By Ashok Kumar

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas in Jaipur, asked the Non-resident Indians now to vote in the coming elections.
He told a gathering of 1,900 Diaspora from 0ver 60 countries that the notification for registration of overseas voters had been issued by the Government under the Representation of the Peoples Act and amended in 2010.
According to media reports, only one NRI registered for voting in the last round of Assembly elections.
Who is an NRI? When the Parliament issued notification in November 2010, there was a lot of confusion among the NRIs and Indians who have relinquished their Indian citizenship and became citizens of another country. The Indian Sub-continent Times, in a news report on November 25, 2010 had clarified on this issue.
According the Election Commission website that clarifies on the matter in an answer to a question:
Q2. Can a non-resident Indian citizen become a voter?
Ans. Yes, according to the provisions of the Representation of the People
(Amendment) Act, 2010, a person who is a citizen of India and who has
not acquired the citizenship of any other country and is otherwise eligible
to be registered as a voter and who is absenting from his place of ordinary
residence in India owing to his employment, education or otherwise is
eligible to be registered as a voter in the constituency in which his place
of residence in India as mentioned in his passport is located.
The Indian Sub-continent Times had in its report on November 25, 2010 had quoted a report from Parliament session:
“Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the
Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs
to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a
gazette notification in this regard.
Gazette notification has been issued giving voting
rights to Non-Resident Indians,” the then Overseas Indian Affairs
Minister Vayalar Ravi told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
An estimated 20 million NRIs are living in various
countries across the world.
However, the person will be able to exercise the
franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on
the polling day.
Ravi had said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of
any other country and are living abroad owing to employment,
education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their
names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in
their passport.

By Ashok Kumar:

JUSTICE Markandey Katju has stirred the hornet’s nest and it’s a virtual war between old and new members of the media fraternity if the recent protests against his interview is any indication.
Last weekend, an article appeared in DNA newspaper in Mumbai by Sunetra Choudhury (DNA Nov 5, 2011) wherein she advised Justice Katju to understand the hardships a media person has to face to meet the deadlines. Well, on Saturday itself 74 per cent readers voted for Justice Katju’s viewpoint.
Let’s see if Justice Katju had really said something objectionable. He had said the newspapers in the past had played a role in building nations and changed the social systems around the world while today’s newspapers and TV channels in India are focussed on Bollywood, cricket, film stars and astrology etc. Whereas there are hard issues like casteism, honour killings, lack of medical facilities and lack of civic sense are just reported and delved into as a tool of education. What’s wrong in this? Let’s ask ourselves a simple question: are we playing any role in nation building or how many thought provoking articles do we write on social matters? The reply in most cases would be hardly any.
Recently, there was a report on traffic jams in Mumbai on Diwali eve. The report cited most affected areas and some comments from the readers. That’s all in the two page news report. And, this must have been an yearly report. It was a total waste of space. There is no study on the matter or how to handle the festival rush or no attempt was made to educate the people on the traffic matters.
In the first lesson in journalism, we were taught “pen is mightier than sword.” Justice Katju is right when he says journalists in the 16 -19th century used their pen to bring about social change or revolutions in several European countries. Even at home, he cited the writings of Social Reformist Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Munshi Prem Chand. But today we are mostly focussed on irrelevant matters. Where are such writers today?
Recently, a veteran and accomplished writer lamented that journalism used to be a service but now it has become a business. The reporters come to the press conference after making sure the ‘envelope’ is there, he alleged. The media is now controlled by corporates who are more worried about their popularity. How can we get the good, independent writers who can really serve the people.
Ms. Choudhury emphasises “we have no time to read the 500 page academic papers of JNU professors as we have deadlines to meet and we will miss the story. Why can’t the professors explain in a few lines.” While Justice Katju says today’s journalists have no knowledge of economics or politics, Ms Choudhury highlighted her academic profile.” Ms. Choudhury, you are right to say that it is not possible to master all subjects in one life time as Justice Katju expects a journalist to be but what happens when you are asked to switch from political reporting to financial writings. So, a basic understanding of most, if not all subjects, is required so you don’t struggle in front of a reader or audience. Of course, there is a difference between news reporting and educational or feature writings. Justice Katju, it is felt, is emphasising on feature writings and wants to them to be preferred to wasteful subjects mentioned above, Sunetra is confusing it with daily reporting .
Ms. Choudhury takes shelter under a belief that “we have to give to people what they want.” But it’s other way round — they will want what we give.
The closing line of her analysis proves what Justice Katju is lamenting about. If we give them Bollywood then the people would want more of it and if we give them some thought provoking stories that can change some of their perceptions or are educational, they (readers or listeners) would not want to waste time on Bollywood. Today, the priorities are misplaced and the focus has shifted now to how to get a better TRP.
Overseas, we see so many documentaries, over here, I haven’t seen even one on Indian channels during my over one month stay here so far. There are so many NGOs (the real ones) doing excellent work but they have no support from the media. There are awards for news channels but not for documentaries that are educative. TRP counts!!!
Even on this issue, the major news channels should see the overseas news channels. Our news channels look pedestrian in front of them. A large number of people have stopped watching news channels. As writers or as the new generation of media persons we have failed here too.

Pakistan’s cabinet has unanimously approved the award of “most favoured nation” trading status to India.
Pakistan had previously linked trade liberalisation with India to a resolution of the dispute over Kashmir, over which the nations have fought two wars.
Correspondents say the move is a significant step towards boosting the peace process between the neighbours.
India has already extended most favoured nation status to Pakistan.
The status typically reduces tariffs and increases import quotas.
Bilateral trade is currently put at about $3bn (£1.87bn) and the two sides agreed at a recent meeting in Delhi to double that within three years.
Although India granted Pakistan most favoured nation status in 1996, Pakistan says it has suffered from strict Indian customs rules and quality standards.
‘National interest’
Pakistan Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told a news conference in Islamabad: “Today after an extensive briefing by the commerce secretary, the cabinet unanimously decided to grant India most favoured nation status.”
He added: “This will bring economic benefits to us and this decision has been taken in the national interest.”
Mr Awan said some ministers had raised objections on the Kashmir issue, but added: “The prime minister reviewed all the objections and took the cabinet into confidence that it will not hurt our national security.”
The BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that although India acknowledges the Kashmir dispute, it has insisted the two sides improve interaction in other fields while they search for a mutually acceptable solution.
Analysts say the Pakistani decision has come at a time when the country desperately needs trade concessions from international markets to prevent its economy from sinking further.
India and Pakistan resumed formal peace talks this year after they were broken off in the wake of the militant attacks in Mumbai (Bombay) in 2008.

Hindus in the mainly Muslim Pakistani city of Peshawar have celebrated Diwali, the annual festival of lights, in a 160-year-old temple for the first time in at least two decades, reports BBC.
For years, members of the Hindu community and local authorities have disagreed over who owns the Baba Guru Gorakh Nath Temple, which is on an important archaeological site.
Recently Peshawar High Court ordered that Hindus be allowed to pray there, although the ownership question remains unresolved.
The temple was reopened by the oldest member of Hindu community in Peshawar Zubaida, a resident of the area commented that people are very happy and the Government should preserve all temples, mosques and churches so the people could celebrate their festivals. Nadia, another resident said she had never been able to enter the temple ever since she was born.
There was a sizable Hindu Population before the partition and reportedly that included the famous Kapoors of the Indian film industry. Now only 400 families live in Peshawar.
Meanwhile, another BBC report says that a 150-year-old Hindu temple in Peshawar has become the focus of a property dispute involving the army.
The Balmiki temple is located in the Kalibari area of the city where a small Hindu community is concentrated.
But the Kalibari area is part of the city’s military cantonment and is run by the army.
The army is saying that the people who run the temple, as well as the owners of some 70 houses in the neighbourhood, must leave.
They have been served with eviction notices.
The army wants to pull down the existing buildings and replace them with a high-rise shopping complex.
The army says that Kalibari is the property of the local cantonment board, and it has the right to vacate it.
Stiff resistance
It has been trying to clear the area for the past 15 years, and has met stiff resistance from the Hindu residents.
The presence of the Balmiki temple, which is the hub of the Hindu community in this crowded neighbourhood, has become a sensitive issue.
The head priest, Ramlal, who has looked after the temple for the last 35 years, says the property in Kalibari belongs to the minorities.
“In 1861, four Hindu merchants were the owners of half of the cantonment area. They built the houses in the Kalibari area to house their employees. They have been living here since then,” Ramlal told BBC News Online.
He said the army would have confiscated the land and property a “long time ago” if they owned it.
Local people do not want to move out of the area.
“We have spent our entire lives in our house or the temple. They are a part of our lives now,” said Ms Devi Das.
Ramlal, who is also the local Hindu leader, said that residents of Kalibari are not prepared to live in any other neighbourhood in Peshawar.
But he said that the people would vacate their homes if they were promised accommodation in the high-rise complex

By Ashok Kumar:

It seems Anna’s shoes are too big for his aides and followers, thereby nipping all the good work of the anti-graft leader in the bud.
The first to step out his shoes was Arvind Kejriwal, an RTI activist and one of the main advisors of Anna Hazaare. Last week he claimed that Anna Hazaare was above Parliament and he can get any bill passed. Perhaps, Arvind has not gone through the constitution or if he has then the statement is unconstitutional and calls for trial by a court of law.
However, Anna Hazaare was quick to respond to clarify that it was the people of India that are above Parliament and not the Gandhian leader himself and said Arvind has not told him of this statement if he has made.
Another of his trusted aide, Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer blurted out a plebiscite in Kashmir as a solution to the problem. This, Anna describes as Bhushan’s “personal remarks.”
Bhushan claims that his statement on Kashmir is similar to the first Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s in the United Nations. Perhaps the lawyer aide of Anna has forgotten that much water has flown down the Ganges since then. The Pandits have been thrown out of the Valley in millions and their properties have been occupied by the perpetrators of the militancy in the state. And, no one knows how many Pakistani infiltrators have since then settled in the valley.
Is Prashant not living in this world? How can he assume that at this stage a plebiscite could be a solution to the problem? In today’s situation, the plebiscite would result in an obvious separation. It is a clear case of absent-mindedness or else he has become a pawn in the hands of the separatists. No sensible Indian would advocate separation of the country. Kashmir is a part of India and shall remain so ever.
No wonder, Prashant was attacked in his Supreme Court chamber by Bhagat Singh Sena and Ram Sene activists in New Delhi last week out of sheer frustration at the Advocate’s anti-national comments.
Even Anna Hazaare has said that he would do anything for Kashmir as it an integral part of India.
Anna Hazaare is embarking on “atmashanti maun vrat” (silence) for a week to condone the shameless utterances of his aides, though his supporters claim that he goes on maun vrat quite frequently for peace.
But Anna’s maun vrat in no way can condone the blasphemous statements by his aides.

Edited By Ashok Kumar
NEW DELHI:Delhi Police have arrested two people for assaulting social activist Prashant Bhushan for his comments on Kashmir, reports TOI

The two, Tejinder Singh and Vishnu Gupta, were arrested on Thursday morning and taken to police station.

There were reports that the two planned to surrender in the court. However, the police arrested them before that.

The two had managed to flee on Wednesday from the chamber of Prashant Bhushan as people gathered after they attacked the lawyer.

The third attacker Inder Verma was overpowered and arrested on Wednesday itself after the assault.

The three had barged into the chamber of the lawyer activist on Wednesday afternoon and attacked him as he was about to give an interview to Times Now.

They were angry over Prashant Bhushan’s reported comments on Kashmir in which he had allegedly favoured referendum.
Hours before the assault Bagga tweeted. “God give us power to complete our mission.”

Bagga along with Vishnu Gupta formed the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena earlier this year and was joined by Inder Verma, an activist of Sri Ram Sene, a right wing organization. Verma attacked Bhushan on Wednesday.

After the attack, which left the anti-corruption crusader bruised and battered, Bagga tweeted again, this time exulting, “He try (sic) to break my nation, I try to break his head. Hisab chukta. Congrats to all. Operation Prashant Bhushan successful.” Then again, “We hit Prashant Bhushan hard in his chamber in Supreme Court. If you will try to break my nation, I will break your heads.”

Bhushan had recently spoken in favour of plebiscite in Jammu & Kashmir.

Bagga’s father Preet Pal said that the 26-year-old graduate used to be an active member of BJP Yuva Morcha. His flat in Vishnu Garden is filled with his photographs with BJP leaders such as LK Advani and Rajnath Singh. His father runs a garments shop in Tilak Nagar.

“He has a lot of Kashmiri friends. The Kashmir issue bothers him. He is aggressive but a patriot. He had recently registered his protest against Arundhati Roy at India Habitat Centre. He had also spent a night in jail then,” an extremely cool Preet Pal said. He added, “Let the law take its course. I don’t support the method but I support his cause.”

Preet Pal was later taken to the Tilak Nagar police station by cops who also searched his home. Bagga had spoken to his father after the incident but was not home when the police arrived. The Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena Facebook page says, “A team of guys who are crazy for nation, who can do anything for nation. A task force against traitors, anti-nationals and corrupts (sic). A team of people who are ready to take any action to teach anti-nationals and traitors.”

On his Twitter page, Bagga says he is frustrated by Congress, corruption, traitors and anti-nationals and that he is motivated by the vigilante Bollywood hit, A Wednesday.

Bagga’s act, however, drew more condemnation than applause on the web. Sandeep Kataria posted on Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena Facebook page: “Very shameful act u hv done. U all 3 are coward. Shame on u.”

After easing the visa rules for the PIOs, the Government of India has fulfilled a longstanding wish of
millions of expats to get voting right in India with
the Centre issuing a notification to this effect to enable
them to exercise their franchise.
        Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the
Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs
to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a
gazette notification in this regard.
        “Gazette notification has been issued giving voting
rights to Non-Resident Indians,” Overseas Indian Affairs
Minister Vayalar Ravi told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
        An estimated 11 million NRIs are living in various
countries across the world.
        However, the person will be able to exercise the
franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on
the polling day.
        Ravi said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of
any other country and are living abroad owing to employment,
education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their
names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in
their passport.
        He said the Election Commission is likely to soon
finalise the rules and regulations prescribing modalities for
entry of names of NRIs in electoral rolls.
        The Government had decided to allow the NRIs to
participate in the democratic process to further boost the
two-way engagement.
        As per the existing rules, an NRI’s name gets deleted
from the voters’ list if he or she stays outside the country
for more than six months at a stretch.
        The new law will allow an Indian citizen residing
abroad to enroll in voter’s list and exercise his franchise
even if he or she remained away from place of residence in
India for more than six months owing to employment, education
or otherwise.
         Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the Pravasi
Bhartiya Divas earlier this year, had indicated that Indian
passport holders living abroad could get voting rights by the
time of next Lok Sabha elections in 2014. PTI

A life-size replica of Taj Mahal being built near Dhaka

A life-size replica of the Taj Mahal, often described as the world’s most beautiful building, is due to open for visitors in Bangladesh.
The replica has been built by a Bangladeshi filmmaker.
Ahsanullah Moni said he wanted his countrymen to experience the beauty of the Indian monument even if they were too poor to travel to see the original.
The 17th Century Taj was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved queen, Mumtaz Mahal. Continue Reading

By Ashok Handoo

The latest inflation figure in the country has slipped down the 12 per cent mark which, if nothing else, should at least give a psychological relief to the people; the same way as a mere marginal increase in the inflation rate would ring the alarm bells in the media leading people to be overduely concerned about the issue. But a marginal fall in the inflation rate is not something one can be satisfied with. What, however, is a matter of satisfaction is that the phase of constant rise in inflation seems to be over.

During his recent trip to the United States with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters that inflation rate will return to single digit by the end of current fiscal. Some even believe that a single digit figure will be achieved by the end of December and by March the position would be still better.

The Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Shri Pronab Sen is of the view that inflation will remain in double digit until January, due to the base effect and higher prices of manufactured products.

Dr. Ahluwalia however indicated that the government is not in favour of taking excessive harsh measures to check inflation because that will impact the growth of the economy.

The government has already taken a number of measures to increase the domestic supply of goods and services in the country. For this purpose while the import of goods has been liberalised, restrictions have been placed on the exports of certain commodities. For instance, in the case of pulses, customs duty on imports has been reduced to zero, until March 2009. Simultaneously a ban has been imposed on its export up to March end. Custom duty on semi-milled or wholly-milled rice too has been completely done away with, till March 2009. Export of non basmati rice was banned and the minimum export price of basmati rice was raised to $1200 per tonne . In the case of wheat there will be no import duty till December this year. In order to pave the way for increased supply of edible oils, a commonly used medium of cooking in India, a number of steps have been taken. Customs duties on crude and refined edible oil have been reduced by about 50 percent and now range from 20 to 27.5 percent. Simultaneously, the import of crude edible oil at zero duty and refined oil at 7.5 percent has been allowed. Customs duty on palm oils too was reduced by 10 percentage points. The 4 percent additional countervailing duty on all edible oils was also withdrawn. Export of all edible oils has already been prohibited.

Customs duty on maize imported under Tariff Rate Quota of five lakh metric tonnes was also done away with. Import of Portland cement, other than white cement, was exempted from countervailing duty. At the same time, export of cement was banned. Basic customs duty on various kinds of steel too was either reduced or done away with. On cotton imports the 10 percent customs duty along with 4 percent special additional duty was abolished. Crude oil and petroleum products also received a favourable consideration. In the case of crude oil customs duty was done away with. On petrol and diesel it was reduced from 7.5 to 2.5 percent. On other petroleum products it was halved to just 5 percent. Excise duty on petrol and diesel too was reduced by Rs. 1 per litre. What is a matter of some consolation is that the international price of crude oil is coming down and has already reached $ 94 a barrel. If the trend continues it will bring down the inflation level in the days ahead.

A series of monetary measures too have been taken to deal with the situation. These include repeated increases in the cash reserve ratio of banks and the Repo, as well as reverse Repo rates. The purpose is to check the flow of liquidity into the open market and thereby reduce the price level.

The problem is that just like any health care medicine, the economic measures mentioned above have a negative aspect too. They can impact the growth rate also if adopted without proper monitoring.

The real treatment of the problem is to increase the supply position. This is bound to happen as soon as fresh crops come to the market. In the long run, the government needs to draw a strategy to ensure that agriculture produce in the country, which continues to be our mainstay, increases. Since food represents more than half of the expenditure of a vast majority of our poor population, adequate attention needs to be given to this aspect.

The question now is how far is the meltdown in the US financial market going to affect the Indian economy. Dr. Ahluwalia maintains that its’ direct impact on India has been negligible. There is also a silver lining. The country has ample stock of foreign exchange reserves. So we should be able to deal with the situation that may arise temporarily in the financial markets. But the US financial turmoil is not likely to end anytime soon. Economists believe that this may happen only by the end of the next year. As such India cannot be completely insulated against the economic uncertainties in future. Even the US government believes that the massive bail- out package of $ 700 billion that it has approved may not be enough to stave a financial turmoil in the US. The sub- prime crisis in the United States is a matter of concern since it is exerting pressure on the financial systems and growth implications around the world.

Ultimately it boils down to somehow increasing the supply of goods and services in the market by increasing the imports and reducing or stopping altogether the exports of certain key commodities, reducing money supply in the short run and ensuring proper distribution of whatever stocks are available. That is precisely what the government is doing right now. How soon it can overpower the monster of inflation can be anybody’s guess. All that we can say right now is that we seem to have crossed the inflation hump. — PIB

*Freelance Journalist

Disclaimer :  The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of PIB

A US strike on a Pakistani village near the Afghan border has killed at least nine people including suspected foreign militants, Pakistani sources say.

Initial reports said at least 20 people had died when an unmanned aircraft (drone) fired on the village in North Waziristan region.

But officials later put the numbers between nine and 12 deaths.

The US military has not confirmed any drone attacks and a Pakistani spokesman said there had been no intrusion.

North Waziristan is a stronghold of Islamic militants, including the Taleban and al-Qaeda, which US and other international troops are fighting in Afghanistan.

‘Most were foreigners’

The missile was reportedly launched in the evening. There is confusion over reports of a morning air strike.

The evening targeted a house in the village of Mohammad Khel, 30km west of Miranshah, the main town in the region.

Pakistani intelligence officials quoted by Reuters news agency say a drone attacked Mohammad Khel at around 2130 (1530 GMT) on Friday, killing at least nine people including foreigners.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Dawn TV and AFP news agency talked of at least 20 deaths in Mohammad Khel.

“Our reports suggest that around 20 suspected militants were killed…” an unnamed “senior Pakistani security official” was quoted as saying by AFP.

“Most were foreigners,” the official added. Dawn TV reported that 16 of the dead were foreign.

In the morning attack first reported by Reuters news agency, air strikes killed a child and two women in the North Waziristan village of Datta Khel.

However, the agency later quoted a Pakistani military spokesman, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, as denying there had been any intrusion into Pakistani territory.

Instead, he said, an international operation had been launched against militants on the Afghan side of the border.

The evening attack killed at least 20 people, unnamed Pakistani security sources and the Dawn News television channel said.

 — BBC News