|
|
|
|
|
Quitting
paddy Paying the
price |
|
|
Message
from Mandi
Man-made
disaster
Grandpa
and his toys
Cananda
Calling/ Gurmukh Singh ICCC
gala & trade talk Reality
check Amrik
Virk is the new Indian-origin minister THE TRIBUNE VISA
WINDOW
|
|
Paying the price
American
diplomats are in for a rough time as more and more disclosures show how extensive the US National Security Agency’s electronic snooping was. Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower’s account, which has been published in a German newspaper, refers to extensive bugging as well as other invasive measures purportedly adopted by the American agents against institutions in the European Union, including foreign embassies in Washington, New York and Brussels. The systematic and large-scale surveillance of phone and internet communications by the NSA was not exactly a secret, but the extent of the vacuuming of electronic data by the agency has caused widespread privacy concerns, that have triggered governmental ire too. The European Union has a good track record of aggressively guarding the privacy of its citizens. It must be particularly galling for EU governments to find out that their diplomatic offices were bugged. No wonder the strongest official reaction has come from there. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, has asked for a “full and speedy clarification” from US officials. Even as Edward Snowden cools his heels in the transit area of Moscow’s international airport, his disclosures continue to shake the world. Many leaders would nod their heads in agreement with what Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said: “The US would do better to monitor its intelligence services instead of its allies.” Besides the loss of face, the US also has to deal with the significant blow to its credibility which these disclosures have brought about. The leading nation of the world should not have allowed itself to be caught in the position it is in. A defender of free speech which criticised regimes all over the world for encroaching on the privacy of their citizens, the US now finds itself in a situation where it is facing governments which ask it the kind of difficult questions it once posed to despotic regimes. Instead of defending it, the US Administration must take immediate and effective steps to change the culture that has allowed this to happen.
|
|
|
Message from Mandi
One
need not read too much in the Congress victory in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. First, the voter turnout was quite low at 52 per cent, which shows public apathy. This may be because people knew that their representative would have a limited role to play since the term of the present Lok Sabha is coming to an end early next year. The whole election exercise was carried out to fulfil a constitutional obligation. Secondly, the Mandi seat was earlier held by Virbhadra Singh. Now his wife has won. Virbhadra Singh had resigned as an MP to return to state politics. The Congress high command took a calculated risk by projecting him as the party leader in the assembly elections and the gamble paid off despite the party being faction-ridden. By giving the ticket to his own wife, Pratibha Singh, the Chief Minister and the Congress at large did not set any healthy example. Regardless of party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's public statements about discouraging nepotism in the party, the practice is widespread and fuels factionalism. The BJP fielded a candidate, Jai Ram Thakur, who enjoys a clean image. If he has lost it is because voters have still not forgotten and forgiven BJP misrule in the state. It was a clear vote in favour of the Chief Minister.
|
|
|
We grow small trying to be great. — David Hockney
|
Man-made disaster NOT long ago, a disaster in any part of the country would elicit national response. People would go door-to-door to collect money, clothes, utensils, medicines and many other things of daily use to transmit through agencies which were voluntarily engaged in relief and rehabilitation work. The attitude has changed in the last few years. People are, no doubt, concerned and sympathetic. But there is no countrywide effort to organise help. The atmosphere is no more animated with the zeal which I recall used to be there. Take the example of Uttarakhand. The devastation has been on a massive scale. More than 5,000 people have reportedly died and the material loss runs into hundreds of crores of rupees. Yet the reaction has been tepid. Efforts are visible on individual scale. But the nation as such is not concerned. Particularly, the states in the South and the East have shown less involvement. The governments, both in the hill state of Uttarakhand and at the Centre, were late to respond and had no clue what to do. Even after 10 days of the disaster, 20,000 people were stranded at different places. What dominated the discussion was not the scale of assistance but whether it was man-made or nature's fury. Of course, it was man-made. The reasons
are obvious. To accommodate the ever-growing bureaucracy trees were cut. The de-silting of rivers is not on any government's agenda. The National Disaster Management Authority was tried for the first time and found wanting. Political parties have done nothing concrete except politicising the tragedy. The official appeal to contribute to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund has been issued as a matter of routine. Surprisingly, no foreign country has offered help to evacuate the stranded people, much less any material assistance. Pakistan has missed a golden opportunity to befriend the common Indian. Islamabad should have sent trucks of food and medicines to the Wagah border. New Delhi would have lost face if it had stopped the aid. If one were to analyse the tragedy, one would come to the conclusion that the nation has lost sensitivity. Different states have over the years become islands by themselves and there is hardly any tragedy which transcends the border. When it came to rescuing the victims, states like West Bengal and Gujarat preferred to evacuate the habitants of their own area. The absence of national feeling may well be the reason that every state is putting up dams in catchment areas. They think that the consequential loss is to other states, not to them. And so many dams have come up that they are counter-productive. Of course, the money spent has enough leeway for corruption at political and official levels. The land and timber mafia has played havoc at the expense of
the nation. The countrywide coordination is possible at the level of the Environment Ministry. It can also ensure that ecology is not disturbed. But the ministry is so much under pressure from different lobbies and state governments that it has become only a signing authority. The area around Uttarakhand is so fragile that the central government did not want to disturb the ecology. But both political parties, the Congress and the BJP, joined hands to have the
proposal scuttled. And the behavior of the people in Uttarakhand itself was inhuman. There are instances to show how shopkeepers charged exorbitant prices for things of daily use. A biscuit packet was sold for Rs. 200. A loaf of bread was priced at Rs. 100. There are instances of looting and even molestation of women. One woman required medical help. But her gold chain was pulled from her neck and she was left bleeding. Even sadhus and sants made most of the situation, robbing money and ornaments from the deceased. The only bright side is the work done by the Army and the Air Force. They evacuated thousands of people stuck at different places. The survivors in fact narrated the difference between the government, which did not do anything, and the Army and the Air Force, which rescued them and gave food and shelter. One Air Force helicopter, engaged in rescue operation, crashed because of bad weather. Twenty lives were lost. India is a heartless state. Over the years, it has deteriorated in values. There is not a semblance of idealism left to talk about social justice or to lift the lower half to the level where it can lead a viable living. Poverty, unemployment and malnutrition, signs of a decaying society, are increasing day by day. We are, almost back to the Hindu growth rate of 4 per cent. A dollar fetches Rs. 60. In fact, the rupee is in a shambles. Today's spectacle of poor growth and a dismal future is because political parties have catered to their fiefdoms without keeping before them the picture of India on the whole or the growth of every sector or every area. Unfortunately, the parties have not realised that their politics may feather their nests but would not take the country forward. Both the Congress and the BJP, the two main parties, are most to blame. They have seen to it that they do not compromise even though a bit of cooperation would have done wonders. Parliament has been more or less standstill. No business has been transacted session after session, creating a new record of inactivity. The parties admit this and some leading members have no hesitation in saying so in private. Yet they do not cross the line even word-wise in the House lest it should harm them. India does not have much leeway. The speed with which we are going down the hill indicates a ruin of great magnitude. There is every reason why the two main parties should come together to take the country further. They should at least have a joint action on the rehabilitation of victims. But that would require a stand above
party line. In today's approach to occupy the kursi, it is difficult to imagine that any political party would place the national interest first. Even several disasters like the one at Uttarakhand cannot change the thinking of political parties. It is tragic, but
true.
|
||||||
Grandpa and his toys The
teacher at school asked all the children to write an essay. What games did their grandparents play when they were seven years old? Which toys did the children have in those days? Saachee decided to speak to her grandpa on the phone. She asked him lots of questions. She then wrote her essay. When grandpa was seven years old he lived in a small town. At that time there was no electric lighting. To light the house the family had lamps and lanterns, which used kerosene oil, and sometimes candles. The light from the lamps and candles was not strong enough to read by. So everyone went to sleep as soon as the sun had set. Grandpa and his parents slept in the open, with mosquito nets to protect them from insects. For grandpa, this was a jolly time. He could see all the stars in the sky. He made up little stories about the stars, and amused his friends with his tales. He woke up as soon as the sun rose, which was very early in the morning. There was no good school nearby; so grandpa's mother taught him to read and write, and do sums at home. It was like a long holiday. Most of the day was spent in play with friends. Now what did they play with? What toys did they have? There was no TV or even radio, and no video games or computers. No electric gadgets, and no toy cars and dolls. So grandpa and his friends designed games and toys for themselves. They played a game called hopscotch, which needed all the players to skip and jump in little squares marked in the garden. They played marbles on the ground. Then they played a game called pellet and stick (gulli-danda in Hindi). You had to carve out a small pellet of wood, called 'gulli', and hit it as hard as you could with a big stick. The longest hitter won the game. It was something like golf, but played with wooden sticks. The children loved to fly kites. Making a kite was a merry occasion; and it was a lovely feeling to fly one. To make a kite, you had to select coloured paper, and cut it up into a square. Then you collected little bamboo sticks from the garden. Grandpa and his friends even cooked glue with a paste of flour, and used the home made glue to stick the kite paper into a frame of bamboo sticks. You had to wind a big ball of string on to a spindle, and then tie the kite to the string. It needed three persons to launch a kite into flight. One child would hold the spindle, another would run with the kite, and the kite flyer would jerk his arm to put the kite into the air. If not balanced, the kite crashed into the ground. In a strong breeze, the kite soared into the sky. All the children would clap the moment the kite took off. The best part was when there was a kite fight between two kite flyers. This was a dangerous game. The string had to be razor sharp, so it could cut the string of the opponent. If you were not careful, you could cut your own hand. Grandpa boasts that he was the champion kite flyer in his town. No one can check whether he actually was! Since he played all day in the open fields and gardens, grandpa always returned home all sweaty, hot and dirty. He would try to sneak into the house before anyone noticed the scratches and mud splattered on his face and clothes. No matter how hard he tried, his mother found out what he had been up to. If he were lucky, grandpa would get off with a small scolding. Weren't the toys and games in those days good
fun?
|
||||||
Cananda Calling/ Gurmukh Singh The Sikh symbols have been recognised by the Canadian Government. However, the application and interpretation of these laws and rules is still a matter of confusion at various levels
For
one reason or the other, the issues of kirpan and turban keep making headlines in Canada even though laws have been changed to accommodate the Sikh religious symbols. Earlier in June, the turban issue isolated French-speaking Quebec province from the rest of Canada when the former banned Sikh players with headgears (turbans or patkas) from soccer pitches. The Quebec Soccer Federation (QSF) issued the ban on Sikh players wearing turbans on soccer pitches citing safety rules framed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). So if the same rules allowed hijabs for Muslim girl players, banning turbans and patka by Sikh boys is discriminatory. Though the number of Sikh players affected by the ban was not more than 200, various Sikh bodies challenged it as discriminatory. Top Canadian politicians also backed the Sikh community and appealed to the Quebec Soccer Federation (QSF) to repeal the ban. The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) too warned the Quebec soccer body that its ban on turban was in violation of its directive to all provincial units to allow Sikh players wearing turban/patka on soccer pitches. Ultimately, it was the suspension of the recalcitrant Quebec Soccer Federation (QSF) by the Canadian Soccer Association that resolved the issue in favour of the Sikh community. The ban was repealed. But it won't be the last such case. Though the Sikh symbols have been recognised and there are laws in place (at federal and provincial levels) to accommodate them, the application and interpretation of these laws and rules is still a matter of confusion at various levels. Call it highhandedness or a lack of ignorance by officials at various levels but each such incident means another round of court battles for the Sikhs in Canada.
|
|
ICCC gala & trade talk
The
annual gala of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) is the biggest non-religious event of the Indo-Canadian community. The who’s who of the community flocks to this packed event in June every year as top guns from national and provincial levels come to interact with them and unveil their agenda for Canada-India relations. At this year’s annual gala on June 8, Canadian foreign minister John Baird spoke as the chief guest to more than 1,500 persons. Among the packed hall in downtown Metro Convention Centre were Bal Gosal and Tim Uppal, the two Sikhs faces in the Canadian Government as ministers of state; parliamentary secretary Deepak Obhrai; Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and her ministers, MPs, MLAs, mayors, CEOs, and top achievers in businesses and professions. As the gathering celebrated the honouring of 10 Indo-Canadians for their contribution in various walks of life, Canadian foreign minister John Baird described India-Canada bilateral ties as ‘40 years of troubled relationship’. Obviously, the foreign minister was referring indirectly to Canadian sanctions imposed on India after the 1974 nuclear blasts and the recent thawing of the relationship under his Prime Minister Stephen Harper who voted for India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008 and later inked a nuclear deal with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his Toronto trip for the G-20 summit in 2010. The foreign minister said the India-Canada friendship has so much “unrealised potential” because the two countries have so much in common and so much to offer to each other. Having put the past behind, the minister said Canada was now doing its best to woo India, citing how Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose India for “the longest and most productive” of all his foreign visits so far since he took office in 2006. As India and Canada are expected to conclude the long-pending Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by the end of the year-end, he said the accord would annually add $6 billion each to the two economies and help the two partner nations to triple their bilateral trade in the next few years. With Canada suddenly opening its doors to Indian students whose numbers here have jumped from about 4,000 to almost 30,000 in a matter of a few years, the chief guest said Canada was eager to assist India in the education sector. Stewart Beck, Canadian High Commissioner in India, was among those honoured by the ICCC on the occasion. He was given the ICCC President’s Award for promoting India-Canadian relations.
|
|
Reality check After
the big talk at the ICCC gala, it is time for a little reality check as to where India-Canada trade is going. "Our trade ties are at the take-off stage," said Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce president Naval Bajaj in his address to the gathering. Frankly, this talk about doubling or tripling the bilateral trade has been around for a few years now, and the bilateral trade has hovered in the region of $5 billion all these years. So will the implementation of the nuclear deal and the signing of the CEPA boost the bilateral trade to higher levels? After the Indian Department of Atomic Energy and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in April finalised "administrative arrangement'' to operationalise the nuclear power plants, there has been talk of Canadian exports of uranium to India tripling to $650 million annually. Even Finance minister P. Chidambaram, who was here in April to woo investors, said the CEPA would unleash the trade potential by providing protection to investors in both countries. But Peter Sutherland, former Canadian High Commissioner, who has just taken over as the CEO and president of the Canada-India Business Council, is very optimistic. According to him, our bilateral trade is already much above the officially quoted figures. How? Giving an example, he says Canadian diamonds go to India via Brussels and don't get accounted in our bilateral trade. "There are factors like this which must not be forgotten when calculating bilateral trade figures," he says. Then he talks about how small and medium businesses have the potential to boost two-way trade. "So we at the C-IBC are getting small and medium companies from both sides involved in our business ties. The CEPA, once signed, will facilitate this back and forth," Sutherland says. "The beauty of India is that it is itself a huge market and then can serve as a platform (for Canadian companies) to supply to the rest of south Asia," he says. According to him, Canada is uniquely placed to help India in its growth story because of its strengths. As India ushers in new mining policies, he says, it would benefit from Canada's world-leading technology in this sector. And as India needs to connect its fast-growing smaller cities with major cities, there is no better bet than Canadian rail-and-aviation leader Bombardier to help India, according to him. Sutherland, who visited Punjab many times during his tenure in Delhi, says the lack of agro-processing facilities in the state is leading to so much wastage. Punjab stands to benefit from Canadian expertise in this sector, he says. Being a former diplomat, Sutherland says he believes in going there and forging ties with individuals, chambers of commerce, trade bodies and major institutions. "That's the way forward, and I am optimistic that our trade will take off," he says.
|
||
|
Amrik Virk is the new Indian-origin minister
Indo-Canadians
may still be immigrants elsewhere in Canada, but one province where they have truly arrived is British Columbia — one of the most important among 10 provinces in Canada. Since the Indo-Canadian community — read Punjabis — make up about 7-8 per cent of the 44-lakh population of British Columbia, major political parties — the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party — keep them in good humour. They try to rope in as many as Indo-Canadian faces in their legislative wings and governments as they can. Just before the May 14 elections, Christy Clark government spent millions for bringing to Vancouver a Bollywood show by an Indian media group so that Indo-Canadians will be happy and vote her party back to power. The trick seems to have worked as, despite anger by the mainstream over the ‘misuse’ of taxpayers’ money to create ‘south Asian vote-banks’, people voted her party back to power defying opinion polls. Since only one Indo-Canadian — named Amrik Virk — from the ruling party could win the assembly elections, it was a forgone conclusion that he would be on board as a Cabinet minister. So he has got the Cabinet job.
|
||
|
The
Tribune has launched a collaborative effort with the US Embassy, New Delhi, to provide answers to common questions on consular topics.The US Embassy will answer general questions regarding immigration and travel-related queries. How can I work legally in the United States? The primary way to work legally in the US is to be hired by a US-based company. Your employer can then petition for you to come to the US to work and you can get a visa for that. Employers can also petition for their foreign-national employees to become legal permanent residents, too. Are scholarships available to a student planning to study in a US school? Study in the US is an excellent investment but it can sometimes be expensive. There are many ways to finance your education, from loans to study-related work, to scholarships and more. The best source for that kind of information, as well as all information about study in the US is EducationUSA, which offers free consultation. Their website is www.educationusa.info but they also work in India through the US-India Education Foundation, or USIEF, which has a website of www.usief.org.in and is located at 12 Hailey Road Can I pick up my passport and visa packet in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand or Jammu and Kashmir? Yes. Once your visa is issued, it will be delivered to a collection location you chose when you applied. There are several in Punjab. In all, there are 33 of these around India. See www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-loc-passportcollection.asp for the complete list. Where can I give my fingerprints? There are only five locations in India where a visa applicant can submit fingerprints and photographs for an application. For the northern states, the closest of these offsite facilitation centers is in New Delhi at Nehru Place: S - 1 American Plaza, (Hotel Eros Managed by Hilton), International Trade Tower. Do you have a list of blacklisted visa consultants, so that I can avoid using them? Our process to apply for a visa is very simple and straightforward, so you don’t require any professional help. There are people who offer to help with this but we recommend you prepare your own application and explain your purpose of travel in your own words, not those of a consultant. If you have someone help you with your application, remember that you are still responsible for the information in the application. Providing false information can be grounds for ineligibility for a visa and future travel to the U.S. For questions, see www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-main-contactus.asp or call +91 120 6602222 or +91 22 67209400. What if I can’t keep going to America on my green card but I still want to visit my relatives there? If you do not comply with the proper usage of your US legal permanent residence (LPR), your “green card” will become invalid for travel. It is intended for people who plan to live in the US, not those who wish to live elsewhere but travel often to the US, so our rules require that people spend significant time in the US for LPR status to remain in effect. If you are an LPR but feel you can’t meet the requirements to retain that status, it is best to tell the Embassy or Consulate and voluntarily surrender your green card. You can then apply for a regular visitor visa. If you have complied with US laws in the past, you should be able to convince a consular officer you are qualified for a visitor visa now. For further information, see www.uscis.gov. Can I do my interview in Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu? Yes. Our officers are trained to conduct visa interviews in many languages. If we lack the skill for your particular language, we also have Indian staff who can translate an interview for us in yet more languages. If you wish to interview in a language other than English, make sure you indicate this when you fill out your visa application. Note: Please send your questions to usvisa@tribunemail.com. The US Embassy or The Tribune will only give general answers based on various queries. We will be unable to respond to individual correspondence. For more information, you can consult www.ustraveldocs.com/in or on Facebook for the Visa Fridays feature
(www.facebook.com/India.usembassy).
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
