The Tribune – NRI booked for bigamy

Tribune News Service

Moga, December 15. The police has registered a case of bigamy and cheating against a US-based NRI and his family members.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Surjit Singh said the case had been registered against Navneet Ratan and his brother, mother and father, who are based in Ludhiana.

In his complaint, Davinder Kumar, a resident of Machhi Ke village, alleged that Navneet tied the nuptial knot with his daughter in February 2011 even though he was already married and also had a son.

Davinder alleged that his daughter came to know about the accused’s first marriage when he refused to take her to the US on the pretext that she did not get sufficient dowry.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121216/punjab.htm#12

The Tribune – Time ripe to enhance economic cooperation: Pakistan minister

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 15. A day after the Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister cancelled his India visit citing some health reasons, a five-member Pakistani delegation, headed by Pakistan Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullan, crossed over to India to witness the World Cup Kabaddi final between India and Pakistan which held at Ludhiana later in the evening.

Talking to mediapersons, Sanaullan said after decades of hatred, relations between India and Pakistan were finally moving towards the right direction.

“Increased socio-cultural contacts between the two nations have breathed a new life into their relations. It is the right time to enhance economic cooperation by resolving various issues through talks,” he said.

On relaxation in visa norms, he said Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who was on a visit to India, had the matter on his agenda. “Hopefully, the deliberations in New Delhi will pave the way for greater trade ties and improved bilateral relations,” said Sanaullan.

Others members of the Pakistani delegation included Rana Mashood Ahmed, Deputy Speaker; Khurram Dastgir, Member, National Assembly; Kamran Michael, Senator; and Sardar Jahan Zaib Waran, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister.

Earlier, Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, on behalf of the Punjab Government, welcomed the delegation at the Attari-Wagah joint check post. Interacting with the media, he said mutual sports and cultural exchanges had broken the thaw between the two countries and it would go a long way to dismantle the bottlenecks.

He said during his recent visit to Pakistan, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had proposed setting up of joint committees to improve bilateral trade and it was now up to the Centre to decide.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121216/punjab.htm#1

The Asian Age – RSS, Modi, Mamata: Lines start to blur

Sanjay Basak, Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 16 December 2012. Political equations seem to be changing with the RSS’ mouthpiece, Organiser, recently praising Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, who on Saturday returned the compliment by describing the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat as a state that has been “nurtured and it is progressing”.

While Ms Banerjee attacked the Left parties for lack of industrialisation in West Bengal and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the government’s FDI decision, Ms Banerjee praised the Modi government, saying: “Gujarat has been nurtured and it is progressing”.

Ms Banerjee, who was part of the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA, countered Prime Minister Singh’s criticism of those opposing FDI in retail, saying she was with the common man who was “outdated”. Ms Banerjee, who is visiting New Delhi for the first time after quitting UPA-II, will be meeting some leaders who voted against the government on FDI in multi-brand retail. She will also be meeting BSP supremo Mayawati on Monday.

The RSS mouthpiece in its editorial described Ms Banerjee as a “rare breed of politicians, who have not made money-making their raison d’être in politics”. The Organiser added that the “country needs dozens like her”. As for lack of development in Bengal, the Organiser backed her, stating that “Mamata Banerjee has never claimed to have a magic potion that would transform West Bengal into a wonderland overnight. It is an arduous task.”

Speaking at the 85th AGM of FICCI, she blamed the lack of industrialisation in Bengal on the “35 years of Left rule”.

In a two-pronged attack, she demanded to know how the Centre allowed the previous government to incur such massive debts. “Bengal is one of the most debt-ridden states in India,” she said.

Taking on the PM on FDI in multi-brand retail, she said, “What can we do? We are grassroots-level people, we are the representatives of the people. And the common man is outdated. I am proud to say we are with the people.”

http://www.asianage.com/india/rss-modi-mamata-lines-start-blur-591

Luik / Liège Kirtan Darbar – 22 September 2012

Young female sangat and their mothers

Harjit Kaur and Dilpreet Singh Gingelom

The kirtanis

The kirtanis

The Kirtanis

To see more Belgium and Netherlands gurdwara pictures :

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

Guru Nanak Prakash Gurdwara
625 Rue Saint Leonard
B-4000 Liège

Sikhs from other areas of Belgium and from the UK were also present

More Luik – Liège pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – New India-Pakistan visa regime a historic step: Chief Ministers

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 15. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the new visa accord signed between India and Pakistan was a historic step, which would strengthen trade relations between the two neighbouring nations.

Badal, who was in the city for the foundation stone laying of a new law college and a legal aid clinic cell at Khalsa College, said there was need to enhance trade through road routes as it would help both Punjabs, especially on the Indian side.

“The reason is that Punjab is well connected by road network with the border from all sides, which can facilitate easy import and export of goods frequently between India and Pakistan. If trade is increased through the land route, it will immensely benefit the farmers and traders of both the countries by opening new avenues for them, thereby, heralding an era of unprecedented economic prosperity for them,” he said.

Pakistan and India on Friday entered into a new visa agreement when Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his Paksitani counterpart Rehman Malik officially opertionalised the new visa regime in New Delhi. “The time is ripe for the governments of both the countries to join hands for making more such sustainable efforts, which will result in promotion of friendship, trust, brotherhood, peace and amity between both the countries,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the Union Government should also make concerted efforts for opening trade avenues with the countries of Central Asia through the land route so that people of Punjab could be benefited from it.

Replying to a question, Badal said that the state government was fully sensitised to check the crime against women in the state.

Badal said he had asked the Principal Secretary (Home) DS Bairns and Advocate General Ashil Aglaia to explore the possibility of amending the existing provisions of punishment in such cases so as to make them more harsher. He reiterated that the necessary amendments would be incorporated in the existing laws so that strict punishment could be ensured to the culprits in crime against women.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121216/punjab.htm#2

Dawn – Malik meets Manmohan: Mention of Babri mosque, Muslims’ killings irks BJP

New Delhi, 16 December 2012. Interior Minister Rehman Malik invited angry rejoinders from India’s right-wing Hindu opposition on Saturday after he told his hosts at home ministry in New Delhi that the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and the anti-Muslim violence it spawned were undesirable events.

Some TV channels projected Mr Malik’s remarks late on Friday as an attempt to equate the Ayodhya outrage with the Mumbai carnage of November 2008. He denied it was his intention to juxtapose the two events in any unacceptable way.

A reported text of his Friday comment seemed to support his claim. “We do not want any 9/11. We do not want any Bombay blasts, we do not want any Samjhauta Express, we do not want any Babri mosque issue and we can work together not only for peace in Pakistan and India but also for the region,” Mr Malik had said in New Delhi.

An official judicial probe into the aftermath of Ayodhya had shown 1,500 people were killed, 1,829 injured and 165 missing in the gruesome violence in Mumbai for which the report put the blame on the Shiv Sena and its followers in the city police.

Mr Malik’s comments came just ahead of a report in ‘The Hindu’, which quoted a 1992 top aide of then prime minister Narasimha Rao as saying that he had wanted the mosque to be replaced by a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Rao “wanted the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya through an ‘apolitical’ trust and prepared an ‘unshakeable’ master plan. He believed this could be done by the trust that could enjoy ‘acceptability’ from all corners of the Hindu religion,” his media adviser P.V.R.K. Prasad was quoted as saying.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley slammed the UPA government for not responding to Mr Malik’s Babri Masjid statement immediately.

“The senior minister present should have contested that statement rather than him (Malik) having to clarify his statements,” Mr Jaitley said.

Mr Malik, who is on a three-day visit to the country, also said that Pakistan had initiated investigation into Mumbai attacks and made arrests even before India brought up the issue. He added that Pakistan was not backing any terrorist group, including Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Earlier, Mr Malik, who termed the talks with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde ‘successful’, had created another controversy in the media by saying he was unsure whether India’s Kargil war hero Captain Saurabh Malik had been killed by a Pakistani bullet or the weather.

Interacting with mediapersons on Saturday, Mr Malik said: “Today, I humbly submitted to him (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) that people of Pakistan, specially people from the village where he was born and attended school, want to see him.”

He said Pakistani people and “his childhood friends want to see a person who is not only the prime minister of India, but also a visionary leader of the world”.

Dr Singh, however, said that people in New Delhi asked about the culprits of 26/11. “So, I explained to him and want to tell the people of this country also that there will be no delay from our side; whenever the judicial commission submits its report after cross examination, we will conclude the trial in a very short duration of time,” Mr Malik added.

Agencies add: Meanwhile, speaking at a lunch hosted by the president of the Confederation of Indian Bar, Pravin H. Parekh, Mr Malik said there was a growing interaction between Pakistan and India as their joint efforts in eliminating terrorism would help bring peace and stability to the region. “Both sides are facing scourge of terrorism and extremism and have suffered financial as well as precious human lives loss and it is time that we should make efforts for peace and root out the menace of terrorism to ensure secure atmosphere for the coming generations.”

The minister said authorities had arrested Hafiz Saeed Ahmed three times, but the courts had to grant him bail as no convincing evidence was available. “If India has strong evidence against Hafiz Saeed for his alleged involvement in Mumbai attacks, I would order his arrest immediately before leaving India,” he added.

Mr Malik also held meetings with Opposition Leader Sushma Swaraj and National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon.

http://dawn.com/2012/12/16/malik-meets-manmohan-mention-of-babri-mosque-muslims-killings-irks-bjp/