Monthly Archives: August 2018

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 5

Regretting that the Government of India had “failed” to provide any help to small states in fighting the impact of the Covid outbreak and the prolonged lockdown, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said it was the duty of the Centre to come forward in fighting this national battle and help the states revive their battered economies.

Even though Punjab has managed to control the medical aspect of the problem to a great extent, economic revival will require support from the Union Government, he said during a video press conference.

He said all steps being taken to revive the economic activity in Punjab were purely the result of the state government’s own efforts.

Pointing to the conditional increase in the borrowing limit of the GSDP, he alleged that by curtailing the state’s rights, the Centre had negated the benefit of even the “miniscule and delayed” financial help it had extended.

On the initiatives being taken by the state to revive its economy amid the pandemic, the Chief Minister said nearly Rs 24,000 crore had been pumped into the rural economy as a result of the bumper wheat crop during the recently concluded Rabi season.

Further, he said, of the total 2.56 lakh industrial units in the state, all but 20,000 had resumed operations. However, the industry in Punjab would take some time to run to its optimum level, he said, urging the Government of India to bail out small and medium industries.

Asked to comment on the recent conversation on this issue between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and industrialist Rahul Bajaj, the Chief Minister said they were both right as both the GDP and the lives of people were important. Though the lockdown was necessary to save lives, it was now vital to revive the state’s economy, for which a panel of experts led by economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia was preparing a blueprint, he added.

On migrants choosing to stay back in Punjab, the CM pointed out that of the 11.50 lakh migrant workers who wanted to return home, more than 5 lakh have now decided to stay back as the industries have opened in the state. Several of those who had returned to states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh now want to come back to Punjab as work had resumed here, he said.

Will appeal against HC ruling on school fee: CM

• The Punjab Government will appeal against the High Court ruling allowing private schools to charge fee from students for the lockdown period, CM Capt Amarinder Singh said on Friday.

• 

  Asserting that the health and safety of children was of paramount importance, the CM also ruled out opening of schools without getting a clean chit from medical experts. He was speaking during his video press conference.

• When asked to comment on a demonstration by some parents demanding opening of schools in Patiala, he said he would not compromise with the health of children at any cost. TNS

‘Sidhu part of party’

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh denied reports of former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu being in talks with AAP. “Sidhu is very much part of the party. He is in touch with party’s central leadership. If Sidhu has any concern on state issues, he is always welcome to come and talk,” he said. In response to a question on roping in political strategist Prashant Kishor for shaping Congress poll campaign in 2022, he said the former had responded positively to his request. TNS

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 6

The Punjab Police today filed an application in the Special CBI Court of Chandigarh, seeking documents of the preliminary inquiry conducted by the CBIin a nearly 29-year-old case of kidnapping of a former IAS officer’s son.

In the application, the Punjab Police stated that the report of the preliminary inquiry conducted by the CBI in the case should be handed over to them as they had restarted investigation in the case.

In reply, counsels for the CBI stated that the agency had registered the FIR in the case in 2008 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and conducted a preliminary inquiry. However, the FIR was quashed by the Supreme Court on technical grounds in 2011.

The counsels submitted that the agency keeps record of old cases for five years and destroys the same thereafter. The CBI had conducted preliminary probe into the case 12 years ago and collected information from various departments and as the FIR was quashed in 2011, the documents were returned to the departments concerned, submitted the CBI counsels. They also contended that the agency, at present, was not in possession of any record pertaining to the case.

Now, the case will come up for hearing on Monday.

The Mohali police had recently booked former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and seven other police personnel in the kidnapping case that took place in 1991.

The case was registered on the complaint of Palwinder Singh Multani, son of late IAS officer Darshan Singh Multani, in Mohali. The complainant stated that his brother Balwant Singh Multani was unlawfully abducted, tortured and killed in the custody by Saini and the police personnel under his command in 1991.

The case has been registered against former DGP Saini, DSP Baldev Singh, Sub-Inspectors Satbir Singh, Harsahai, Jagir Singh, Anoop Singh and Kuldeep Singh on charges of kidnapping or abduction in order to murder, causing disappearance of evidence, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt to exhort confession and criminal conspiracy at the Mautaur police station in Mohali. While Baldev Singh retired as SP from Chandigarh Police, Satbir Singh who retired as DSP had passed away.

Hearing tomorrow

• CBI counsels stated the agency had registered the FIR in the Saini’s case in 2008 on HC’s directions
• The Supreme Court quashed the FIR on technical grounds in ’11
• The counsels submitted the agency kept the record of old cases for five years and destroyed the documents later
• The case will come up for hearing on Monday

CAPT AMARINDER SINGH , CHAIRMAN GOG

AND  LT GEN TS SHERGILL. SENIOR VICE CHAIRMAN GOG

The Ex-Servicemen of Punjab who are  employed as GOG (Guardians of Governance ) duties  are not any more limited to keep tag over the Welfare Schemes of State along with development works of villages like Ponds/Roads etc .

Seeing their performance,capabilities,experienced, sincerity, and honesty the District Administrations are now depending and allocating  additional  task to them 

During Harvesting seasons approximately   4000 Plus GOG were deputed  to supervise procurement of Wheat in Mandis , which went on very smoothly and they in turn earned lot of  appreciation from Distt Magistrates and farmers ,Mandi saff

The latest  .Generating employment for unskilled and skilled workers in Dist Pathankot. Dist administration approached GoG to register the eligible candidates on Punjab Govt website.

In two days GoGs  completed the task.The Target  request was for 500 persons but GOG achieved  2662 applicants  under Regn for Employment done by GoG as at 1000h  on 06 jun 2020

1.Total 2662

2. Labour 1337

3. Skilled 1325 

OTHER WORKS IN PROGRESS 

दुनेरा पंचायत में जगलात का काम चला है टोटल मजदूर २८है

ਲਾਕ ਨਰੋਟ ਜੈਮਲਸਿਘੰੰ ਦੇ ਪਿੰਡ ਮਾਖਣਪੂਰ ਦੇ ਸਰਕਾਰੀ ਰਾਸ਼ਨ ਡੀਪੂ ਵਿਚ ਡੀਪੂ ਹੋਲਡਰ ਰਵੀ ਕੂਮਾਰ ਜੀਉਂਜੀ ਬਲਰਾਮ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਉ ਜੀ ਜਰਨੈਲ਼ ਸਿੰਘ ਅਤੇੇ ਜੀ ਉ ਜੀ ਸਤੀਸ਼ ਕੁਮਾਰ ਦੀ ਹਾਜ਼ਰੀ ਵਿਚ ਨੀਲੇ ਕਾਰਡ ਧਾਰਕਾਂ ਨੂੰ 15ਕਿਲੋ ਕਨਕ ਪਰ ਜੀ 3ਕਿਲੋ ਮਾਂਹ ਦੀ ਦਾਲ ਪਰ ਕਾਰਡ ਵੰਡੀ
ਟੋਟਲ ਕਾਰਡ=284
ਟੋਟਲ ਕਨਕ=163ਕੂਇੰਟਲ 80ਕਿਲੋ
ਦਾਲ ਮਾਂਹ ਦੀ852 ਕਿਲੋ

Ration received under PMGKAY is distributed to Blue card holders in vill Malpur in presence of Sarpanch Sandeep Singh and GoG Kishore Kumar.

 Pension

Be it Hindutva ideologues condemning the wicked foreign invader or Imran Khan hailing Turkish imperial rule, both want to reinforce that going forward means going backward.

Even those who made Dirilis are astonished — and hugely pleased — at its tumultuous welcome. Tribal Turkmen fighting for a homeland can’t be expected to capture the imagination of millions in some far-off country. But Pakistan is different. Transfixed, entire families are spending evenings watching it together. They think it is wholesome entertainment and genuine Islamic history.

What history? This is a free-wheeling caricature of 13th-century Anatolia of which we know next to nothing. Facts are not important, says Mehmet Bozdag, the man who wrote and produced the series. To quote: “There is very little information about the period we are presenting — not exceeding 4-5 pages. Even the names are different in every source. The first works written about the establishment of the Ottoman State were about 100-150 years later. There is no certainty in this historical data… we are shaping a story by dreaming.”

That this serial is frankly propagandistic and ideologically motivated is beyond doubt. It has been manufactured for a purpose. But what purpose?

Faked history fuels revivalist dreams, creates false hopes, & suggests the way forward is through the sword.

If it seeks to project Islam as a religion of peace and to counter Islamophobia, then the very opposite is achieved. The first scene of the first episode begins with sword-making and sword-sharpening in the background of nomadic tents. The tribe’s adversaries are Christians and Byzantines whose bloodied bodies lie scattered here and there after every fight. The hero, Ertugrul Ghazi, not only beheads several Knight Templars but also former associates from his tribe, such as Kurdoglu Bey, who he suspects of disloyalty.

Should we be surprised if IS-like organisations find this inspirational? Is glorifying the sword glorifying Islam? Islam can surely be represented in ways more positive than putting a spotlight on power struggles within a tribal society. Far better, for example, would be to build upon Turkish scholars like Ali Qushgi, Taqi-al-Din, or Al-Jazari. Without Islam’s early scholars the colorful tapestry of Muslim culture — and Turkish culture as well — would have been far poorer, its claim to being a great world civilisation weak and unconvincing.

Also read: Bangladesh’s lesson for India-obsessed Pakistan: Transform war economy into a peace economy

I suspect Dirilis’s real goal is less about Islam and more to vent Turkish nostalgia for a long-lost empire. Production demanded massive funding by the Turkish state. A horse farm was created, together with a special zoo-like area for the sheep, goats, nightingales and partridges that appear on the show. A Hollywood stunt team was hired to train actors for the movie’s staged fights. Erdogan and his family have repeatedly visited the filming site.

Understandably, from within the bastions of Sunni Islam the reaction to this blockbuster has been fiercely negative. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have condemned and banned the series, and Egyptian authorities have issued a fatwa decrying this “insidious attempt to re-impose Turkish tutelage” over Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule. Currently, Saudi Arabia is reportedly funding a $40m counter series called Malik-e-Nar of which trailers have already been produced. Though inadequate it does make the point: Arabs cannot celebrate Turkish imperialism.

Most peoples don’t like invaders, but Pakistan’s psyche is somehow special. Perhaps overwhelmed by Erdogan’s aggressive style, Prime Minister Khan proudly tweeted that Turks had ruled India for 600 years. Historians will raise their eyebrows — this is between quarter-true to half-true only. But it must be rare for a prime minister to hail imperial rule over his land.

Khan is not alone. Pakistan celebrates all post-eighth century invasions beginning with Mohammed bin Qasim’s conquest of Sindh in 712 AD. Urdu novelist Nasim Hijazi’s books, devoured by millions, are an ode to the Arab conquest of India. Like filmmaker Mehmet Bozdag, Hijazi’s strength lay in creating imagery unconstrained by facts.

Also read: India would have been a dump for crackpot science had Modi not Nehru been its first leader

How should one look at ancient invasions and imperial conquests? To laud or vilify them is equally irrational. India is a stunningly clear example of just how much a society can degenerate if it does that. Hindu revivalism is fixated upon the wicked foreign invader who shattered the seraphic heaven of Mother India. Suddenly all Muslims and Christians became unwelcome. As Narendra Modi’s right-hand man recently declared, foreigners are termites infesting a poor man’s grain store.

But do Hindutva’s mindless ideologues not know that all human civilisation began in Africa and there is no such thing as son of Indian soil? That every single human society on earth today is the result of countless conflicts, wars, and foreign invasions over tens of thousands of years? That even precision DNA tests cannot tell the difference between Hindus and Muslims? These basic lessons are for all, not just Pakistan’s rulers.

A mature attitude towards ancient foreign invasions would be to simply accept them clinically as facts of history. They should be investigated and absorbed without either glorification or condemnation. Doing otherwise is utterly pointless. No one living today can be held responsible for the actions, good or bad, of his or her ancestors. Moreover the mists of time have forever hidden true facts from view.

The creators of Dirilis: Ertugrul want us to wallow in the past glories of others and celebrate imperialism. Hook, line and sinker, we are mindlessly swallowing their proffered bait. This poisonous substance can only reinforce the dangerous delusion that going forward actually means going backward.

Instead, the way forward is to ask that Pakistaniat spring from Pakistan’s native soil. It must be rooted in the diversity of all our peoples and historically formed cultures. The year 1971 showed decisively the limits of pan-Islamism. Aping Saudi culture failed to create a viable Pakistani identity; aping Turkey won’t get us much further. Instead a strong national identity can emerge only if Pakistan embraces pluralism, accepts that Punjab is just another Pakistani province, and helps all citizens achieve a sense of belonging based upon a commitment to equality and justice.

The writer teaches physics in Lahore and Islamabad. Views are personal. 

China People’s Liberation Army is up to its old tactics to weaken the Indian resolve in the on-going stand-off at Pangong Tso and Galwan River in Eastern Ladakh.

The Indian delegation was led by Lt General Harinder Singh, the general officer commanding of Leh-based 14 Corps, while the Chinese side was headed by the Commander of the Tibet Military District, government sources said.

ribune News Service

Srinagar, June 5

Amid the ongoing India-China standoff, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) unit based in north Kashmir has pledged to boycott all Chinese products.

The CRPF has officially distanced itself from the move, terming the pledge by the unit as an emotional response to a situation.

The video of the pledge by the CRPF to boycott all Chinese products has also gone viral on social media.

“This is not an official stand of the CRPF. Some personnel of the CRPF in a unit in Kashmir have taken the pledge out of emotion at the local level. We are looking into the matter,” a CRPF spokesman said on Friday.

In less than a minute video, the CRPF personnel of the 177 battalion based in Sopore sub-district are heard taking a pledge to boycott ‘’Made in China’’ products.

“Main June 2, 2020 ko yeh shapat letha huwn ki cheen main nirmat vastoon athwa samagri ka jaisi khane ki, peene ki, paihane ki athwah electronic upkaran, sanchar upkaran ka upyog nahi karonga, jai Hind (On June 2, 2020, I pledge not to use Chinese products like eatables, clothes, drinks, and electronics gadgets, communication etc etc. Jai Hind),” the CRPF men are heard while taking the pledge.

India and China are engaged in a major standoff along the Line of Actual Control in the Union Territory of Ladakh for the past many weeks.

Last week, the Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and a celebrated innovator and engineer Sonam Wangchuk, had urged the Indians to boycott “Made in China” products in response to the Chinese aggression at the border in Ladakh. Wangchuk, whose life story inspired Bollywood blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’, in his video from Leh had recently said he would get rid of his Chinese mobile phone, and in one year, would throw anything that is made in China out of his life.