The Tribune – Hanspal takes up turban issue with PM; Gill wants direct payment to farmers for their produce

Prabhjot Singh, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 27. From ban on turban in France to direct payment to farmers for their produce are the issues that have provoked two Rajya Sabha members from Punjab — one sitting and the other former — to seek immediate intervention of both the Union and the State government.

While former Union Sports Minister and sitting Rajya Sabha member Manohar Singh Gill has joined hands with the Punjab Farmers’ Commission Chairman, GS Kalkat, in supporting direct payment to farmers for their produce, former Rajya Sabha member and Punjab Pradesh Congress chief HS Hanspal wants Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to raise firmly the turban issue with the French Government.

HS Hanspal, who is a member of the National Commission for Minorities, says that now when India has decided to buy 126 advanced combat aircraft from France, it is time for the Indian Government to “take up turban issue of the Sikhs with the French Government.”

The UNHRC has asked the French Government to report by March 15 about measures taken by it to remove this violation.

“Jathedar of the Akal Takkht and various Sikh organisations from all over the world have taken serious view of the violation of religious rights. They all have threatened to intensify their stir for restoration of their turban pride. Overseas Sikhs also look towards the Indian Government as saviour of their religious rights,” Hanspal said in a letter to the Prime Minister.

Manohar Singh Gill has expressed his surprise that instead of a producer getting paid for the commodity he sold, payment is being made to third person. “It is an unprecedented situation,” says Gill holding that even chairman of the Farmers’ Commission GS Kalkat and a study by the Punjab Agricultural University supported direct payment to farmers instead of through commission agents.

Gill, who remained Financial Commissioner, Development, in Punjab, says, “Making payment to third party is perhaps legally untenable also. When the new government assumes office in the state next month, it should ensure that payment for the next crop of wheat is made directly to farmers than through commission agents.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120228/punjab.htm#6

The Hindu – Case filed against 4 NGOs for aiding Kudankulam protesters

The action came days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stated that non-governmental organisations have received support from abroad for leading protests

New Delhi, February 28, 2012. Tightening the noose on those opposing the Kudankulam nuclear project, the government has registered cases against four NGOs for allegedly diverting funds to fuel protests and deported a German national for assisting the agitators.

“Cases have been registered against four NGOs for violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act,” Union Home Secretary R. K. Singh told reporters here.

The action came days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stated that non-governmental organisations have received support from abroad for leading protests against the much-awaited nuclear power plant.

Bank accounts of the four NGOs have been frozen after an inquiry conducted by the Home Ministry reportedly found them diverting funds meant for charity to fuel the protests.

The cases were registered by the Crime Branch of the Tamil Nadu Police and the CBI. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2942708.ece?homepage=true

Netherlands 23 december till 2 January, Den Haag & Amsterdam

27 December, Viljoenstraat near to where we saw the building with the colourful roof in yesterday’s posting

28 December, Apeldoornselaan
HTM Tram 6 and HTM RandstadRail TramTrain 4 run here

  28 December, Apeldoornlaan
HTM RandstadRail TramTrain 4 to De Uithof

 28 December, Apeldoornlaan
HTM RandstadRail TramTrain 4 to De Uithof

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 – Speed up river-linking: Supreme Court; Suggests setting up of panel to work out time-bound roadmap as project cost rises

R Sedhuraman, Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, February 27. Endorsing the view of experts, the Centre and “most state governments” that the ambitious project to link rivers in India was in “national interest,” the Supreme Court today directed the Centre to constitute a committee headed by the Water Resources Minister for planning and implementing it.

The committee would meet at least once in two months and submit its reports every six months to the Union Cabinet which “shall take all final and appropriate decisions,” a three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia ruled while disposing of two PILs on the issue.

Acknowledging that the Supreme Court “may not be a very appropriate forum for planning and implementation of such a programme having wide national dimensions and ramifications,” the Bench, which included Justices AK Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar, said it was necessary for constituting the committee “to plan, construct and implement this inter-linking of rivers programme for the benefit of the nation as a whole.”

The committee will have as its members the Secretaries of the Water Resources and Environment and Forests, the Chairman of the Central Water Commission and the Member-Secretary of the National Water Development Authority. It would also have experts from the two ministries, besides the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission.

“The Cabinet shall take all final and appropriate decisions in the interest of the country as expeditiously as possible and preferably within 30 days from the date the matters are first placed before it for consideration” by the committee, the SC clarified in the 44-page verdict.

Keeping in view the expert reports, “We have no hesitation in observing and directing that time is a very material factor in the effective execution of the Interlinking of Rivers project.

“It is directed that the Committee shall take firm steps and fix a definite time frame to lay down the guidelines for completion of feasibility reports or other reports and shall ensure the completion of projects so that the benefits accrue within reasonable time and cost,” the SC ruled.

At the initial stages, the project “may not involve those states which have sufficient water and are not substantially involved in any inter-linking of river programme and the projects can be completed without their effective participation.

The SC made it clear that the Committee “shall be responsible for carrying out the inter-linking programme. Its decisions shall take precedence over all administrative bodies.”

“We not only express a pious hope of speedy implementation but also do hereby issue a mandamus to the Central and the state governments concerned to comply with the directions contained in this judgment effectively and expeditiously and without default. This is a matter of national benefit and progress.

“We see no reason why any State should lag behind in contributing its bit to bring the Inter-linking River Program to a success, thus saving the people living in drought-prone zones from hunger and people living in flood- prone areas from the destruction caused by floods,” the apex court held.

Major river rows

Krishna-Godavari dispute: Involves Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa

Cauvery row: Relates to re-sharing of waters between Karnataka &Tamil Nadu

Ravi-Beas dispute: Involves Punjab and Haryana; started with the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966

Closer Home

Sutlej Yamuna Link canal was to link both Sutlej and Yamuna through a 214-km long canal, Haryana completed construction of its portion of the canal. Construction stopped on Punjab side since militancy days. Punjab Government in 2004 passed Termination of Agreements Act that ended all earlier water sharing agreements with neighbouring states.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120228/main1.htm

Dawn – Kohistan bus ambush kills 18

Peshawar, 28 February 2012. Sectarian gunmen ambushed a bus on Tuesday, killing 18 Shia Muslims in a usually peaceful region of northern Pakistan that neighbours the former Taliban stronghold of Swat, officials said.

The bus was stopped, before passengers were ordered off and shot in the mountainous district of Kohistan as it travelled from Rawalpindi to the northern city of Gilgit.

“Armed men hiding on both sides of the road attacked the bus,” local police chief Mohammad Ilyas said.

“Eighteen people have died and eight wounded,” he added. The ambush happened near the town of Harban, 130 miles (208 kilometres) north of the capital Islamabad.

Survivors said seven or eight gunmen stopped the bus, forced the passengers to get off and then opened fire, regional administration chief Khalid Omarzai told AFP by telephone, confirming the casualty numbers.

“It appears to be a sectarian attack,” local MP Abdul Sattar Khan said.

“Its a remote area. We are getting reports that the gunmen forced people to get off the bus. They checked their papers and shot them dead,” he told AFP.

The victims were Shia Muslims, he said. “It could be the outcome of the murder of two Sunni Muslims a few days ago in Gilgit. The people of the area had vowed they would take revenge,” Khan added.

Authorities were slow to confirm the motive and insisted militants are not active in the area.

Kohistan borders the Swat valley, where Pakistan in 2009 managed to put down a two-year Taliban insurgency.

Omarzai told AFP that he could not immediately confirm whether it was a sectarian attack, saying that the police were investigating.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had strongly condemned the Kohistan incident.

The two leaders directed the concerned authorities to ensure best medical treatment for the injured.

Gilani said such incidents could not deter the government’s resolve to fight the menace, while the president said the culprits of such heinous crime would not be spared.

http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/28/atleast-18-dead-in-pakistan-bus-ambush-police.html

503.The Man in Blue – Walking in Belgian Limburg

I have decided to return to Southall in July of this year and that makes me want to look back at two activities that I enjoyed very much in the area where I will have lived for two years by the time I move to the UK.

For practical and safety reasons I do not think I want to even try to cycle in the London area. Walking is of course possible in London, and walks along the Thames and the canals belong to my favourites.

But living close to the historic centre of Sint-Truiden and equally close to the countryside makes it easy to go for modest walks in the neighbourhood and longer treks in the countryside, and this is not possible in Southall.

I recently walked and photographed in the Sint-Truiden area, both a longish walk on a sunny and relatively warm day and closer to home on a cold and snowy day. Pictures taken on previous walks are already on my flickr account and the recent ones will appear there after I finally finish posting the many pictures I took during my Christmas and New-year visit to the Netherlands.

Walking and cycling are good for your health and walking is the most natural way to get from a to b.

I have seen wolves walk and wonderful dogs like Irish wolfhounds and compared with those we are clumsy and inefficient. But walking with Nihangs in Panjab showed me that humans can be efficient movers on their two feet. There is a simple law that applies both to walking and cycling: If you want to walk or cycle over any distance you will have to find a constant rhythm to move your legs in.

This does not mean a constant speed because that depends on the road surface and whether you are in a more or less flat or a hilly area. There are some good hills around here but nothing like what you find in the south of Netherlands’ Limburg or in the Belgian Ardennes.

The hills here are not challenging for walkers. The ‘dirt-roads’ offer a more serious obstacle after heavy rains, especially if you like to keep your feet dry.

Walking, just putting one leg before the other again and again has a great calming effect. Even walking through the man-made landscapes of North-West Europe you will after a while start feeling at one with your surroundings.

Guru teaches that God is everywhere, in all creatures and all plants, in rocks, in sand and clay, in the water of the rain (or the hail and snow) and in the water of streams, lakes and canals. And of course apart from the obvious animals like birds (including birds of prey), cattle, horses and donkeys there are also myriads of little ones from the insects down to invisibly small one celled creatures.

The skinny, 6 foot 3 ‘man in blue’ in Guru’s rúp strides through the landscape and feels at one with ‘The One’, the ‘Omnipresent’. But he misses Southall, and he misses his soul-brothers/sisters, and 7 days-a-week kirtan instead of Sunday only !

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