10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be Held in Jaipur

Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago to be Chief Guest 

The 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) will be held from 7-9 January, 2012 in Jaipur. Addressing a press conference here today, Shri Vayalar Ravi, the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation announced that the Chief Guest of PBD-2012 will be the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Ms. Kamla Persad Bissessar. The theme of PBD-2012 is “Global Indian-Inclusive Growth”. He further said that Rajasthan will be the partner State of the 10th PBD, which would provide the Diaspora an opportunity to understand the vibrant culture and potential of State. 

Shri Ravi said that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate this annual flagship event of the Ministry on January 8, and the President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil will deliver the valedictory address on January 9 and confer the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Awards. He also informed that two pre-conference seminars on ‘Solar Energy- Investment’ and R&D’ and ‘Social Entrepreneurship-Water’ will also be organized during the event. 

The Minister said that more than 1500 delegates are expected to participate in PBD-2012 from all over the world. He said that Government is making efforts to make PBD more meaningful and interactive event that would address issues and concerns of the overseas Indian community effectively. He also announced that the event would be webcast online and summary of proceedings put out each day. The interactive website would provide an opportunity for the Diaspora to participate in the conference from any corner of the world. On the occasion, he also launched the PBD website- www.pbdindia.org. 

Speaking in the conference, Shri Rajendra Pareek the Minister of Industries, NRI’s, and State Enterprises of Rajasthan said that Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is an efforts to bring Indian Diaspora on one forum, which expresses the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. He also extended all kind of support and cooperation from Rajasthan Government to make the 10th PBD successful. Dr. A. Didar Singh, Secretary, MOIA & Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII were also present on the occasion.

Jaspal Rana to join Congress, but his father to stay in BJP

Mussoorie, January 5
The fallout of the distribution of ticket debacle in the Bhartiya Janata Party camp has left the family of ace shooter Jaspal Rana a divided lot. Jaspal Rana after exhausting his energy in seeking the BJP ticket for his father from Dhanolti has finally decided to quit the party and join the Congress.

Narayan Singh Rana, senior BJP leader and also close relative of national president Rajnath Singh, after failing in his effort to convince the high command to re-distribute the ticket in his favour, has also acknowledged that Jaspal Rana is leaving the BJP and joining the Congress.

Narayan Singh Rana making a complete U-turn on his earlier statement said, “Jaspal Rana has been influenced by Rahul Gandhi and his commitment towards the youth of the country and, therefore, had been contemplating joining the Congress since several months and recent events will have also forced him to finally quit the BJP”.

Narayan Singh Rana also said he had no say in his son’s decision but as far as he was concerned, he would remain a loyal soldier of the BJP.

This election has finally divided the father and son duo in two opposite camps thus proving that “politics is an art of possible”.

The Congress by this move is trying to make dent in the vote share of the BJP among the youth. How far they will succeed only time will tell?

Meanwhile, the state Congress leaders are mum over the issue of Jaspal joining the Congress and insiders believe that announcement can come within a day or two. 

11 Punjabis detained in Kuwait return home

Kapurthala, January 5
Eleven of the 30 Punjabi youths detained by a maintenance company in Kuwait have returned to India. Thanks to the India Embassy in Kuwait which facilitated their return after the matter was taken up by the Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes (PSCSC) with the External Affairs Ministry.

Two of the returned youths, Kulwinder Kumar of Lamma in Jalandhar and Gurmail Singh of Phagwara, said they along with 28 Punjabis had been detained by a company, Arab Centres, for the past nine months. The company forced them to stay in Kuwait even after the expiry of their visa. They could not move out due to the fear of getting arrested, they added. “Ailing Punjabis were even refused medicines. A society of Kerala highlighted our plight on YouTube," they said. Kulwinder also informed about their condition to his sister on the phone.

"My sister contacted chairman of the PSCSC Rajesh Bagha, who took up the matter with the Union External Affairs Ministry,” he said.

‘Immigrate through legitimate means’

Chandigarh, January 5
Dwelling on the agenda of youth empowerment through quality education, skills development and employment, most of overseas participants expressed serious concerns over deterioration in the standard of senior secondary education and post-matriculation dropout rate in Punjab at the Punjabi Parvasi Divas conference here today.

Canada as a partner country in this years' conference was well represented, both among speakers and the audience.

Though Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, NRI Affairs Minister Balbir Singh Bath, Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal and NRI Commissioner Vijay Partap were conspicuous by their absence, overseas Punjabis from Canada, including Ontario Minister Harinder Takhar, Alberta MLA Peter Sandhu and former MP Gurbax Malhi, talked about how Punjabis have scripted a success story in their present country of abode.

The participants endorsed the suggestion made by the secretary-general of the International Punjabi Chamber for Service Industry Gulshan Sharma that immigration overseas should be only through legitimate, decent and dignified means.

Satinder Dhiman, a management professor in North America, through video conferencing, expressed deep concern that the dropout rate of students for post-matriculatiuon education in Punjab had shot up to more than 90 per cent. Without education, he said, no state could come up economically.

Canada's Consul-General in Chandigarh Scot Slessor said what Canada needed most was young skilled people who were comfortable in speaking English.

More than 50 per cent of the total Indian immigrants in Canada come from Punjab and its surrounding areas. Scot Slessor said list of skills in demand in Canada were all prominently displayed on the government websites. Advanced countries did not need many people with higher educational qualifications, including PhDs, but they needed plumbers, drivers, mechanics or people trained in other trades in demand. Other basic requirement was that they should be conversant with English.

Ontario Minister for Government Services said Punjabis made up for their deficiencies in education with "jugads". With their hard work and unprecedented ability to adapt themselves to the new work and living environs, they had made major strides in every area.

Peter Sandhu from Alberta said when he left India more than three decades ago, the standard of high school education was pretty good. But unfortunately, it had deteriorated rapidly. The government needed to focus on reviving education network, besides imparting training in trades that were in demand overseas.

Pic of the Day

Snow in Shimla on 5th January,2012