed review and submit their recommendations to the Apex Committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister.

The UHQ further decided to remove 16 bunkers or pickets of security forces in Srinagar city.

A meeting of the Review Committee on the cases of all those detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) would be held here on October 6, the Principal Secretary (Home) said. He added that about 100 persons had been arrested on the charges of stone pelting since the trouble erupted in the valley.

Of these, 48 persons had been detained under the PSA, whose cases are also being reviewed.

The UHQ also decided that mobile services, which had been deactivated since the eruption of trouble, would be reactivated immediately in Sopore and Baramulla areas of north Kashmir.

It was informed that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has issued orders sanctioning ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakhs each to the kin to those killed in the civil disturbance since June 11.

A sum of Rs 100 crore has been released by the Central government as additional Central assistance to the state government for bringing about improvement in the infrastructure in schools and colleges.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100930/main5.htm

The Tribune – Ayodhya: HC divides disputed land into three parts

Lucknow, September 30. The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday ruled by majority that the disputed land in Ayodhya should be divided into three parts to be distributed among the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the party for ‘Ram Lalla’.

The bench comprised Justice DV Sharma, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice SU Khan.

The Tribune will carry an exhaustive coverage on the judgement and related issues in the regular issue, which will be put online at 2 am IST. (Agencies)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100930/main8.htm

On my cycle to the Hoepertingen Gurdwara V

Apart from the Sangat Sahib Gurdwara there is another Gurdwara in Limburg, in Hoepertingen, Borough of Borgloon. Following pictures of my trip to Hoepertingen, using the marked cycling routes.

Hoepertingen : Close up of the tree next to the gate seen on the previous post
Note the blue sign showing that I should turn left

Rijkel : cobblestones and castle wall

Rijkel : Castle wall, tower and what might have been a moat

 

Rijkel : Frontal view of castle
Some chap left his cycle unlocked

From Rijkel I made my way back to the Sangat Sahib Gurdwara, but took no more pictures

Next Belgium pictures on doing seva serving food in the langar
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

To see all my Belgian pictures go to :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157624495772533/

BBC News – India launches ambitious national identity scheme

29 September 2010

India has launched a huge national identity scheme aimed at cutting fraud and improving access to state benefits.

Using biometric methods, including an iris scan, the system will log details of India’s population of more than one billion people on a central database.

It was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi in western India.

The data will be stored online in what India says will be the biggest such national database in the world.

The unique identification (UID) programme will help those in poor, marginalised communities who find it difficult to access public services and benefits because they do not have official records, officials say.

The government expects to give a UID number to every Indian citizen within four years.

Birth registration is not universal and it is hoped that the database will give an accurate picture of Indian society.

‘Special moment’

The new ID scheme was launched in the village of Tembhili in Nandurbar district of western Maharashtra state.

The ID numbers were handed out to 10 people, including three children.

Prime Minister Singh described the start of the process as a “special moment” that would empower the most marginalised in society.

“It will help strengthen the rights of the downtrodden and the poorest, including women,” AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Gandhi described the launch as a “new beginning” for India.

Billionaire IT expert Nandan Nilekani, who was drafted in by the government to run the project, was also present at the function.

Under the scheme, all Indians will be issued a 12-digit ID number which they will use to receive welfare handouts, to apply for other documents like passports and even to open bank accounts, the BBC’s Mark Dummett in Delhi says.

As well as iris scans, photographs, finger prints and other personal information will be collected and then stored on a vast central database.

The government hopes this will prevent corrupt officials from faking the names of people seeking welfare benefits or access to education – potentially saving billions of dollars.

Critics, however, complain that the project itself will cost billions of dollars and are also worried about the authorities collecting so much personal information.

Others say there is no guarantee that the scheme really will make much of a difference to India’s corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy. Some say the focus should be on improving services for the poor, rather than access to them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11433541

The Tribune – Call for youth uprising against graft, unemployment

Amaninder Pal, Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 28. Giving a call for a nationwide youth uprising against corruption and unemployment, thousands of members of the All-India Youth Federation today gathered on the premises of Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall, Jalandhar, on the first day of four-day national-level conference of the federation. Over 800 delegates from all states will participate in the conference.

Besides, Leftist leaders, including CPI general secretary AB Bardhan, Comrade P Santosh and Comrade K Murugan, president and general secretary of the federation, and Comrade Joginder Dayal, representatives of the leftist youth organisations of Portugal, Vietnam, Kenya, Burma, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka attended the rally.

Comrade Dera from Portugal, president, World Federation of Democratic Youth, an international conglomerate of leftist youth organisations, also participated in the rally.

The conference was started with torches, carried by groups of hundreds of youth from the respective birthplaces of Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai, Kartar Singh Sarabha and from the Jallianwala Bagh and Hussainiwala.

Addressing the gathering, AB Bardhan said dream of rapid economic growth and thriving GDP was a farce and division between rich and poor in the country was deepening with every passing day.

Taking a dig over the policies of the UPA-II, he said over 80 per cent people were bearing the brunt of inflation, unemployment and corruption and 2G spectrum scam and controversy over the Commonwealth Games were classical examples of the prevailing corruption.

On the occasion of 103rd anniversary of Bhagat Singh, he called upon youth to build mass movement against such evils, adding that he never resorted to violence to build mass movement and used violence only as a symbol to draw attention of imperialists. Later, the volunteers took out a protest march in the city.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100929/punjab.htm#4

The Tribune – Supreme Court rejects deferment plea, Ayodhya verdict tomorrow

R Sedhuraman, Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, September 28. The Supreme Court today rejected the petition to defer the Allahabad High Court verdict in the 60-year-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. Reports from Lucknow said that the high court bench, comprising Justices SU Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and DV Sharma, would now deliver the verdict at 3.30 pm on Thursday. Justice Sharma retires on October 1.

A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia today said that after considering the “detailed arguments” advanced by most of the parties to the dispute, it was of the view that the plea deserved to be rejected. However, the Bench — which included Justices Aftab Alam and KS Radhakrishnan — did not specify the reason for dismissing the petition filed by retired civil servant RC Tripathi.

During the arguments that lasted a little over two hours today, Justice Alam found fault with RC Tripathi for not taking any initiative all these years for an across-the-table solution. “You are running against time because you woke up late. That is after 50 years,” Justice Aftab Alam said. “The question is why you were quiet for all these days. You had to strike a chord when the matter was in the High Court,” Justice Alam said.

Attorney-General GE Vahanvati said that the government did feel that the most preferred solution to the dispute was a settlement, but it had not taken place in the past 50 years. The government did not want the present uncertainty to continue, he said.

Barring RC Tripathi and Nirmohi Akhara, all parties to the dispute which argued in the court today were opposed to delaying the high court verdict.

The Lucknow Bench of the high court was to deliver its verdict on September 24 but an apex court Bench had stayed it on September 23, issuing notice to all parties to the dispute on RC Tripathi’s petition.

Refuting RC Tripathi’s allegations that the Centre had remained a mute spectator for years without being pro-active for finding a negotiated settlement, Vahanvati said a Constitution Bench of the SC had asked the government to act as a “statutory receiver” of the disputed land until the judicial verdict only to hand it over to the party that came out successful in the title suit.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for RC Tripathi, said that the Centre had conveniently forgotten Parliament’s commitment to constructing a temple as well as a mosque at the disputed site, measuring over 70 acres, besides setting up an inter-faith museum and a library. Countering Vahanvati’s contention that the verdict would end the uncertainty, he said the case was bound to come to the apex court in the form of an appeal.

‘Judiciary can’t be held hostage’

Senior counsel Soli Sorabji, appearing for one of the parties, said the “judicial system should not be held hostage” to apprehensions of law and order arising from the verdict going against any one of the communities involved in the dispute.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100929/main3.htm

Dawn – West warned that Islam insults risk ‘civilization clash’

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

UNITED NATIONS: Kings, emirs and presidents from Muslim nations have made pressing appeals to the United Nations for the West to clampdown on attacks on Islam which they warned is a growing threat to international security.

In speeches to the UN General Assembly, leaders said that “Islamophobia” was causing a growing Muslim-West divide and one top Arab minister put the international community on guard against a “civilization clash”.

A threat to burn the Koran by a fringe US church, controversy over a proposed mosque near the scene of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and assaults on Islamic symbols in European countries have been a major talking point for Muslim nations.

Normally strong allies of the West have spoken out at the UN against the growing religious tensions in the past week.

Many were embarrassed by comments by Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad linking the US government to 9/11, diplomats said.

But Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, who has launched western-backed diplomatic initiatives to settle wars ranging from Sudan to the Israel-Palestian conflict, condemned attempts to link Islam with terrorism. He partly blamed the US “War on Terror” declared after September 11.

“We disagree with the attribution of this so-called terrorism to the Islamic religion because this — in addition to being incorrect — is a historical injustice that is refuted by evidence from recent history.”

He said “gratuitous violent actions” in the United States, Europe and Asia in the late 20th century were never labelled as being American, European or Asian terrorism.

“This violence was attributed to its underlying political, economic, social and even ideological causes, without attributing it to a particular religion, country or idea.”

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit condemned “regrettable and appalling incidents that have increasingly touched Muslims and Islam, repeatedly and sometimes systematically in certain cases.”

He added: “We find the West, in general, being drawn into a clash with the Muslim world. This clash will serve no one except extremists and those who hold perverted ideas on both sides. It will not be in the interest of security and stability in the world.” Gheit called for western governments to take action, including passing laws.

“We call upon all countries and especially governments, to assume their responsibility to confront the specter of a dreadful religious and civilization clash.”

King Abdullah II of Jordan said it is “essential to resist forces of division that spread misunderstanding.” He called for an annual World Interfaith Harmony Week to promote tolerance.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak told the UN assembly that the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims were offended by “attempts to demonize Islam.”

He added: “It intensifies the divide between the broad Muslim world and the West.” (AFP)

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/14-west-warned-that-islam-insults-risk-civilization-clash-zj-06

Jubilee Line & Dockland Light Railway, Stratford to Canning Town II

 In the coming weeks I will show pictures I took during my trip to the UK at the end of August.
Subjects are London Overground, Docklands Light Rail, Sikh Relay Marathon and Central Gurdwara (Shepherd’s Bush).

Canning Town Jubilee Line

New Canning Town DLR Station

DLR Services including the new Stratford International – Stratford – Canning Town line
Between Stratford and Canning Town this new service follows the old Silverlink North London Line allignment 

To see more DLR pictures go to :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157611244941713/

More pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Hussainiwala Barrage, Gates opened to divert flood water to Pakistan

Chander Parkash, Tribune News service

Hussainiwala, September 27. All 29 gates of Hussainiwala barrage were opened today after 22 years to divert the flood water of a swollen Sutlej to Pakistan. The Irrigation and Drainage Department authorities opened the gates of the barrage, located at a stone’s throw from the Radcliffe line, when the level of water rose high into the Hussainiwala pond.

Official sources said the total discharge of water from the local barrage touched a high of 56,565 cusecs. The level of water in the Hussainiwala pond was expected to go up further as discharge from the Harike downstream was around 58,000 cusecs and this water would reach Hussainiwala tonight.

“We have opened all gates of the Hussainiwala barrage so that maximum water could be allowed to pass from it in the shortest possible time to avoid flooding of areas in its pocket,” pointed out Jaswant Singh Sandhu, Executive Engineer (Xen), Drainage, Ferozepur, adding that earlier all gates were opened in 1988, when Ferozepur district witnessed devastating floods.

It is learnt that the level of opening of gates ranged from one foot to three and a half feet. The level would be adjusted according to the quantum of water received here from Harike headworks.

Meanwhile, in the Fazilka sector, where the water level has gone high in the old creek of the Sutlej, Army personnel have been working round the clock to save the defence bundh, erected during the Kargil war.

Meanwhile, gushing water has also inundated the cobra wire fencing for a few kilometres in the DT Mal sector.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100928/punjab.htm#2

The Tribune – India objects to Pakistan’s remark on Kashmir

Ashok Tuteja, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 27. India today chided Pakistan for its latest remarks on Jammu and Kashmir even as top diplomats of the countries were trying to fix a bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in New York.

“India’s position on the state of Jammu and Kashmir is unequivocal and well-articulated,” government sources here said. They were reacting to Pakistan foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit’s statement asking New Delhi to “revisit its approach and its Kashmir policy rather than taking cosmetic measures here and there’’ as that would not bring about any change in the situation.

In the past two weeks, the two countries have exchanged sharp words over Kashmir with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of meddling in India’s internal affairs.

This verbal duel has come at a time when attempts are on to make External Affairs Minister S M Krishna meet his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmud Qureshi on the margins of the UN General Assembly meet.

If their meeting materialises, it would be the first time that they will hold substantive talks after their failed talks in Islamabad in mid-July.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100928/main5.htm