The Tribune – Indecent Punjabi songs and videos; Women’s organisation to burn effigies of singers

Gagan K Teja, Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 15. In protest against the alleged sub-standard Punjabi videos, the Istri Jagriti Manch today announced it would burn effigies of five Punjabi singers, including Miss Pooja, here tomorrow. Amandeep Kaur, a Manch member, said, “Despite protests outside Diljit Dosanjh’s house at Ludhiana, the music industry does not seem to get our point that any indecency against women will not be tolerated.”

A survey was carried out by the Manch in villages of Patiala, Jalandhar, Sangrur, Barnala and Nawanshahr districts of the state and prepared a list of singers who were allegedly using obscene language and making indecent remarks against women in their songs, he said while adding: “The top most names are Diljit Dosanjh, Geeta Zaildar, Gippy Grewal, Honey Singh and Miss Pooja. We then decided to express our anger because if we do not right now, things will soon spin out of control. As such, most of the videos these days lack morality.”

Talking about female singer Miss Pooja, she said it was shameful that being a woman she had recorded many songs which do not depict Punjabi women in good light. “Her plea that she has also sung religious songs does not give her a license to sing indecent songs. She has sung a few wonderful songs and therefore we want that she should stick to a high standard, added Amandeep.

“Our sole aim of organising the protest is to convey the message to the entertainment industry that they cannot expect us to tolerate such indecent comments in the name of entertainment. We are totally against women being portrayed in a bad taste and have decided to raise our voice against each and every singer who indulges in this practice for popularity,” added senior leaders of the Manch, Anita Sandhu and Gurbax Kaur.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120216/punjab.htm#9

The Tribune – Diversification bears fruit for these farmers

Minna Zutshi, Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 15. Diversification is the key word for these progressive farmers from Fazilka and Pathankot. And they are not averse to experimentation. Their efforts towards diversification, coupled with an innovative approach, have yielded fruit, literally.

The litchi orchard of Pathankot-based Parbhat Singh has proved to be economically remunerative for him. From a four-acre orchard with a few odd litchi plants in 1980 it is now a 20-acre orchard lush with litchi trees.

“The litchi trees are not conventionally popular. But, with a few precautions like the use of wind-breakers around the orchards, these can grow well. Also, these trees are not water-intensive. They require water only after an interval of 10 days, depending on the soil,” he says.

Apart from managing the litchi orchard, Parbhat Singh grows potato, sugarcane, green peas, wheat and mustard. His latest diversification venture is pecan nuts. “I’m experimenting with pecan nuts cultivation. I got some grafted plants from Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishav Vidyalaya in Palampur,” he says.

Experimentation is also working well for Fazilka-based Surinder Kumar Ahuja. His 160-acre land has a variety of crops, including cotton, wheat, paddy and barley. He also grows guava, amla (Indian gooseberry), kinnow, phalsa. Plants like bael, swanjana, mentioned in traditional Indian recipes, are grown on a small scale. It’s sweet lime that’s on his agenda now.

“Unlike kinnow, sweet lime does not require much water,” he says. He has had his share of difficulties. For instance, Fazilka, during the 1950s, was a heavily water-logged area. Both Parbhat Singh and Ahuja believe that the right approach alone nurtures the land that provides bountiful crop. “I don’t want to extract everything from the land without replenishing it,” observes Ahuja.

A passion for farming, along with the willingness to take a calculated risk, is what keeps both these farmers on the “diversification” track.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120216/punjab.htm#11

The Hindu – Contempt notice to Gujarat government

Special Correspondent

Ahmedabad, 15 February 2012. The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday issued a contempt notice to the State government for

not complying with its orders on compensation to some victims whose shops in Ahmedabad were damaged or destroyed

during the 2002 communal riots.   A Bench of Justices Akil Kureshi and C. L. Soni asked the District Collector to file his reply by March 14 explaining why

contempt proceedings should not be initiated against the government.   The order was issued on a petition filed by 56 victims, whose shops in the Rakhial locality in old Ahmedabad were burnt down

in the post-Godhra riots. The shopowners applied for compensation after the Centre had announced an additional relief

package for the victims in February 2008.

The shopowners, through the Jan Sangharsh Manch, filed the petition as they failed to get any response from the Collectorate

on their applications for compensation. In September last, the court directed the Collector to examine the applications and do

the needful.   However, the applicants said, earlier this month they received a communication from the Collector’s office that all 56

applications had been examined and their claims dismissed by the government in August 2011 itself.

The shopowners returned to the High Court with a contempt petition against the Collector and the State government. The

petitioners contended that the Collector’s office did not provide the court full facts of the case during the earlier hearing, as

their applications were claimed to have been disposed of even a month before the court’s order asking the government to examine the applications.  

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2896006.ece

Keywords: The Hindu, 2002 Gujarat pogroms case, victims’ compensation, contempt notice, Narendra Modi government,

India

Netherlands 23 december till 2 January, Den Haag & Amsterdam

25 December, Den Haag Singh Sabha
Satsang in Withuysstraat school

25 December, Den Haag Singh Sabha
Satsang in Withuysstraat school

25 December, Den Haag Singh Sabha
Satsang in Withuysstraat school

 26 December, Den Haag Kempstraat
Building with interesting decoration

To see more Belgium and Netherlands public transport pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622685920411/

To see more Belgium and Netherlands gurdwara pictures :

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

More Belgium / Netherlands pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – On sticky turf, India treads cautiously

Ajay Banerjee, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 15. As Israel and Iran continued to play an intense blame game over Monday’s car bomb attack in Delhi, India for the second consecutive day today did the proverbial tightrope walk trying hard to manage its two important strategic partners.

Dubbing Iran as the world’s biggest exporter of terror, the Israeli government from Day 1 has been blaming Tehran for having perpetuated the attack.

On Wednesday, New Delhi reiterated that it has found no evidence to link the Israeli embassy car blast to Iran. Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin said: “As of today, we have no evidence to find any individual, entity, organisation and country being involved in this incident.”

Sources indicated that India would want to tread carefully in the matter as it has valuable ties with both countries and cannot afford to be seen taking sides. While Tehran supplies a large chunk of crude oil, it also provides port facilities at Chabhar.

This gives New Delhi a land route access to oil, gas and mineral wealth of Central Asian countries located north of Iran. This port also facilitates movement into Afghanistan, a land route which is used extensively by India.

On the other hand, Israel is a major player in defence and security cooperation with India. Israeli Ambassador Alon Usphiz this evening called on External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and discussed the incident, including the progress in the investigations so far.

Usphiz also informed Krishna that his country wants to send a team, including forensic experts and others, to which the minister said India would welcome them. Emerging from the meeting, Usphiz said “The meeting was another example of support, friendship and intimacy (from India) that we have seen in the last 48 hours since this vicious terror attack”. Usphiz, who within hours of the attack, had blamed Iran, said: “We will continue to do whatever we can to promote the bilateral ties with India”.

On his part, Iranian Ambassador to India, Seyyed Mehdi Nabizadeh, virtually threw the ball back at the Israelis, pointing out that the Indian security agencies have so far not linked the blast to Iran. He refused to “accept” or “deny” his country’s role in the bomb attack. “We are not accepting or denying this. I don’t know how can we assume so quickly who has done this,” Nabizadeh told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. He added if India’s security agencies blame Iran for the attack, Tehran will have to verify the charges.

“The attack happened in India and if security agencies here say something (to blame Iranian nationals), we have to verify,” Nabizadeh said.

“Till now their (India’s) final reaction has not come. We hope it will come,” he said, promising full cooperation. “India and Iran have good relations. Both governments will cooperate,” he added.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120216/main3.htm

Dawn – Negative list by February end, India told

Mubarak Zeb Khan

Islamabad, 16 February 2012. The Pakistani side blew cold and hot during the two days of trade liberalisation talks with India.

Having disappointed the visiting delegation on Tuesday when the federal cabinet decided to defer completion of the negative list that was to replace the existing positive one, Islamabad on Wednesday assured New Delhi that it would have the list ready by the end of this month.

The two sides also finalised three more agreements on trade that will help improve economic relations between the two countries.

However, the most important step was the assurance regarding the negative list.

The damage control over the list came after a realisation that Tuesday’s cabinet decision had proved embarrassing for the Indians. The cabinet decision, which came at a time when the Indian delegation was present in Islamabad, earned the government criticism from a number of quarters. “The government should not have put the negative list on the agenda of the cabinet meeting if it had no plan to approve it,” Senator Ghulam Ali, president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), told Dawn.

He conceded that the decision to defer the negative list was a disappointment for the high-profile Indian delegation that was visiting Pakistan.

In fact, it proved disappointing and embarrassing for the visiting delegation as it had already announced that it would return home from Pakistan with the new list.

“This (announcement of a negative list) is the understanding which was given to us when the Pakistan Commerce Secretary came (to New Delhi) in November,” said Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma in a media interaction before he left India for Pakistan.

However, once he had arrived here, the cabinet sent him a different message.

Once the Pakistani side realised what had happened, it salvaged the situation by assuring the visiting delegation that a decision on the list would be taken at the next cabinet meeting. In fact, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, during his meeting with Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, assured the latter about this, adding the cabinet had mandated the ministry of commerce to normalise trade relations with India.

“The roadmap of trade normalisation, as agreed in the meetings of the commerce secretaries in New Delhi last November, will be implemented as per the agreement,” the prime minister told the Indian delegation.

Asked to explain why the cabinet had deferred a decision, Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood said comments on the proposed negative list had not been circulated to ministries, a requirement under the rules. He added that legal requirements had not been met before submitting the summary to the cabinet.

Commerce Minister Amin Fahim echoed the prime minister in a press briefing when he said the proposal would be taken up by the cabinet soon. “We do not want to rush…One or two of my cabinet colleagues wanted to have more information (on the negative list). We should address every single item.”

Dawn has learnt that during the cabinet meeting, a few ministries, including the interior ministry, expressed some reservations.

It was pointed out that the commerce ministry had not shared the draft summary with other ministries before submitting it to the cabinet meeting. These concerns will be addressed and then a fresh one will be submitted to the cabinet, Mr Fahim said.

Despite this hurdle, the two ministers were confident of clearing all hurdles and strengthening trade ties between India and Pakistan.

The Indian commerce minister said Pakistan had categorically reaffirmed that it would shift to a negative list by the end of the month. He added: “We have taken the steps we had said we would take. We hope that Pakistan will now take steps so that we can take the relationship forward.”

Asked how Pakistan would benefit from the trade liberalisation, Mr Sharma said it would provide a market of over one billion people to Pakistani exporters. He added that the three agreements would also facilitate trade between the two countries.  However, he pointed out that the real results would be seen when more trade was allowed through the land route. “We are also looking to the Central Asian markets through the land routes of Pakistan.”

Asked about the import of diesel and electricity from India, Mr Sharma said that the issue would be taken up for consideration next month.

Multiple Visas: The Indian commerce minister said that it had been decided in principle to give multiple visas to businessmen for three years. A decision in this regard will be taken soon, he said.

He explained that the apex chambers will recommend names for issuance of visas. “We have nominated FICCI and CII and Pakistan will also nominate two chambers for this purpose,” he said.

Anand Sharma also added that the Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of Pakistan were in negotiations over opening of bank branches.

He said a delegation from Pakistan would visit India during the first half of March for talks with the RBI on this issue. “India is committed to taking this matter forward.”

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/16/three-trade-accords-given-final-shape-negative-list-by-feb-end-india-told.html