Race begins for Chandigarh seat
Social media is buzzing with a funny video of Kirron Kher, actor turned BJP MP, and has related her actions to an “accidental MP”. In a widely circulated video, Kher was caught making funny faces, giggling and speaking with someone during a Parliament session. Of course this has not stopped her from lobbying to get a BJP ticket once again for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from her seat Chandigarh. But two other BJP leaders, Sanjay Tandon and Satya Pal Jain want to contest from Chandigarh. Jain, a former two-time BJP MP, is the Additional Solicitor General of India at present. Many in the Chandigarh BJP are not happy with Kher as she has not spent much time there after 2014. There is speculation that BJP may also consider fielding either Milkha Singh or Kapil Dev or even actress Poonam Dhillon from Chandigarh.
In Congress, Pawan Kumar Bansal (four-time MP), who was defeated by Kher in 2014, is once again the front runner for Chandigarh. Former Ludhiana MP and senior Congress leader Manish Tewari is also vying for the ticket. In the AAP camp, Harmohan Dhawan and actress Gul Panag are said to be trying for the ticket. Former Union Minister Dhawan switched loyalties from the Janata Dal, the BSP and the BJP, and finally landed in AAP.
MoS was clueless about 10% quota
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which moved the proposal for 10% reservation for the general category, in an official reply given in the Lok Sabha on 8 January—a day after the Union Cabinet approved the proposal—denied any step on part of the ministry to give such reservation.
This written reply was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar to an unstarred question by Lok Sabha MP from Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Kotha Prabhakar Reddy. Reddy had asked whether the government was exploring the scope of providing reservation to poor candidates from forward communities for education and employment and for details of the same. The minister’s written reply said, “At present, no such proposal is under consideration.”
Interestingly, the Minister’s reply was released on 8 January, a day after the Cabinet cleared the 10% proposal and the same day as Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot moved the 124th Constitutional Amendment Bill to provide the reservation. Reddy had also asked whether such a demand had been received from Marathas, Rajputs and Thakurs. The minister’s written reply was “No Sir.”
Israel sends a new ambassador
Israel’s new ambassador to India is a retired colonel and an economist. The new 53-year-old ambassador to India, Dr Ron Malka presented the “Letter of Credence” to President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday. On Indo-Israeli cooperation, Ambassador Malka said, “We are all part of the vision to double farmers’ income within a few years. From security to food security, from education to innovation, I will make sure we do more in the areas of agriculture, water, defence, cyber security.”
Ambassador Malka has an MBA in Finance and Business Administration and is a PhD in Economics. Between 1983 and 2007, he was in military service from where he retired with the rank of Colonel. From 2008-2016, he was a senior lecturer in banking, economics and capital markets. In addition, he has also served as economic advisor to the Prime Minister’s commission to review the defence budget.
Poor show in Rajya Sabha
The 247th Session of the Rajya Sabha, which commenced on 11 December, ended on Wednesday. The House had 18 sittings, during which it was able to deliberate “for only 27 hours”. More than 78 hours were lost, which Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu felt was “a sad reflection on the functioning of the Upper House of Parliament”.
In Naidu’s observation, the Session was characterised by regular and continuous disruptions, which deprived members of the opportunity to discuss matters of urgent public importance and seek the accountability of the Executive through questions.
Out of the 285 Starred Questions admitted, only 31 could be answered orally and Question Hour could not be taken up on 13 days. Only 38 matters could be raised by members, while only 16 Special Mentions could be made during the entire session. Four government Bills were passed, five government Bills were introduced and four were withdrawn. No Private Members’ Bills could be introduced or discussed during the entire session. Naidu said that 56 members made good use of the recently launched e-Notices Portal, as is evident from the 2,688 e-Notices received during the session.
Man reviving Gurmukhi in Pakistan
A group of private schools in Pakistan banned Punjabi two years ago, describing it as a “foul language”. However, Hari Singh Aulakh (74) of Jalandhar is facilitating Gurmukhi lessons for hundreds of children there. A native of Kalyanpur village, Aulakh has been visiting Pakistan every year to supervise his initiative to teach Gurmukhi. His dedicated team teaches Gurmukhi to Sikh, Hindu, Christian and some Muslim students.
At Nankana Sahib, he and his team hold a regular period on Gurmukhi. In the beginning there were about 20 children. Now, about 600 children are learning Gurmukhi. About 5% of them are Muslims.
A makeshift unit at Nankana Sahib has become a full-fledged school, which was set up in 2001. It is called Guru Nanak Model High School. Aulakh is now organising classes at two places in Nankana Sahib, two places in Sialkot and in Peshawar. Aulakh’s ancestors belong to Pakistan’s Lyallpur, now known as Faisalabad.
Aulakh told The Sunday Guardian, “I started with a small group of 20 Hindu migrant children from Balochistan who were doing small labour jobs for Rs 50. With the aim to rehabilitate them, we started providing them with food, shoes and books and began teaching them Gurmukhi. Over the years, I got some teachers from Sikh families living in Peshawar.”