News & Update

University Grants Commission (UGC) has conferred heritage status on reputed Sikh educational institution Khalsa College Amritsar. The UGC has done so with the motive to conserve Khalsa College’s more than 100-year-old historical campus which contains rare Sikh architecture.

Khalsa College Public Relation Officer Dharminder Singh Rataul told that the college had applied for the heritage status about six months ago. “We were informed over telephone about the development and various media sources have also disclosed it. However, the formal letter in this regard is yet to be received by us,” he said, adding, “The institution is expected to be issued a grant of Rs 1 crore under this status.”

As many as 19 colleges across the Indian sub-continent have got the status by the supreme regulatory body of higher study. The UGC has also announced to provide financial aid for maintaining the heritage buildings.

This College was founded in 1892 by Singh Sabha movement to spread Sikh religion. Its building was designed by Bhai Ram Singh, a famous architect of that era. The building started to be constructed in 1904 and was completed in 1911.

The college library contains over 6,000 books and new and old manuscripts. Besides, there are more than 115 artefacts depicting Sikh history, including ancient weapons, pictures of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and range of paintings, at the college.

It is worth mentioning that the college had recently constituted a five-member committee to work out how to get similar status from the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).

~ Source: Hindustan Times

She has dedicated her life to the noble but onerous mission of rescuing unwanted and unclaimed newborn girls and giving them a secure home and future.

She has touched the lives of many who’ve been cruelly shunned by their own. She hails from Amritsar, Punjab. Her passion for this touching cause is commendable. She has adopted 80 girls and has raised them motherly warmth, taking care of all their nutritional & educational requirements.

She has dedicated her life to dispelling a bit of the darkness that engulfs Punjab, indeed all of India. It highlights the poisonous truth of gender inequality in India.

We salute her passion for this cause and for providing support to these beautiful children.

This Kaur is a Mother of Hope!

~ Source: India Today

The sport was an obvious childhood passion for Jasjit after coming from a village synonymous with Indian hockey, but it was not until he got into college after turning 18 that he seriously pursued the game, the report adds.

“I was a late starter and did not get serious about playing hockey until I got into college,” Jasjit tells the agency. “For one whose village is Sansarpur, the passion for hockey was always there. I used to play as a child, but ours is a family of doctors and the focus was scientific education,” said Jasjit, who scored two goals in the 3-2 win over Malaysia that placed India in the last-four round.

“It was as a student of Jalandhar’s Khalsa College that I got into hockey seriously,” he says.

The late-starter bloomed pretty quickly, making the national team in less than five years after playing his first competitive game. Jasjit made his international debut as a half-back during the 2014 World Cup at The Hague against Belgium. His big chance to make a mark came when India’s new coach Paul van Ass picked him as a drag-flicker and he got the opportunity to be the main penalty corner shooter in the absence of injured V R Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh.

Jagjit, 24, justified the faith with the two late goals from rising drag-flicks that went into the net and ensured India’s victory. These two goals, says Jasjit, were his first from drag-flicks in international hockey.

Sansarpur had till date given 14 Olympians, 19 internationals who represented India and other countries, 110 national-level players and another 132 who represented various military teams, said Popinder Singh Kular, a hockey player who also published his PhD dissertation on “Social, cultural and educational ethos of sports: A case study of Sansarpur village in Punjab”.

“It is in our blood. We are born to play and win. Our built and determination has made us winner in hockey since the beginning. The Indian Hockey team lost its winning streak after 1976. You may call it a coincidence, but after 1976 no one from Sansarpur was included in the team,” he was quoted in a 2014 article in The Tribune.

~ Source – AsiaSamachar

Avvall Allah Noor Upaya, Kudrat key sab bandey!

Inmates of all castes and religions stand united with the thread of faith during the Ramzan fast to spread the amazing message of communal harmony.

Sikhs, Muslims & Hindus set a new exemplary of communal harmony as they all come together, ignoring their caste and religion, to fast during Ramzan to show solidarity.

The rest of the inmates decided to spread the message of love during Ramzan. Since the Muslim inmates celebrate Diwali and Gurpurab with the same zeal, they all decided to reciprocate the gesture by fasting.

The loving gesture has drawn them closer. As these friends chat and spend time together all day and finally break their fast in the evening, they pray not just for their families, but for the families of all who have been keeping the fast with them.They have created a positive atmosphere in the Ludhiana jail in addition to spreading the message of love and communal harmony.

Camaraderie of faith that goes beyond religion!

~ Source: Indiatimes

The British have kept a 350-year-old Saroop of Adi Granth for over 130 years inside the British museum. The Saroop kept in the British library is one of the 20 oldest Saroops to exist in the world.

It is dated from the 17th century (Circa 1660-1675). The original Adi Granth was compiled by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1604, known as the Kartarpur Wali Bir currently in the possession of the Sodhi family of Punjab.

The Saroop was purchased by the British Museum in 1884 from the Reverend A. Fisher, who had been principal of a missionary school in Amritsar in the Punjab.

The Adi Granth was completed in 1604, and installed in the Golden Temple; Baba Buddha was appointed Guru’s Granthi. Guru Arjun Dev Ji told his Sikhs that the Adi Granth was the embodiment of the Guru, and should be treated in the same fashion as they respect him. When Guru Arjun Ji first completed the Adi Granth, he placed it upon his own bed and slept on the floor. Its words were written without any spaces or breaks.

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last of the Sikh Gurus to take human form, dictated the entire Granth Sahib at Talwandi Sabo now called Damdama Sahib. Dhir Mal, the son of Baba Gurditta and grandson of Guru Hargobind, had taken possession of the Adi Granth; he refused to give it to Guru Gobind Singh when the Guru asked for it. Dhir Mal taunted the Guru, “If you are a Guru, then prepare your own.”

The tenth Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji added the bani of 9th Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji into the Adi Granth and in 1708 declared it to be Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the eternal Guru of the Sikhs.

The British Museum has split it’s Saroop of Adi Granth into different parts and have committed sacrilege by treating it as a book.

Manjit Singh addressed the concern in 2012 to the British Museum by stating the following:

“The Guru Granth Sahib/Adi Granth should NOT ever be dissected or kept as a ‘book’ in the British Library. This manuscript needs to be ‘reconciled’ with the remaining Adi Granth from which it was dissected. It then needs to be returned to a Sikh gurdwara (Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar) for it to be laid on its canopy and used in worship. Sikhs bow to the Adi Granth. It is NOT a ‘prayer book to be shelved and archived. This manuscript needs to be returned to the Sikh community and given the full regalia that every Guru Granth Sahib is. I would be interested to discuss this matter with the British Library.”

~ Source: Daily Sikh Update