The sarkari babu will have to make every minute count.

The Sarkari Babu will have to make every minute count.

BS Post: 120 , Dated : 30 August, 2014, Mumbai. 

A circular issued to all central government offices in the capital today has also asked employees, of all ranks, to submit their contact details (email ID, residential address, telephone and personal mobile phone numbers) to the department of personnel and training that is with the Prime Minister’s Office.

Delhi police are already building a databank containing the cellphone number, email ID, name, rank and “personal number” and of every city cop, from constable to commissioner, on the orders of the PMO. A letter from the home ministry on August 5 had asked for such a databank, which will also include the municipality in which the cop lives. “All the station house officers are on the job,” an officer said.

The circular issued today does not give a date from which the new attendance system will be implemented. It says “Aadhaar number is mandatory to register attendance”.

At least one state — Jharkhand — has begun implementing the AEBAS. But a central government order means the system will have to be adopted across the country.

The system will be implemented in the capital first and then in all central offices outside New Delhi. The order is binding on all employees, including those in the armed forces.

To implement the system, all offices will have to install fingerprint scanners with Wi-fi Internet. The objective of the system, sources said, is “to check absenteeism and measure the time an employee spends in office and the time he or she checks in and checks out”.

Similar systems have been implemented in many corporate offices, both in the private and the public sector, though they are not based on Aadhaar, the card issued to citizens by the Unique Identification Authority of India that was headed by Nandan Nilekani and created by the UPA II government of Manmohan Singh in 2009.

The system will also seek to ensure that employees cannot backdate attendance or mark attendance for someone else.

On July 1, Nilekani had met Modi and finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley and given a presentation on the Aadhaar scheme that impressed the new regime.

Police clueless

Delhi police have been left befuddled by the message from the PMO asking for the databank.

“This is unprecedented. We are not clear about the objective behind it,” a senior officer said in private.

“It seems the PMO is going to be the new control room for everything: it will keep a tab on all government officials including the police,” conjectured an IPS official posted in the home ministry.

The Delhi police, who claim to be the world’s largest metropolitan force with their 80,000 personnel including nearly 50,000 constables, have thrown themselves into the massive exercise.

Delhi’s is the only police force in the country that is under the Union home ministry’s direct control. Police sources said the directive came in the form of a ministry letter dated August 5.

Additional deputy commissioner Mahesh Batra then wrote to all the zonal deputy commissioners to help prepare the databank.

“May kindly direct the concerned to collect the same from every employee under your control and feed the information by August 13,” says the letter, dated August 11, of which The Telegraph has a copy.

“There will not be an extension of this date, being time-bound requirement by Prime Minister’s Office….”

Not surprisingly, the deadline has been missed. A senior officer said the task would be completed by the end of this month.

Source: The Telegraph

Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojana : “Mera Khata – Bhagya Vidhaata”

Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojana : “Mera Khata – Bhagya Vidhaata”

BS Post: 119 , Dated : 26 August, 2014, Mumbai. 

The primary aim of the Jan Dhan Yojana is to bring poor financially excluded people into the banking system by providing them bank accounts and debit cards.

The scheme will cover both urban and rural areas of India and all bank accounts opened will be linked to a debit card which would be issued under the Ru-Pay scheme. ( Rupay is India’s own unique domestic card network owned by National Payments Corporation of India and has been created as an alternative to Visa and Mastercard.)

 Every individual who opens a bank account becomes eligible to receive an accident insurance cover of up-to Rs 1 Lakh for his entire family.

 The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has set an ambitious target of bringing in more than 7.5 crore un-banked families into India’s banking system by opening more than 15 Crore bank accounts at the rate of two bank accounts per household.

 Once the bank account has been active for 6 months and has been linked to account holders Aadhar identity , they would become eligible for an overdraft of up to Rs 2,500 , which would further be enhanced by the bank to Rs 5000 over time.

 The Jan Dhan Yojana also seeks to provide incentives to business and banking correspondents who serve as link for the last mile between savings account holders and the bank by fixing a minimum monthly remuneration of Rs 5000.

 The long term vision of the Jan Dhan Yojana is to lay the foundation of a cashless economy and is complementary to the Digital India Scheme.

 The Jan Dhan Yojana is expected to be launched formally on the 28th August 2014, when the finer details are expected to made public at a function to be presided by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers in New Delhi.

        Documents requried to open a Bank Account

• If One has Aadhaar Number no other document is requried. If address has changed. then a self certification of the current address is requried.
• If some one don’t have an Aadhaar Card, then Voter ID Card, Ration Card, Driving Licence, Letter from a recognized Public Authority or Public Servent or Sarpanch will do.
• Otherwise any one of these [ as Identity proof ] Identity Card of any Accrrdited Institution, Job Cardissued by NREGA and any one of these [ as address proof ] Electricity or Telephone Bill, Birth or Marriage Certificate.

Mohammed Chand Shaikh 

(Rabia Memorial Trust) 

Chairman

Indian Muslims unequivocally condemn brutal atrocities of ISIS

   BS Post: 118 , Dated : 20 August, 2014, Mumbai. 

Muslim intellectuals and activists issued a joint statement denouncing religious intolerance, persecution and violence in the name of Islam.

Over 80 Indian Muslims, including activists, intellectuals, community and religious leaders, scholars and academics, representing very many organizations from across India released a joint statement at a press conference held simultaneously in New Delhi and Mumbai at 3.0 PM today, condemning the brutal atrocities of ISIS on minorities and denouncing persecution and violence in the name of Islam.

Navaid Hamid, Shabnam Hashmi, John Dayal and Safdar Khan addressed the media in Delhi while in Mumbai Dr. Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Irfan Engineer, Noorjehan Safia Niaz, Javed Anand, Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas and Dolphy D’Souza were present.

Press Conference in Delhi.

The speakers unequivocally condemned the brutal Atrocities by ISIS against minorities in Iraq and Syria and denounced their religious intolerance, persecution and violence in the name of Islam.

Later they issued a joint-statement signed by 83 Muslim personalities from various fields, including Shabana Azmi, Prof. Abusaleh Shariff, Professor Mushirul Hasan, Prof Zoya Hassan, Syeda Hameed, Sohail Hashmi and Juzar Bandukwala, among others.

“Indian Muslims are shocked and pained by the brutality and atrocities being perpetrated by the ISIS (Islamic State of Syria and Iraq) against Christians, Shias, Kurds, Yazidis and other minorities in the regions now under their control,” they said, adding, “We strongly condemn such barbarism which is against the teachings of Islam.”

While the ISIS must be held fully responsible for its unconscionable acts, the United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait etc. cannot escape their share of the blame in fueling the flames, they further said, while urging the United Nations to intervene.

Full Statement:

Indian Muslims Condemn the Brutal Atrocities by ISIS against Minorities in Iraq and Syria; denounce religious intolerance, persecution and violence in the name of Islam

Indian Muslims are shocked and pained by the brutality and atrocities being perpetrated by the ISIS (Islamic State of Syria and Iraq) against Christians, Shias, Kurds, Yazidis and other minorities in the regions now under their control. We strongly condemn such barbarism which is against the teachings of Islam. We express our heart-felt sympathies and solidarity with the survivors of those whose near and dear ones have been mercilessly butchered, and the tens of thousands of Iraq’s minorities who have been dispossessed, forced to flee their homes and are now living in extremely difficult circumstances.

The barbaric conduct of the ISIS is all the more reprehensible because its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaims to be the ‘Caliph’ of the entire Muslim world and his armed group are supposedly acting in the name of Islam. We welcome the fact that most religious leaders and Islamic scholars from across the world, including India, have debunked al-Baghdadi’s claim of being a Caliph.

Alongside the ongoing tormenting of common citizens and persecution of religious and ethnic minorities in areas under their control, the ISIS has been enforcing its own intolerant, extremist, violent, distorted interpretation of Islam on Muslims who are also Sunnis. This too deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible words. We call upon Muslim religious leaders in India and elsewhere to add their voice to that of Muslim organisations and individuals who have already denounced al-Baghdadi and his ISIS for distorting Islam’s message for peace and for their barbaric conduct.

The unspeakable atrocities and mass crimes against Iraq’s minorities are nothing short of ‘crimes against humanity’, ‘religious/ethnic cleansing’. We appeal to the United Nations to urgently intervene, create the circumstances where those forced to flee feel secure enough to return to their homes and cities with full honour and dignity, and hold the ISIS accountable for its heinous acts.

While the ISIS must be held fully responsible for its unconscionable acts, the United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait etc. cannot escape their share of the blame in fuelling the flames. The worsening plight of Iraq’s Christians is but a legacy of America’s illegal, unwarranted and criminal invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its subsequent engineering of sectarian strife to divide the Iraqi resistance to the occupation.

Dictator Saddam Hussain was no angel but under him the country’s 1.4 million Christians were free to practice their faith. Many occupied high government posts. It is ironic that the US is now bombing the very ISIS to which it had earlier provided training, arms and ammunition in an attempt to dislodge Syria's authoritarian President, Bashar al-Assad. For their own myopic ends, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait etc have been backing an array of radical Islamist outfits of which the ISIS -- a monster now seemingly out of control -- was an integral part.

We urge a global condemnation of the ISIS and all its allies, overt or covert.

Press conference in Mumbai.

Endorsed by:
1. A.J. Jawad, Advocate, Chennai
2. Aamir Edresy, President, Association of Muslim Professionals, Mumbai
3. Abbas Shamael Rizvi, Cinematographer & Photographer, Delhi
4. Abdul Mannan Prof, Gauhati University, Assam
5. Abdul Salam Prof, President , Justice and Equity Demand Samiti, Assam
6. Abusaleh Shariff Dr., Executive Director, US-India Policy Institute, Washington DC
7. Akhtar Husain Akhtar Gen. Secretary, All India Momin Conference, Kanpur
8. Amir Rizvi, Communication Designer, Mumbai
9. Amjad Ali Dr., Assistant Professor, Jaunpur
10. Arshad Ajmal, Social Activist, Patna
11. Asad Ashraf, Social Activist, Delhi
12. Asad Zaidi, Writer and Publisher, Delhi
13. Asif Iqbal, Director, Dhanak, Delhi
14. Asif Naqvi Professor, Aligarh
15. Bader Sayeed, Advocate & Former Member Legislative Assembly Tamil Nadu
16. Faizur Rehman, Islamic Forum for Promotion of Moderate Thought, Chennai
17. Farhat Amin, BIRD Trust, Cuttack
18. Farrukh Warris Dr., Educationist, Mumbai.
19. Fazlur Rahman Dr, Principal, Govt Degree College, Moradabad
20. Feroze Mithiborwala, Muslim Intellectual Forum, Mumbai.
21. Hanif Lakdawala, Executive Director, Sanchetna, Ahmedabad
22. Hasina Khan, Women Activist, Bombay
23. Imanul Haque, Prof, Kolkata
24. Iqbal Ahmad Niazi, Retired Professor Emeritus of Zoology, University of Rajasthan
25. Irfan Engineer, Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai
26. Ishaq Dr, Social Activist, Azamgarh
27. Jameela Nishat, Shaheen Women's Resource Centre, Hyderabad.
28. Javed Anand, Muslims for Secular Democracy, Mumbai
29. Javed Malick Dr, Retired Academic, Delhi University, Delhi
30. Juzar Bandukwala Dr., Retired Professor, Vadodara
31. K.K. Mohammad, Senior Archaeologist, Hyderabad
32. Kamal Faruqi, Former Chairman, Delhi Minority Commission
33. Kamal Siddiqui, Businessman, Khushinagar, UP
34. Kasim Sait, Businessman & Social Activist, Chennai
35. Mairajuddin Ahmed Dr. , Former Cabinet Minister, UP
36. Mazher Hassain, Social Activist, COVA, Hyderabad
37. Md. Aftab Alam Dr., Assistant Professor, Delhi
38. Mike Ghouse, President, World Muslim Congress, Dallas, Texas
39. Mohd Aamir, Human Rights Activist, ANHAD., Delhi
40. Mohammad Arif Dr,, Chairman, Centre for Harmony and Peace, Varanasi
41. Mujataba Farooque, President, Welfare Party of India
42. Mujib Kidwai, Marketing Management, Jeddah
43. Mushirul Hasan, Prof. , Former Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
44. Nasiruddin Haider Khan, Journalist, Delhi
45. Navaid Hamid, Movement for Empowerment of Muslim Indians (MOEMIN), Delhi
46. Noorjehan Safia Niaz, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Mumbai
47. Ovais Sultan Khan, Social Work Professional, Delhi
48. Qurban Ali, Journalist, Delhi
49. R Jeibunnisa, Manitham Trust, Tamil Nadu
50. Rahima Khatun, NSKK, Kolkata
51. Rubina Parveen, Social Activist, Varanasi
52. S. Akhtar Ehtisham Dr, Academic, Delhi
53. SM Hilal, Social Activist, Kanpur
54. S Irfan Habib, Prof, Maulana Azad Chair, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, Delhi
55. Safdar Khan, Former Chairman, Delhi State Minorities Commission, Delhi
56. Sahir Raza, Independent Cinematographer, Mumbai
57. Salar M.Khan, Lawyer, New Delhi
58. Sania Hashmi, Director, Anhad Films, Delhi
59. Sarah Hashmi, Actor, Mumbai
60. Semeen Ali, PhD student, University of Delhi, New Delhi
61. Shabana Azmi, Actor, Mumbai
62. Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, ANHAD, Delhi
63. Shahin Ansari, Social Activist, Saharanpur
64. SMS Firdausi, Advocate, High Court, Allahabad
65. Sohail Hashmi, Filmmaker, Delhi
66. Syed Mohammad Raghib, PhD Student Delhi
67. Syed Shahid Mahdi, Former Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
68. Syeda Hameed, Former Member, Planning Commission, Delhi
69. Tanweer Fazal, Academic, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
70. Tanveer Nasreen Prof, Academic, Bardman, WB
71. Tariq Ashraf Dr, Academic, Delhi
72. Wahad Ahmad, Social Activist, Bijnaur
73. Waris Mazhari Dr., Department of Islamic Studies, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad
74. Wizarat Rizvi, Academic, Delhi
75. Zafarul-Islam Khan Dr., Delhi
76. Zaheer Ahmad, Social Activist, Varanasi
77. Zaheer Ahmed Sayeed Dr., Neurologist, Chennai
78. Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, Editor, Siasat, Hyderabad
79. Zahid S Kamal, Retired Govt Officer, Delhi
80. Zakia Soman, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Gujarat
81. Zamser Ali, Journalist, Gauhati, Assam, President, BTAD Citizen Rights Forum, General Secretary, Centre for Minority Studies, Research and Development, Assam
82. Zeenat Shaukat Ali Dr. , Director General, The Wisdom Foundation (World Institute of Islamic Studies for Dialogue, Mediation, Gender-Justice and Peace), Mumbai
83. Zoya Hasan Prof. , Former Member, National Minorities Commission, Delhi

Mohammed Chand Shaikh

It Turns Out Hamas Didn’t Kidnap and Kill the 3 Israeli Teens After All.

               BS Post: 117 , Dated :  July 26, 2014 

By Dell Cameron (Google+) on July 25, 2014

The recent explosion of violence in Gaza may have been initially sparked by false or inaccurate claims, according to Israeli police.

The ongoing conflict began last month when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped from a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. Their bodies were later discovered in a field outside the city of Hebron. Before police were able to determine who was responsible, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed blame for the tragic deaths squarely on Hamas, Gaza’s elected political leadership—an accusation that may prove to be false.

On Friday, Chief Inspector Micky Rosenfeld, foreign press spokesman for the Israel Police, reportedly told BBC journalist Jon Donnisonhe that the men responsible for murders were not acting on orders of Hamas leadership. Instead, he said, they are part of a “lone cell.” Further, Inspector Rosenfeld told Donnison that if Hamas’ leadership had ordered the kidnapping, “they'd have known about it in advance.”

Naftali Fraenkel, 16, Gilad Shaer, 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19, were kidnapped on June 12 from Gush Etzion, an Israeli settlement south of Jerusalem. After an exhaustive search that lasted over two weeks, security forces discovered the boys’ bodies in a field just north of Hebron, close to where they were abducted. The night of their disappearance, one of the boys called a police hotline and whispered, “They kidnapped me.” Police speculate that he may have been caught, leading the perpetrators to kill the teenage boys.

Husam Dofsh, a former member of Hamas, was arrested on suspicion of his involvement on July 5. After learning that he was a suspect, Dofsh called the Times of Israel and insisted he’d taken no part in the kidnapping. “I saw online, and people also told me, that I was tied to the mess, but I did not kidnap and didn’t do anything. I just want to continue my life,” Dofsh told reporters.

During the course of Israel’s investigation, some 400 Palestinians were arrested and up to 10 others were killed. Among those detained were Aziz Duwaik, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council and West Bank-based member of Hamas; and Mahmoud al-Khatib, a Hamas legislator was also reportedly abducted by the IDF during a dawn raid in the city of Bethlehem.

Israel's crackdown in Gaza instigated Hamas to begin firing rockets into Israel—a move that quickly escalated the conflict.

In early July, several members or activists connected to Hamas were killed, including a 14-year-old boy, which led the group to intensified their rocket attacks. Although there were no resulting deaths, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) began successive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay,” Netanyahu said in reference to the kidnapping. However, Inspector Rosenfeld’s statements, along with a number of reports concerning the identities of known police suspects, seem to indicate that Hamas leadership was not involvement in the vicious crime.

The two more-likely suspects are Amer Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasme, who have been missing from their homes since the night of the kidnapping. Police found cellphones and prepared food caches in their homes. Both had recently opened bank accounts in their wive's names. Palestinian security forces reported that Abu Aysha and Kawasme were missing to the Israelis the day after the kidnapping occurred, according to Al Monitor.

“That was the first clue in the investigation and the reason why Israel pointed an accusatory finger at the Hamas infrastructure in Hebron,” wrote Shlomi Eldar, a veteran journalist who has covered the Palestinian Authority for the past two decades.

Abu Aysha and Kawasme are known members of the Qawasameh tribe, according to Palestinian security forces. While members of Hebron-based Qawasameh clan identify with Hamas, they have a history of undermining its efforts to end violent conflicts with Israel. In 2003, for instance, the family sent two suicide bombers to blow up a bus in Jerusalem after a tahadiyeh (ceasefire) had been successfully negotiated between Israeli and Palestinian fighters, which was endorsed by Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin.

At the time of writing, a reported 848 Palestinians and 35 Israelis have been killed, including 208 children in Gaza, since July 8 when Israel launched Operation Protective Edge.

A number of Middle East journalists have written articles accusing the Israeli government of politicide—launching Israel into renewed conflict with Hamas in order to sabotage the formation of the unified Palestinian government that it so adamantly opposed. Vanetia Rainey, a Lebanon-based correspondent for The Week, wrote: “Israel must have known that [the] Palestinian Authority would not want to be seen to condone violence and would have to cooperate with the campaign of raids, something Hamas has been sharply critical of, calling it ‘harmful to Palestinian reconciliation’.”

This week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas backed Hamas’ conditions for a ceasefire.

"The Gaza demands of stopping the aggression and lifting the blockade in all its forms are the demands of the entire Palestinian people and they represent the goal that the Palestinian leadership has dedicated all its power to achieve," he said.

The killing of 15 women and children by the Israel Defense Force at a UN elementary school in Beit Hanoun appears to be unifying Palestinians, but not through a shared interest in diplomacy. Roughly 10,000 protesters in the West Bank marched on Jerusalem Thursday after the school bombing. Two were killed and hundreds injured when the march clashed with Israeli police near the Qalandiya refugee camp. 

On Friday, Hamas called for a third intifada and Abbas called for a “Day of Rage” marked with increased protests. “This is your opportunity,” a Hamas spokesperson said in response to the protests.

If the reported findings of the Israeli Police hold up and Hamas is officially cleared of any wrongdoing in the case of the three kidnapped Israeli teens, Netanyahu and the Israeli government may have to explain why a massive military operation, with an 80 percent rate of civilian casualties, was instigated under a false premise. And if violence in the West Bank continues to spread, the IDF may find itself divided on two fronts.

At a time when Israel is continuously bombing the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, a 28-day film festival in Bangalore, jointly organised by the Israeli consulate, the Suchitra Film Society, and Bangalore Cultural Partners from Thursday to July 31.

 BS Post: 116 , Dated :  July 25, 2014 

By: Marcy Newman

Bangalore Mirror Bureau 

Bangalore moves forward with its month-long 'Israel 66 Film Festival' amidst the collective 'punishment' of Palestinian civilians living in a hermetically sealed, open-air prison from which they cannot flee

Whether it was the East India Company-induced famine of Bengal in 1769 or the Jalianwala Bagh massacre in 1919, it is clear that the British Empire employed collective punishment to control and discipline its subjects. Of course, this was long before the 1949 Geneva Convention rendering it illegal under international law. 

Just as India experienced collective punishment under colonialism, so too do the Palestinians whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or Israel. In each setting, a civilian population is targeted by Israelis fueled by racism. Last month when three Israeli settlers in the West Bank went missing, the Israeli military launched a massive assault on Palestinians in the Hebron area—even though they had already found their bodies. Palestinians were subjected to a military closure of their city, nine Palestinians were killed, and 500 arrested. In Jerusalem, a Palestinian sixteen-year-old, Mohammad Abu Khdeir, was burned alive by Israelis seeking revenge. His cousin, Tarek Abu Khdeir, a fifteen-year-old Palestinian American visiting his family in Jerusalem, was savagely beaten by Israeli police. 

Israel claims Hamas is responsible for the death of these settlers, but they have not revealed any evidence. Instead, seven days after they made public the teenagers' murders, Israel began carrying out an extensive air, land, and sea military bombardment of the Gaza Strip. After one week, Israel has killed 172 Palestinians, 34 children, and 28 women in Gaza and wounded many more. Eighty percent of all these casualties are civilians. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blames the victims for their own demise to rationalise targeting civilian infrastructure. 

In the midst of this collective punishment of Palestinian civilians living in a hermetically sealed, open-air prison from which they cannot flee, Bangalore moves forward with its month-long "Israel 66 Film Festival" as a part of the Bangalore International Film Festival (BIFFes). While this event was likely planned some time ago, it is not a coincidence that such an event coincides with an Israeli massacre of Palestinians. After killing 1,391 Palestinians in Gaza during "Operation Cast Lead", Israel sent out a wide array of cultural ambassadors to various countries to conceal its war crimes. 

Most of the time these "ambassadors" are supported financially by the Israeli government; often a local consulate promotes their work. This is certainly the case of the "Israel 66 Film Festival", which the Consulate General of Israel in Bangalore is sponsoring. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel's (PACBI) guidelines asks people of conscience to boycott such cultural programs that are "funded by the Israeli state or colluding institutions specifically to help with the state's propaganda or 'rebranding' efforts aimed at diluting, justifying, whitewashing or otherwise diverting attention from the Israeli occupation and other violations of Palestinian rights and international law". 

There are many Indians, even those who consider themselves to be Palestinian allies, who believe that art should be above the political fray because it enables us to share our common humanity. But when art deliberately distracts us from the reality of life and death in order to humanise the coloniser and dehumanise the colonised, do we still share a common humanity? Menahem Kanafi, Israel's Consul General in Bangalore, told The Hindu last week, that he hoped the film festival would "point out universal connections between Israeli and Indian art and life". These films help audiences to identify with their Israeli subjects and see a commonality between them, promoting the notion that Indians and Israelis share a kinship. 

These cultural ties between Indian and Israeli institutions help to normalise a relationship that extends beyond the cultural realm. Just last week Defence Secretary R K Mathur visited Tel Aviv to discuss deepening their collaboration; India is already one of Israel's largest weapons importers. It seems odd that a country that knows what it means to endure a military occupation by a foreign people would readily agree to engage in this type of relationship. 

Just as Indians fought their British occupiers with whatever means at their disposal—at times weapons and at times boycott—Palestinians, many of whom are inspired by India's history of freeing itself from British rule, aspire to achieve liberation through boycott. Equally moved by the South African struggle against apartheid, Palestinians extended their boycott campaign to the realm of culture because so much Israeli culture, including its film industry, is state-funded. 

In 2012 I saw Susan Youssef'sHabibiat BIFF, which was the first feature film to be filmed in Gaza. Is it too much to ask that we view such films so we can consider the common humanity we share with Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel? Is it too much to empathise with a population that is continually subjected to military invasions without anywhere to flee because its air, land, and sea borders are militarily controlled by the occupying power bombarding it? Is it too much to ask BIFF to screen Palestinian films like Anne-Marie Jacir's When I Saw You or Hany Abu-Asad's Oscar-nominated Omar? Or do we want to be complicit in financially supporting government-produced film festivals that are created for the sole purpose of whitewashing their war crimes? 

Marcy Newman is a Bangalore-based independent scholar and author of The Politics of Teaching Palestine to Americans and a founding member of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/columns/views/Bring-up-the-bodies-BIFFes/articleshow/38495518.cms

Shortage of Passport Booklets Figures in Rajya Sabha

 BS Post: 115 , Dated :  July 23, 2014 

NEW DELHI: The issue of shortage of blank passport booklets leading to inordinate delay in issuance of passports today figured in Rajya Sabha with members demanding immediate intervention of the government.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, P Rajeev (CPI-M) said "Thousands of Indian citizens are waiting for their passports... The passport offices are not ready to accept applications even under Tatkal schme where it is mandatory to issue passport in three days as blank passport booklets are not available."

Rajeev said people are forced to apply through normal route where they are kept waiting for months due to shortage of booklets.

He said according to reports the India Security Press in Nashik, which prints currency notes and blank passport booklets, is running on half of its capacity leading to non-avaialability of booklets.

"This has led to severe hardships to thousands of people who have put on hold their plans to travel aborad beside creating problems for job aspirants abroad," Rajeev said.

He said the government should immediately intervene and ensure timely delivery of passports to people.

A large number of members associated themselves with the demand.

PTI Stories

Dr Swati Vijay Kulkarni is new RPO in Mumbai.

 BS Post: 114 , Dated :  July 11, 2014 

Photo Dated : March 13, 2014
SOURCES : FB page CGI - CT SA

The Ministry of External Affairs has deployed Dr. Swati V. Kulkarni (IFS:1995) as Regional Passport Officer Mumbai, on her return from Consul General of Cape Town, South Africa.

This is the first time a Joint Secretary level officer has been posted as Regional Passport Officer. She took charge on 7th July 2014.

Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni is a career diplomat who holds M.B.B.S. (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) degree from the prestigious Government Medical College, Nagpur in India. She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1995.

Prior to her appointment as the Regional Passport Officer of Mumbai Passport Office, She served as Consul General in CGI, Cape Town- South Africa (2012-2014), and before Cape Town, She served as Deputy Head of Mission in Muscat, Oman (2008-2012).

Dr. Kulkarni’s previous overseas assignments were First Secretary in High commission of India, London (2005-2008), where she successfully worked as a nodal officer for preventing discrimination for Indian Medical Graduates after the implementation of new UK Immigration rules; First Secretary in the High Commission of India, Port Louis, Mauritius (2001-2003); and as a Third Secretary (Language Trainee) in Embassy of India, Spain (1997-1998).

At Headquarters, Dr. Kulkarni worked as an Additional Private Secretary to the External Affairs Minister and later deputed as Regional Passport Officer, Pune, Maharashtra (1998-2001) and as Under Secretary looking after Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein & Holy See, Malta, Portugal, Ireland and Spain (2003-2005).

Dr. Kulkarni is married to Mr. Vijay Jayant Kulkarni who is a Merchant Mariner by profession and has two daughters.

Her interests include study of developmental issues, swimming, and tennis.

SOURCES : FB CGI, CT - SA.

After Aadhar Card Enjoy with New Multi-Purpose Identity Card, by the National Democratic Alliance Government.

 BS Post: 113 , Dated :  July 09, 2014 

Bangalore: Forget Aadhar card prepared by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to enrol and collect biometrics details of 600 million people of the country. Now, it is the Multi-purpose National Identity Card (MNIC) which will be issued to all citizens. 

The federal Home Ministry is working towards reviving an earlier project which was stalled following differences between the Registrar General of India and Unique Identification Authority of India. 

A central public undertaking will be preparing the card which will carry at least 16 details of an individual and a unique national identity number assigned to each citizen. The Home Ministry has prepared a cabinet note and is awaiting nod from Home Minister Rajnath Singh to be put up for approval before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The cards would be prepared after getting details required about individuals that would be recorded in the National Population Register. The card would roll out a scheme beyond 1.2 million citizens who had got the identity cards in the first phase of the project that covered 12 states and one union territory. 

Those who have attained the age of 18 and above would be entitled to receive the card. The latest move by the National Democratic Alliance government also demonstrates that the UIDAI, which was raised under the Planning Commission with prominent entrepreneur Nandan Nilekarni as its head, is likely to lose currency it enjoyed during former prime minister Manmohan Singh's tenure. The government had then clarified that the Aadhaar is actually a number, not an identity card, linked to that number is a biometric record. 

The Home Ministry has asked the UIDAI to transfer whatever data collected to the RGI and the authority to continue to generate merely the numbers. 

Sources said that MNIC will be priced between Rs 32 and Rs35 which is cheaper when compared to Aadhar cards. The tamper-proof smart card will be embossed with at least 16 personal details of an individual that would be collected during the exercise of preparing national population register. 

SOURCES : T O O, I July 04,2014 By. Aftab h. Kola

Local NGOs request Passport Office in Udaipur

BS Post: 112 , Dated :  June 25, 2014 

After days of signature campaigns run by local social organizations demanding passport office in Udaipur, the representatives met district collector today and presented a memorandum to the Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The members of Jag Nagrik Seva Samiti and Sarv Dharm Maitri Sangh also handed over a large cloth sheet with thousands of signatures on it by local citizens who supported the cause.

The founder of Jag Nagrik Seva Samiti, Akhtar Ali said, “There are six districts in Mewar and thousands of people every year go to abroad for job, many people from Muslim community go for annual pilgrimage but whenever they have any work related to their passport, they have to travel either Jaipur or Jodhpur as there is no passport center in Udaipur.”

Ali added, “The previous government could not fulfill our promise to install passport office in Udaipur but we have high expectations with the current government.” The organization appealed Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj to take a positive step on this issue.

Sources : UT

"The passport service is not satisfactory" said Sushma Swaraj External Affairs Minister, at the Passport Seva Divas (Passport Day) function in New Delhi on June 24, 2014.

BS Post: 111 , Dated :  June 24, 2014 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj aimed to provide satisfactory passport service to the people of the country, as she pinned hopes on speedy issuance of passport on Tuesday. Swaraj, while addressing mediapersons on 'Passport Service Day' said that authorities should conduct a brainstorming session to ensure timely issuance of passport.

"The passport service is not satisfactory. Our main aim is to provide satisfactory services to people and I have to achieve this. You should conduct a brainstorming session to discuss adequate steps to ensure that people should get passports on time, they don't get panicky and they don't lodge complaint," said Swaraj. The External Affairs Minister had declared June 24 as 'Passport Seva Divas' every year to commemorate the enactment of Passport Act in 1967.

Meanwhile, Swaraj highlighted the need to provide better passport services to the people. "The government has changed and people will get to know only if they get proper services. People will read in the newspaper and see on television about your big achievements. People hope to see a change in the services with the change in the government," Swaraj added. A mobile-based passport service had also been launched, which offered tracking of application status and location of passport service centres as well as general information. 

Sources l Agency: ANI

Excerpts from the interview with Pune's new and dynamic Regional Passport Officer, Atul Gotsurve.

BS Post: 110 , Dated :  June 23, 2014 

Atul Gotsurve, the new Regional Passport Officer of Pune Division, who has been following our campaign since March 2013, speaks on the vibrant changes that match the recommendations Moneylife had made to improve the passport office.

Moneylife has been consistently campaigning for an efficient Passport office in Pune through its news columns and with activists on the ground since March 2013. We are happy to report a major success, just over one year down the line. Moneylife, thanks the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)’s Passport Seva Kendra and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)’s Passport Division, which is in a public-private-partnership (PPP) for accepting and implementing most of our recommendations to make the procurement of passport smooth sailing for the applicants.

Gotsurve is indeed a pleasant face for passport applicants, he is approachable and has had international exposure as an officer in various Indian embassies around the world. His commitment to citizens' needs come across clearly. He takes fast decisions and implements them, thus making things easier and quickly so. This in itself is an impact of the Moneylife campaign as the Delhi office decided to send an officer who would be citizen-sensitive.

Just to recall, the main problems at the Pune Passport Office were: difficulty in getting online appointments for Tatkal as well as normal passports; continuously turning away passport applicants on the pretext of lacking or wrong documents; asking applicants to get attested copies from lawyers despite submitting photocopy of the original document; ill informed TCS staffers at Counter “A” who had hardly any knowledge of how to checkvalidity of documents; rude behaviour by the passport staffers and security; menace of passport agents; citizens complaints’ attended to only on two days a week and in many cases turned back; inordinate delays in procurement of passports; sometimes delay of over a year; confusion amongst student applicants and migrant applicants regarding address proof; no shelter or provision of toilets and water for the applicants, many of whom also come from other districts which fall in the Pune Passport Division. Moneylife's suggestions were aimed at dealing with these hurdles.

Excerpts from the interview with Pune's new and dynamic Regional Passport Officer, Atul Gotsurve.

Moneylife: While there are minimal complaints regarding appointments for the normal passport, has there been any improvement made for the Tatkalonline appointments which is a major problem?

Atul Gotsurve (AG): You will be surprised to know that presently the daily Tatkal 

quota of 110 reserved for it, is not being 100% utilised – it stops many a times at 105. This is because, I held about three passport melas to reduce the backlog in the last two months and processed more than 500 Tatkal applications each day during the melas. Besides, passport applicants used to opt for Tatkal because they used to fear inordinate delays if they applied for a normal passport. Earlier, 70-80 applicants used to be rejected at the Passport Seva Kendra due to lack of documents and were asked to once again go through the appointment process. I have rectified this – now, not a single applicant is sent back home or asked to take a fresh appointment. His biometrics, checking of documents and every other process is completed. He is then asked as to when he or she would like to come and submit the required documents. We immediately give the applicant, the next date, as per his/her convenience. I am proud to say that Pune processes the largest number of passport applications in the country – 1,150 applications per day.

Moneylife: What about the long lines at your office everyday, of citizens visiting to solve their problems regarding their application and many of them being turned away due to the short visiting period – just two hours, for only three days in a week?

AG: Now, applicants can visit on every working day between 10:30am and 12:30pm, except on Wednesdays. Besides me, there are three more officers who entertain visitors and solve their problems. Even on Wednesdays, we do not turn away people. Someone or the other attends to them. You can see for yourself that the crowd outside the office has considerably reduced.

Moneylife: The problem of outstation passport applicants has been a major complaint as they are asked to keep coming several times. This is a real harassment for them.

AG: We have taken care of that too. There are clear instructions that after the first visit of the outstation passport applicant, subsequently, the communication would strictly be through mail and SMS.

Moneylife: While you have improved submission of application and payment online, what about those who are not e-literate?

AG: Firstly, I would like to say that even the most educated and Internet-friendly are

sometimes digitally illiterate, especially about reading instructions and requirements of documents. Each applicant must thoroughly read the requirements, particularly the fact that we need address proof of one year when applying for passport, which means the person should have resided in that address for a minimum of one year. On 26th May, I have issued a press release to this effect stating: “Passport office, Pune appeals to all passport applicants in Pune, Satara, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Sangli and Kolhapur districts to kindly mention al the addresses they were/ are staying at since the last one year from the date of application. This will avoid delays in the application processing and also avoid imposition of a penalty up to Rs5,000 as it will be considered as suppression of facts.”

For those who are not e-savvy, we would be providing them professional services for Rs100 per application. Soon, we are launching such a citizen cell.

Moneylife: What about migrants who work as professionals in Pune or are married and live here?

AG: For those who are migrants, I agree that address proof is a problem. I have proposed that their proof of address should not be made mandatory – they should get four of the 10 documents required for proof. I expect positive response for this from MEA shortly.

Moneylife: What about passport agents who continue to flourish?

AG: We have made an appeal through our website not to encourage passport agents as they are illegal entities. I would like to reiterate that we will provide all help to applicants to ensure that they get their passports trouble-free. They should change their conditioning that agents will quickly give them passport appointments and passports – it may be the reverse, besides duping them of their hard earned money.

Moneylife: What about students? What is the procedure of address proof for them to get their passports?

AG: Students studying in Pune and staying away from their parents’ house should clearly mention their current address while applying. For proof of residence at their hostel/ place of stay, either they should provide a letter from the Principal/ Warden or proof of residence of the guardian with whom they are staying with the guardianship affidavit. Proof of their parents’ address also needs to be submitted (i.e. permanent address). Failure to mention the previous/ current addresses will lead to imposition of penalty of up to Rs5,000 for suppression of facts.

Moneylife: We still see hundreds of passport applicants standing in the hot sun for hours on the footpath at the Mundhwa office? What about some convenience for them, which Moneylife had recommended?

AG: You will be glad to know, that within two to three weeks, we are putting up a shelter inside the premises of the Passport Seva Kendra and toilets too. We are also working towards a room where outstation applicants can freshen up when they reach the place. We have already installed a TV and newspapers, and would be opening a mini library. You will be happy to know that we are also lobbying with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for a bus shuttle service on three routes – Shivajinagar-Corporation-Station-Mundhwa, Katraj-Swargate-Mundhwa, and Kothrud-Deccan-Mundhwa. We will do everything to ensure that passport application is a pleasant experience for the applicant.

( for more details contact Mr Atul Gotsurve at 020-25679962 or 25675422. Email: rpo.pune@mea.gov.in)

News Sources (ML - VINITA DESHMUKH | 23/06/2014  )