The Tribune – Seechewal sets green agenda

Sarbjit Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 6. Eminent environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal here today urged political parties and their candidates to include cleaning polluted rivers and other water bodies in their election agenda.

Seechewal said, The politicians should promise that they will make efforts to stop the drainage of toxic effluents from industrial belts and sewer water into various water bodies and ensure the setting up of sewage treatment plants in all municipal towns.”

The environmentalist also urged the voters to elect only those candidates who showed “sensitivity” towards the issues related to the state’s ecology and promised to do something in this regard.

Drawing the attention of people towards state’s poor rating on environmental front at the national level, Baba Seechewal said time had come to set the things right. He said with cooperation from politicians, environment in the state could be saved from further deterioration.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120107/punjab.htm#10

496.The Man in Blue – Follow only our eternal Guru III

The problem we face is that most Sikhs neither read nor truly listen to our Eternal Guru, the Guru Granth Sahib. Article I of the Rehat Maryada defines a Sikh as somebody who believes in the One and who follows Guru’s teaching and the example set by our Gurus in their lives.

What is the source of Guru’s teachings ? It is the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind clearly pointed the way to this source when he appointed the Guru Granth and the Guru Panth as our eternal Guru.

The ultimate Guru is God, the Guru of the Gurus. The Gurus and Bhagats whose writings we find in the Guru Granth Sahib are the mouthpieces of God. God used their tongues and lips to speak and their hands to write the Shabad.

Guru Nanak writes in pauris 8 to 11 of his Jap ‘suniai’ (listen). This means true listening, using all the faculties, the listening (or reading) whereby the Word enters mind and heart, is understood and then applied.

The Sikh is the person who is the student of God, and the Guru Granth, the Teacher-Book is what Sikhs study.

In pauri 20 of Guru Nanak’s Jap we are told that we wash our hands, feet and body with water, our clothes with soap but that when our mind is dirty we wash it through love of ‘Nám’. We can find Nám through meditation, through thinking about God, and a very effective way to think about God is through reading Guru’s Word in the Guru Granth Sahib.

High speed repetition of words or phrases will not work. Whatever you do, whether reciting or listening to shabads, or repeating words that describe aspects of God, we will have to ‘listen’ to the meanings of the Word.

A Sikh needs to walk in God’s will, as mentioned in the last line of the first pauri of Guru’s Jap. The second pauri emphasises that all that happens is in God’s will, and that those who understand this will not speak or act in ego.

If the panth follows the path of listening, understanding and applying, it will become the panth that in humility walks on the Guru’s way and that will accomplish the great deeds that people on their own never can attain.

Sikhs must begin with the beginning, Sikhs must be truthful. Sikhs must make an honest living, share and always keep God in mind. Sikhs cannot live in peace when surrounded by injustice, Sikhs must stand up against injustice, by peaceful means in democracies, if necessary resorting to the ‘sword’ under a dictatorship.

Sikhs should not live for ‘me, me, me’ and ‘more, more, more’. Be different, not just by wearing Guru’s rúp, but by seeing God in all and by being the servant of all.

You Tube – Afghan Sikhs protesting because of issues with performing the last rites of their dead ones in Kabul

The locals close to Cremation Ground (Shamshan Ghat) in Kabul won’t let them burn their dead in heavily concentrated urban areas; due to the odour burning flesh creates.

In this report it is shown that, under Police protection and Administrative Authority, Sikhs eventually managed to cremate the dead person, however the problem still persists.

Sikhs and Hindus along with their representatives and Afghan civilian government have yet to find a permanent solution to this pressing problem.

Watch this report in Dari & Pashtoon TV station of Afghanistan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAwqegjuZZA

World religions pie-chart

Sikhs being a tiny minority anywhere (apart from in Panjab, Brampton, Surrey and Southall) are barely visible on this pie-chart. On what the percentages are based I do not know. Even in the UK guestimates vary from 500.000 to 1.000.000 !

Man in Blue

The Hindu – In Punjab, it’s all in the family

Son, son-in-law, kin galore in State Congress’ list for coming Assembly elections

Smita Gupta

New Delhi, 7 January 2012. From State Congress president Amarinder Singh’s son to the son-in-law of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, to relatives of sitting MPs and former Chief Ministers, the party’s list for elections to the 117-member Punjab Assembly is sprinkled generously with members of political families.

In SAD too

That’s been the tradition in the State, not just in the Congress but also in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), says a long-time political observer, as elections are not just expensive for most ‘aam’ aspirants, but it is easier for those with a foothold to lobby for relatives.

So Captain Amarinder Singh and his son, Raninder Singh, are both contesting from Patiala district — from the Patiala and Samana seats respectively.

Captain Amarinder Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur, who is the Minister of State for External affairs, is an MP from Patiala.

Ms. Bhattal is the candidate from Lehra in Sangrur district. Her son-in-law Vikram Singh Bajwa is contesting from Sahnewal in Ludhiana district.

Indeed, a quick look at the list reveals that about 19 per cent of the Congress candidates are either from political families or are related to each other.

Even a recent entrant from the SAD, Jagbir Singh Brar, who came via the recently floated Peoples Party of Punjab (PPP), is a cousin of Manpreet Badal, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal’s “rebel” nephew. He is the candidate from the Jalandhar Cantt. seat.

Mahesh Inder Singh Badal, who has been in the Congress for many years, has been fielded from the crucial Lambi seat in Muktsar district against his two cousins and brothers Gurdas Badal and Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal. Mr. Gurdas Badal is Ms. Manpreet Badal’s father and the PPP candidate.

Winnability quotient

Asked why political families continue to maintain their stranglehold in the State, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, said: “If three or four people are related to each other that is not important. What is important is the winnability quotient: no party is as foolish as to field candidates who will lose. We don’t have suicidal tendencies.”

Evidently, the process of “democratising” the Congress – which heir apparent and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been working on – will take a while, yet.

So, of the Congress’ eight MPs, five have managed to get the ticket for their relatives.

Apart from Ms. Preneet Kaur’s son, Gurdaspur MP Pratap Singh Bajwa’s wife Charanjeet Kaur Bajwa has been given Gurdaspur district’s Qadian seat. Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee’s wife Suman Kaypee is the contestant from Jalandhar West, while Hoshiarpur MP Santosh Chaudhury’s husband Ram Lubhaya is taking the plunge from Hoshiarpur district’s Sham Chaurasi — he lost in 2007.

And finally, Anandpur Sahib MP Ravneet Singh Bittu’s cousin Gurkirat Singh Kotli is contesting from Ludhiana district’s Khanna seat.

As ex-Chief Minister Beant Singh’s grandson and ex-Minister Tej Prakash Singh’s son, Mr. Kotli’s impeccable political pedigree has ensured that a case of molestation filed against him by a French woman in Chandigarh in 1992 has not come in the way of his being granted a ticket.

Besides, Mr. Tej Prakash Singh has sacrificed his seat for his son. Another relative of Mr. Bittu, Ajit Inder Mofar, a sitting MLA, is contesting from Mansa district’s Sardulgarh seat.

Arvind Khanna, who has been fielded from Sangrur district’s Dhuri seat, is related closely to both Captain Amarinder Singh and the former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh.

The name of Mr. Khanna, who was charge sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a Delhi court in a foreign exchange scandal earlier this year, had surfaced in Iraq’s oil-for-food scam that led to Mr. Natwar Singh’s removal from the Cabinet a few years ago.

While the former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar’s son, Sunil Jakhar, is contesting Firozpur district’s Abohar seat again, Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Singh Brar’s brother Ripjit Brar has been fielded from Faridkot district’s Kotkapura seat.

The former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar’s daughter-in-law Karan Kaur Brar has replaced her husband Kanwarjit Singh Brar, the sitting MLA, as the candidate from Muktsar.

The former State Congress president Shamsher Singh Dullo’s wife, Harbans Kaur Dullo, a former MLA, has been “adjusted” from the Bassi Pathana (reserved) seat, as he has been denied a ticket.

The former Minister, Bhagwan Dass Arora’s son, Aman Arora, has been fielded from the Sunam seat, while the former Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh has been given the ticket in place of his wife and sitting MLA Rana Rajbans Kaur.

Brothers Santokh Singh and Jagjit Singh are contesting from Phillaur and Kartarpur respectively — Mr. Santokh Singh’s son Vikramjit Singh is the State Youth Congress president.

Of course, there are the well-connected who fell through the cracks: so, the former Minister and Rajya Sabha member, Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder’s husband, P.S. Bhinder, did not manage a ticket, just as Gurdaspur MP Pratap Singh Bajwa’s brother Fateh Jung Bajwa, failed to make the grade.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2781332.ece

November visit to UK 14/11 till 21/11; many pictures of trains !

21/11 – St Pancras station, the tracks towards the ‘Chunnel’

21/11 – St Pancras station, inside the Eurostar train

 21/11 – St Pancras station, inside the Eurostar train

21/11 Brussel Zuid,  the train that will take me to Sint-Truiden

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 – World’s largest solar telescope to be set up in Ladakh

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 6. Jammu and Kashmir will have the distinction of setting up the world’s largest solar telescope in the Ladakh region of the state. The telescope is being set up by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) will be set up at the Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh.

This was stated by Chief Secretary Madhav Lal while chairing a meeting here today. The meeting was convened to discuss the modalities for setting up the solar telescope and chalk out strategies to ensure that the construction as well as operational phases of the project could be undertaken with minimal disturbance to the local flora and fauna.

Prof Tushar P Prabhu from the Department of Science and technology at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics said the site was selected after carefully studying various scientific and environmental aspects.

It emerged from the studies that the Pangong Lake site at Merak was promising and offered longer sunshine hours.

He said the site selected for setting up of the world’s largest solar telescope fitted with a 2m reflector would allow scientists to carry out cutting-edge research to understand the fundamental processes taking place on the sun.

The solar telescope will help the scientific community to study the long term changes in the earth’s climate and environment and also provide useful data to carry out research, in order to minimise or remove disruptions to communications network and satellites due to periodic solar winds.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120107/j&k.htm#6

BBC News – ‘Garbage bomb’ kills six Afghan children in Tarin Kowt

6 January 2012. At least six children and a man were killed when a bomb hidden in rubbish went off in the Afghan province of Uruzgan, officials say.

Four other children playing nearby were hurt in the blast in Tarin Kowt. The bomb’s intended target is unclear.

Meanwhile, Nato says five of its soldiers have been killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan.

In central Ghor province a policeman with suspected Taliban sympathies shot dead a senior police officer.

Friday afternoon’s bomb blast in the Uruzgan capital is the third in a week in which children have been killed, the BBC’s Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says.

“Explosives were hidden inside garbage in the Qalacha area of Tarin Kowt – as a result seven people were killed, six children and an elderly person,” Farid Ayal, a police spokesman in Uruzgan, told the BBC.

Earlier in the day, two guards were killed and four others wounded when gunmen attacked a checkpoint belonging to a private security firm in Uruzgan’s Bala Murghab district, police sources told the BBC.

Nato-led forces have been fighting the Taliban and other militants opposed to the Western-backed government of Hamid Karzai since 2001. Foreign forces are due to end combat operations in 2014.

Four Nato troops were killed in a roadside bombing on Friday, while a fifth “died following an insurgent attack”, a statement said.

Another three Nato soldiers were killed on Thursday, also in the south.

‘Rogue’ policeman

In Ghor, a policeman opened fire inside district headquarters, killing the head of police intelligence for Sharak district before being shot dead himself, security sources told the BBC.

The policeman also killed a bodyguard for the Sharak police chief and a civilian who was present.

Intelligence sources in Sharak district told the BBC they suspect the policeman had links with the Taliban.

Members of the Afghan security forces have opened fire on foreign troops in the past, but our correspondent says this is thought to be the first time Afghan colleagues have been targeted in this way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16439378