The Tribune – Improved gender ratio; Reward for four Bathinda villages

Sushil Goyal, Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 1. Four villages of the district have been selected for cash reward of Rs 1.5 lakh each for having gender ratio of more than 1000 in the age group of 0-6 years during 2006-11. These villages are: Karamgarh Shatran (where 85 girls were born against 52 boys during the six-year period), Bhagu (85 girls, 58 boys), Kotguru (136 girls, 125 boys) and Rajgarh Kube (135 girls, 134 boys). The panchayats of these villages will be honoured at a state level function soon.

Sixty-five-year-old Kheta Singh of Bhagu village said he had three granddaughters and a seven-year-old grandson, but the family never opted for sex determination or female foeticide. Bhagwan Kaur (75) said the villagers did not believe in female foeticide due to which the number of girls as compared to boys had increased.

Gursewak Singh, sarpanch of Bhagu village, said in his village, people did not indulge in female foeticide. He said with the prize money, they would construct a room in the high school so that it could be upgraded to senior secondary.

Baldev Singh, sarpanch of Kotguru village, said the panchayat always monitored pregnancy cases and created awareness among the people against female foeticide. Sadha Singh of Kotguru said he had four sons who together had eight daughters and four sons, but they never thought about sex determination tests.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120402/punjab.htm#9

The Tribune – Curfew relaxed, Gurdaspur limps back to normalcy

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, April 1. Partial normalcy was restored in the town today after the security forces relaxed the curfew for 10 hours in two phases. The paramilitary forces and the police have been regularly patrolling the streets to instill confidence among the residents.

It was on Thursday that the curfew was clamped on the town following clashes between two communities. An 18-year-old youth, Jaspal Singh, was killed as the police opened fire to “disperse” the mob.

The death resulted in the suspension of Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Varinder Pal Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Manpreet Singh whereas Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Singh Kainth was transferred elsewhere.

Also, a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against DSP Manpreet Singh who had led the police party which resorted to firing. The government orders came as the victim’s relatives refused to cremate the body until action was taken against the “guilty” officials.

The action is also being attributed to sustained pressure put up by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma, former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode and other members of the Sikh clergy who had been camping at the deceased’s native village Chour Sidhwan since Friday. Both the SSP and the DC, who left for Chandigarh today, refused to comment on their respective exits.

Kainth found himself cold-shouldered when he was handed over his transfer orders even though he had played a key role in brokering peace between the two communities.

On the other hand, the decision to suspend the district police chief has been criticised by the junior police officials who claimed the SSP had no direct role as far as the imposition of curfew was concerned. He has been told to report to the Chief Secretary, who would decide his next place of posting.

Sources said the SSP too had to pay the price for the “covert actions of politicians at whose behest the situation had turned from bad to worse on Thursday”.

Later, she also visited Pandher village, the native place of Ranjit Singh who was seriously injured in the firing. He is recuperating at the Amritsar Civil Hospital where his condition was stated to be stable.

Pathankot Deputy Commissioner Siben. C, who is also holding the charge of Gurdaspur, said a meeting of the Peace Coordination Committee would be held tonight where a decision would be taken on whether to lift the curfew completely tomorrow or to relax it in phases.

Gurbachan Singh led the negotiations with the state government on behalf of the deceased’s family. He had threatened that he would resign as Akal Takht chief if no action was taken against the erring officials.

The DC’s transfer has come as a surprise to many as his role did not come under the scanner in the deliberations between the representatives of the Sikh bodies and the government.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120402/punjab.htm#6

The Hindu – Zardari to meet Manmohan on April 8

Anita Joshua

Islamabad, 2 April 2012. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over lunch on April 8 in
New Delhi during a daylong private visit to India.

Though this is a visit to primarily offer prayers at the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer, the President accepted an invitation from Dr. Singh for lunch in New Delhi en route to Ajmer Sharif.

This was announced here late Sunday night by the Presidency. Earlier in the day, the Presidency had said that an India visit was on the cards for Mr. Zardari but his office maintained that the date and details of the trip were yet to be finalised;
indicating the possibility of a high-level meeting.

This is the first time Mr. Zardari is travelling to India after taking over as President in 2008 and the first presidential visit since his predecessor Pervez Musharraf’s official visit in 2005.

Mr. Zardari’s India visit comes at a time when the two countries are inching towards better trade relations and attempting to
address outstanding issues through the resumed composite dialogue process.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3269795.ece

5 February 2012 – Snowy Sint-Truiden Winter Walk & Home Sweet Home

Off Plankstraat
Part of the old city walls turned into park

View from Plankstraat towards the Grote Markt

Plankstraat - Interesting door

Grote Markt, Old City Hall
The restoration of the building is almost done

Home Sweet Home

My kitchen
Tiensesteenweg, Harjinder Singh’s residence

To see more Belgium (mostly Limburg) pictures :

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

More Belgium pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Bhakra power share: SC plea dismissal a setback for fund-starved Punjab Corp

Umesh Dewan, Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 1. With the apex court dismissing petitions filed by Punjab and Haryana for a review of the court judgment dated September 27, 2011, wherein both the states were directed to raise the Himachal Pradesh share of power in the Bhakra-Nangal project from 2.5 per cent to 7.19 per cent, with retrospective effect from 1966, has certainly come as a “shocker” for the cash-strapped power corporation.

In the wake of the fact that Punjab is a power-deficit state and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is already in a precarious fiscal situation, the dismissal of the petition is being considered as a major setback for the state.

According to the senior functionaries of the Punjab Government, deliberations will be held to chalk out future course of action once they get a copy of the court judgment.

Notably, on September 27, 2011, the Supreme Court had pronounced its verdict on a suit filed by Himachal Pradesh in 1996, bringing down the Punjab’s share from the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) projects from 54.5 per cent to 51.8 per cent. Subsequently, Punjab moved a petition in the apex court seeking the review of the court verdict.

Elaborating on the matter, some senior officials of the PSPCL said, “Dismissal of the petition means an increase in Punjab’s power deficit by 3,000 lakh units (LUs) annually. To fill this shortfall, the corporation will have to purchase power from other states, which will put an additional annual burden of around Rs 80-90 crore on it.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120402/main4.htm

BBC News – Burma poll: Aung San Suu Kyi hopes for ‘new era’

Monday, 2 April 2012. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she hopes Sunday’s by-elections marked the start of a new
era in Burma.

Calling the polls a “triumph of the people”, she said the goal now was reconciliation with other parties.

Official results for the polls that saw 45 seats contested are expected later this week.

But Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) said she easily won in her Kawhmu constituency, and that the party expects to win multiple seats.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s comments came as she addressed a crowd of supporters outside NLD headquarters in Rangoon, Burma’s commercial capital.

“It is not so much our triumph as a triumph of the people who have decided that they have to be involved in the political process in this country,” she said. “We hope this is the beginning of a new era.”

“We hope that all other parties that took part in the elections will be in a position to co-operate with us to create a genuinely democratic atmosphere in our nation.”

Sunday’s vote was seen as a key test of political reforms, though the army and its allies dominate the 664-seat parliament.

The by-elections were being held to fill parliamentary seats left vacant by the appointment of ministers after the polls that formally ended military rule in November 2010.

The NLD was competing in its first elections since 1990, after boycotting the 2010 polls. It was one of 17 opposition parties that took part.

Apart from winning her own seat, Ms Suu Kyi appears to have helped a number of her colleagues to victory, correspondents say.

NLD officials say they believe the party has won almost all of the 44 seats it contested, including some in the remote capital, Nay Pyi Taw. There has been no formal word yet from the Election Commission.

But even if the NLD wins most of the seats, the army and its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will still
hold about 80% of seats in parliament.

Ms Suu Kyi – who spent years under house arrest after her party won polls in 1990 but was not allowed to take power – has promised to use her voice to continue to push for further reform.

‘Step forward’

Speaking in Cambodia ahead of an Asean summit, Burma’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin said the polls had been “free,
fair and transparent”.

During the campaign, foreign journalists and international observers were given the widest access to the former military-
ruled nation for years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulated Burma on holding the vote and said that the US was ”committed to supporting these reform efforts”.

The European Union hinted that it could ease some sanctions if the vote went smoothly.

US lawmakers who drafted sanctions against Burma remained cautiously optimistic.

“While much remains to be done in Burma, Suu Kyi’s apparent election to parliament, like that of the apparent election of large numbers of her NLD colleagues, is an important step forward for the country,” said Senator Mitch McConnell.

Representative Joe Crowley said ”now is not the time” to rush towards lifting the sanctions.

“Far too many political prisoners are still locked behind bars, violence continues against ethnic minorities and the military dominates not only the composition but the structure of the government,” he added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17581054