The Tribune – Justice Kumar to head NRI commission

Chandigarh, November 29 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today approved the constitution of Punjab State Commission for NRIs and appointed Justice Arvind Kumar (retd) as its chairman.

A Punjab Government spokesman said the Chief Minister also approved the appointment of Jagtar Singh of Hoshiarpur as the commission’s member. He said Badal also approved the appointment of Makhan Singh of Ferozepur as a member of the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minster also appointed Sampuran Singh and Hardeep Singh, both Fazilka residents, as members of the Board of Directors, Pepsu Roadways Transport Corporation. (TNS)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111130/punjab.htm#16

The Tribune – Fund crunch stalls work at Attari ICP

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Attari (Amritsar), November 29 Even as the euphoria around Pakistan ‘granting’ MFN status to India didn’t last long with the neighbouring country swiftly taking a U-turn, the Integrated Check Post (ICP), another move which would have boosted bilateral trade between the two countries, has got delayed.

According to sources, paucity of funds has led to delay in completion of the check post coming up here on 130 acres of land at a cost of Rs 150 crore. The foundation stone of the ICP was laid by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on February 20, 2010, and it was expected to come up within 14 months.

Later, the deadline was extended to June 30. However, sources said the way things were moving at present, the project was now likely to be completed by February next year, which means a delay of 10 months. Sources said all the major works at the ICP had been completed, but the delay in release of funds had hit the project at the fag end when it was being given finishing touches.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said the ICP project was being taken care of by the Union Government and they themselves were eagerly awaiting its completion. “We have been following it up with the officials concerned and will do it again when the Joint Secretary, Border Management, visits Attari tomorrow. We have also urged the authorities to at least provide us temporary parking space by the time the project is completed.”

Once operational, the ICP would give a major boost to the bilateral trade between the two countries. The ICP will be a completely sanitised zone with dedicated terminals for both passengers and cargo. It will provide adequate customs and immigration counters, ultra-modern scanner, metal detectors, CCTVs, passenger amenities and other related facilities such as currency exchange, internet facility, warehouse/cold storage, quarantine laboratory, banks, isolation bay, parking, cafeteria and other public utilities in a single modern complex.

The passenger terminal will be a double-storey structure and have an area of 9,658 sq m. It will have a capacity of 1.5 million passengers per year. Similarly, the cargo terminal will be spread over 4,697 sq m. It will have a static capacity of 800 trucks (import) and 320 trucks (export).

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111130/punjab.htm#1

The Asian Age – Sonia: Committed to removing graft

Asian Age Corespondent

New Delhi, 30 November 2011. Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said the government was committed to eradicate corruption and hoped that the Opposition will help in passage of anti-graft measures, including Lokpal, during the current session of Parliament.   Mrs Gandhi addressed a national convention of elected office-bearers of the Indian Youth Congress. This was her first public speech after returning from abroad after the surgery.

She addressed the issue which is refusing to die down. “Corruption is indeed a plague of public life… We are committed to eradicating it,” the Congress chief said.

She said together with the Lokpal Bill, the government is working on a variety of legislations “which will systematically fight corruption”.

“I hope that the Opposition will support us in passing these important measures,” Mrs Gandhi said.

During her over 10-minute address, she made no reference to the raging controversy over FDI in retail.

She said, “The political system needs administrative, judicial and electoral reforms, including state funding of elections and fast-tracking of corruption cases.”

She said that the UPA government is all set to introduce the Right to Food Bill in the current session of Parliament. “It is our government that has brought in the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, the Right to Information, the Forest Rights Act and the Right to Education. The Right to Food Bill is to be introduced in the current session of Parliament,” Mrs Gandhi said, referring to a variety of legislations brought by the UPA government.

Mrs Gandhi asserted that the government has taken a number of measures to empower the citizens. “Our actions have more than showed our resolve. The RTI, which our government brought in, has placed in the hands of the people, in the hands of you all, a powerful weapon against corruption,” she said.

The Congress president said the UPA government’s measures like the UID scheme or Aadhar will give all citizens the right to identity. “But we all know the true empowerment can only come from participation,” she said.

Maintaining that the Congress has always been in the forefront in the fight for freedom and safeguarding the rights of the common people, she said, “In the last seven years, the Congress-led UPA government under the leadership of Manmohan Singhji has initiated a number of measures that have brought great relief to the aam aadmi while ensuring them their rights.”

She said the Youth Congress should make sure that schemes of government are widely known and it should work as a “pressure group” to ensure their proper implementation.

Mrs Gandhi appreciated the example set by the Youth Congress by barring those convicted of crimes from contesting organisational elections.

In a word of advice, she said while they have contested elections against fellow members, once the exercise is over, “you are all part of the same team working towards a single common goal — the betterment of the organisation of the Congress party.”

She said difference of opinion on various issues can be ironed out through discussions within the organisation.

http://www.asianage.com/india/sonia-committed-removing-graft-221 

Sint-Truiden Guru Nanak Nagar Kirtan 23 October 2011

 Sardar Amrik Singh Geetbets Wala

Halmaal-Dorp

Halmaal-Dorp

Halmaal-Dorp

To see more Sint-Truiden Gurdwara related pictures go to :

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

More Nagar Kirtan pictures to follow  
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Kartarpur Sahib Corridor; Ball in India’s court, says Pakistan

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 29 Syed Asif Hashmi, Chairman of Pakistan’s Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), which is responsible for the upkeep of gurdwaras in the neighbouring country, today said it is yet to receive any official proposal from India regarding the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.

Interacting with the mediapersons after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple here, Hashmi said, “We are ready to cooperate with India on the issue, but it is for the Indian government to first take up the matter with Pakistan officially. As far as we are concerned, we have done our bit by constructing the road up to the point of our jurisdiction.” Sikhs have long been demanding the establishment of a passport and visa-free passage between Dera Baba Nanak on the Indian side and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, located about 3 km from the border in Pakistan’s Narowal district. According to Sikh history, Guru Nanak Dev spent 17 years at the site where Gurdwara Kartarpur is situated.

Replying to a media query, Hashmi agreed that there was a need to take a fresh look at the number of visas being issued to the pilgrims as per the Nehru-Liaquat Pact.

He said they have already doubled the number of events on which Sikh pilgrims are granted visas for pilgrimage in Pakistan from four to eight. As per the Nehru-Liaquat pact, pilgrims were given visas for Guru Nanak Dev birth anniversary (3,000 visas), Baisakhi (3,000), Guru Arjan Dev martyrdom day (500) and Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death anniversary (500). Hashmi asked the SGPC to take up the matter with the Indian government.

He refuted allegations regarding any gurdwara’s property being leased or illegally encroached upon in Pakistan. Hashmi said they have constructed 400 rooms for pilgrims and a three-storey langar hall, besides setting up a solar energy plant. Modern huts have been constructed at Kartarpur Sahib and Gurdwara Emnabad for pilgrims, while the langar hall has been extended to Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, Lahore.

On Sikhs’ demand to open Gurdwara Ber Sahib at Sialkot for “darshan”, he said they have invited tenders and they will soon begin its maintenance work. An orphanage, a hospital and a school for mentally challenged children, all named after Guru Nanak Dev, besides a Sikh museum in Pakistan were on the anvil.

Hashmi rejected the SGPC’s offer of Rs 1 crore for the construction of an inn at Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, Lahore, contending that they will do it on their own. He suggested that the SGPC donate this amount for the proposed hospital to be named after Guru Nanak Dev.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111130/punjab.htm#14

Dawn – Clinton hopes for Pakistan cooperation despite Bonn boycott

30 October 2011

Busan: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she regretted Pakistan’s decision to boycott next week’s international conference on Afghanistan but hoped to secure Islamabad’s cooperation in future.

“Nothing will be gained by turning our backs on mutually beneficial cooperation. Frankly it is regrettable that Pakistan has decided not to attend the conference in Bonn,” Clinton told a news conference in South Korea.

Pakistan pulled out of the conference on the future of Afghanistan on Tuesday in reaction to a cross-border attack by Nato that killed 24 of its soldiers and plunged US-Pakistani relations deeper into crisis.

“I would express regret and hope that perhaps there can be a follow-up way that we can have the benefit of Pakistani participation in this international effort to try to work a stable, secure peaceful outcome in Afghanistan.”

Clinton stressed that US officials were making every effort to investigate what she called a “tragic incident”.

“What is most important I think is that we learn lessons from this tragedy because we have to continue to work together.”

http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/30/clinton-hopes-for-pakistan-cooperation-despite-bonn-boycott.html

The Tribune – India, China discuss fresh dates for border talks

Ashok Tuteja, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 28 India and China are learnt to be in touch to reschedule the 15th round of boundary talks between their special representatives (SRs).

China today made conciliatory noises, three days after the boundary talks were postponed when Beijing sought the cancellation of an address by the Dalai Lama to a global Buddhist conference under way here but New Delhi had refused to do so.

“China pays great attention to the 15th meeting of special representatives on the India-China boundary issue. At the moment, the two sides are in communication on a specific date for the meeting,’’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was quoted as saying.

Asked if China had pressed India to cancel the Buddhist conference since the Tibetan spiritual leader would be addressing it on Wednesday, the Chinese spokesman said, “I want to point out that the Dalai Lama is not purely a religious figure, but the one who has been engaged in separatist activities for a long time under the pretext of religion.”

He went on to add that Beijing opposed any country providing a platform to the Dalai Lama for his ‘anti-China’ activities.

Official sources here said the two countries were exploring the possibility of holding the boundary talks before the year-end. They were also working at ensuring that their latest face-off didn’t affect the scheduled talks between the two defence secretaries on December 8-9.

New Delhi is hopeful of hosting Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, who is widely expected to succeed Hu Jintao as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), after the successful conclusion of the boundary talks between the two SRs – National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111129/main4.htm

The Tribune – In poll mode, SAD revives ‘Panthic’ agenda

Naveen S Garewal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 28. After an experiment in social engineering, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) seems to have changed its strategy and has now decided to take a calculated risk by re-adopting the “Panthic agenda”.

At the same time, it has decided to keep distance from radical elements within the Sikh community. The spree of inaugurations of Sikh historical monuments at the fag end of the SAD-BJP government term clearly aims at garnering Sikh votes.

The brain behind the move seems to be that of SAD patron and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Being a veteran politician, Badal Senior, it seems, has sensed the gradual erosion of the Sikh vote bank of his traditionally “Panthic” party over the years.

The alliance of the SAD with the BJP has further diluted this vote bank. Further, the underlying tension between the SAD and the BJP has made it necessary for the Akalis to consolidate their own position without banking on the BJP.

In turning the Khalsa Heritage Centre at Anandpur Sahib into a reality, along with dedicating three other monuments (in memory of Banda Bhadur at Chappar Chiri and the two Sikh massacres — small and big ghallugharas at Kanuwan and Kuper Heedha), Badal has a twin agenda. The prime aim is to garner support for his party from every possible quarter so as to retain power, with or without the BJP. Secondly, Badal wants to establish himself in the revered league of Akali leaders as Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh.

The move to confer the titles of ‘Panth Ratan Fakr-e-Qaum’ upon Chief Minister Badal by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh aims at catapulting the Badal Senior into the galaxy of famous Akali leaders. As the Akal Takht Jathedar is appointed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee (SGPC) where the SAD has 157 out of 170 elected members, the move is being viewed nothing more than an act of sycophancy.

At the beginning of the current term of the SAD-BJP government, Badal was conferred upon with the title of “Sant-Siaasatdaan” (Saint-Politician). Gurcharan Singh Tohra, an astute politician and many-time president of the SGPC, was posthumously given the title of “Panth Rattan.” He was never a part of the government.

During the 2002-2007 Congress regime, Captain Amarinder Singh had managed to woo a large number of rural voters by streamlining procurement and series of other administrative measures. Since, the Congress does not want to lose its vote bank, built in rural areas, it has hit out at the SAD’s re-calibrated pre-poll strategy of reviving the “Panthic agenda”.

As a counter reaction, the SAD has raked up issues like “Operation Bluestar.” The inauguration of the Sikh historical memorials has also brought forth the increasing divide between the SAD and the BJP. During LK Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra, the SAD made it a point to distance itself from the BJP leader for his controversial comments on Operation Bluestar in his book, ‘My Country My Life.’ Though BJP president Nitin Gadkari was present for the opening of the Khalsa Heritage Complex, the Punjab BJP president was “missing”.

The Akali strategy

- To check gradual erosion of the Sikh vote bank: The spree of inaugurations of Sikh historical monuments, at the fag end of the SAD-BJP government, clearly aims at garnering Sikh votes

- To reduce dependence on the BJP, its alliance partner: The underlying tension between the alliance partners has made it necessary for the Akalis to consolidate their position without banking on the BJP

- To keep distance from radical elements within the community and gain support from every possible quarter to retain power

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111129/main9.htm

The Hindu – South Africa releases stamps to mark arrival of Indians

Johannesburg, 29 November 2011. A series of postage stamps in commemoration of the arrival of the first indentured Indian labourers to South Africa 151 years ago have been launched here.

In partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture, the Department of Communications and the South African Post Office, two stamps have been launched, with a further two sets set for launch next year.

The stamps feature a sketch of the S S Truro, the ship that brought the first indentured labourers for the sugarcane plantations in Natal province from India in 1860, and photographs of passengers coming ashore at the Durban port.

Poignant reminder

There are also pictures of sugarcane cutters to serve as a poignant reminder of the extreme hardship and endurance of the early labourers from whom most of the 1.4 million South Africans of Indian origin are descended.  The Truro left Madras and anchored in Port Natal on November 16, 1860 to start off the arrival of thousands of Indians until the last ship, the Umlazi, in 1911.

“This is in honour of those gallant Indian pioneers, our forefathers and mothers who, due in large part to economic hardship so many decades ago, made a difficult but conscious choice to depart the shores of India and set sail into the unknown, across treacherous and unpredictable oceans,” Minister for Public Service and Administration, Roy Padayachie, who launched the stamps here said.

The launch incorporated an inter-faith prayer as well as the unveiling of two memorial slabs at the suburb of Belvedere, about 30 km north of Durban, so named after the second ship that brought labourers from India.  The memorial peace slabs bear the names of anti-apartheid icons such as John Langalibalele Dube, the first President of the ANC, Ahmed Timol, Shanti Naidoo, Kader Asmal, Walter and Albertina Sisulu.

Mr. Padayachie said that these slabs were a tribute “to the sacrifices of the indentured Indian labourers and liberation fighters for their immense contribution to build a democratic South Africa we have today.”

He appreciated the indigenous African people for accepting the Indian labourers so that they could stay and make the new country their home for themselves and the generations that followed.

The Minister said that over the decades, the Indian community had made significant contributions to the cultural, social and political life of South Africa, adding to the country’s diverse cultures. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2669170.ece

Sint-Truiden Guru Nanak Nagar Kirtan 23 October 2011

Standing in divan hall in front of Guru Granth Sahib

Flowers in front of Guru Granth Sahib

Theodorus (man in black) walking away after paying respect

Sikhs on the palki truck 

To see more Sint-Truiden Gurdwara related pictures go to :

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

More Nagar Kirtan pictures to follow  
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue