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AHIMSA TIMES - JUNE 2008 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
Page 5 of 15
Jammu and Kashmir, the only state in the country without a Minority Commission, may soon have one with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad likely to give his nod to a proposal in this regard shortly. The proposal already has the consent of the state law department. After the Chief Minister clears the proposal the Commission will be constituted to decide about the minority status of Jains, Hindus, Sikhs, Kashmiri Pandits, Buddhists and Christians. The Social Welfare Department set into motion the process of constitution of the Minority Commission after the Union Ministry on Minority Affairs wrote to the J&K government to set up the commission as per the recommendations of the Sacchar Committee on minorities. In order to address the problems of minorities in the state, the Minority Commission will focus on mitigation of their political grievances and boosting their development. The Commission, likely to be chaired by a retired High Court judge, will have members nominated by the government.
It appears a new chapter is being written to further damage the future of J&K. It has been learnt that Kashmiri Pundits are being declared as a religious minority by J&K Government along with five other religious minorities declared by GOI in 1993. The Minority Communities notified by the Government of India in October 1993 as per the provisions of the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992 include only Muslims, Sikh, Christian, Parsi and Buddhist. These are religious minorities. These have been worked out on the basis of all India level population count. Even this list is irrational since it includes Sikhs but excludes faiths like the Jains. Government of India and department of Minority Affairs Government of India have started using this list for support and benefits to five all India population basis minorities even for local matters at the level States. This is totally wrong and irrational.. Incase the information as received takes shape then in J&K the religious minorities would be Muslims, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Buddhist and Kashmiri Pundits. Does it mean that Kashmiri Pundits are not HINDU ? And in case Kashmiri Pundits are to be included as a sect or segment of Hindus then there are many other sects amongst Hindu who could fall under Minority category. This way in J&K the Khajuria Pundits (Purohit Brahmins ) too could be considered for Minority Status.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION R. K. JAIN ELECTED CHIEF OF DIGAMBAR JAIN TEERTH KSHETRA COMMITTEE After the fiercely fought Presidential elections of Bharatiya Digambar Jain Teerth Kshetra Committee on 22.6.2008 at Hastinapur, Shri. R.K.Jain defated nearest rival Mr. Bharat Mody of Indore by heavy margins. Shri. R.K.Jain born on 19th November 1942 to Shri. Sreepal Jain and Smt. Kailashwati Jain at Delhi is a Mechanical Engineer by profession from Banaras Hindu University. Today he represents successful business in India. He has also held several positions in various philanthropic organizations including Presidency of Bharat Jain Mahamandal,
NAVIN DEDHIA HONOURED WITH HARRY LESSIG MEDAL IN USA Navin S. Dedhia received Harry Lessig Medal from ASQ (American Society for Quality) Inspection Division during the General Body Meeting in Houston, Texas, USA, May 5, 2008, for his contribution to the Inspection technologies and methodologies. Harry Lessig Medal is awarded to an individual for contribution to the inspection tools, technologies, methodologies. The American Society for Quality (ASQ) is the world's leading authority on quality. With more than 100,000 individual and organizational members, this professional association advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces world-wide, Navin has received the E. Jack Lancaster Medal and Testimonial Awards from ASQ and the Harrington-Ishikawa Medal from APQO (Asia Pacific Quality Organization). He has held many visible positions in the organizations including the chair/Trustee of ASQ International Chapter, chair of ASQ Inspection Division, National Director of ASQ and others. Navin is a Past President of the Jain Center of Northern California (www.jcnc.org ), San Francisco Bay Area, California. He is also a Past President of KOJAIN Organization in North America. He worked at IBM corporation and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies previously. At present, he is a Quality Consultant. Navin S. Dedhia 5080 Bougainvillea Drive San Jose, CA 95111 U.S.A.
PRAKRIT JNANABHARATI INTERNATIONAL AWARD CEREMONY ORGANISED IN BERLIN - On 25th May 2008, the award ceremony of Prakrit Jnanabharati International Award 2005 and 2006 took place in Berlin. The award was bestowed on Prof. Willem Bollée (2005) and Prof. Klaus Bruhn (2006).
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8/11/2009
