News & Update

Its not how and what all happened, It’s about how and what all is happening now in the present.

Sikhs in India fought for Indian Freedom Struggle and over 85% of those who were sent to the gallows or imprisoned during the freedom struggle were Punjabis!

Sikhs have been a backbone in the growth of India and winning over all odds. During Partition, 14.5 million people had to migrate out of which 7.2 million were Muslims and 7.2 million were Sikhs and Hindus. About one million Sikhs were lost their lives in the hassle during Partition. India at the time lost a lot on Identity, Culture, Language and Civilization.

Punjabi’s stayed together for centuries and together fought for freedom!

Let’s celebrate this Day of Struggles, Deaths, Sacrifices and hardships that we faced during Independence by remembering the departed souls!

~ Deeksha Singh
~ New Delhi, 14th Aug ’14

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Melbourne: Victorian Premier Denis Napthine today paid his first-ever visit to a Gurdwara here and acknowledged the growing role and contributions made by the Punjabi community in the key Australian state.

Wearing a headgear as mark of respect in the Blackburn Gurdwara, Napthine walked across the premises along with his Multicultural Affairs minister Matthew Guy and Amita Gill, the first Sikh woman to stand for the state polls as a Liberal Party candidate.

“Sikh community is a strong and growing community like the Indian community,” Liberal leader Napthine said.

“We welcome the growth from Sikh and Indian community in Victoria. We have recently released our next generation of multicultural policies and it is very carefully named as ‘Victoria’s advantage’,” he told the group of Sikh community members.

“This report is to identify that we believe that our diverse and harmonious cultural and multi-faith community is not just wonderful only in terms of multiculturalism but also is an advantage for the state.

“We say it is Victoria’s greatest strengths and opportunity. It will help our economy and quality of life grow,” he said.

Napthine also expressed his delight on Gill’s inclusion as a Liberal candidate to fight the next state elections scheduled in November this year.
He was given a long tour of the temple by the Gurdwara committee members who explained to him about various sections of the temple, including the Prayer Hall where Napthine bowed his head.

Ahead of the Gurdwara visit, Napthine had visited an Islamic Mosque and was to also visit a Hare Krishna temple here.

~ Source: http://sikhsiyasat.net/

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Celebrating Organ Donation Day Today! Register Now to gift someone a Happy Life and make your day worthwhile…

What is organ donation?
Organ donation is the harvesting of an individual’s organs after he or she dies for the purpose of transplanting them into another person. The person who gives the organs is called a donor while a person who receives the organ is called a recipient.

Who can be donor?
All of us can be organ donors, irrespective of age, caste, religion, community, current or past medical condition. Children can also be organ donors after taking consent for organ donation from their parents.

However active cancer, active HIV, active infection (for example, sepsis) or Intravenous (IV) drug use are some of the contra-indications. Patients who have Hepatitis C may still donate organs to a patient who also has Hepatitis C. The same is true for Hepatitis B — but this happens in very rare cases. Most cancer patients may donate corneas.

Which organs and tissues can be donated?
Vital Organs like heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas can be donated only in case of ‘brain death’. However other tissues like corneas, heart valves, skin, bones etc can be donated only in case of natural death.

How does Organ Donation help patients with organ failure?
For organ recipients, a transplant often means a second chance at life. Vital organs such as the heart, pancreas, liver, kidneys and lungs can be transplanted to those whose organs are failing. It allows many recipients to return to a normal lifestyle. For others, a cornea or tissue transplant means the ability to see again or the recovery of mobility and freedom from pain.

What is the importance of a donor registry?
A registry is an essential part of understanding who and where potential donors are. A registry gives a planner enough information to devise strategies to get more public cooperation and commitment towards organ donation. Having a registry in place allows doctors and transplant coordinators to check if a brain dead person wished to donate and then approaching the family for consent becomes easier. It helps in saving crucial time in the process of organ donation. At present, we do not have a central registry in India.Through this initiative we intend to make the government of India create one.

How does organ donation help families of deceased donors to cope with their loss?
The act of organ donation has the ability to comfort grieving families. It is always difficult to lose a loved one. Many grieving families of organ donors draw comfort from the fact that their loss may help to save or improve the lives of others. Studies carried out to understand how a family’s heals have shown that the support from family members helps a person to overcome grief. The support of friends and religious and cultural beliefs also help donor families. Most of the donor families agreed to donate organs because they felt that it was the only positive outcome from their loss.

REGISTER YOURSELF HERE – http://organdonationday.in/index.php/

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Washington: A top American Congressman today expressed deep concern over the attack on a 29-year-old Sikh man in New York City and sought assistance of Justice Department and the FBI in such cases. The victim, Sandeep Singh, was critically injured when he was hit by a pick-up truck last week and dragged nearly 30 feet on a public street in Queens, following an argument with the driver who used racist language against him and his friend.

“I’m deeply concerned about the events that took place last week here in Queens, and I wish Mr Singh a speedy recovery,” said Congressman Joe Crowley, a leader on Sikh-American issues who spearheaded the effort to encourage the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI to begin tracking and quantifying hate crimes against Sikhs.

“Two years after the massacre in Oak Creek, it is clear that the Sikh community is still facing the threat of violence, and this kind of continued hate and these attacks against Sikh Americans must come to an end,” he said in a statement.

“I hope the Department of Justice and FBI can offer assistance in this case, including using the updated system for specifically tracking hate crimes against Sikhs. The intolerance and ignorance that contributed to the attack on Mr Singh is unacceptable, and we must continue to work to end these hate crimes,” Crowley said.

Over the past three years, Crowley has led a major effort in the US House of Representatives to convince the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin collecting data on hate crimes committed against Sikh-Americans and Hindu-Americans – introducing legislation and sending multiple letters to the DOJ and FBI. Last year, the then FBI Director Robert Mueller announced the agency would begin this program.

Crowley’s efforts have been supported by the Sikh Coalition, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Hindu American Foundation, Indian American Forum for Political Education, SALDEF, and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) among other leading national organisations.

~ Source: www.indiatvnews.com

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A Sikh comes to the world with qualities to rule the world already imbibed in him – the quality of being on the front row of achievements in every field whether it be a battle field, a peace front , education field or sports ground.

The strength, vigor, vitality and the attitude of winning have made the world to bow! Meet these amazing Sikh Heroes who have brought fame to India with their exceptional World Winning Skills…

Gurpal Singh:-
Gurpal Singh from Bhatinda (Punjab) made a momentous day for Indian shooting at 2014 Commonwealth Games. He defeated Australia’s Daniel Repacholi, stood second and won the silver medal with 187.2 points in the 50-metre men’s pistol finals at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre.

Harpreet Singh:-
33-years-old Harpreet Singh hails from Haryana topped qualification round. He defeated Canada’s Metodi Igorov and bagged the silver medal in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event of Commonwealth Games. He hit 21times on the target in six-shooter finals which have eight rounds of five shots each.

Rajinder Rahelu (Powerlifter):-
Rajinder Rahela whose legs were affected with polio, won the silver medal in the men’s heavyweight category at the Clyde Auditorium. Rahelu picked up a total of 180.5 kg to get the silver on the penultimate day of Commonwealth Games.

Navjot Kaur:-
India’s Navjot Kaur won the bronze medal beating Scotland bronze medal play-off in the women’s freestyle event of the 2014 Commonwealth Games at the SECC Hall on Wednesday. Navjot, 24, won 13-0 against the 31-year-old Sarah. Navjot was leading 9-0 when she pinned down Sarah in her last move to clinch four points and bagged the match on account of technical superiority. Thirty-year-old Navjot faced a tough challenge from top-ranked Australian judoka Tom Pappas in the opening round before winning on the basis of more yukos at the end of the five-minute bout
Navjot’s bronze was the fourth medal for India from wrestling in the day.

Rajwinder Kaur:-
Rajwinder Kaur won the bronze medal in the women’s -78kg category. She defeated the Kenyan judoka Esther Akinyi Ratugi in the bronze medal play-off contest B in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. Rajwinder won penalties as Esther picked up three warnings. With her bronze medal, India continues to have a successful day at the Commonwealth Games 2014.

Abhinav Bindra:-
Abhinav Bindra made his memorable appearance at the Commonwealth Games as the star Indian shooter who won the battle of nerves in a gripping competition to bag the 10m Air Rifle gold medal. Bindra, first Indian Olympic individual gold medalist, shot an aggregate of 205.3 to set a new Final Games Record. This is first CWG, which applied the ISSF rule of taking the final round score only and not adding the qualification score in shooting. 31-year-old Bindra kept his nerve to take the honour in his favourite 10m air rifle event with a final games record score of 205.3 to bring cheers for the Indian contingent.

Sardar Singh –
He has made the whole of India proud by getting a Silver Medal in Hockey but missing out on the gold medal was a bit disappointing for the team captain. India might have failed to break their Commonwealth Games title jinx for the second consecutive time but captain Sardar Singh has a lot of positives to take from the event and said the silver medal was a “well- deserved” achievement.

We are proud of them all! Are you? Tell us what you think in the comment box below –

~ Deeksha Singh
~ New Delhi, 12th Aug ’14

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In the wake of growing injustice, poverty, hatred and the people killing each other, 103 year old Fauja Singh – Worlds Oldest Marathon Runner has asked patrons of all religions and faith to join him in a peace marathon to be held in UK. The Marathon has been organized to bring awareness among the masses to get over hatred and injustice and make this world a better place to live in full of love and brotherhood.
London’s running club Sikhs in the City has announced to organize a relay race to mark the centenary of World War I as message of “cooperation and harmony”. The India-born British Sikh, the club’s founding member who was three in 1914 when the conflict started has put forward his appeal inviting people across faiths to participate in the race.
He also said that Sikhs in the city represent Britain in the Luxembourg Interfaith Marathon each year to show how all faiths can share a common effort for peace and harmony.

Singh, who was born in India in 1911, took up running in his 80s to distract himself from the trauma of losing his son, daughter and wife in quick succession. He completed the London Marathon at the age of 89 before retiring after the Hong Kong marathon last year.

While he no longer runs, he keeps active by walking the same distance every day.

“I look forward to playing my part in the race, if only to start it and cheer others all day,” he added.

His trainer Harmander Singh, who is organising the event with the club, said the race was particularly in honour of the “forgotten victims” of conflicts – women and the elderly.

The event will start in London at 9am on August 24 and will comprise 21 laps of a 2km route, with participants receiving a commemorative medal and a T-shirt.

The club is looking for 21 people who normally lead prayers in their faith communities, 21 women from any background, and 21 pensioners from any background to join together in relay teams.

There will also be a 10km (five laps) and a 22km (11 laps) for anyone else who wants to take part.
We are proud of this noble cause. Are You? Tell us in the comments below, we want to hear you speak!

~ Source: http://www.business-standard.com/
~ Edited by Deeksha Singh

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