In 2013 I will get on my bike and cycle all the way to Southall, Middlesex, UK
harjindersingh_amritsar@yahoo.com
will go back to being
The Tribune – Eve-teasing accused ‘attack’ police for second time
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, December 24. The youths accused of eve-teasing a woman constable and manhandling her male colleagues, including an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), at Mallan village in Gidderbaha assembly constituency yesterday, allegedly attacked a police party with sharp-edged weapons today.
The police claimed that ASI Ram Singh, whose turban was tossed in the air yesterday, again sustained minor injuries today when he along with other policemen had gone to arrest the accused from a dera near Bhalaiana village in the district.
The police also claimed that three out of six accused who were nabbed today had even tried to flee by jumping out of a moving police vehicle. They also sustained multiple fractures on their wrists and hands.
Senior Superintendent of Police Surjeet Singh said, “Following a tip-off, we arrested all the six accused today. But in the process, they again attacked policemen, two of whom sustained minor injuries.”
However, relatives of the arrested accused alleged that the police had concocted the story. They even assembled outside the Kotbhai police station. They claimed that the police had arrested the accused last night and one of the youths, Sherbaj Singh, a kabaddi player, was not even involved in the crime.
The Tribune – From corporate honcho to seer: The saga of Satguru Uday Singh
Prabhjot Singh, Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 24. The transformation of Uday Singh from being a corporate expert in agriculture to becoming the chief of Namdhari sect has been both unexpected and unusual. The head of the country’s biggest vegetable and flower seed producing company, Indian Seed and India Pacific Seed Association, Uday Singh was yesterday crowned as the new sect chief at a ‘dastarbandi’ (turban tying) ceremony in Bhaini Sahib in Khanna.
But, the crowning also a controversy attached to it. Another claimant to the top post after the death of Satguru Jagjit Singh was Thakur Dalip Singh who, in an unprecedented gesture, wants the crown to go the former head’s widow Mata Chand Kaur.
Interestingly, Mata Chand Kaur herself had named Thakur Uday Singh as the successor.
Controversies apart, it is now Satguru Uday Singh who has been in command of the sect, members of which sport a white dress, including turbans. No Namdhari is allowed to remain without a turban. The sect that fought the British under Satguru Ram Singh is known for not only protecting and preserving Sahiwal breed of Indian cow but also in fighting social evils like dowry, female foeticide and drugs.
“My job is to carry forward the social and spiritual crusades started by Satguru Ram Singh and continued by Satguru Jagjit Singh,” says Satguru Uday Singh. His grooming into spirituality has been under none other than Satguru Jagjit Singh himself.
It was in the early 80s that Satguru Jagjit Singh wanted Uday Singh to look after his farm of about 200 acres. “After a couple of years of traditional farming, we switched to seed production. Our most popular productions are sweet water melon and tomatoes, besides other vegetables and flowers. We are the largest producers of vegetable seeds in the country,” claims Satguru Uday Singh.
A graduate, he also looks after 1,000 acre seed farm in Andhra and Protective Seed Protection in Ooty. While classical music is in his blood, he has also been associated with the Namdhari hockey team that has produced three Olympians, including mercurial Sardar Singh and a score of national-level players.
Satguru Uday Singh has also been one of the brains behind the super-speciality 300-bedded Apollo Hospital in Ludhiana.
The Hindu – Media protests student’s gang rape
Staff Reporter
New Delhi, 25 December 2012. Speaking out against the use of force against journalists covering protests against the gang rape of a physiotherapy student, five press organisations on Monday urged Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to take measures to protect mediapersons, as well as women.
The memorandum, signed by presidents and general secretaries of the Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Association, Indian Journalists Union and Delhi Union of Journalists, demanded action and accountability from the police officers who gave orders for the use of force against the mediapersons who were carrying out their functions on Sunday.
Before sending the memorandum to the Union Home Minister, journalists from different media organisations gathered at the Press Club of India here. Holding placards, they marched till Rail Bhavan, where the police had put up barricades.
Describing the assault on the media persons as totally unacceptable and condemnable, the memorandum said: “We view this action as a strategy to control the media and prevent them from covering the protests. This also constitutes curbing freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution.”
Delhi has become an extremely unsafe place for women at all times of the day, particularly during evening hours, where safe forms of public transport have become non-existent, the memorandum added.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/media-protests-students-gang-rape/article4236014.ece
Visit to the UK : Bristol & Gloucester 27/09 till 02/10 2012
Sint-Truiden – Brussel Zuid – St Pancras – Baker Street – Paddington – Bristol Parkway
Steam Engine, Rovato, Italy
This picture of a beautifully preserved steam engine was sent to me by Javinder Singh Bristol Wala, who invited me to come to Bristol
27 September – St Pancras International, two Eurostar EMUs
27 September – St – Pancras – Baker Street
New Metropolitan Line rolling stock
27 September – St – Pancras – Baker Street
New Metropolitan Line rolling stock
27 September – Baker Street
New Metropolitan Line rolling stock
To see more UK Trains, Underground and Buses pictures :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157611244941713/
More London pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue
The Tribune – 3 weeks on, police yet to present challan
P K Jaiswar, Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 24. Despite the fact that all the accused involved in the broad daylight killing of ASI Ravinderpal Singh three weeks ago have been arrested, the police is yet to finalise its report and present a ‘challan’ in court.
The investigating officials said that the main reason behind the delay was the still-awaited forensic report of the arms used in the crime.
Meanwhile, the fifth accused Sandeep Rampal, alias Sunny, who was arrested by the police from Madhya Pradesh three days ago was today remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a local court.
ASI Ravinderpal Singh was gunned down by SAD leader Ranjit Singh Rana (now expelled) at Chheharta on December 5. The accused, along with his four accomplices, has been stalking Ravinderpal Singh’s daughter since December 1.
The victim Robinjit Kaur had lodged a complaint with the Chheharta police in this regard but had evinced no response. When Ravinderpal tried to stop him from harassing her, he and his companions allegedly shot him dead.
H S Brar, ADCP Crime who is investigating the case, clarified that there was no delay in the probe.
“We have already completed 75-80 per cent of the investigation. Only some minor technical details are left. Those will be finalised in next couple of days,” said Brar.
He hoped that the police would be able to present the ‘challan’ in court within a week.
About a speedy trial, he said that there were certain provisions in the criminal procedure code (CrPC) for a speedy trial of a case. “But our primary aim – at this time – is to present the ‘challan’ in court. Then, we will make efforts for a speedy trial,” he said.
BBC News – Have India’s rulers become disengaged from the people?
Soutik Biswas, Delhi Correspondent
Monday, 24 December 2012. As violent protests erupted in the capital, Delhi, at the weekend over the horrific gang rape of a 23-year-old student, many Indians were asking this question.
It took nearly a week of protests for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appear on TV pleading for calm and promising to make India safer for women. Many thought it was ironical that India’s most powerful woman, Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, met a group of outraged students only after massive public demonstrations had been widely televised.
Many believe that the violence could have been prevented if either Mr Singh or Mrs Gandhi, or even one of the young ministers, had gone to meet the protesters and promised stern action against wrongdoers and reform of India’s broken criminal justice system.
That was not all. The city police commissioner told a news channel that even men were unsafe in Delhi as “their pockets were picked” – a shocking gaffe that appeared to equate rape with pick-pocketing. Federal Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told another channel that ministers could not be expected to personally meet every group of protestors, “like political party workers or Maoists”, appearing again to equate ultra-left rebels with angry students, justly upset over the rising tide of crimes against women.
Many attribute such attitudes to the sheer hubris of India’s ruling class – “they are our rulers, not representatives”, was an angry refrain during the protests last week – in what many cynics describe as a modern-day “feudal democracy”.
Others argue it points to the increasing disconnect between India’s rulers and its people, the perpetuation of what many call a paternalistic ruling class which talks to its citizens rather than listening to them. Many politicians and bureaucrats appear to lack communication skills to engage with a young, increasingly empowered and aspirational citizenry, who are demanding more from their rulers. “Young India, old politicians,” as author Gurcharan Das once described this dichotomy.
Such alienation bodes ill for the future of the world’s largest democracy, some think. Analysts like Pratap Bhanu Mehta argue that it leads to the disengagement of democracy from legitimacy. “India’s citizens vote in large numbers”, he says, “but if the same citizens were truly engaged in the process of making laws, laws would be seen as legitimate and there would be minimal need for enforcement”.
I believe there is one more reason for this anomie: the decline of genuine mass politicians.
Time was when India was known for its charismatic, mass-based politicians – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan were just some of them – who could easily lead from the front. Today, there are only a handful, two of whom – Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee – are actually women. The reticent prime minister himself has never won an election, and Mrs Gandhi and her son and heir apparent, Rahul Gandhi, hardly speak to the citizens.
When he was going around Delhi in 1947 after India’s bloody partition, Nehru saw Hindus and Muslims rioting. He jumped out of his car, broke the security cordon, ran into the crowd and stopped the clash. Mahatma Gandhi routinely travelled to trouble spots to stop religious clashes and douse tensions.
Last week, not a single leader came forward to engage with protesting students demanding safety for women.
