Sadh Sangat Jio
Due to an all day visit to Brussel en Leuven I will probably not be able to add more posts to my blog on 20 December.
My apologies,
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue
November visit to UK 14/11 till 21/11; many pictures of trains !
15/11 – My brother Amrik Singh, Airport wala
15/11 – ‘My home’ in Hayes, Middlesex
15/11 – The Grapes, Hayes, eastbound buses 427, 607
15/11 – Park Avenue Singh Sabha Southall
I daily visited this Gurdwara during my stay in London
To see more UK public transport pictures go to :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157611244941713/
More UK pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue
Times of India – Parliament ruckus over Bhagvad Gita facing ban in Russia
New Delhi, 19 December 2011. Parliamentarians across the political spectrum on Monday asked the government to ensure that the religious rights of Hindus in Russia are protected after a member pointed out an IANS report about the Bhagvad Gita facing a ban and the prospect of it being branded as “extremist” literature there.
Angry MPs forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha till 2pm after Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab raised the issue in the house and asked the government to intervene immediately to ensure the religious freedom of Hindus in Russia.
He said a court in Siberia’s Tomsk city was set to deliver its final verdict on Monday in a case filed by state prosecutors, as was reported by IANS on Saturday when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on an official visit to Moscow.
“I want to know from the government what it is doing. The religious rights of Hindus in Russia should be protected. The government should impress upon the Russian authorities through diplomatic channels,” he said.
The case, which has been going on in the Tomsk court since June, seeks a ban on a Russian translation of the “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” written by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
It also wants the Hindu religious text banned in Russia, declared as literature spreading “social discord”, and its distribution on Russian soil rendered illegal.
Indians in Moscow, numbering about 15,000, and followers of the ISKCON religious movement in Russia have appealed to the Indian government to intervene diplomatically to resolve the issue in favour of the scripture, an important part of Indian epic Mahabharata written by sage Ved Vyas.
When Mahtab raised the issue, the lower house plunged into chaos, with MPs urging Speaker Meira Kumar to let them speak on the matter. She, however, refused and instead asked them to send notes and associate with Mahtab.
Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RLD) was heard shouting that the Hindu scripture does not preach extremism.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members were also seen rising from their seats to protest the issue before Meira Kumar adjourned the house till 2pm. (IANS}
The Tribune – After Heritage Walk, Panj Sarovar venture finds few takers
Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 18. Even as the poor run continues for the Heritage Walk, the Panj Sarovar Walk launched by Punjab Tourism Minister Hira Singh Gabria last week seems to be heading to meet the same fate as it has failed to draw tourists due to the involvement of various agencies and lack of promotion by the authorities.
When The Tribune team visited the Town Hall, the starting point of the Panj Sarovar Walk, today morning, no tourist was present there. Leave apart tourists, even the guide who was supposed to take them for the walk was missing.
A fellow guide who was there for the Heritage Walk that starts a bit later said he might have got late. When contacted over the phone, the guide said he had a meeting with “a VIP team” at 10 am and, therefore, he could not come for the walk, something that signifies the approach of the authorities towards the initiative launched by the government only a week ago.
Even otherwise, the walk is not drawing many tourists apparently due to lack of coordination between various agencies apart from lack of promotion by the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) in the entire exercise. This is evident from the poor state of “sarovars”, which are part of this walk, and insanitary conditions en-route.
Ideally, the tourism authorities should have approached the SGPC for getting the “sarovars” cleaned and the MC for ensuring cleanliness on the route before launching the initiative. The route of the walk was dotted with heaps of garbage on its inaugural day itself. However, the authorities seem to have gone ahead with the launch in haste.
Lack of promotion is another factor which has contributed to the walk’s failure. Neither any billboards have been put up nor any literature distributed to publicise the walk among the tourists. These are the same problems which grounded the Heritage Walk even before it could take off, but no lessons seem to have been learnt.
PHTPB Chief General Manager Brig (Retd) Charanjit Singh said he was aware of the problems being faced by both the walks and attributed them to the involvement of multiple agencies. “We are making all efforts to get the things in shape. We have urged the MC to ensure cleanliness on the route. We are also getting billboards made to publicise the walk. Literature for Heritage Walk is now being re-printed after some mistakes came to the light.”
On the absence of the guide, he said he would direct the officials concerned to make sure that the guides reported for duty on time.
The Hindu – Survey of child labour in five U.P. districts ordered
“Total abolition of child labour central to human development”
Aarti Dhar
New Delhi, 19 December 2011. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has ordered a survey of child labour in five districts of Uttar Pradesh, where a large number of children are employed in carpet industry and other labour intensive units. The survey will include data on the number of children rescued and action taken for their rehabilitation.
The survey directive was given by a jury of the NCPCR during a public hearing in Varanasi on Saturday. The study would be conducted in Varanasi, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Maharajganj.
The district administration will submit a report to the child rights panel within three months and the jury will constantly monitor the survey’s progress.
A case citing the injustice of a U.P. circular issued in 1998, which allowed for only two inspections a year for any industry in the organised sector, was heard by the Commission. This law allowed child labour to go unchecked in several places. The Commission ordered a policy revision and stated that laws should change with time.
“Free and compulsory education and total abolition of child labour are central to human development and fundamental for enhanced citizenship. There has to be zero tolerance of children being out of school and child labour laws and policies have to be in sync with the Right to Education Act 2009,” said NCPCR chairperson Shantha Sinha.
Thirty six cases from the five districts, selected through the Shambhunath Singh Research Foundation (SRF) — an NGO working in close coordination with NCPCR in the area — were heard by the jury comprising Dr. Sinha; Himachal Pradesh High Court Judge R.B. Mishra; NCPCR members Yogesh Dube and Vinod Kumar Tikoo; member-secretary of NCPCR Shri Lov Verma; and chairperson of the Bihar State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Nisha Jha.
In each case, the jury ordered swift and targeted action, set a time line for the authority in question to follow and asked the authority to send in a report of its progress to the Commission, which will constantly monitor the progress and action taken in each case.
Another case heard was that of a young orphan living with his grandfather. He was forced to work because his grandfather was not receiving aid from any of the government security schemes. The Commission ordered immediate action and told the authority concerned that the grandfather should receive his pension within four days and a report of this should be sent to the central body.
Other issues that came up were those of child labour, child trafficking, malnutrition, denial of birth registration, immunisation, absence of Integrated Child Development Services centres and improper functioning of the Anganwadi system.
A case came up on child labour in the carpet industry in Bhadohi district, where the rescued children were not ensured entitlement of their rights. The jury immediately ordered the authority concerned to set up a task force in Bhadohi and submit a copy of the report to the Commission within a week.
The jury also heard cases of violation of right to education, including denial of admission, corporal punishment, absence of infrastructure, and even absence of schools in clusters, where a large number of out- of-school children were identified.
November visit to UK 14/11 till 21/11; many pictures of trains !
Underneath starts the pictorial report of my November visit to the UK. The above picture was taken during the Guru Nanak Nagar Kirtan in Southall.
14/11 – NMBS train from Sint-Truiden to Brussel Zuid to connect with Eurostar
14/11 – Eurostar to London Sint-Pancras
14/11 – Eurostar to London Sint-Pancras
To see more UK public transport pictures go to :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157611244941713/
More UK pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue
The Tribune – Despite the crowd, vacant chairs at rally
Kulwinder Sandhu & Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Killi Chahal, December 18. The Shiromani Akali Dal put up an impressive show but several sections of the mammoth pandal and hundreds of chairs remained vacant. A large number of party workers chose to bask out in the sun rather than listen to the speeches of their leaders.
The Akali activists were seen roaming aimlessly outside the pandal. The empty chairs compelled Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to especially mention in his speech that at least six lakh people had come to the rally.
“Our workers are stuck on the national highway and thousands of others are either taking lunch or roaming outside the pandal. It is like a mela”, he explained.
People were seen sleeping under the pandal, spread over 250 acres, as their leaders addressed the audience. Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leaders seated on a stage next to the main stage, were caught napping too.
Obviously embarrassed, those sitting beside them said: “They have not slept since last night as they were busy making preparations for the rally.”
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljeet Singh Cheema, who was the stage secretary, had to appeal to the people a number of times to remain seated.
With the rally dragging on, the audience turned restless. When Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal got up to make the final speech, hundreds of people began moving out of the pandal, perhaps to avoid getting stuck in a jam.
The Deputy Chief Minister reportedly undertook an aerial view of the crowd twice before his copter landed near the venue site.
BBC News – Many people die in India cold wave
19 December 2011
At least 26 people have died in a cold wave sweeping through northern India, the country’s state broadcaster Doordarshan News says.
The majority of deaths have happened in the state of Uttar Pradesh, according to media reports.
Scores die in India every year, being ill-equipped to deal with extreme cold.
Last week the country’s Supreme Court ordered states to provide adequate night shelters for the homeless during the ongoing winter.
“You should not allow even a single person to die this winter from the freezing cold,” the judges said. Most deaths take place among the homeless and elderly.
Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are among the northern states which have been hit by intensely cold weather.
Heavy fog and a cold wave have disrupted life across northern India with temperatures dropping to 2.2 degrees Celsius in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
The capital Delhi is also in the throes of a cold snap with temperatures dipping to 5 degree Celcius and fog disrupting flight schedules.
The cold wave has forced schools shut in the state of Bihar till 25 December, reports said.
Water supply pipes in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, froze as temperatures plummeted to 2.8 degrees Celcius.
Last year a cold snap in northern India killed several people, shut schools and disrupted flights. The highway linking Kashmir with the rest of India was also shut due to snowfall.
