India’s Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao addressing the Indian Community (Photo: K N Wasif)

Riyadh (YNN): India’s Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao has called on the NRIs in the Kingdom to take advantage of the online registration system introduced by the Indian Embassy as part of its community outreach program.

He was speaking at a function to felicitate him on his taking over as India’s Ambassador to the Kingdom from Talmiz Ahmed who left Riyadh on August 31 on the completion of his term. Officials from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, besides a large number of expatriates and their families, attended the event. It was organized by the Indian Social, Cultural and Professional Organizations of Riyadh, under the supervision of M. Shamsuddin Shams as the convenor and Mohammed Ashraf as the joint convenor of the program.

Pointing out that he was overwhelmed by the warmth and hospitality of the expatriate community here, the ambassador said it was an unforgettable and new experience for him in view of his long tenure of service as his country’s permanent representative to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. A veteran with 30 years of diplomatic service behind him, Rao had previously served in Vienna, Dhaka and New Delhi before he was posted to Geneva. He has done his Master’s in political science.

Referring to the embassy’s outreach program, the Ambassador said it was launched as a service to the Indian community, which is spread out throughout the Kingdom. By getting themselves registered online, they could access any type of service or information from the embassy without wasting time or effort. The embassy’s initiative was also welcomed by NRIs who told Yahind.com later that it would be useful especially during an emergency situation when the need to contact the embassy or their relatives back home assumes paramount importance.
On the subject of bilateral relations, Ambassador Rao said he would exert all efforts to further strengthen the bilateral trade, which stood at $21 billion last year. India has been sourcing 20 percent of its oil needs from the Kingdom during the past 15 years. Indian exports to Saudi Arabia touched $4 billion during the same period, with the balance of trade in the Kingdom’s favour. India is the fourth largest trading partner of the Kingdom, where the value of Indian investment is estimated at $2 billion.

In this context, Owais Ahmed, President, IBF urged the ambassador to explore the possibility of small-scale investment opportunities for NRIs in the Kingdom. He saw good prospects in the light of the current economic environment here, with India Business Forum (IBF) playing the role of a catalyst in this regard. Such an idea was also mooted earlier by some leading Saudi businessmen, who stressed the need for boosting relations between the two countries, he added.

Underlining his resolve to beef up economic relations between the two countries, the Ambassador observed that he would also remain engaged in the service of the Indian community at the same time. “I feel at home here in the midst of 2 million NRIs residing in different parts of the Kingdom. We shall extend our support and sympathy for all. The embassy staff and I will be at your disposal, whether you are here or elsewhere. With your warmth and caring concern you have already made me feel at home, reflecting India’s culture of unity in diversity,” he said amid cheers from the audience.

Speaking on behalf of the community, Mohammed Quaiser, President of Tanzeem Hum Hindustani (THH), a cultural association, urged the Ambassador to ensure that poetry sessions (Mushaira) are held regularly. He said the event could not be organized this year due to the transition gap at the embassy created by the departure of the outgoing ambassador and the arrival of his successor.

The Ambassador was also apprised of frequent hikes in the buildings rented by various CBSE and international Indian schools in the Kingdom. Speaking on behalf of the community, Ahmed Imthias, an expatriate residing here for the last 25 years, said the management committees paid over all SR 20-25 million annually in building rents, which had an adverse impact on their cumulative revenues. He appealed to the Ambassador to take up the matter at the appropriate level, as it was a serious problem created by the landlords. The management committee was also left in a precarious position while trying to balance the budget.

Imthias continued: “We realize that bilateral issues of our government are important, but our humble request to the Ambassador is to pay equal attention to the welfare of the expat community here as that of bilateral issues.” He said: “Our humble request to His Excellency Ambassador is to form a committee headed by himself and with members from the school management committee and interested social organizations, members from the Indian expatriate community and consider constructing our own school building in the three major cities first with the help of governmental loan,” he observed. He also requested the Ambassador to explore the possibility of setting up the facilities here in Saudi Arabia for offering engineering and medical level education here through whichever business model is viable.

Referring to the problems of low-paid workers, he pointed out that they were living in squalid labor camps and a majority of them were being exploited by fraudulent agents and also by their own employers. “The embassy has been extending its support for the causes of this segment of the expatriates, but considering the extent of the problems and the number of persons affected, and their spread across the kingdom, we from all the associations humbly request honourable Ambassador to expand the support activities by way of assigning more resources for dealing with their problems,” he added. Moiuddin Koya of KMCC spoke about the higher education of the NRI children in the Kingdom.

Another concern raised on the occasion was that of exit visas denied to expatriates wishing to return home due to non-payment of dues by their Saudi sponsors, who were absconding. With their passports in the employer’s custody, the expatriate workers were left in the lurch. It was a humanitarian problem that needed to be addressed expeditiously, Raju Philips said.

Syed Aliuddin Aquil, Vice President, Technical Affairs, IEF and Abdur Rahman Saleem, President, Hindustani Bazm-e-Urdu also spoke on this occasion. Abdul Ahad Siddiqui, president of Indian National Forum proposed a vote of thanks, Mohammed Ahmed Badshah, Vice President, AMUOBA compare the program in amusing manner.

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Saudi Crown Prince Sultan died in the United States on Saturday, the Saudi Press Agency announced. He was 83. His debilitating health problems had kept him out of the public eye for quite some time.

“May Allah bless his soul and grant him the best reward for his services for his religion and homeland,” said a statement from the Royal Court. As crown prince, he was first in the line of succession.

He will be buried in Riyadh on Tuesday, Saudi TV’s Channel 2 announced in its 10:00 a.m. bulletin. The funeral prayers will be held at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque after Asr prayers.

Born in Riyadh in 1928, Crown Prince Sultan was the half-brother of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. He was Saudi Arabia’s deputy prime minister and the minister of defense and aviation, and was a central figure in Saudi decision-making.

He is survived by a number of children; they include Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former ambassador to the United States who now heads the National Security Council, and Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the deputy defense minister.

King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud founded the Kingdom more than 70 years ago. Since his death in 1953, Saudi Arabia has been unified, stabilized and modernized by his illustrious sons. The founder had over 40 sons. So far five brothers have become kings and around 20 are serving the land of the Two Holy Mosques in key capacities.

Like the late King Fahd, Crown Prince Sultan was born to King Abdul Aziz by his favorite wife Hessa bint Ahmad Al-Sudairy. Among her other famous children are Interior Minister Prince Naif, who will now become the new crown prince, and Prince Salman, the far-sighted governor of Riyadh.

Crown Prince Sultan was appointed governor of Riyadh in 1947. He was simultaneously assisting his father in the setting up of a national administrative system based on the implementation of Shariah (the Islamic law). In 1953, he became Saudi Arabia’s first minister of agriculture.

Two years later, Sultan became minister of transportation, supervising the development of Saudi Arabia’s massive roads and telecommunications network, and the construction of the railway system connecting Dammam with Riyadh.

Unlike in other parts of the world, the line of succession in Saudi Arabia does not move directly from father to eldest son, but passes down a line of brothers born to the founder.

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Addressing a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Clinton said here that the US has reasserted its commitment to eliminating safe havens of terror.

“You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect it to only bite neighbours,” a grim Clinton said with Khar by her side.

“We are specifically for cooperation from the Pakistani side to squeeze the Haqqani network,” Clinton, who arrived in Pakistan Thursday on a two-day visit, said.

She said eliminating the terror group from “one side is not going to work”.

Clinton added that the two countries were “working to establish concrete steps”.

“Militants should be targeted on both sides of the border,” she said bluntly.

Clinton said Pakistan was critical for regional security.

She added that Washington respected the country’s sovereignty, an apparent attempt to assuage Pakistanis who have come out strongly against US drone attacks in the tribal regions and are jittery over the massing of heavily-armed US and NATO troops at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had earlier this week warned the US to think “10 times” before it launches a unilateral ground offensive in the country’s tribal regions.

Foreign Minister Khar said Pakistan and the US discussed issues of mutual interest.

She said Pakistan supported an Afghan led reconciliation process.

The peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, deadlocked after the assassination last month of Afghan peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, came up for discussion. Afghanistan had suspended the peace process with Pakistan and also trilateral efforts involving Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US.

“We take the terror threat seriously. We have acted against the threat. There is no question of any Pakistani institution’s (involvement)…let me be completely clear on that,” she said.

“Do safe havens exist? Yes, they do exist on both sides. Do we need to cooperate? Yes. We can cooperate more and achieve better results,” she added.

Clinton’s visit takes place at a time when Pakistan-US ties have deteriorated sharply — following the attack last month on the US embassy in Kabul and the truck bomb blast at a major American military base in Afghanistan’s Maidan Wardak province, blamed on the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.

The US accuses Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI of supporting the Haqqani network in both attacks, a charge denied by Islamabad.

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta had warned of unilateral action against the Haqqani network and other Pakistan-based armed groups if Pakistan did not take action against them.

The relationship had also seen a decline after the US suspended in August $800 million in military aid and also attached tough conditions to future American assistance.

The new US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus and Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy joined Clinton in Islamabad.

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The prevailing system of regulated markets under the Agriculture Produce Market Committee Act, 2003, was a constraint on farmers’ ability to sell their produce at the best prices, he said here.

Pawar was addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the agriculture ministry.

The minister said large number of intermediaries and huge transaction costs such as market fee and entry tax make marketing reforms a priority.

He said: “We continue to pursue this with states and have achieved some success. The model Agriculture Produce Market Committee Act, 2003, has been adopted, to varying degrees, by 17 states. Nine states have also framed the rules. But there is no APMC Act in Bihar, Kerala, Manipur, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep.”

According to Pawar, “Farmers, specially small and marginal (ones), are unable to take advantage of the market system and often have to resort to distress sale. Access to safe and scientific storage facility, coupled with efficient credit is the solution.”

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The delegation, which also included Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, along with BJP leaders from Manipur, demanded that the state government be dismissed and president’s rule imposed.

“Prices of essential commodities have sky-rocketed, petrol and diesel are being sold at arbitrary prices, potatoes and vegetable prices are so high that even the rich cannot afford them,” Swaraj said.

“So we have demanded that first of all, dismiss the government there and impose president’s rule in the state,” she said.

The party also demanded compensation be given to affected families in Manipur and essential supplies be sent to the state through an “alternate route”.

The main opposition party also wanted an all-party delegation to be sent to the state.

“The prime minister said he is aware of the situation and will think about sending an all-party delegation. He will talk to the home ministry and then inform us. He liked our suggestion. He also said he is in constant touch with Manipur but no solution is in sight at the moment. He was receptive to our suggestions and the talks were cordial,” Swaraj added.

Friday was the 89th day of the blockade.

The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) began an indefinite road blockade on the two crucial national highways that link the northeastern state with the rest of the country.

They are demanding that the Sadar Hills sub-division in the Naga-dominated Senapati district in northern Manipur be upgraded as a full-fledged district.

The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex forum of Nagas in Manipur, has also been organising a counter-road blockade in all Naga-inhabited areas in northern Manipur, demanding that these areas should not be carved out without their consent.

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“Kejriwal has received the notice from the IT department,” one of his aides told IANS.

Kejriwal could not be contacted for his comments.

The department sent the first notice to Kejriwal in August asking him to pay the dues as he allegedly violated the provisions of the bond under which he went on study leave for two years.

However, Kejriwal had then denied violating any rule.

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The company’s smelter and captive power plant in Orissa’s Angul town, about 160 km from here, has been operating at reduced capacity since past several days because of the prevailing coal crisis.

“We have placed an order for import of two lakh tonnes of coal for delivery next month,” the company’s production director S.S. Mohapatra told IANS.

Last month, the company had placed a similar order with a different government agency to import the same quantity of coal. He said some 50,000 tonnes of coal have already been received.

Another 50,000 tonnes is being unloaded at Paradip port, he said.

NALCO, India’s third-largest aluminium maker, produces approximately 37,000 tonnes of aluminium a month. Its output has declined by about 4,000 tonnes during last one month due to coal shortage.

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Besides Kulkarni, Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal also rejected the bail applications of former BJP MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahabir Singh Bhagora.

The court said: “Sorry, I am not granting bail to all of you.”

Kulkarni is in Tihar Jail in judicial custody after his interim bail plea was rejected. He appeared before the special judge Sep 27, after failing to do so Sep 6 and Sep 19 as he was in the US.

Kulaste and Bhagora were arrested Sep 6 along with Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh.

“The charge against me is false and politically motivated. My role in the entire matter was that of a whistleblower,” Kulkarni told reporters outside the Tis Hazari court complex here.

“Along with my associates, three BJP MPs and Suhail Hindustani, I attempted to expose the purchase of MPs for securing victory in the confidence vote that the then government was seeking in the Lok Sabha,” Kulkarni said.

“I am not running away from anyone. I am ready to go to jail if exposing corruption is a crime,” he added.

Kulaste and Bhagora are two of three BJP MPs accused of accepting Rs.1 crore each in July 2008, ahead of a trust vote. In return, they promised to abstain from voting.

The money was allegedly paid to them by politician Amar Singh, who has also been arrested for criminal conspiracy. Singh has, however, denied all charges against him.

On July 22, 2008, three BJP members of the Lok Sabha waved wads of currency notes inside the house ahead of the scheduled trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.

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“We are on the cusp of far reaching changes in fighting corruption. The agitation for the establishment of a Lokpal has brought the issue of cleaning up of public life right at the top of the agenda of national priorities,” Singh said.

“The government welcomes inputs from civil society and NGOs on how to fight corruption,” he said addressing the biennial conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and state anti-corruption bureaus here.

Facing criticism from civil society for suggesting earlier that the Right to Information (RTI) needs review, Singh said: “Public authorities should voluntarily place as much information as is possible in the public domain to inform people.”

“RTI is a potent tool to ensure transparency and accountability in public life,” he said.

Stating that the task of ensuring transparency in public life and punishing the corrupt “had acquired an urgency as never before,” he said, “we must as a nation seize this moment.”

Talking about the measures to check corruption, the prime minister said the government would bring a bill in the winter session of parliament to ensure transparency in government procurement contracts (running into thousands of crore of rupees).

He also said the government is considering changes in the law to make private sector bribery punishable.

According to the prime minister, India’s ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption June 2011 will strengthen the government’s anti-corruption efforts and facilitate international cooperation in trans-border cases of corruption.

He said to meet the requirements of the convention, the government has introduced a bill to make bribery by foreign public officials an offence.

Besides a bill to provide protection to whistleblowers, the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill has also been introduced in parliament, he said.

Expressing hope to set up “a strong and effective Lokpal in the coming months”, the prime minister said “the CBI will continue to play a very important role irrespective of the shape of the Lokpal”.

Team Anna has demanded that the anti-corruption wing of the CBI be put under the Lokpal.

The prime minister said to reduce opportunities for corrupt practices, a group of ministers (GoM) is working on ways and means to minimise discretionary powers of public authorities.

The GoM is also looking at the issue of a public procurement law to minimize irregularities in the award of government contracts worth thousands of crores of rupees every year, he said.

Agreeing that the debate over the possible ways to curb corruption and improve the processes of governance has intensified, Singh said: “I believe the churning over this issue that our society and our polity are witnessing today, marked by sharp differences of opinions and ardent advocacy of particular causes, is good for the country.”

“There is a need for speedy and thorough investigation into allegations of such wrongdoing, followed by expeditious prosecution to bring the guilty to book,” he said.

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“The move to revoke the name is unacceptable and we demand the announcement to do so be immediately withdrawn. Jyoti Basu has been the longest serving chief minister in the country. The step to scrap the renaming is a dishonour to him,” said LF Chairman Biman Bose.

An LF delegation will submit a memorandum of protest against the government’s decision to Governor M.K. Narayanan, Bose said.

He urged the people to join in the protest and said the alliance will take to the streets in protest.

The Trinamool Congress-run government has decided not to rename the posh satellite township of Rajarhat New Town as Jyoti Basu Nagar after former chief minister and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu.

The renaming proposal was part of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2010, passed in the assembly during the Left Front regime.

The revision comes after Narayanan sought the Mamata Banerjee-led government’s opinion on some of the bills passed during the fag end of the erstwhile government.

Former state housing minister and CPI-M leader Gautam Deb Thursday had termed the move as petty.

“The bill was unanimously passed in the assembly on March 23. This is a courtesy which we and the people of Bengal expect from her (Banerjee) on the issue of renaming Rajarhat Township,” opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra said earlier.

One of the nine founding politburo members of the CPI-M, Basu was at the helm of affairs in West Bengal for over 23 years from 1977 – the longest chief ministerial tenure in India.

He voluntarily stepped down in 2000 due to ill health.

Basu almost became India’s prime minister in 1996 as the head of the United Front government. But the CPI-M vetoed the proposal, and he later dubbed the party’s decision a “historical blunder”.

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