The Tribune – Improving ties rekindle hope for more routes; Kartarpur Sahib corridor a long pending demand

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 14. With Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal renewing the demand before India and Pakistan governments, the issue of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor connecting Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur with historic Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan is back in the limelight.

The historic Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara holds great significance for Sikhs as first Sikh master Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life there. The distance between Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Sahib is a mere 3 km and Sikhs have for long been demanding unrestricted access to the historic shrine through a visa-free corridor connecting the two places. The corridor, when constructed, would be an important channel of hassle-free pilgrimage for the devotees as compared to the long, strenuous journey through circuitous route via Wagah, Lahore and Narowal.

Most of the devotees who are unable to visit Pakistan are left with no option but to bow their head in reverence towards the shrine while standing at the “darshan sthal” (viewing facility) constructed by the BSF along the Indo-Pak border at Dera Baba Nanak from where they can catch a glimpse of the shrine. The BSF also provides them with binoculars so that they can have a clear and closer view of the shrine.

On June 28, 2008, the then Union Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited Dera Baba Nanak and said a group of Indian experts would conduct feasibility study for the construction of barbed corridor, but no forward movement was made after it.

SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh said, “Now that the Chief Minister has renewed the demand, the SGPC will definitely follow it up.” The DSGMC chief, Paramjit Singh Sarna, claimed the Pakistan government was almost ready for the construction of the corridor in 2003, but the then NDA government didn’t agree to it.

Senior SAD leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala, who has also been pursuing the matter, said they have been performing ‘ardaas’ at the “darshan sthal” on a particular day every month since April 13, 2001, praying before the Almighty to facilitate the corridor for the devotees.

Significance of the corridor

- Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara holds great significance for the Sikhs as first master Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years there

- The distance between Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Sahib is a mere 3 km and the Sikhs have been demanding unrestricted access to the shrine through a visa-free corridor

- At present, devotees have to undertake a strenuous journey through circuitous route via Wagah, Lahore and Narowal

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120415/punjab.htm#4

The Tribune – Uranium in water proving fatal for residents

Cancer cases rise rapidly, children in many areas develop deformities in the Malwa region

SP Sharma, Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 14. Containing a high content of uranium and heavy metals, the poor quality underground drinking water in the Malwa region has become a cause for concern among the residents. Not only has the incidence of cancer shown an upward trend, children have also developed deformities in several villages in Fazilka district.

A recent study conducted by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), which confirmed the high uranium content in underground water, particularly in Faridkot district, sent shockwaves throughout Punjab.

Even the quality of filtered drinking water in Bathinda town was not found any better. The water was being supplied in an unhygienic way to the residents. The content of fluoride was found to be beyond the permissible limit and it was reportedly causing bone-related diseases.

The research, conducted jointly by the BARC and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, had attributed the high concentration of dissolved uranium in groundwater to high salinity, alkalinity, excessive use of chemical fertilisers like phosphate and TDS (total dissolved solids). These components, the researchers claimed, increased the solubility of uranium in water.

The high uranium content in groundwater was also traced in other parts of Bathinda as well as Mansa districts. The highest content was found in Karamgarh Satran village of Bathinda where it was measured at 644 µg/L, followed by Dhillawan (463.6 µg/L), Giana (292.65 µg/L) and Gudda (165.85 µg/L).

The BARC report even showed the water of many hand-pumps on the banks of Indira Gandhi Canal and Sirhind Feeder Canal in the area containing high uranium traces.

The villages in Bathinda and Mansa with high uranium concentration include Karamgarh Satran, Dhillawaan, Giana, Gudda, Siriyara, Ghabri Bhaji, Sangat Kanchiyan, Chabri, Chugge Kalan, Nathana, Balluana, Aklia Kalan, Gobindpur, Budhlada, Mansa and Bhikhi. In Fazilka, the affected villages include Dona Nanka, Teja Rohela, Jhangar Bhaini, Gulaba Bhaini, Ram Singh Bhaini, Mahatam Nagar and Gatti number 2 and 3 and Gulam Rasool. These are situated along the Sutlej creek and the residents have been suffering from skin and various other serious ailments.

Apart from the excess use of fertilisers, industrial pollutants flowing into the Chand Bhan drain from different areas were also to blame. The pollutants have rendered the subsoil water unfit for human consumption. It is brackish and highly contaminated with fluoride and other toxic chemicals.

(With inputs by Balwant Garg, Sushil Goyal, Anirudh Gupta, Raj Sadosh and Praful Nagpal)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120415/punjab.htm#1

The Asian Age – 1000 crore sought for propaganda war

Nitin Mahajan, Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 15 April 2012. The government has sought the highest ever allocation for its “content revolution” propaganda war against terrorists and extremists. The information and broadcasting ministry has proposed to spend an amount of 1,000 crore on programming and content development in disturbed areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states over the next five years.

During the forthcoming 12th Five Year Plan, under the special package the I&B ministry has also proposed to enhance funding for programming of DD Urdu, which serves the minority community.

Sources stated that the government wants to spend 200 crore per year on Doordarshan’s content development in these regions. Over and above the 1,000 crore in these five years for Doordarshan, the government also proposes to spend an additional 80 crore on similar content development in disturbed areas over the next five years. “This will bring the proposed total outlay to a whopping 1,080 crore for the content revolution in Prasar Bharati,” sources added.

As part of the package the government also proposes to focus on development of DD Kashmir (its dedicated channel for Kashmir) and DD International. The strengthening of DD International has been proposed to enhance the country’s capability to project itself in foreign lands.

The government has also proposed a massive 10-fold increase in the amount of its budget spent on strengthening of Doordarshan and All-India Radio broadcasting and coverage in border areas, as reported by this newspaper first. The ministry has proposed to spend 986 crore on strengthening of national broadcasters in border areas during the coming 12th Plan period.

It is believed that the strengthening of national broadcasters will help the government to counter the misinformation campaign being unleashed by terrorist and extremist outfits. The enhancement of infrastructure and broadcasting capability will also ensure fulfilment of the responsibility of the public broadcaster in dissemination of authentic information to citizens in these disturbed areas.

http://www.asianage.com/india/1kcr-sought-propaganda-war-053

28 February 2012 – Antwerp, trams, the river, the castle and the wedding

On 28 February I went to Antwerp to attend the wedding of Jatinder Singh & Reyhan Kaur
As I was early I had time to take pictures of trams, the river and the castle

Paintings in the wedding hall, where Jatinder Singh and Reyhan Kaur got married

Wedding ceremony of the Belgae
The Belgae were a Celtic nation who lived in the north of France in what is now Belgium during the Roman Empire

Wedding ceremony of the Romans

Early Christian wedding

Wedding of Philip the Fair of Burgundy and Juana the Mad of Castile
They were married in Brussel in 1496 and their son Charles V became one of the most powerful rulers Europe has known

Civil Marriage as introduced after the French revolution

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 – Badal strikes nostalgic note with Pakistan Punjab CM

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 14. It was border bonhomie at its best. The inaugural ceremony of the country’s first Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari witnessed an excellent show of camaraderie among politicians of the two countries as they cracked jokes and recited couplets during their addresses at the gala function.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal set the ball rolling with his speech, which, though in English, was laced with humour in chaste Punjabi. He struck a nostalgic note by reminiscing about his college life that he spent in Lahore. He quoted a Punjabi saying “Jinhe Lahore nahi vekhya, oh jamya nahin (One who hasn’t seen Lahore is not born).”

Subsequently, he pointed towards the young generation saying “it means these people are not born yet” to drive home his point for liberal visa regime while at the same time evoking laughter from the gathering.

Badal recalled how his counterpart from Punjab in Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif gifted him ‘dumbas’ (Afghan sheep) when he visited Pakistan during the Vajpayee regime.

“Sharif Sahib those ‘dumbas’ have died and I want new ones now. I also wish I can bring cows of Sahiwal breed from Pakistan,” he told Sharif.

He said he longs for sumptuous Pakistani cuisine and hopes that the new liberal visa regime will usher in a day when one can have lunch at Amritsar and dinner at Lahore.

Sharif said he wished he could have brought with him a tiffin filled with “puri and chhole” and other delicacies liked by Badal.

Subsequently, he cracked a joke, which had the gathering bursting into peels of laughter.

Sharif concluded his speech with a couplet in Urdu and made it a point to translate it in Punjabi, so that everyone present there could understand it. Before taking his seat, he said: “Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Zindabad”.

In another goodwill gesture, the Pakistan Punjab CM supported Badal’s demand for opening Hussainiwala border in Ferozepur for trade between the two countries.

The two leaders also shared the pain and trauma caused by the Partition and subsequent miseries that Indo-Pakistan wars have brought to the two sides.

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma talked about sharing fruits of growth with the neighbouring country. His Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Amin Fahim concluded his address by chanting “Pak-Hind Dosti Zindabad.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120415/main4.htm

Dawn – Militants attack Bannu jail, 400 inmates escape

Dera Ismail Khan. Reuters, 15 April 2012. Nearly 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in northwest Pakistan early on Sunday after it was attacked by militants armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades, a senior police official said.

Some of those who fled the jail in the town of Bannu, near Pahstun tribal areas close to the Afghan border, were militants, an intelligence official said.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, which has close links to al Qaeda, said its fighters mounted the assault, which triggered clashes.

Several people were wounded.

“We have freed hundreds of our comrades in Bannu in this attack. Several of our people have reached their destinations, others are on their way,” said a Taliban spokesman.

The claim could not be immediately verified.

If the Taliban freed the prisoners, it could deal a psychological blow to Pakistani security forces, who say they have made gains against militants through a series of attacks on their strongholds.

Police and intelligence officials said only some of the prisoners who escaped were militants.

“Dozens of militants attacked Bannu’s central jail in the early hours of the morning, and over 300 prisoners have escaped,” senior police official Mir Sahib Jan told Reuters.

“There was intense gunfire, and rocket-propelled grenades were also used.”

Paramilitary troops and security forces surrounded Bannu Central Jail. Of a total 944 prisoners in the jail, 384 escaped, said another police official.

One of the prisoners who escaped from jail was on death row for involvement in an assassination attempt on former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a police official said.

“There was an inmate named Adnan Rasheed, who was a dangerous prisoner. He was a mastermind in (one of the attacks) on Musharraf. These people came for him and took another 383 people too,” said the official.

Militants apparently targeted six jail blocks in the attack, he said.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, is fighting to topple the US-backed Islamabad government.

Major suicide bombings have eased in recent months, suggesting either security crackdowns have weakened the group, or it has changed tactics.

http://dawn.com/2012/04/15/militants-attack-bannu-jail-400-inmates-escape/