Hasselt: Internationaal Comité AGM & Sint-Truiden Gurdwara: Visit by KU Leuven

Hasselt 3 December 2012

The ‘internationaal comité’ held its agm with education as its theme
Representatives of its branches and of the communities it works with took part in the proceedings

Delegates on my right
Amongst them Inderjit Singh, Gurdwara Hoepertingen
The speaker is Lode Draelants

Delegates sitting next to me on my left 

http://www.internationaalcomite.be/icjo/

Sangat Sahib Gurdwara
3 December, visit by KU Leuven group
I asked Emmy and Baban to do some kirtan for the visitors and they both did very well

Baban on the left and Emmy behind the waja (harmonium)

From left to right: Emmy’s small cousin, Baban and Emmy

Emmy and the tabla player, who I think is a Afghani Sikh

To see more Belgian pictures go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622046344528/

More Belgian pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Gehlot may nix Rushdie’s video link plan

Session scheduled for 3.45 pm today

5 plaints against 4 authors, 3 organisers

Jaipur, January 23. The row over Salman Rushdie deepened today with five complaints being filed against the four authors who read out passages from his banned “Satanic Verses” at the Literature Festival and its organisers, as suspense grew whether his video address will take place tomorrow.

As the controversy over Rushdie continued to dog the festival for the fourth day, a festival organiser Sanjoy K Roy said the video address would go ahead as scheduled at 3.45 pm tomorrow. He said some clarifications sought by the police to their letter have been given in a second communication.

He claimed that organisers have not been told by the police that permission would be required for the video link.

A government official said tonight that the police has sought some details from the organisers relating to Rushdie’s video conferencing and no decision was taken from the government’s side in this matter so far. He said the organisers would have to take permission.

The four complaints before local courts in Jaipur and one in Ajmer, all in Rajasthan, sought directions to the police to lodge FIRs against the persons named and to probe the matter.

Those named in the complaints were authors Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi and the three organisers – Namita Gokhale, William Dalrymple and Sanjoy Roy.

Abdul Latif in his capacity as secretary of All-India Milli Council and Muslim Mahasabha are among those who filed the complaints, one of them which is likely come up in court tomorrow. The complaint in Ajmer was lodged by Muzaffar Bharti. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120124/main4.htm

BBC News – Hundreds of India separatists lay down arms in Assam

BBC News. 24 January 2012. Hundreds of separatist rebels in India’s north-east have laid down their arms in a ceremony in Assam to signal a ceasefire with the government.

Home Minister P Chidambaram attended the ceremony in the capital, Guwahati.

More than 20 groups have been fighting for autonomy in the region for three decades.

The Congress-led government has instigated a policy of peace talks and truces, although a number of rebel groups remain in conflict.

‘Welcome home’  

A total of 676 fighters from nine groups handed over weapons in a sports stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday.

Mr Chidambaram said: “Leave the past behind and look at the future positively. We assure that each one of you would be treated equally and be able to lead a life of dignity and honour.

“The government always welcomes rebels back home. All differences can be settled through talks and understanding.”

Mr Chidambaram said comprehensive peace deals with a number of rebel groups were close.

The main group holding negotiations is the largest, the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa), which signed a truce in September.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in three decades of insurgency in Assam.

The rebels argued that the government discriminated against the ethnic people of the region and exploited its mineral wealth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16700479

The Tribune – SAD, Congress, Manifestos; Graft issue takes centrestage

Sarbjit Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22. There are several similarities in the election manifestos of the SAD and the Congress. With the issue of corruption in the spotlight across the country, both the parties have promised a strong Lokyukta in the state. The SAD promises strengthening of the Lokayukta and says it backs the Jan Lok Bill of Team Anna. The Congress vows to create a new effective Lokayukta and a vigilance commission under a retired judge. During his tenure as CM, Captain Amarinder Singh had set up a similar commission, headed by a retired judge.

Infrastructure

On infrastructure, the SAD promises an international airport at Machhiwara besides expanding the Sahnewal airport.

The Congress promises three inland container depots at Rajpura, Jalandhar and Armtisar, widening of village roads and upgradation of highways. The SAD promises to complete the Ludhiana metro project in five years. It also promises to set up a separate environment ministry to clean the riverwaters.

Wooing The Youth

Both the parties talk of creating jobs. The Congress promises 100 skill development centres and free training for defence, police and security services. The SAD talks of jobs for 10 lakh persons, of these 2 lakh jobs in the government sector.

Agriculture

The Congress focuses on diversification. It lays emphasis on promoting horticulture. The SAD promises crop insurance, tube well connections for small farmers, continuation of free power and other subsidies and a concrete programme for diversification.

The SAD manifesto is more elaborate. Both the parties stress on development in the farm, industrial , infrastructure and social welfare sectors. It is, perhaps, for the first time that the parties in have focused more on development and less on emotive issues.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120123/punjab.htm#5

The Tribune – Pakistan PM’s lawyer charges token fee, but has his terms

Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan agreed to represent Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for a token fee of Rs 100, but put tough conditions before he agreed to plead for Gilani in the contempt of court case before the Supreme Court.

Foremost of the conditions was to keep at bay people who had engaged in “uncouth” criticism of the judiciary and the judges. The Barrister was clearly referring to PM Gilani’s earlier counsel and former law minister Babar Awan.

“Unlike in the past, when I represented you while you were in jail and charged you no fee, you will pay me a fee by a cheque in the name of ‘Aitzaz Ahsan and Associates’ the sum of Rs 100,” reads the invoice sent by Aitzaz’s law firm to the Prime Minister.

In the invoice issued on January 17, a day after the apex court issued a contempt notice to Gilani for not complying with court orders on NRO implementation, the Barrister first spelt out his conditions: Persons indulging in unpalatable and uncouth criticism of superior courts be restrained, was the first condition. You and I will travel to the courts by ourselves, and in all humility, without a procession of any kind, the Barrister added.

The conditions appear to have been fulfilled for now as Gilani himself drove to the Supreme Court, with his counsel, on January 19. The firebrand former counsel, Babar Awan, was nowhere to be seen.

The payoff has worked for Gilani as well. Aitzaz was able to secure breathing time of two weeks from the court, till February 2, for the next hearing. The court also spared the Prime Minister from appearing in person for the next hearing.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a leading figure in the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of judiciary, had also pleaded the case of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry when the latter was sacked the first time. Barrister Ahsan had also charged Justice Chaudhry a token amount.

In normal cases, however, his fees run into millions. Aitzaz recently admitted taking Rs 15 million as fee from Haris Steel Mills to defend its case in the Lahore High Court.

Besides appearing for the Chief Justice, Aitzaz has been the counsel for former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in the past.

In his invoice-cum-draft agreement with Gilani, the lawyer also spelt out his strategy before taking up the case. “You have always known my position on the basis of which I have continuously advised the government that since the office of the President (whosoever be the incumbent) imparts full immunity to the incumbent, temporarily for the duration of the office, at home and abroad, the writing of the letter would not be of any consequence.”

“Though the letter to Switzerland would not have resulted in a prosecution, you have a defence if you thought it appropriate not to be seen to have set a precedent of pushing the President of our country into a public ordeal before a foreign forum,” he added. This would have amounted to throwing a man into a foreign fire in the belief that he cannot be harmed by domestic fire, said the lawyer.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120123/main6.htm

The Hindu – Central Delhi among 419 districts to get focus in education

Special attention to SC/ST, minorities, out-of-school children

Aarti Dhar

New Delhi, 23 January 2012. Central Delhi, comprising largely of Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal’s parliamentary constituency Chandni Chowk, has been included in the list of 419 special focus districts (SFDs) for 2012-13 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Last year the number was 389.

The HRD Ministry describes these 419 districts as being “characterised by marginalisation and backwardness and yet to be on a par with other districts” on school education parameters.

Central Delhi, with a substantial Muslim population, has been included in the SFDs for a low retention rate in schools — below 60 per cent.

The government gives special attention to these educationally backward districts, which are identified on indicators of infrastructure deficit, a high concentration of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, minority population, out-of-school children and high gender gap. Funds for these districts are sanctioned on priority for different interventions including opening new schools, teacher recruitment and construction work.

Other categories include Muslim concentration districts, Naxal-affected districts, border area districts and 121 minority districts, identified by the Prime Minister’s Office.

In 2011-12, 67 per cent of the total outlay for school education was sanctioned for 389 SFDs on a priority basis. The States have been asked to prepare detailed and need-based plans for these districts so that the social and infrastructure gap can be bridged.

For 2012-13, the additional districts have been included broadly under the categories of out-of-school children, high gender gap and low retention rate. Seven districts have been added to the existing 27, where the number of out-of-school children is more than 20,000, mainly in Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Sixteen districts of Haryana, Mizoram and Punjab — with a gender gap of 10 per cent at the primary level and more than 20 per cent at the upper primary level — have been included in the SFDs list.

The highest inclusion has been in the category of districts where the retention rate is below 60 per cent. This number has gone up from 126 to 189, including districts from Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tripura.

Central Delhi, part of Sibal’s constituency, included for low retention rate in schools. SFDs are characterised by marginalisation and backwardness.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2823441.ece

Den Haag: Opa and Angadvir Singh & Hasselt: AGM of the ‘Internationaal Comité’

Den Haag 26 November 2011

‘Opa’ Harjinder Singh and ‘Pota’ Angadvir Singh
Angadvir Singh is dressed up as ‘Zwarte Piet’, the traditional assistant of Sint Nicolaas

Hasselt 3 December 2012

The ‘internationaal comité’ held its agm with education as its theme
Representatives of its branches and of the communities it works with took part in the proceedings

Delegates opposite me

  Theodorus, Sikhs in Belgium, with the delegates to my left
A visible Sikh stands out in a crowd

Delegates ‘sharp left’

http://www.internationaalcomite.be/icjo/ 

To see more Belgian pictures go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622046344528/

More Belgian pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Police lied to keep me away: Rushdie; IB specified threat to author’s life: CM

Jaipur, January 22. The Salman Rushdie row refused to blow over today with the controversial author slamming the Rajasthan Police for “inventing” a threat to his life to keep him away from the Jaipur Literature Festival.

The state government dismissed the charge saying Intelligence Bureau had given the inputs and it was not concocted.

A day after the Mumbai police refuted reports that it had passed on information about “paid assassins” being on their way to eliminate Rushdie, 64-year-old Rushdie took to microblogging site Twitter to vent his anger. “The Rajasthan police invented plot to keep away Rushdie’ I’ve investigated, & believe that I was indeed lied to. I am outraged and very angry,” he tweeted.

Rushdie said he does not know if the false intelligence information was given by the Rajasthan police under instructions from someone. “Don’t know who gave orders. And yes I guess the same police who want to arrest (authors) Hari, Amitava, Jeet and Ruchir. Disgusting,” he said responding to a comment on whether it is the same police who now want to arrest writers for reading passages of his banned work ‘The Satanic Verses’ at the festival.

Rejecting Rushdie’s charge, a Rajasthan government official said, “It was the input of IB on the basis of which the organisers advised Rushdie not to attend the festival. “It was brought to our knowledge today that Rushdie through twitter had said that the Rajasthan police tried to keep him away from the festival. It is absolutely wrong,” the official said.

“It is our duty that if we receive advisory on any threat perception against anyone, we provide full security to him,” Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said.

Rushdie posted a link to a news report that said local intelligence officials in Rajasthan had “invented” information about the assassination plot against him to keep him away from the event. His accompanying tweet read, “Here’s the story. Astonishing.” The author had dropped plans to attend the literature meet saying he was informed by intelligence sources in Maharastra and Rajasthan about threats to his life. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120123/main4.htm

Dawn – Gilani rules out ‘viceroy security’

Lahore, 23 January 2011. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that American businessman Mansoor Ijaz has been spitting venom against Pakistan, its establishment and governments for a long time.

Mr Ijaz “does not deserve the protocol being sought for him because that will require billions of rupees,” he said while talking to reporters after offering condolences to the family of the world’s youngest IT professional, late Arfa Karim Randhawa, here on Sunday.

The prime minister said providing a security cover at a cost of billions of rupees to the accuser in the memo case during his appearance before an investigation commission would be against the Constitution and law.

He said the security and protocol for Mr Ijaz was being highlighted as if a viceroy or a person more important than the US president was coming to Pakistan.

“The interior ministry, in accordance with the rules of business, will provide security to Mansoor Ijaz and, if required, may call the army or Rangers for assistance to the civil government,” he said.

Mr Ijaz has been summoned by the judicial commission as well as the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.

“I have to assist both. Fairness demands that he should appear before the judicial commission as well as the parliamentary committee.”

The premier said he had referred the case to the parliamentary committee after consultations with the president, the army chief and the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, but PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif took the matter to the Supreme Court.

He said the memo issue would not pose any threat to the country because Mr Ijaz did not enjoy any credibility.

The prime minister declined to comment on his own appearance before the Supreme Court in a contempt case, saying the matter was sub judice.

He denied reports that Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan had opposed inclusion of PPP leader Babar Awan into the cabinet or had set any condition for becoming his counsel.

He said Nato supplies had been cut off in national interest and recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security about re-engagement with the US would be presented before parliament.

The prime minister said the Pakistan people’s Party wanted to contest the next elections in alliance with its coalition partners.

When asked about Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s remarks that the Sindh and federal governments had failed to maintain law and order in the province, he said thank God the remarks had not been made against the Punjab government.

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/23/gilani-rules-out-viceroy-security.html