PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS DAY 3

Be India’s growth propellers, President urges diaspora

Jaipur, January 9
Stressing need for developing key areas like education, skills and health care, President Prtibha Patil exhorted the overseas Indian community to continue helping India in becoming a global power.
Delivering the valedictory address at the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations here, she said 27 million strong Indian overseas community was not only large but was becoming increasingly influential.
Complimenting Kamla Persad Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, she said overseas Indians with sheer hard work, dedication and commitment have risen to top positions in their new countries.
Pratibha Patil said in the present century human society was facing the daunting yet inspiring task of forging “sustainability” in all its activities so that while meeting current human needs, the requirements of future generations were also safeguarded. She called upon overseas Indians to play a great role in meeting this major challenge as they had gained knowledge and experiences in academics, science and technology.
While appreciating the need for youth connectivity, the President appreciated the ‘Know India Programme’ as it brings groups of young overseas Indian youth to India with a view to promote awareness of different facets of life here. “We must continue to promote greater exchange between the youth as an important aspect of forging linkages and maintaining the tradition of close bonds,” she said.
She also appreciated the Indian Community Welfare Fund that has been extended from 18 countries to all Indian missions overseas.

Trinidad & Tobago PM among 14 overseas Indians felicitated

Kamla Persad Bissessar

Jaipur, January 9
Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad Bissessar and chairman of the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Business Satish Thakkar were among the 14 prominent overseas Indians who were felicitated by President Pratibha Patel with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman at the concluding ceremony of the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here this evening.
Kamla Persad Bissessar (68), whose great grandfathers moved from Kolkata to the Caribbeans early in the 20th century, is the first woman Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. She was also part of the last government headed by Basdeo Panday, another person of Indian origin. Bissessar was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas this year.
Among 14 recipients, there were three women. Other than Bissessar, both the remaining recipients are doctors: Khurshed Noshir Ginwala Rustomjee (South Africa) and Kalpalatha Kammamuri Guntupalli (USA). The Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce is the oldest and largest Indian diaspora organisation that has more than 1,200 members now. Last year it organised successfully the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Canada region) in June. Its president Satish Thakar received the award from the President.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is conferred upon those people of Indian origin who have worked on fostering better relations, coordination and cooperation with their roots back home.
Other recipients include Surendra Kumar Kaushik, who became the youngest professor at Pace University in early 60s.

Modi pats himself on the back
Jaipur, January 9

Claiming Gujarat to be a power surplus state with guaranteed 24 hours seven days a week power supply, self sufficient in water, recording 10 to 11 per cent growth in agriculture for the past one decade and exporting milk, vegetables and Pujaris (religious priests) to many countries, Chief Minister Narendra Modi not only had his address repeatedly punctuated with applause from a packed auditorium but also got a standing ovation at the chief ministers' conclave on the third and final day of the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here today.

This sort of audience response, unusual for politicians in the country today, had a majority of the delegates making a beeline for the subsequent special state session on Gujarat where Narendra Modi continued from where he left in the day.

Describing Gujarat as growth engine of India, he said that his state had gained expertise in converting crises into opportunities and leading the country not only in power generation, milk production, but in empowering and training youth in skills that are needed worldwide.

GUJARAT CLAIMSn All 18,000 villages have broadband connectivity since 2009.n Soon, Gujarat will have the Asia's biggest solar power park.n Boasting of round-the-clock power supply, the state has 4000 MW of power surplus.n While water is major source of inter-state disputes, Gujarat has given Narmada water to Rajasthann It has the only Forensic Science University of the world. Many CMs miss date with NRIs Jaipur, January 9 In an endeavour to engage second and third generation overseas Indians, a special initiative of the Union government has come as an opportunity for 38 youth of the 18-27 years age group not only to watch the proceedings of the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here but also to go around different places in the country. Drawn from Africa, Asia and North America, this is for the first time that these youngsters have got a chance to visit the motherland of their forefathers. Getting a cue from the Union government's initiative, the Rajasthan Government has now announced a similar plan offering to bear 90 per cent of air travel besides providing free boarding, lodging and domestic transport to 50 such youth every year. "We are having a wonderful time. We never realised how big, diverse and beautiful India is," remarked a girl from Fiji who is a part of this 38-member group. The organisers held special sessions not only on gender sensitisation but also on youth empowerment and engaging new generation overseas Indian youth by offering special programmes here. Karan Billimoria, Mohammed Azharuddin and Preeta Bansal were among those present here. When one of the young delegates asked the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a question about steps being taken to check brain drain from the country, she was told that even after brain drain, the country has enough innovative brains that are taking the country forward and making it an emerging world economic power. "We are sending skilled intellectuals, professionals and technicians all over the world as that is our major resource," commented Modi.

SAD fields Sant Brar against Manpreet

Chandigarh, January 9
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded Sant Singh Brar from Gidderbaha. It is for the first time after the 1966 re-organisation of states that the party has fielded somebody not related to the Badal clan from the constituency.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had lost from Gidderbaha to the late Harcharan Singh Brar by a narrow margin in 1967. He won the seat in 1969. In 1992, the SAD boycotted the assembly elections and Congress' Raghubir Singh won the seat.
The seat was declared vacant in 1995 and in the ensuing byelection, SAD nominee Manpreet Singh Badal was elected with a margin of about 2,500 votes. He was re-elected from this constituency in 1997, 2002 and 2007, each time with a larger margin. This time Manpreet is contesting the seat as the People's Party of Punjab candidate.
A Congress rebel, Brar had contested against Manpreet as an Independent in 2007 and finished second. He was denied the Congress ticket in 2007. There were reports that Harsimrat Kaur Badal would be the SAD candidate from Gidderbaha. But after much thinking, the Chief Minister decided against it. In its final list announced today, The SAD also named seven other candidates. The Akali Dal is contesting 94 seats while the remaining 23 (of the total 117) are being contested by the BJP.
Former hockey captain and Olympian Pargat Singh has been fielded from Jalandhar Cantt to counter Congress’ Jagbir Singh Brar, who defected to the party from the People’s Party of Punjab recently.
Pargat Singh, said to be Sukhbir’s choice, recently quit the Punjab Police to be permanently absorbed as Director of Sports, Punjab, the post he held till now. He is credited for contributing a lot for improving sports infrastructure in the state and successfully conducting two World Cup Kabaddi championships.
In Muktsar, the SAD has fielded Kanwarjit Singh Barkandi, an aide of Sukhbir Badal and son of Muktsar SAD District president Manjit Barkandi. The contest here would be between him and sitting MLA Sunny Brar’s wife Karan Brar.
Prem Mittal has been chosen to lead the party in Mansa. A former Congress man, he was the senior Deputy Mayor in Ludhiana and later switched sides to join the SAD. Similarly, the Samrala seat has been given to former SGPC member Kirpal Singh Khirnia, father of sitting SAD MLA Jagjiwan Singh Khirnia. This is perhaps the only seat where a father has replaced the son, it is generally otherwise.

The Bathinda (Rural) seat has been allotted to Darshan Singh Kotfatta. Baba Bakala, a reserved seat, has been given to Khadur Sahib sitting MLA Manjit Singh Mianwind. In Jandiala, the SAD has announced the name of Baljit Singh Jalausman, who won the SGPC elections in September last as a rebel candidate after being denied the SAD ticket in spite of being the sitting SGPC member. He is reportedly close to Youth Akali Dal president Bikram Majithia. Balwant Singh Shahpur has been fielded from Nabha (Reserved).

No respite from biting cold in India

New Delhi, January 9
Cold wave continued to wreak havoc in the North with the region recording below normal day and night temperatures with dense fog disrupting road, train and flight operations. As rain and snowfall aggravated miseries of the common man, reports claim the severe cold has claimed the lives of around 140 persons during this season so far.

A similar situation is likely to continue for the next three-four days at least. The IMD today issued a warning saying the visibility would reduce to 200 m or less, temperature would go down further and ground frost conditions occur in Punjab and Haryana areas during the next 48 hours.

Some relief could be expected from January 14 onwards. Both day and night temperatures would see a rise, bringing the much needed relief to the common man, IMD Director SC Bhan said.

For the time being, however, the situation might worsen. The next three days would see a further fall in night temperatures, a condition that might work out in favour of standing wheat crop, Bhan said. Frost could be expected in plains of Punjab and Haryana, he said. “A western disturbance (WD) from January 14 will bring respite,” he added. The present severe weather conditions were due to a strong WD that arrived around January 8 and the long gap between it and the one coming on January 14, he added.

“A western disturbance spells cold weather conditions. How far the temperatures would dip depends upon its strength and the gap between two consequent WDs. Had the January-14 WD arrived a couple of days earlier on January 10 or 11, temperatures would not have seen such a drastic fall,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bhan termed snow in parts of Punjab a situation that “may happen but at the same time is also not so common”. “It can happen due to a strong WD and change in wind direction,” he said ruling out speculations about climate change.

Sukhbir leads the crorepati club with Rs 76 crore, Ex-CM Bhattal’s worth up to Rs 2.9cr

Chandigarh, January 9
With assets worth more than Rs 76 crore, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal today turned out to be the richest candidate in the fray among those who have filed their nominations till now for the January 30 Assembly elections. Sukhbir filed his papers from the Jalalabad Assembly segment. He has gone richer by Rs 17.77 crore in the past two years. Sukhbir’s assets were worth Rs 58.67 crore during 2010 byelections.

According to the affidavit filed by Sukhbir, he does not own a car. He is left with only one tractor this time as compared to the last time when he had two tractors. His movable assets are worth Rs 27,56,57,364 which includes Rs 5 lakh cash besides deposits in banks, shares debentures and jewellery. His immovable assets, including agricultural and non-agricultural property, are worth Rs 48,88,33696.

His wife, Harsimrat Badal, is worth Rs 15.38 crore and does not own any vehicle or immovable property. Former Congress CM Rajinder Kaur is worth Rs 2.97 crore marking an increase of over Rs 1.5 crore compared to last elections.

Sukhbir’s brother-in-law, Bikram Singh Majithia, a SAD candidate from Majitha constituency in Amritsar, is a multi-millionaire but does not own a vehicle. He owned a Mahindra Scorpio vehicle worth Rs 7 lakh in the last elections. Majithia’s total

assets have gone up by over Rs 2 crore as compared to the last time. This time, he has declared total assets worth Rs 11.21 crore, which include movable assets worth Rs 5.34 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 5.86 crore. His movable assets include Rs 4.35 crore in bonds, jewellery worth Rs 50.7 lakh, bank deposits worth Rs 12.7 lakh, investment in NSS/insurance policy worth Rs 9.76 lakh and Rs 2.25 lakh cash in hand.

His immovable assets include agricultural land worth Rs 5.66 crore and a residential building worth Rs 20 lakh. He, however, also has dues to the tune of Rs 65 lakh.

In 2007 elections, Bikram had declared total assets worth Rs 9.16 crore.

Avtar Henry, a Congress candidate from Jalandhar North proved to be the second richest candidate till now by declaring assets worth Rs 13.95 crore that includes immovable property worth Rs 8.59 crore and movable property worth Rs 5.36 crore.

Sitting MLA from Guruharsahai, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi declared assets worth Rs 3.5 crores. He owns a Honda Accord car. A Chevrolet Cruze, valued at Rs 14.30 lakh, is in the name of his spouse. Being an international shooter, Sodhi also owns guns worth Rs 7 lakh.

In the name of immovable assets, Sodhi owns 13-acre land in Mohan Ke in Guruharsahai village besides 4.3 acres in Kotbilla village in Panchkula (Haryana).

BSP candidate from Jalandhar Cantonment, Hardev Kaur Shant is yet another multi-millionaire in the race with an assets of Rs 3.12 crore, more than that of even the former Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia (Rs 2.59 crore).

Deputy Speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bhagat Chunni Lal and BJP candidate from Jalandhar is worth Rs 4.5 crore.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary and BJP candidate from Jalandhar North KD Bhandari is the poorest candidate. He owns nothing in his name. An agricultural property at Raowali village in Jalandhar and a 6-marla plot at Preet Nagar on Sodal Road are in the name of his wife Neena Bhandari.

Lal Singh, Congress candidate from Sanaur, is worth Rs 3,99,41,010 and his wife is worth Rs 2,66,49,600.

Health Minister, Satpal Gosain, who is a BJP candidate from Ludhiana Central constituency is worth Rs 3.5 crore. Former DGP PS Gill, who is a SAD candidate from Moga, is worth Rs 3 crore. He owns a Mercedes car worth Rs 49 lakh and his wife has jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh.