News & Update

15yr old Manbir Kaur from Nankana Sahib district of Punjab brings laurels to the Entire Sikh Community by securing 1,035 marks out of 1,100 in Secondary School Examination this year.

Her achievement is no mean feat in a country where Sikhs comprise only 1% of the population.

Pakistan Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee also announced to set up a fund for brilliant Sikh students and initially donated Rs 1 million for the fund. She has rekindled a new hope to the Sikh Community!

Manbir’s father Giani Prem Singh is the head granthi at Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib, some 80 km from Lahore.Their house is not away from Gurdwara Janamasthan, the birth place of Baba Guru Nanak. “The whole family is delighted over her brilliant performance. Manbir used to study 12 hours a day and her hard work paid off,” he said, adding that the Sikh community in the district is proud of his daughter.

More than 200 Sikh families reside in Nankana Sahib. Manbir is mulling to join a private college in Lahore. By virtue of her good marks, she is entitled to a scholarship for both the government and private institutions. Manbir has applied for a pre-medical course as she wants to become a doctor.

~ Source: HindustanTimes

Manbir’s success is not ordinary for she is a true daughter of Guru Nanak dev Ji!

Cisco has named two new executives to the leadership team of new CEO Chuck Robbins.

Zorawar Biri Singh is Cisco’s senior vice president and CTO, Platforms and Solutions, and Kevin Bandy is the company’s senior vice president and chief digital officer. Both will report to Robbins.

As Cisco’s CTO, Singh will anticipate customer and industry transitions, and define the Cisco’s technology strategy, Robbins said in a blog post. He will develop Cisco’s long-term technology roadmap, platforms and architectures, and help set the foundation for our long-term investments.

Singh will also work with Chief Strategy Officer Hilton Romanski to align technology strategy with corporate development priorities. Romanski had been chief technology and strategy officer, taking over for the departed Padmasree Warrior. But Cisco spokespeople say the company always intended to bring in a new CTO and have Romanski focus on strategy.

Previously, Singh was a venture partner at Khosla Ventures, where he focused on enterprise IT software, predictive data analytics, cloud platforms and infrastructure investments. A 24-year industry veteran, Singh spent half his career as an entrepreneur building enterprise focused startups and the other half as a product leader at three companies, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Nortel Networks.

At HP, Singh was senior vice president and general manager of the company’s cloud business, where he oversaw HP’s global cloud portfolio and open source efforts. Prior to HP, Singh led corporate strategy and portfolio solutions as vice president of cloud computing at IBM and served as a member of the executive team that launched IBM’s cloud business unit in 2010.

~ Source: Network World

When Guru Nanak Dev Ji reached Sialkot via Jammu he found the whole city in the grip of terror. Guru Dev Ji inquired and learnt that someone had failed to keep his promise made to a great saint called Hazrat Hamza Ghaus. He had flown into a rage and made a vow to meditate for 40 days and at the completion of his meditation the whole city would be doomed. Hearing this Sat Gur sat down under a Bair tree close to the place where Hazrat Hamza was meditating and sang his verse in a loud tone.

It disturbed the meditation of Hamza Ji, who came to Guru Nanak and angrily asked who he was and why he wanted to save those liars. Guru Ji replied “Hamza, you are not supposed to punish a whole city for the misconduct of a single person.” Hamza Ji was not satisfied. Guru Ji then explained to him that there were many souls. in the city who understood the purpose of life. Guru Ji gave two paisas to Bhai Mardana to buy “falsehood” and “truth” from the market. Some people ridiculed Mardana Ji but there was a Karar (a Hindu sect) named Maula who took two paisas and wrote two chits. On one chit he wrote, “Life is bitter” while on the other chit he wrote, “Death is truth”. Bhai Mardana presented both the chits to Sat Gur Nanak Dev Ji. Guru Ji handed over the two pieces of paper to Hamza Ghaus Ji who after reading the same, pardoned the residents of Sialkot.

Maula Karar remained with Guru for some time during his travels. According to Guru’sbiographies, once Guru Ji went to fetch Maula Karar. He, at the instance of his wife, hid himself inside the dark portion of his house and his wife told Guru Dev Ji that he was not at home. Guru Ji came back and a little later it was learnt that Maula Karar had died of snake bite in the darkness.

The site where Guru Nanak Ji stayed is still called “Baba Bair”. A beautiful and grand Gurdwara has been built at the site. The Bair tree under which Guru Dev Ji had stayed is still present. A few years back a grave of a Muslim fakir has been constructed under the tree.Shaheed Natha Singh Ji had built this beautiful Shrine with great love and affection. Gian Singh Ji wrote his “History of Khalsa” while staying with the Mahant of this Gurdwara.

The Shaheed Gang of Shaheed Natha Singh is within the precinct of the Gurdwara.A big well was also constructed by him inside this Gurdwara and many Persian wheels worked in it. A beautiful tank was also there. Estate worth Rs 8000 belonging to Natha Singh Ji is now in the name of Gurdwara. which includes a garden, a pool and residential rooms. Two squares of land endowed to it is in district Layyalpur (Faisalabad). This sacred place had to suffer great damage in the wake of Babari Masjid dispute. There used to be a very high temple which was razed to ground when it was demolished by an unruly mob. The Gurdwara is in urgent need of repairs.

~Source: WorldGurdwara.com

SALDEF’s 2015 SikhLEAD Internship Class continues to make their generation’s presence known on Capitol Hill by hosting Langar on the Hill. This Sikh tradition that serves as a 500 year old anti-segregation movement keeps the essence of Sikhism intact.

Langar on the Hill will also feature remarks from members of Congress and SALDEF explaining the importance of Langar in the context of the Sikh American experience.

It is for the first time, Langar on the Hill conversations will also explore the role of Mata Khivi, a Sikh woman and historical figure who played a significant role in institutionalizing Langar and ensuring that caring for those who are less fortunate were integral to the Sikh way of life.

Acts of hate like the Oak Creek Shooting elucidates to the painful gaps between groups, gaps that are rooted in ignorance and oppression; and it reminds us of the need for Langar.

Langar is a forum to bridge the gaps between us and challenge the roots of hate, just as it did in Guru Nanak and Mata Khivi’s time 500 years ago. It was an honor to bring this message to Capitol Hill through a Sikh tradition.

Langar on the Hill is a significant opportunity for the Sikhs to introduce their American history and Sikh values, including equality for all. And also it is a unique opportunity for this rising generation to express to our nation’s leaders how we intend to deepen our civic participation.

Like & Share to appreciate the efforts of highlighting the Sikh Way of Life!

They proved this when the local army unit received a call for emergency donation of blood to a cancer patient undergoing treatment in the Fortis Hospital.

85 yr old Raminder Kaur, wife of Colonel (retd) Bhagat Singh, is suffering from cancer. They have no children and stay alone in Chandigarh. Having no close relatives of the couple in the city they were looked after by volunteers of Gurdwara Baru Sahib in their Sector 36 home.

Col Bhagat Singh is almost 90 years old and suffers from poor vision. A message on Facebook was posted where volunteers were appealed for donating blood.

Brig (retd) I S Gakhal, a former Sikh Regiment officer and an office-bearer of the local association of the Sikh Regiment officers, made a call to the Commanding Officer of 4 Sikh in Chandimandir asking for immediate help. Within an hour of receiving a call, the battalion dispatched 4 Jawans for donating blood at the hospital in Mohali.

“It was extremely kind of the Commanding Officer of 4 Sikh to have responded promptly for the call to help,” said Brig Gakhal. He added that during his service in the Army, Col Bhagat Singh had raised two battalions of the Sikh Regiment and had gone on to command three battalions, which was a rare honour and achievement.

The humane help provided by the battalion has come in for praise from veterans of the regiment. Major General (retd) K Khorana, a former Commanding Officer of the battalion, said the unit had lived up to the ethos of the Army.

Giving the history of the unit, he said that it participated in the legendary Battle of Saragarhi in 1897 in North West Frontier Province. “In 1962 Sino-India war, the unit took part in the Battle of Walong in the Eastern Theatre while in 1965 war, it captured Barki village in Pakistan Punjab which was strategically located. In 1971 war, the unit saw action in East Pakistan, later Bangladesh,” he added.

~Source: IndianExpress

Salute to their spirit towards humanity apart from serving the nation!

Almost 3000 spellers from around Australia applied to be part of the show, but Nine Yr Old Tej Singh was among the top 26 finalists of the Great Australian Spelling Bee contest. His love for words is infecticious and thus he was called the “MC speller”.

52 of the best and brightest students, aged between eight and 13, managed to clear the level.

The upcoming show Channel Ten was aired on 3rd August. The Great Australian Spelling Bee witnesses children aged from eight to 13 compete in a series of word-related games and challenges.

Each speller has to display a combination of speed, skill and smartness to deconstruct words they may never have heard before.

There were 3 stages to pass before reaching the final. The first stage had 3 online tests – spelling, grammar and comprehension tests. Second stage was a Skype interview and spelling test. The third stage was a live audition and spelling test.

Little Singh lives in Sydney with his parents and younger sister. Both his parents were born in India, though he was born here.

In Year 4 at school, Tej can also speak Mandarin and a little Punjabi. He was reciting the alphabet at 18 months and reading by the age of two. Tej admits, “My absolute love is cricket! I am mad about it,” he says. He tells me when he grows up, “

It was his first ever spelling competition. He saw the advertisement on television inviting children to apply and decided to have a go. “

Tej has developed a personal spelling technique of breaking words into syllables.

“It makes me feel like I’m spelling a lot of little words,” he says. “I get most of my vocabulary from reading lots and lots of books, which helped me become good at spelling.” The young spelling star also practises using old Spelling Bee lists from the internet.

His favourite words to spell are ‘dodecahedron’, a word meaning a polyhedron with twelve flat faces, and ‘hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia’ – an incredibly long word which ironically means a fear of long words.

Share & SPREAD this very talented little SIKH!

On August 5th, 2012, nearly three years ago, Wade Page opened fire inside the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek — and six people lost their lives.

Leading up to the anniversary of that tragic day, the Sikh community is honoring those impacted by what happened.

A 48-hour prayer service began Friday, July 31st at the temple.

The Chardhi Kala 6K Memorial Run/Walk: Run 2 Unite took place at Oak Creek High School. “Chardhi Kala” is the spirit of relentless optimism: a philosophy that empowers us to persevere and grow from hardship.

The Chardi Kala Blood Drive took place at the run/walk event — operated by the Blood Center of Wisconsin.

“We have the run going on once again, the third year we are doing that. Plenty of volunteers here from all different kinds of faith. That’s our main goal here — just looking forward the years to come,” Kamal Saini, a member of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek said.

In addition to the six people who lost their lives on August 5th, 2012, four people were injured.

A responding officer shot Page in the stomach, and then Page took his own life.

“Our whole meaning of this run is to run to unite people against hate, violence, ignorance, racism. We want to spread the word of God — which is love and passion,” Rahul Dubey said.

Memorial events will culminate on the anniversary of the shooting, which is this upcoming Wednesday, August 5th.

Honouring the victims with a meaningful change in the spirit of Chardikala.

~ Source: fox6now.com

Recently deceased Sikh insurance agency leader Kulwant Singh showed a rare act of devotion by leaving all his assets to three gurdwaras in the Malaysian state of Perak.

He was born & raised in Batu Gajah and resided at Tanjung Tualang, both in Perak. He took his last breath 11 Feb 2015 close to the age of 75 years, donating all his assets for a noble cause.

He was unmarried and had no children.

In his will, he has donated 12 acres of agricultural land and bungalow plots to the two gurdwaras in Batu Gajah, Gurdwara Sahib Indian Sikh Settlement and Gurdwara Jalan Gopeng Gurdwara; and also Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Ipoh.
The land and bungalow are estimated to be worth around RM750,000.

“The respective gurdwaras have welcomed this humble gift from a devotee of the Guru,” according to an email from Kulwant’s nephew Harbinder Singh to Asia Samachar.

Kulwant Singh was described as a successful agency manager with Tokio Marine/Asia Life in Ipoh.

“He was a teacher, a mentor and a very active Rotarian who reached out to people in need – in his quiet, unassuming way. He was also passionate about seeing socio-economic advancement of Punjabis/Sikhs in Malaysia and involved himself in the local political scene in his younger days,” said Harbinder, who is a former jathedar of Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM).

In a classic financial planner thinking, Kulwant had expressed his hope that these assets continue to provide the community with a regular source of income.

He was born the late Sohan Singh and late Sant Kaur. Sohan (born 1898), who came to settle in Batu Gajah around the age of 12, was a dairy farmer and rubber smallholder.

~ Source: ASIA SAMACHAR