{"id":224853,"date":"2023-09-25T00:13:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T18:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=224853"},"modified":"2023-09-25T00:13:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T18:43:45","slug":"sparks-panic-among-sikhs-punjabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2023\/09\/25\/sparks-panic-among-sikhs-punjabis\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparks panic among Sikhs, Punjabis"},"content":{"rendered":"

India-Canada Row<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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By Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n

The India-Canada row has triggered a nagging fear among Sikhs and people of Punjab. It\u2019s critical that both governments resolve the issue at the earliest, is a serious refrain. The Shiromani Akali Dal President and MP Sukhbir Singh Badal met Union Home Minister Amit Shahon Thursday last and told him that he was receiving distress calls from Punjabis in Canada worried about safe and smooth travel facilities to their homeland. Similarly, students were concerned about their future. Likewise, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on Tuesday last said though the Centre has trashed the Canadian government\u2019s accusations in the murder case of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and expelled a Canadian diplomat, the matter is \u201cvery serious\u201d and will affect Sikhs at the global level. It\u2019s having \u2018a huge effect, Sikhs are being associated with terrorism, a wrong impression is being created, and it needs to stop. People of the nation shouldn\u2019t suffer because of this\u201d. The point that Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular, have made unparalleled sacrifices for the independence, security and integrity of the nation was driven home and \u2018there can never be a compromise on that.\u2019\u00a0Given that lives and livelihood of Sikhs is at stake, there\u2019s need for sincere approach. Dialogue rather than knee jerk reactions is the need of the hour. The \u2018sense of panic\u2019 needs urgent attention.<\/p>\n

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Women Reservation<\/p>\n

The passing of the 128th Constitution amendment bill, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is indeed a defining moment in the nation\u2019s democratic journey. It has taken decades for it to see the light of day. Prime Minister Modi rightly said its \u201cA tribute to the countless women who have made our nation.\u201d But the wait is going to be long, perhaps in 2029. But a question mark hangs as the government will first have to undertakea delimitation exercise to redraw parliamentary and Assembly constituencies based on the census, when it happens. Besides, it will now require the approval of a majority of State Assemblies.While it has been passed in both Houses with all political parties on board, the Opposition leaders did call it a jumla, rather the greatest as if it had the will, it could have been implemented immediately.Just give tickets to 33% women, include the OBC\u2026was a common refrain. Of course, the opportunity was also used by MPs to give credit to their leaders for not just voicing the demand but acting on the home front. Such as TMC\u2019s MP Mahua Moitra who hailed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying she\u2019s \u2018the mother of this bill and had given birth to the original idea as 37% of TMC MPs are women\u2019. Incidentally, the ruling BJD is Odisha shall have its first woman Speaker. The Revenue and Disaster Management Minister name was announced as the party\u2019s candidate on Wednesday last and she gets elected uncontested. The Bill is an election strategy, but how many walk the talk will need to be watched.<\/p>\n

Cauvery Water Row<\/p>\n

The release of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu by Karnataka has literally run into troubled waters again. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy Shivakumar with all State MPs and Congress ministers called on Union Jal Shakti Minister Shekhawat on Thursday last expressing State\u2019s inability to comply with Cauvery Water Management Authority\u2019s order of releasing 5,000 cusecs of water per day for a fortnight (till September 280) to its neighbour. Reason:\u00a0 drought-like situation as there\u2019s rainfall shortage for 1st time in 123 years, scarcity of drinking water, protests by farmers and in distress there\u2019s no formula to decide how much water is to be released. Luckily, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the Authority\u2019s orders saying all key aspects must be considered\u2014such as drought and deficit rainfall. Predictably, TN\u2019s ruling DMK is peeved as it claims Karnataka never agrees to any proposals made by it in the dispute and whatever rights it\u2019s gained is because it has approached the top court. Karnataka has sought PM Modi\u2019s intervention to find a resolution by convening a meeting of four States \u2013 the two plus Kerala and Puducherry. The big question is can he pull it off?<\/p>\n

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UP\u2019s \u2018Political Vendetta\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Political vendetta\u2019 in Yogi\u2019s Uttar Pradesh apparently has no boundaries. The Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital in Amethi, run by a Trust since 1989,with Sonia Gandhi as chairperson, was shut down after a female patient\u2019s death due to alleged medical negligence. Amethi\u2019s CMO said the hospital \u2018was sealed on the day the patient died and hospital\u2019s registration suspended until further orders. No patients will be treated there, and its administration won\u2019t function.\u2019Besides, a team shall probe cause of death and alleged laxity. The 100-bedded hospital\u2019s CEOhas in turn accused the CMO of not giving \u2018a fair hearing\u2019 and its revocation decision taken \u2018in undue haste\u2019 (patient admitted on September 14 with complain of stomachache; condition worsened before undergoing gall bladder surgery; was referred to a private hospital in Lucknow where she died on September 16; on September 18 licence revoked). All services provided, including emergency and OPD are closed and 400 staff members\u2019 future uncertain. The hospital will move court as \u2018it\u2019s an act of political vengeance\u2019. Congress echoes the same and threatens to protest. Recall, in September 2018, at least 71 children died in a government-run district hospital in Bahraichand a year earlier 60 infants had died in Gorakhpur\u2019s Baba Raghav Das Medical College. In contrast these were not shut down. Why this?<\/p>\n

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Maha Intrigues<\/p>\n

Maharashtra political splits continue to be absorbing, be it NCP or Shiv Sena\u2019s. On Tuesday last, Jayant Patil, State unit chief of Sharad Pawar-led NCP told reporters the Election Commission was being \u2018unfair\u2019 treating its case as \u2018a dispute within a political party, when we have consistently maintained there\u2019s no split!\u2019 NCP supremo had written to ECI claiming he \u201cnever faced any opposition within the party or to his policies on any public platform\u2026bu2t without giving him time, EC concluded there\u2019s a dispute!\u201d Interestingly, Ajit Pawar group\u2019s leader and Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal too says there\u2019s no dispute, \u201cSome changes have taken place, such as of national president…Ajit Pawar is now party president and we have already communicated it to EC.\u201d How EC deals with it all will be known on October 6, when both sides appear for a personal hearing. On Shiv Sena split, Speaker Rahul Narwekar is vague on when he shall decide the disqualification pleas filed against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his set of MLAs. \u2018I\u2019m not interested in delaying the decision nor in a hurry which could result in miscarriage of justice,\u2019 he says, notwithstanding Supreme Court on Monday last observing \u2018This can\u2019t go on indefinitely. Tell us about the time schedule.\u2019 In its May 11 verdict, Speaker was directed to decide on the petitions within \u2018a reasonable time.\u2019 It\u2019s never ending.<\/p>\n

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Kerala Tourism Jittery<\/p>\n

Nipah virus is playing spoilsport in God\u2019s own country. The tourism industry is looking at major losses ahead of its peak season. According to Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association, a \u201830% jump in booking cancellations\u2019 has been reported in hotels in Kozhikode, where 7 districts are declared containment zones. A nagging fear lingers it \u2018may deal a bigger blow\u2019 if the situation worsens, countries impose travel restrictions and tighter visa regulations. So far, 130-odd people have been tested for the virus, while over 200, who came in contact with suspected patients, are under observation. The virus is a Bangladesh variant that spreads from human to human and while it has a high mortality rate, it isn\u2019t highly infectious.This may help to gain confidence of the tourists. The silver lining is that tourism sector has shown resilience this year after a decline in the pandemic years. The first 6 months of 2023 saw a rise of 20% among domestic tourists\u201410.68 million against 8.89 million last year\u2014and 172% surge in foreign tourists\u2014287,730.Fingers are crossed that this challenging period passes. God willing. \u2014\u2014 INFA<\/p>\n

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India-Canada Row   By Insaf The India-Canada row has triggered a nagging fear among Sikhs and people of Punjab. It\u2019s critical that both governments resolve the issue at the earliest, is a serious refrain. The Shiromani Akali Dal President and MP Sukhbir Singh Badal met Union Home Minister Amit Shahon Thursday last and told him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-224853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}