Dilshad Garden Welfare Association, Delhi elects Office Bearers
The Kashmiri Pandit Welfare Association, Dilshad Garden, Delhi held its annual general body meeting on 12th March, 2022 for election of Office Bearers for the term 2022-2024.
After having brief discussions, it was decided to conduct the voting amongst general body members, who had gathered on the occasion. It was decided by the executives headed by its President Shri Ramesh Zadoo shall continue for another term 2022-2024.
The new structure of the Executive Council of Kashmiri Pandits Welfare Association is as follows: Shri Ashok Jalla — Chairman, Shri Ramesh Zadoo — President, Smt. Veena Kaul — Vice-President, Shri Anil Tickoo — Vice-President, Shri K.K. Dhar — General Secretary, Shri Virender Razdan — Treasurer, Shri Rajinder Dutta — Joint Treasurer, Shri Dileep Tangnoo — Secretary, Shri Rakesh Jotshi — Secretary.
Nagadandi SRMA Celebrates Ramanavmi
Shree Ramakrishna Mahasammelan Ashram “SRMA”, Nagadandi, Anantnag, Kashmir, organised Durga Ashtami - Ramanavmi festival with religious fervour. The Panch Sahakar Hawan started on the evening of 9th April. Poornaahuti was arranged on the 10th April, followed by Yuwa Pheri (procession) within Nagdandi Ashram, covering important spots.
This was followed by Prashaad Vitranand Yuwa Sammelan attended by hundreds of youth from the Vessu, Martand clusters and other areas of Kashmir. It was organised in Sanatan Samikhsha Bhawan and addressed by Shri Manas Bhattachryajee Uttara Prant Sanghathak, Shri Kishore Tokekarji, Joint General Secretary, Vivekananda Rock Memorial amd Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari.
Personnnel from JK, UT, civil police administration, Security and Defence Services graced the occasion.
Participation of the majority community, especially youth in large numbers, during holy month of Ramzan, was supportive and encouraging. Vivestha Pramukh Shri Bharat Bushan Raina thanked the participants who attended the religious ceremony. Such traditional religious functions in valley besides spiritual gains promote normalisation through direct civil society meets and are result of coordination, team work and a dedication.
God bless the “SRMA” team.
Sent by Nana Ji Sathu, Anantnag, Kashmir.
After CM order, UP temples, mosques remove speakers
By HT Correspondents, Agra/Lucknow:
Loudspeakers at temples and mosques across Uttar Pradesh were either removed or their volumes reduced on April 27 after chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered that they be used in a way that doesn’t cause inconvenience to anyone.
On April 25, Adityanath ordered the use of loudspeakers at religious sites in such a manner that the sound is limited to their premises and doesn’t cause inconvenience to anyone.
He also directed authorities to step up vigil across the state to “maintain communal harmony” and “to preempt any type of communal flare-up”, a senior official in the home department said.
The chief minister’s orders came in the backdrop of communal clashes in several states after Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti processions.
After the directive, the loudspeaker mounted on the spire of the Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura was not used for the morning prayer on April 27.
“Manglacharan aarti is held from 5 am to 6 am every day at Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi. It used to be played on loudspeakers installed on temple premises. The temple committee has decided to enforce the chief minister’s directions,” Kapil Sharma, secretary of Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust, said.
In Gorakhpur, the Gorakhnath Temple trust lowered the volume of the loudspeakers installed on the premises.
The loudspeakers were also repositioned to keep them away from roads and public premises surrounding the temple. The temple is a part of Gorakhnath Math, whose head priest is Adityanath.
“The decision to lower the loudspeaker volume and turn its face away was taken after the CM’s direction,” said Gorakhnath temple trust secretary Dwarka Tiwari.
In Ayodhya too, prominent seers have extended their support to the state government’s initiative to keep a check on loudspeakers. Mosques across the state also decided to comply with the order
Likewise, clerics across the state said directions were issued to mosques to limit the sound of loudspeakers in compliance with the state order.
“We welcome the chief minister’s order and we believe that it is a general order. We have directed all mosques here to limit the sound of loudspeakers and to ensure that sound doesn’t travel outside the premises,” Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali, imam of the Eidgah in Lucknow, said.
Meerut’s nayab (deputy) shahar qazi Zainur Rasheedin Qazi said they have already directed mosques to keep the volume of loudspeakers at minimum to avoid disturbing others.
“Meerut has over 300 mosques and they are following it (the state’s directives),” the nayab qazi said.
In Prayagraj, Maulana Mohsin Taqvi, of Shia Jama Masjid, said: “Use of loudspeakers at high decibels is wrong and unnecessary. We welcome the steps and will adhere to the set norms.
Coutesy: Hindustan Times, April, 22, 2022
China is not bailing out Sri Lanka, Pakistan as debts soar
China is currently facing its own economic troubles, with lock downs to contain the country’s worst Covid outbreak since early 2020 shutting down the technology and financial hubs of Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Over the past few years, the U.S. has accused China of using “debt diplomacy” to make developing nations across the world more dependent on Beijing.
Yet the cases of Sri Lanka and Pakistan — both friends of China facing dire financial situations as inflation soars — show that President Xi Jinping’s government is becoming more reluctant to pull out the checkbook. China still hasn’t made good on a pledge to re-issue loans totaling $4 billion that Pakistan repaid in late March, and it hasn’t responded to Sri Lanka’s pleas for $2.5 billion in credit support.
While China has pledged to help both countries, the more cautious approach reflects both a refining of Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative as well as a hesitancy to be seen interfering in messy domestic political situations. Pakistan got a new prime minister on Monday after parliament booted out former cricket star Imran Khan, and Sri Lanka’s leader is facing pressure from protesters to step down.
“Beijing has for the past couple of years been rethinking its external lending because their banks realized they were carrying a lot of debt with countries whose prospects of paying back were quite limited,” said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University. “This came on top of a tightening economic situation at home which also required a lot of spending, so there was less appetite to just throw money around wantonly.”
China is currently facing its own economic troubles, with lockdowns to contain the country’s worst Covid outbreak since early 2020 shutting down the technology and financial hubs of Shanghai and Shenzhen. Premier Li Keqiang on Monday told local authorities they should “add a sense of urgency” when implementing policies as analysts warn the official growth target of a 5.5% is now in jeopardy.
China has become the world’s largest government creditor over the past decade, with its state-owned policy banks lending more to developing countries than the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank in some recent years. The opacity around the terms and scale of some of that lending has been criticized, especially as the pandemic exacerbates debt problems in poorer countries.
Sri Lanka was downgraded deeper into junk by Fitch Ratings, which said on Wednesday the nation’s decision to suspend payments on its foreign debt has kicked off a sovereign default process. S&P said Sri Lanka’s next interest payments are due on April 18 and the failure to cover them will likely result in default, as would an outright debt restructuring.
Sri Lanka’s top diplomat in Beijing this week said he was “very confident” that China will come through with credit support, including $1 billion for the country to repay existing Chinese loans due in July. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ambassador Palitha Kohona said the process often takes months and he didn’t see any delay.
“Given the current circumstances, there aren’t that many countries that can step out to the pitch and do something,” he said. “China is one of those countries that can do something very quickly.”
Still, China’s role in helping to resolve ongoing crises in South Asia may be limited despite its status as a major creditor. A Shanghai-based scholar who researches China’s overseas lending said new credit lines are harder to approve as authorities emphasize risk management at financial institutions including policy banks. The scholar asked not to be named due to rules for speaking with the media.
Xi highlighted the importance of a more cautious approach at a high-level Belt and Road symposium in November. “It is necessary to implement risk prevention and control systems,” Xi said. He called on participants to make “small but beautiful” projects a priority for foreign cooperation and “avoid dangerous and chaotic places.”
Earlier this month, Jin Liqun, president of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, encouraged Sri Lanka to turn to the IMF for help in a meeting with Kohona.
China’s development banks are acting to preserve returns and it “would be difficult for them to easily accede to Sri Lanka’s requests for deferrals,” said Matthew Mingey, a senior analyst at Rhodium Group’s China Macro & Policy team who researches economic diplomacy.
“Credit conditions back in China aren’t making things any easier for them,” he added. “Ultimately, Sri Lanka needs the IMF.”
Sri Lanka said Tuesday it would expedite talks with the IMF after it halted payments on foreign debt to preserve dollars for essential food and fuel imports. Pakistan’s new government also plans to work with the IMF to stabilize the economy, according to Miftah Ismail, a former finance minister and a senior ruling party leader.
China’s ability to assist either country with a balance-of-payments crisis is limited, particularly as Beijing’s financial assistance is almost always tied to specific projects, said Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, principle researcher at the Point Pedro Institute of Development in Sri Lanka. China’s policy of non-interference in internal affairs prevents it from offering the type of advice needed for countries to emerge out of a financial crisis, he added.
“Even the IMF appears to be moving very slowly — if not abandoning — the requests of both Pakistan and Sri Lanka for their assistance,” Sarvananthan said. “Which sane bilateral donor country or international financial institution would pour money into sinking ships in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka.”
Tributes paid to martyrs Premi and his son
A function was held at K.L. Saihgal hall, on May 1. where tributes were paid to Shri Sarwanand Premi and his son. They were murdered by terrorists in Kashmir in 1990.
Shri Premi was a famous litterateur, scholar, freedom-fighter, philanthropist, patriot, social reformer and a Gandhian awardee.
He translated Tagore’s Gitanjali and Ramayana into Kashmiri and Bhagvat Gita into Urdu.
Various cross-sections of society including poets, writers and intellectuals have been paying tributes to Premi Jee and his son.