The Tribune – DCs, SSPs to probe cases related to atrocities against SCs

Our Correspondent

Mohali, June 29. Deputy Commissioners and SSPs of the districts concerned will be visiting the area to look into complaints in case atrocities with members of the Scheduled Caste take place.

This was stated by chairman of the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission Niranjan Singh here today. Niranjan, who presided over a meeting of the senior district officials at the Municipal Bhawan, said an inquiry in any case related to atrocities to the SCs would be probed by an official not less than the rank of a DSP.

“The commission has received 3,350 complaints, out of which 1,427 were linked to the atrocities. The main aim of the commission was to ensure that no atrocities were done with the people belonging to the Scheduled Caste and they are given full justice. The commission will also implement various schemes of the government that are formulated for the welfare of this section of the society,” he said.

The chairman also listened to the problems of the people and directed the officials concerned to look into the matter and report back.

Making a complaint to the chairman of the commission, the Residents Social and Welfare Association, Sector 70, alleged that former municipal councillor from Sector 70 Baljit Kaur Purkhalvi tried to create a division among the residents of the area on the basis of caste, which could create a law-and-order problem.They demanded action against Baljit.

Meanwhile, husband of the former councillor Shamsher Singh Purkhalvi staged a protest outside the Municipal Bhawan for not being invited to the meeting. He raised slogans against the commission and alleged it protected the interests only of rich people and not that of the poor. He was finally called to the meeting hall. Heated arguments between Purkhalvi and the Sector 70 residents took place in the presence of the chairman.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110630/punjab.htm#15

The Hindu – Sonia Gandhi unlikely to meet Anna Hazare today

30 June 2011

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is on Thursday unlikely to meet Anna Hazare who wanted to discuss with the Congress chief the civil society’s stand on the Lokpal Bill.

“No meeting is likely between Anna Hazare and Sonia Gandhi today. No appointment has been fixed for today,” sources at 10 Janpath, residence of Ms. Gandhi, said.

Mr. Hazare had on Wednesday said that he will try to persuade Ms. Gandhi to include the office of the Prime Minister in the Lokpal Bill.

“We will meet all parties…We will meet Sonia and tell her if the Prime Minister is saying so, then what is the problem,” he had said.

He had said the incumbent Prime Minister is an honest man. “The Union Cabinet belong to India, the people in the Cabinet are our people. Then what is the problem in taking the decision? They should be able to take it for the country.”

Mr. Hazare was responding to Singh’s remarks that he had no hesitation in bringing himself under the purview of Lokpal but many of his Cabinet colleagues feel that bringing the institution of Prime Minister under it will create instability.

Reaching out to political parties ahead of the all-party meeting, the Anna Hazare team had yesterday met CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and RLD chief Ajit Singh to explain their position on the Lokpal Bill.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2146887.ece

Vooruitgangstraat – Tunnel to Brussel Noord Station 27 May 2011

On the 27th of May I visited Brussel to attend a training course. I could not help myself, I just had to take a few more pictures of the trams in Vooruitgangstraat, where prémetro 3 and 4 and tram 25 and 55 enter the tunnel under central Brussel. The two tram lines terminate at tram/prémetro/metro station Rogier, the two prémetro lines follow the tunnel till after Brussel Zuid/Bruxelles Midi.

Tram 55 just entered the prémetro tunnel on its way to Rogier

Prémetro 3 & 4 :
3 emerging from the tunnel on its way to North-West Brussel
4 entering the tunnel on its way to Stalle in the South of Brussel

Tram 55 to Bordet emerges from the tunnel
Either a prémetro 3 or 4 enters the tunnel

Prémetro 4, terminating here, tram 25 to Brussel Noord and Rogier

To see all my Belgian and Netherlands Public Transport pictures go to :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622685920411/

More Belgian pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Soil erosion by Sutlej poses threat to villages

Distance between the river bank, several dwellings has reduced to a few dozen yards

Chander Parkash, Tribune News Service

Ferozepur, June 29. The residents of various villages located on the left bank of the Sutlej in the district are in a state of fear as the river water, though flowing at a low level, has started eroding the soil aggressively. The natives of Kutabdin, Nihala Lavera, Dhira Ghara and Kale Ke Hithar villages have been spending sleepless nights for the past few days.

They rue that if corrective measures were not taken by the state government immediately, they would become landless as a large chunk of the land would be eroded within a few days.

Sukhpal Singh Nannu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS), who visited the affected villages, said continuous erosion of land in these villages would merge the main Sutlej with its creek and then the water would start hitting Dhussi bundh on the left side of the river.

Nannu said that continuous erosion of the land had also started posing a threat to the dwellings of the residents of these four villages. He said at Kutabdin village, the distance between the bank of the Sutlej and the dwellings had reduced to a few dozen yards due to soil erosion. He said he would take up the matter with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon for the release of adequate funds so that studs could be set up at vulnerable points to check soil erosion immediately.

Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Engineer, Drainage, who also took a round of these villages, said soil erosion was a natural phenomenon whenever the water flowed at a low level in the Sutlej. He said so far the situation was under control. The erosion would come to an end when the water level in the Sutlej increases.

Gupta said that erosion had also been taking place as there was heavy deposit of silt towards the right bank of the Sutlej and hence, the water was hitting the river’s left bank. He said about 50,000 empty bags were required to erect studs at vulnerable points. He said he would take up the matter with the deputy commissioner to get funds for constructing the studs.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110630/punjab.htm#1

BBC News – Greece: South Asians flee financial crisis

29 June 2011

Thousands of South Asian migrants have left Greece in recent months to escape the country’s growing economic crisis.

Many of the migrants are now out of work and facing hardship, community leaders told the BBC.

One Bangladeshi grocer in Athens said daily proceeds from his shop had plummeted and he had had to lay off six of his eight employees.

Greece faces massive tax rises and spending cuts aimed at preventing the country from defaulting on its debts.

Without a second bail-out from the European Union, the country could run out of money within weeks. Greece is in the grip of a nationwide strike and violent clashes are continuing in Athens.

‘No jobs’

Jainal Abedin, a businessman and president of the Bangladeshi Association in Athens, said there were 30,000 people of Bangladeshi origin in Greece.

The financial crisis meant jobs were being cut and orders were down, he said.

“Many Bangladeshis are leaving Greece because they don’t have jobs,” Mr Abedin told the BBC Bengali service.

He said his grocer’s shop used to take 6,000-7,000 euros a day, but that had now dropped to 300-400 euros and suppliers were no longer willing to take his cheques.

The Bangladeshi embassy said dozens of the country’s nationals were asking it for help every month in returning home because of the lack of work.

Pakistani community leaders in Athens speaking to the BBC Urdu service had a similar tale.

They say there are around 80,000 Pakistanis living in Greece. Some 17,000 are legally settled while others are either asylum seekers or illegal immigrants.

They estimated that more than 75% of Pakistanis had been directly or indirectly affected by the financial crisis in Greece.

Most had lost their jobs or work, and people running small businesses were now incurring heavy losses.

According to an official figure, 1,500 Pakistanis in Greece have returned to Pakistan since the financial crisis began in 2008.

They did so under an official programme to facilitate the return of illegal immigrants. Many more Pakistanis have gone back on their own.

‘Shops closed’

Indians, too, are leaving, for similar reasons.

Madhur Gandhi, a shipping businessman in Athens and president of the Indian Community in Greece, said the crisis had affected lots of lives.

Out of about 30,000 Indians in Greece, only 18,000 were legal immigrants, he said. The vast majority of the community were agricultural workers employed on various islands – only a couple of hundred lived in Athens.

“Lots of factories and shops were closed and our people lost jobs,” Mr Gandhi told the BBC Hindi service.

“Agriculture workers were also affected but most seriously affected were the construction workers. About 1,000-2,000 Indians have gone back to India.”

The Sri Lankan community numbers 5,000-6,000, Matale Dhammakanda, a Buddhist priest in Athens, said.

Most work as housemaids or in hotels and many had entered the country illegally.

They were facing severe hardship and many were now trying to find ways to migrate to other countries in search of employment, he told the BBC Sinhala service.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13968748

The Tribune -Tribune Analysis, Even simple living has become a luxury

Ruchika M Khanna, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 28. The rising cost of fuel, hike in interest rates of home loans, and with food inflation heading north, the common man is struggling to make both ends meet.

In the past year, the cost of petrol has gone up by Rs 16 per litre and that of diesel by over Rs 8 per litre. The price of cooking gas has increased by Rs 85 per cylinder since June last.

To add to it, food inflation is showing no signs of abating and interest rates on home loans have increased by almost two per cent in the past year.

On the other hand, the incomes of most households have remained static. As a result, most households have been forced to forgo their entertainment allowance and now remain restricted to the three basic necessities — roti, kapda aur makaan.

Manikaran Singal, a financial planner from Moga, said that with the hike in food and fuel prices and with rates of home and auto loans going up, over 90 per cent of their household budget goes in catering to basic necessities. “The remaining 10 per cent goes as savings for the rainy day. As a result, entertainment is now a luxury for us,” he informed The Tribune.

It may be mentioned that food inflation is now hovering at a two-and-a-half-month high of 9.13 per cent on the back of costlier fruits, milk, onions and protein-based items.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 8.96 per cent during the previous week. It was almost 23 per cent during the second week of June 2010.

Though it is now much less than the inflation rate of 17.03 per cent in February, high food prices continue to burn a hole in the pocket of the common man.

Surinder Bhatia, an employee of a private factory in Ludhiana, said that because of higher food and fuel prices, healthcare needs of his family have taken a backseat.

“I could not save enough for my health insurance premium this year,” she said.

Many youngsters who have availed home loans, especially when teaser home loan rates were announced last year, are now finding it difficult to pay their enhanced equated monthly instalments.

Dhiraj Garg, a resident of Chandigarh, said that in the past two years, the interest on home loans has gone up by 2 per cent.

“For a loan of up to Rs 50 lakh, the interest on home loan was 8 per cent for the first year and 9 per cent for the second year. Now, the interest rate is hovering at 10.50 per cent.

“Since additional allocation has to be made for my home loan instalments and our household income has remained static, we are cutting into our savings to pay back the loan,” he rued.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110629/punjab.htm#7

The Asian Age – Guild letter to Maya on scribe assault

Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 29 June 2011. In a letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, the Editors’ Guild of India has protested against the rising cases of “intimidation, threats and violence” against journalists in the state.

The Guild letter to Mayawati comes after an incident of alleged manhandling of two journalists of a television news channel by the UP police. The Guild has asked the chief minister to take all necessary steps to ensure that media can function freely in the state.

“Two journalists from IBN7 — Shalabh Mani Tripathi and Manoj Ranjan Tripathi — were victims of police brutality, reportedly because they helped expose the conspiracy and cover-up behind the death of deputy chief medical officer Y.S. Sachan in the Lucknow jail hospital,” the Guild said in a statement.

“The scribes were able to prevent false cases being registered against them by the police only because one of them managed to escape from police custody and the city’s media protested against the false arrests,” the statement issued by the Guild said.

The Guild has appreciated Ms Mayawati’s prompt action in suspending two police officers responsible for arresting and threatening the concerned journalists. However, it has expressed its deep concern that the police harassment of the media has become common in UP.

http://www.asianage.com/india/guild-letter-maya-scribe-assault-105

Visit to the UK from 17 till 27 June 2011

On Friday June 17 I went by Eurostar to London St Pancras and from there to the house of my brother Amrik Singh in Hayes, Middlesex, just west of Southall. In the coming weeks I will post pictures of this visit. Monday 27 June I travelled back to Sint-Truiden, Belgium.

Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal

Brentford branch of the Grand Union Canal

Beginning of the Paddington branch, just north of Bulls bridge

Paddington branch, railway bridge

To see all my Southall pictures go to :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157624060488388/

More UK pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
 Man in Blue

The Tribune – We need a stable Pakistan that acts against terror: India

Rao warns against ‘dilution’ of efforts to fight

London, June 28. Underlining that India has worked to promote better ties with Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has said that relations with Islamabad can only grow in an atmosphere free of terror and violence.

“The trajectory of our relationship over the last few decades has been distorted and adversely impacted by the factor of cross-border terrorism,” Rao told a large gathering at the International Institute for Strategic Studies here.

Describing the recent talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in Islamabad as “productive and positive”, she said, “A stable Pakistan which acts as a bulwark against terrorism and extremism is in its own interest and also in the interest of our region. We have consistently made efforts to go back to the negotiating table to solve difficult issues. We have striven to promote better relations with Pakistan. Naturally, such relations can only grow in an atmosphere free of terror and violence.”

Referring to China, Rao said: “We have consciously practiced a policy of engagement that has yielded positive dividends. Although, there is an unresolved boundary question, which should be settled on mutually acceptable terms, we have not held the rest of the relationship hostage to this complex issue. We have also collaborated on a variety of multilateral issues.”

Speaking on ‘Key Priorities for India’s Foreign Policy’, Rao said: “It is an amalgam of national interests, our conviction that inclusive structures of dialogue and cooperation to address the new dimensions of security threats are necessary, that the institutions of global governance including the United Nations should reflect current realities.”

Rao also warned against “dilution” of efforts to fight terror days after India voted for splitting of Al-Qaida and Taliban on the UN sanctions list in a bid to help the Afghan government’s reconciliation and reintegration efforts with insurgents.

The challenge before the UN’s 1267 resolution, which established the sanctions regime, “is to ensure complete commitment to eliminating the scourge of terrorism, and to resist the dilution of such efforts for reasons that may seem compelling today but may not withstand the test of ground realities,” Rao said.

Talking about India’s reconstruction efforts in war-torn Afghanistan, she said, “We help Afghanistan in its reconstruction efforts with the aim of bringing peace and stability in that country.”

During his recent visit to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced an additional assistance of $500 million, over and above India’s existing commitments of $1.5 billion, she noted. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110629/main6.htm

Dawn – Commission on Shahzad’s murder case seeks public help

29 june 2011

Islamabad: Secretary of the Judicial Commission on slain journalist, Syed Saleem Shehzad has called upon public on Tuesday to provide any relevant information or material they may have that could help with the murder investigation.

“If anyone from the general public, media, civil society, family, friends and acquaintances of the slain journalist has any information or material relevant to his abduction and murder should send it to Federal Secretary Information & Broadcasting and Secretary of the Judicial Commission, Taimur Azmat Osman,” said a government spokesperson in a statement.

Any information or material related to Saleem Shehzad must be accompanied by a statement in written, duly verified, that affirms the information/material’s authenticity as well as responsibility of the claimant, said the statement.

The statement further said that all information/material must be submitted at the Commission Secretariat, Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC) Headquarters Islamabad by July 5.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/29/commission-on-shahzad%e2%80%99s-murder-case-seeks-public-help.html