The Tribune – Beant’s killer refuses to meet religious leaders

Aman Sood, Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 14. The state police has tightened the Central Jail security here as Balwant Singh Rajoana, an accused in former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case, will be hanged on March 31 here. SGPC member Satwinder Singh Tohra, Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, head, Damdami Taksal and some other leaders today came to meet Balwant, but he refused to meet them.

“Balwant says he wants to meet the Akal Takht Jathedar and none else,” Tohra told TNS.

Sources said senior jail officers today met senior police officers and apprised them about the case and the attention it was bound to get in the coming few days. “The meeting decided round-the-clock vigil outside the jail premises,” said a source.

“We have stationed some additional force near the jail premises and security has been tightened,” said SSP Dinesh Partap Singh.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120315/punjab.htm#10

The Tribune – Badal does the balancing act; Takes leaders representing various regions and communities in his Cabinet

Naveen S Garewal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 14. The Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has done a fine balancing act in representing Malwa, Majha and Doaba in his Cabinet based on the number of constituencies in each of these regions. With Majha having 25 seats and the Doaba 23, eight ministers are from these two regions. The Malwa belt with 69 assembly segments post-delimitation is represented by 10 ministers, including the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister.

The Cabinet represents all the three regions of Punjab ae well as communities.The message at today’s swearing-in was clear — that the government wants to give a lot of importance to the Dalits. Bhagat Chunni Lal, a Dalit face in the Cabinet, is number three in the Badal government.

In 2007, Dalit leader Swaran Singh Phillaur’s name was dropped from the list of ministers at the last minute. This time he is ranked number 4 in the Cabinet. Gulzar Singh Ranike also represents a reserved segment (Attari).

Political compulsions have forced the Chief Minister to induct Jagir Kaur (the only women) into the Cabinet even while she is facing trial in a murder case. However, she has been pushed down to the number 12 position.

Others like Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, a former MP from Ludhiana, has got a place in the Cabinet because of three reasons — his proximity to Sukhbir Badal, because there is no other claimant from Ludhiana district and last because he was denied the ticket for the parliamentary poll in 2009 on the promise that he would be allotted the party ticket for the assembly elections and made minister if he won.

S S Rakhra is a two-time MLA who defeated Raninder Singh in Samana. The SAD has no other leader in Patiala whose stature matches that of Rakhra.

Rakhra will help the SAD consolidate the party position in the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Bikram Majithia has earned his position in the Cabinet by leading the youth wing to a successful innings. Out of the 14 Akali youth wing candidates in the poll, 11 were victorious. Majithia was a minister in the last government but had to resign to pave the way for induction of Sukhbir Badal into the Cabinet. Tota Singh, a former minister, represents the core Malwa region. He is close to the Chief Minister. Sikandar Singh Maluka is close to Sukhbir. He played a key role in holding the Kabaddi World Cup.

Though the portfolios are yet to be announced, sources say the BJP has told Chief Minister Badal that it wants Bhagat Chunni Lal to be given Health and Local Government, Anil Joshi Techinical Education and Industries, MM Mittal Forests and Labour and Surjit Kumar Jyani Social Welfare.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120315/punjab.htm#1

The Hindu – Trivedi attends Parliament, parries questions on resignation

Amid reports that he had already sent his resignation to the Prime Minister, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi attended Parliament, saying it was his “duty”.

New Delhi, 15 March 2012.  Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, whose party has demanded his removal, on Thursday attended Parliament, saying it was his “duty” as a Minister but parried questions on his resignation.

A day after Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded his sacking, Mr. Trivedi said he would be in Lok Sabha during Question Hour as scheduled to reply to queries raised by members.

“I am going to Parliament as a Minister. I have come for Question Hour. I have to answer my questions. I am doing my duty, let me do that please” he told reporters at his residence and outside Parliament House before entering Lok Sabha shortly before the commencement of Question Hour in the House. Mr. Trivedi was seated in the front row in the Treasury Benches.

The Trinamool leader declined to answer when asked whether he had resigned. “Let’s see what happens. I have to go…,” he said. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2997804.ece?homepage=true

Netherlands 23 december till 2 January, Den Haag & Amsterdam

First Sunday Divan in new Singh Sabha Gurdwara Den Haag  
1 January 2012

Kanwal Kaur & Manpreet Kaur
My granddaughters

Sadh Sangat 

Queuing up to pay respect to Guru Granth Sahib

With white cloth on his jhura : Angadvir Singh, grandson

Local kirtanis 

The last of the pictures of the first Sunday divan at the new Gurdwara

Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
Herman Costerstraat 140
2571 PC  Den Haag

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 – Punjab gets Parikarma Express, no ‘Adarsh’ railway station

Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, March 14. The Railway Budget has brought cheer to some, but disappointed others. While people are glad over the introduction of some new express trains in this division, they complain that their long-pending demands, including a new train to Haridwar and Delhi, have not been met.

The new express trains introduced are the Ferozepur-Sri Ganganagar Express via Fazilka and Abohar (daily), Guru Parikarma (Amritsar-Hazur Sahib, Nanded) Express, Kanpur-Amritsar Express via Farrukhabad, Bareilly (weekly) and the Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur AC Express (tri-weekly) via Ambala and Jalandhar.

Another DEMU from Hoshiarpur to Ferozepur (daily) has also been approved.

However, the 12037/12038 New Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi Express has been extended only up to Moga, leaving local traders diasppointed. The Railway Ministry has also sanctioned a survey for electrifying the Hisar-Jakhal-Ludhiana line.

While the Ferozepur-Patti line project has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval, the ministry has approved three line projects to be completed in 2012-13, including the Khamano-Sahnewal line project. The list of 84 railway stations to be upgraded as “Adarsh” does not include any of the stations from the state.

Vishwesh Chowbey, DRM, Ferozepur Division, said several new projects had been sanctioned for the division. He said all unmanned level crossings would be eliminated within the next three years for which a corporation had been set up.

Punjab has the highest incidence of accidents at unmanned crossings.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120315/punjab.htm#7

Dawn – US, Pakistan exploring terms of engagement

Our Correspondent

Washington, 15 Maart 2012. The United States and Pakistan explore new terms of engagement as they contemplate various options for rebuilding a relationship which has deteriorated rapidly since January 2011.

“We will continue to engage where we even have legitimate concerns and disagreements,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in her address to the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference in Washington on Tuesday.

“I appreciate Secretary Clinton’s words of engaging despite differences,” said Pakistan’s Ambassador Sherry Rehman, when asked for comments on the secretary’s statement. “We hope to seek parliament’s views on the terms of re-engagement very soon.”

While Secretary Clinton focused on the need for staying engaged with Pakistan, Ambassador Rehman tried to downplay media reports that Islamabad and Washington had reached an agreement on drone strikes or on reopening Nato supply routes.

Known as the Ground Lines of Communication (GLOC), the routes bring supplies for US and Nato forces in Afghanistan via Torkham and Chaman borders. The GLOC carries nearly half the supplies of coalition forces in Afghanistan at one-tenth the cost of air supply.

“There is no question of anyone cutting a deal on anything behind Parliament’s back, whether it is drones or the GLOC.”

She said that in a series of recent meetings with US officials and lawmakers, Pakistan also stressed the need for discontinuing drone strikes because Islamabad believed that a large number of civilians were also killed in those attacks.

While the United States has indicated that it may agree to involve Pakistan in the decision making process, it is not willing to discontinue the drone strikes because it believes they have been very effective in eliminating key Al Qaeda leaders.

Instead, of settling the drone or GLOC issues first, Pakistan seems more interested in defining the future parameters of a bilateral relationship.  These were some of the issues that Secretary Clinton identified as “legitimate concerns and disagreements”.

Ambassador Rehman insisted that the review had to be completed before Pakistan and the US start sorting out the issues that divide them.

“All Pakistani principals are in lock-step on that. This is the new Pakistan and we work like all democracies, with full consultation and openness,” she said.

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/15/us-pakistan-exploring-terms-of-engagement.html