Monthly Archives: August 2018

Threat of debris flowing on this section of NH-5 still looms large on motorists

Tribune News Service

Ambika Sharma

Solan, August 8

Five days after it was closed for vehicular traffic following continuous flow of debris from the hill at Chakki Mor, the Parwanoo-Dharampur section of National Highway (NH)-5 opened for the light vehicles today. However, the threat of debris flowing down continued to loom large on the motorists as minutes after its opening, a sizable chunk of debris flowed down on the 5-m newly built temporary road.

This obstructed the traffic for another 25 minutes before the machines and labour were deployed to clear it.

Machines, including a recovery van and earth excavation paraphernalia, along with labour, have been kept ready to meet any eventuality. Besides, a patrolling vehicle has been deployed to keep a watch on this vulnerable section.

“The work to strengthen the base of the temporary road by placing crate wire structures on a 100-m stretch was underway. This would provide stability to the road. Other measures like channelling the flow of water through six pipes of 2.5-m each have been laid to contain erosion owing to seepage of water,” Balwinder Singh, project in-charge, GR Infraprojects, which was engaged in the repair and maintenance of the road, said.

While a new design for the restoration of the road has been worked out by the company experts, it was awaiting the final nod from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The expert opinion of the high-level committee that is slated to visit the site soon would also be taken into account before finalising the new design to restore the damaged road stretches on this section.

A visit to the eroding hill by a team of officials from the NHAI and GR Infraprojects had revealed that further erosion could take place as the soil strata was highly fragile.

The vehicular traffic were being permitted to pass in small batches at Chakki Mor. A posse of about 40 police personnel has been deputed to ensure smooth traffic flow.

Heavy vehicles have been directed to use the alternative Shimla-Kunihar-Nalagarh-Pinjore route and Kumarhatti-Nahan-Chandigarh routes.

Movement in small batches

• Machines, including a recovery van and earth excavation paraphernalia, along with labour, have been kept ready to meet any eventuality.
• Besides, a patrolling vehicle has been deployed to keep a watch on the vulnerable Dharampur-Parwanoo section of NH-5.
• The vehicular traffic, including pick-ups, were being permitted to pass in small batches at Chakki Mor. A posse of about 40 police personnel has been deputed to ensure smooth movement of traffic.

Shimla highway reopens for light vehicles

• Five days on, Parwanoo-Dharampur stretch of NH-5 reopened for small vehicles
• Debris from a hill at Chakki Mod had blocked the road following heavy rain
• Minutes after its opening, debris again fell on a portion of newly created road
• Traffic was hit for 25 minutes before machines & labour were deployed to clear 

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 7

The Manipur Insaaf Morcha, whose members who are largely from the Christian community, had given a call for Punjab bandh on August 9.

Following the call, various organisations from the Ravidassia and Valmiki community such as Balmiki Tiger Force, Satguru Kabir Tiger Force and Ravidassia Youth Foundation have also extended their support to protest against the violence incidents in Manipur.

The Communist Coordination Committee (CCC) comprising Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI) and Marxist Communist Party of India- United (MCPI-U) too has extended its support to the bandh call.

Mangat Ram Pasla and Ashok Oankar, conveners of the Communist Coordination Committee, K Gangatharan, chairman of the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India, and Kiranjit Sekhon, Member Polit Bureau, Marxist Communist Party of India- United, through a joint statement, demanded that the Manipur CM must be sacked immediately to restore peace and normalcy in the state.

The leaders further stated that it was the misfortune of the country that the Central authorities as well as the state government were supporting the mass offenders responsible for heinous crimes against humanity and hate mongers.

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, August 8

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday came to Parliament in a wheelchair to participate in the crucial Rajya Sabha session where the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was discussed.

The Congress was criticised over Manmohan attending Rajya Sabha in a wheelchair.

He claimed that the BJP knew that ex-Vice President BS Shekhawat would lose to ex-President Pratibha Patil, still Vajpayee had to “suffer” to cast his vote.

The bill empowers the Central government to make rules in connection with the affairs of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, including the functions, terms and other conditions of service of officers and employees.

The Congress party had issued a three-line whip for its MPs, urging them to be present in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, for passage in the House after opposition members moved a resolution disapproving the ordinance brought by the government in May this year. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week.

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, August 8

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal on Tuesday questioned the validity of ‘The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019’ which divided the state into two union territories, saying Parliament can carve a union Territory, but it can’t extinguish a state.

“The power (of Parliament) under Article 3 does not extend to effacing the character of a state into a Union Territory. Can a state be made into a union territory by the Union (of India) on its own whims and fancies without consulting the people who would be affected?” wondered Sibal – who represented the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference through its MP Akbar Lone.

Describing the Constitution as “a set of values” on the basis of which people were represented and their voices heard, Sibal said: “If you throw such executive acts and silence the voices of people, what is left of democracy? All I can say is that this is the historic moment, historic not for the present but for the future of India. And I hope this court is not silent.”

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which divided the state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, has already been acted upon. The changes came into effect on October 31, 2019 after being notified in the official gazette.

Since then, a delimitation exercise has been completed in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the number of seats increased from 83 to 90 (excluding 24 seats in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir).

Concluding his arguments on petitions challenging nullification of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories, Sibal said, “You can’t do it… You have created two UTs from a state. Where is that power? There are multiple categories of what they have done which does not fall under any category… How is that possible?”

“Where is the voice of the people of J&K? Where is the voice of representative democracy? Five years have passed. Have you had any form of representative democracy? Whole of India can be converted… Though the Constitution is a political document; its provisions cannot be manipulated or maneuvered for political ends. That’s not how to interpret a constitution,” Sibal told the Bench which also included Justice SK Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant.

Objection to Gogoi’s reference

During the hearing, senior counsel Kapil Sibal – a Rajya Sabha MP alluded to Justice Ranjan Gogoi when he told the Bench “now one of your esteemed colleagues has said that in fact basic structure theory is also doubtful,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta took exception to Sibal talking about Gogoi’s maiden RS speech. CJI DY Chandrachud also said: “Once we cease to be judges, whatever we say, they’re opinions…they are not binding.”

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, August 8

Maintaining that democracy functions through institutions, the Supreme Court on Tuesday virtually rejected the idea of plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, saying there was no question of a Brexit-type referendum under the Indian Constitution.

Remember Brexit

Your lordships must remember Brexit. There was no constitutional provision (in the UK) seeking a referendum. But when you want to sever a relationship, you must seek the opinion of the people. Kapil Sibal, senior counsel

Can’t think of it

You can’t envisage a Brexit-type referendum. That’s a political decision which was taken by the then government. Within a Constitution like ours, there is no question of a referendum. SC Bench

“You can’t envisage a Brexit-type referendum. That’s a political decision which was taken by the then government. But within a Constitution like ours, there is no question of a referendum,” a 5-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud told senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who represented some of the petitioners against nullification of Article 370 which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The top court’s observation came after Sibal referred to the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom to emphasise the importance of people’s opinion in a democracy.

“Your lordships must remember Brexit. What happened? There was no constitutional provision (in the UK) seeking a referendum. But when you want to sever a relationship, you must seek the opinion of the people because people are central to the decision,” Sibal said.

However, the CJI said, “In a constitutional democracy, seeking the opinion of people has to be through established institutions. So long as democracy exists, any recourse of the will of the people has to be expressed by an established institution.”

As Sibal submitted that Parliament accorded approval to executive acts which unilaterally changed the Constitution as it was applicable to J&K, the CJI said, “Once we presume that Parliament can (amend it), any amendment to Article 370 would be subject to criticism on the ground of morality, not (for want of) power.”

Sibal repeatedly termed the nullification of Article 370 as a “political act” bereft of constitutional authority. “Can the Union of India in this manner terminate a relationship recognised in the Constitution of India?” he asked.

On the third day of hearing, the Bench frequently posed questions to Sibal on various aspects of the complex constitutional issues involving the provisions of the Constitution of India and the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, August 8

Seventy-six years after they were separated from each other, a Ludhiana-based man walked over to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan through the Kartarpur corridor to meet his sister living in the neighbouring country.

A Pakistan-based social media influencer Nasir Dhillon acted as the facilitator of this meeting, which was held yesterday. He started a YouTube channel “Punjabi Lehar” in 2016, which helps find separated kin on both sides of the border.

Last year, Dhillon had uploaded a video in which Sakina Bi of Gurdas village in Pakistan’s Sheikhupura district could be seen appealing to her brother Gurmail Singh Grewal of Jassowal Sudan village in Ludhiana district to come and meet her. The video was noticed by Jagtar Singh, Sarpanch, Jassowal Sudan village.

On his part, Jagtar got in touch with Dhillon and informed him that Grewal belonged to his village. He also informed him that Grewal would be coming to Pakistan on August 7. Dhillon informed Sakina Bi, who arrived at the Darbar Sahib shrine yesterday along with 16 of her relatives, which included her daughters and sons-in-law. Grewal was accompanied by panch Pritpal Singh Brar. The brother and sister exchanged gifts, which included biscuits, a watch and a Rakhi. Dhillon has facilitated scores of such meetings in which blood relatives separated during Partition get a chance to meet each other.

Cancels admission at eleventh hour, citing rush

Tribune News Service

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, August 8

An “abrupt decision” taken by Canada’s Northern College, Scarborough campus, has thrown the plans of numerous Indian students, many of whom hail from Punjab, into disarray.

Just a month before the anticipated September session, the college cancelled admissions, leaving the students in a limbo. They had already invested in accommodation, purchased air tickets and readied themselves for their upcoming journey to Canada. The reason cited is the overwhelming number of applications received by the institution.

Sunil, who handles Canada student visa cases at Pyramid e-Services, an immigration firm in Jalandhar, said the college had received an unusually high response. “The college issued more offer letters than available seats under the assumption that not all students would receive embassy clearance and visas. However, the rejection rate turned out to be significantly lower this time, forcing the college to cancel admissions,” he said.

He said the college tried to address the situation by promising to refund 100 per cent of the fees to students. Additionally, they offered students the option to secure offer letters from other colleges, with the possibility of transferring the same fees to the chosen institute.

Harmanjot Singh, a student from Kapurthala who had applied for a two-year business diploma at Northern College, said he had already made preparations, including booking a non-refundable ticket worth Rs 1.12 lakh for an August 29 departure. However, the last-minute decision of the college left him and others in a shock. He received an email informing him of the lack of availability of seats in the college.

Besides affecting the students, the cancellation of admissions has sparked concerns within the Sikh community in Canada. Various advocacy groups, including the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, have raised their voices against the action of the college and have called for reconsideration of the decision.

Parents of affected students have also highlighted the logistic and financial hardships faced by them.

Had bought tickets, hired accommodation

• Just a month before the anticipated September session, the college cancelled admissions, leaving the students in a limbo
• They had already invested a lot of money in accommodation, air tickets and had readied themselves for their journey to Canada

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MAJOR GEN HARVIJAY SINGH, SENA MEDAL ,CORPS OF SIGNALS

Thucydides Trap, is a term popularized by American political scientist Graham T. Allison to describe an apparent tendency towards war when an emerging power threatens to displace an existing great power as a regional or international hegemon. It was coined and is primarily used to describe a potential conflict between the United States and People’s Republic of China.
Are US and China going to War soon? The continued rhetoric in the South China sea makes one want to believe so. War, as we know it, however, is not expected. Economic and social conflict will escalate as China continues to challenge United States ‘global hegemony’. In the early twentieth century, Japan, riding high on victory in the Sino – Japanese and Russo – Japanese wars and with a growing sphere of influence in Korea and Taiwan, was bitten by the hegemonic bug…strong and powerful,
ready to bully oops, control others! Well, the premise of a prominent theory in International Relations (by Robert Gilpin and Stephen D. Krasner, among
others) is that a hegemonic power is necessary to develop and uphold a stable international political and economic order; westerners and their hegemonic ideas. As Japanese expansion, particularly into China, threatened the American-led “Open Door” order in the Pacific (equal
trade and investment opportunity), the United States became increasingly hostile toward Japan in the 1930s. The Thucydides Trap was sprung. The US sought to contain Japan by putting embargoes on its raw material imports,
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and rest is history. Moving ahead in time, on 7 Oct 2022, the US Govt imposed export control regulations to target China’s AI and Semiconductor Industry. Their aim appears to be contain Beijing’s technical and military ambitions; …….‘the trap’…..
has been sprung on China! The Post-Cold War world has come to an end, and there is an intense competition underway to shape what comes
next. At the heart of that competition is technology (at the heart of all modern technologies are semiconductors) Will China respond with war? The answer remains – War, as we know it, is not expected. What then would be China’s response? China can and will restrict US access to important rare earth metals that China controls. (Rare Earth Metals – a
collection of 17 elements that are valued for their conductive and magnetic properties) In Jul this year, Beijing imposed export controls on the strategic metals Gallium and Germanium, raising global fears that China could block exports of rare earths or processing technology next. Galleium and Germanium metals are used in high-speed computer chips and in the military and renewable energy sectors……………… a tit for tat?
While in the 20th Centuries, many wars were triggered by the Thucydides Trap, in the current era, perhaps the conflict will be more in the Grey Zone.
Getting back to Hegemony one last time, my interpretation is that Hegemonic Masculinity shapes the bullying behaviour in adolescent males, and it never goes away.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 7

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, 90, was in Rajya Sabha on Monday as part of the Congress whip to vote against the Delhi services bill.

Singh has not been attending Parliament and has informed the chairman of his frail health seeking leave of absence.

Today, in a very rare sight Singh was seen sitting for a long time in his wheelchair in the back of RS aisle as the bill was debated. The former PM later voted against the Bill on the side of Opposition ‘INDIA’ alliance which was anyway low on numbers to carry the day.

Government today said it would not have reinstated Congress MP Rajani Patil and revoked her suspension today had numbers favouring the Bill was any concern.