The Tribune – The race for SGPC chief’s post hots up

Sarbjit Dhaliwal & Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Amritsar, September 19. With the Shiromani Akali Dal sweeping the SGPC elections, the race for presidentship of the premier Sikh religious body is set to hot up in the coming days. It will not be easy for SAD chief patron and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to chose the next SGPC president with several senior leaders in race for the post. Badal, who is invariably authorised by party members to name the president, has always sprung a surprise with his choice of president.

In 1999, he named Bibi Jagir Kaur as SGPC president, the first woman to head the religious body. Years later, he outwitted several senior leaders, naming Kirpal Singh Badungar as SGPC chief. He was, perhaps, the first leader from the Backward Classes to head the SGPC. In 2005, Badal named Avtar Singh Makkar as president to counter the influence of Delhi’s Paramjit Singh Sarna and his brother among the urban Sikh electorate. None had expected the move. Badal may spring a surprise this time too. Sources say he may name a Dalit as the next SGPC president. “This would pay the SAD rich dividends in the ensuing assembly elections. It could be a masterstroke to win over the support of the Dalits,” said a senior leader.

Those in the race for the coveted post are incumbent Avtar Singh Makkar, who has led the SGPC six times in a row, the second highest after SAD stalwart GS Tohra. Makkar’s stint as SGPC chief has been largely non-controversial and he has been loyal to the Badal family. Punjab Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan is also one of the contenders. His appointment would help the party consolidate its votebank in the Majha region. The possibility of Minister Sucha Singh Langah heading the SGPC can’t be ruled out either for this reason.

The name of former Minister Tota Singh has been doing the rounds ever since the SGPC poll process started. Among the women contenders, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur’s name is at the top. However, the criminal case against her may prove to be a stumbling block. Also in the race is former SGPC general secretary Bibi Kiranjot Kaur.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110920/main4.htm

The Asian Age – Centre is hopeful of Teesta solution

Parul Chandra, Asian Age Corespondent

New Delhi, 20 September 2011. The Centre is hoping that the proposed Teesta Waters Treaty with Bangladesh may still happen once the “small technical misunderstanding” between it and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is sorted out. The proposed treaty, which had been billed as one of the high-points of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent Dhaka visit, could not be signed leading to considerable disappointment on both sides.

Officials here admitted that “there was a little bit of technical misunderstanding over the wording of the agreement”.

They added, “We assumed that West Bengal had agreed”.

However, with Didi clearly not on board, the Centre is hopeful that it will be able to bring her around once this “misunderstanding” has been cleared.

The treaty’s signing fell through after the Trinamul Congress leader dropped out of the PM-led delegation to Dhaka at the 9th hour earlier this month. Ms Banerjee was apparently miffed that Bangladesh would be getting more than the water share she had acceded to under the proposed pact.

Her last-minute decision not only scuppered the proposed Teesta agreement but also left New Delhi red-faced and Dhaka considerably unhappy.

The bone of contention between the two nations, expectedly, is the quantity of water they are willing to share with each other. While Bangladesh wants 75 per cent of the Teesta waters, Bengal wants the sharing to be in the 50:50 ratio.

However, water experts note that the treaty is really “academic in nature” as there is no way that India can hold back the Teesta waters beyond a certain quantity as north Bengal would then get flooded. They also note that north Bengal can use only about 30 to 40 per cent of the Teesta waters as it is still to get the extensive canals system which was envisaged under the Teesta Barrage Project for making this water available to a larger area.

Indeed, the project, has been bedevilled by delays ever since it was approved in 1976. One of the reasons for the delay are land acquisition issues, said experts.

The Centre finally decided to declare the project a “national project” in 2009 which entails that it will shoulder 90 per cent of the costs with the state government chipping in with the remaining 10 per cent.

Expected to cost `69.77 crores when approved, the last project cost as approved by the Planning Commission in December 2010 had spiralled to roughly `2,988 crores.

http://www.asianage.com/india/centre-hopeful-teesta-solution-171

The Netherlands : Den Haag, Rotterdam, Amsterdam 2 till 12 September 2011

Mostly pictures of gurdwaras, trains and trams taken during my recent visit to the Netherlands

3 September, Sukhmani Sahib path, Wateringse Veld, Den Haag

3 September, Sukhmani Sahib path, Wateringse Veld, Den Haag
Prabhdeep Singh (blue patka) and his father Jatinder Singh (blue pag)

3 September, Sukhmani Sahib path, Wateringse Veld, Den Haag
Dutch neighbours also attended

3 September, Sukhmani Sahib path, Wateringse Veld, Den Haag

To see more pictures of Gurdwaras and sangat in the Netherlands :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622147381380/

More Netherlands pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Despite poll violations, action unlikely

Naveen S Garewal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections saw a blatant mockery of the democratic process with a large number of Sehajdharis and “patits” casting their votes while the polling officials simply looked the other way. Reports from across the state and available photographs and video clips show that the bar on Sehajdhari voters was only confined to the Union Government notification.

The directive issued by the Gurdwara Election Commission (GEC) to keep Sehajdharis out of the voters list was not followed by the deputy commissioners, who were repeatedly told to exercise caution. Gurdwara Election Commission Chief Commissioner Justice (Retd) HS Brar said, “A specific schedule was give for filing objections and the deputy commissioners were asked to dispose of the complaints pertaining to the voters list within the specified time frame.

When no objections were raised, the Commission could not have done much on its own. The Commission acts on specific complaints and cannot take suo motu action.” The Commission, it is learnt, has not taken any decision pertaining to the reports of large-scale polling by non-Keshdhari voters. It is pertinent to mention that the Union Home Ministry that holds the SGPC elections in accordance with the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, had issued a notification in October 2003 denying Sehajdhari Sikhs the voting right in the SGPC elections.

The Commission had earlier announced that any non-Keshdhari Sikh who turns up to vote will be arrested and booked under various sections of the IPC. All voters were required to file a sworn affidavit saying they were Keshdharis.

Since many voters had shorn their hair, it was obvious that they filed false affidavits for which they invite action. But neither the government nor the Commission appears to be in a mood to take action.

The violation of the Centre’s directive on the issue is bound to be raised in the Punjab and Haryana High Court where the denial of voting rights to Sehajdharis has been challenged and it could put the entire election process in jeopardy.

SGPC Elections

- Central notification of October 2003 barring Sehajdharis from voting flouted with impunity

- Gurdwara Election Commission chief Justice (retd) HS Brar says no complaint received, can’t initiate action on his own

- Says there was specific schedule for filing objections, deputy commissioners were told to settle complaints pertaining  to the voters’ list

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110920/punjab.htm#1

BBC News – Himalayan quake: India rescuers struggle in Sikkim

20 September 2011

Rescue workers in the Indian state of Sikkim are struggling to reach victims of Sunday’s powerful earthquake.

More than 70 people were killed, at least 40 of them in Sikkim. The quake was felt elsewhere in India, as well as in Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.

Some 6,000 troops have been deployed in the north-eastern state to dig through mudslides and clear away rubble in an effort to reach cut-off villages.

Hundreds of people spent a second night in the open as aftershocks continued.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake heavy rains and landslides held up the relief effort. But a break in the poor weather meant that army helicopters were able to drop food supplies and transport medical teams to some affected areas.

Unblocking roads

Nevertheless, officials say the biggest challenge is reaching those villages in the most isolated areas of the mountainous state amid fears that people may still be trapped under debris.

Convoys of vehicles left the state capital Gangtok on Tuesday morning but the AFP news agency says that progress was tortuously slow along precarious, badly-damaged roads.

The earthquake triggered numerous landslides which crushed homes and blocked roads.

Troops and road workers managed to restore the main highway linking Sikkim with the rest of India.

But elsewhere soldiers and emergency teams were using explosives to try and force their way through blocked roads.

“I’ve been here for six hours, waiting for the army to clear the road,” Pema Doma, who was waiting for news of her parents and son in the Mangan area, told AFP.

“I’d walk if they would let me,” Doma said. “The anxiety is killing me. What if he’s screaming for me? What if he’s calling for me and I can’t even hear him?”

The death toll from the area is expected to rise Indian Home Secretary RK Singh told reporters.

“There may still be villages where people are trapped under collapsed houses that we have not been able to reach,” he said.

Tibet damage

Similar efforts were under way in Tibet and Nepal where homes have been destroyed as well.

The magnitude 6.9 quake struck the mountainous state of Sikkim at 18:10 (12:40 GMT) on Sunday, according to the US Geological Survey, and was followed by two strong aftershocks.

Several earthquakes hit the Himalayan region this year, but none caused major damage.

Just over the border in Tibet’s Yadong County, just 40km (25 miles) from Sikkim, the earthquake caused hundreds of landslides, disrupting traffic, telecommunications, power and water supplies.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said that seven people had died and 24 others had been injured in Tibet. Landslides have also disrupted power and water supplies.

Nepal’s government said seven people had died, including two men and a child who were killed when a wall of the British Embassy collapsed in the capital, Kathmandu.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14982155