Punjab is Rahul Gandhi's political laboratory, where the Congress general secretary has chosen youthful candidates to take on the Akali Dal and BJP. Vicky Nanjappa reports from the state.
Rahul Gandhi's message to Congressmen and women across the country is clear: In future elections youth will get preference in the party. The Congress general secretary has chosen Punjab as the role model state to introduce youth into the fray.
Seeking to bring in a more democratic procedure, Rahul first ensured that elections were held in the Punjab Youth Congress party last year. This is the first time that the president of a Youth Congress unit was elected democratically.
After the PYC poll, Rahul personally monitored the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha election from Punjab. He handpicked three candidates in their early 30s -- Ravneet Singh Bittu, the late chief minister Beant Singh's grandson and the first democratically-elected PYC president, from Anandpur Sahib; Sukhvinder Singh Danny, PYC vice-president, for Faridkot, and Vijay Inder Singla, former PYC president, for the Sangrur constituency.
Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's 41-year-old son Raninder Singh is also in the fray from Bhatinda. Although senior Congress leaders initially kicked up a fuss about the induction of the new candidates, they have now fallen in line.
The dissent from former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Battal's faction was perhaps the most vocal. Members of Bhattal's group say their only problem with the youth nominees is that the selection was made in consultation with Captain Singh, Bhattal's bitter adversary.
Vijay Inder Singla, the candidate from Sangrur, told rediff.com that no political risk is involved in the selection and the nominees have been chosen with great care.
So why has Rahul chosen Punjab as his political lab and given youth preference over experienced leaders like Ashwani Kumar and Ambika Soni?
Party sources say two factors prompted Rahul to chose Punjab for his experiment. Youth comprise almost 50 per cent of the vote in Punjab and this generation, it is felt, prefers younger candidates who can address their issues better.
Moreover, Anandpur Sahib, Faridkot and Sangrur have been dominated by party old-timers who Rahul wanted to phase out. The Congress expects to do very well in Punjab where an anti-incumbency vote against Parkash Singh Badal's Akali Dal government is expected.
None of Rahul's candidates are contesting from their home constituencies. Despite this, Congress sources believe the party could have won with any candidate from Anandpur Sahib, Faridkot and Sangrur.
Singla says the moment for youth has never been better in Punjab and Rahul's experiment will boost the Congress's chances. The youth factor, he adds, will ensure a Congress victory in all 13 seats in the state.
with thanks : source : http://election.rediff.com/special/2009/may/06/loksabhapolls-inside-rahul-gandhis-youth-laboratory.htm
sikhsindia
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Sunday, May 10, 2009
Will Sidhu manage a hat-trick in Amritsar?
Vicky Nanjappa and photographer Satish Bodas travel to Amritsar and find the colourful Navjot Singh Sidhu in a tough battle to retain his Lok Sabha seat.
The electoral battle for Amritsar, which goes to the polls on May 13, promises to be an interesting one. Charismatic Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu is pitted against Congress candidate Om Prakash Soni, who holds the impressive record of winning every election that he has ever contested.
After spending a day on Sidhu's campaign trail, it is evident that the cricketer-turned-politician has impressed middle and upper middle class voters in Amritsar, which has 1.248 million voters.
However, he seems to have made a dent among voters in rural parts of his constituency like Ajnala. The villagers are unhappy about him being absent for long stretches of time; they feel he is more visible on their television sets than he is in the constituency that twice elected him to the Lok Sabha.
with thanks : source : http://election.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/may/07/slide-show-1-will-sidhu-manage-hattrick-in-amritsar.htm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
The electoral battle for Amritsar, which goes to the polls on May 13, promises to be an interesting one. Charismatic Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu is pitted against Congress candidate Om Prakash Soni, who holds the impressive record of winning every election that he has ever contested.
After spending a day on Sidhu's campaign trail, it is evident that the cricketer-turned-politician has impressed middle and upper middle class voters in Amritsar, which has 1.248 million voters.
However, he seems to have made a dent among voters in rural parts of his constituency like Ajnala. The villagers are unhappy about him being absent for long stretches of time; they feel he is more visible on their television sets than he is in the constituency that twice elected him to the Lok Sabha.
with thanks : source : http://election.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/may/07/slide-show-1-will-sidhu-manage-hattrick-in-amritsar.htm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Paramjit Singh Sarna elected SGPC president
Sarna elected SGPC president
New Delhi: Paramjit Singh Sarna was on Saturday unanimously re-elected president of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee for the sixth time. Mr. Sarna is presently chairman of Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi).
After his election, he named Bhajan Singh Walia as vice-president, Joginder Singh Guru Rakha as treasurer, Gurmeet Singh Shanti as general secretary and Kartar Singh Kochar as joint secretary.
with thanks : source : http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/10/stories/2009051058790400.htm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
New Delhi: Paramjit Singh Sarna was on Saturday unanimously re-elected president of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee for the sixth time. Mr. Sarna is presently chairman of Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi).
After his election, he named Bhajan Singh Walia as vice-president, Joginder Singh Guru Rakha as treasurer, Gurmeet Singh Shanti as general secretary and Kartar Singh Kochar as joint secretary.
with thanks : source : http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/10/stories/2009051058790400.htm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Why do you think there are 300 gurdwaras in the USA
These are the comments received by us from one of our visitor :
Why do you think there are 300 gurdwaras in the USA ... because there is so much politics and infighting for leadership and control ... so after a year or two ... the next Sikh tries starting his own gurdwara after being thrown out of the first gurdwara. It is such a terrible situation ... Sikhs themselves are burning down gurdwaras so that the insurance money will help in building a new gurdwara.
Really shocking.
Can you believe it ?
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
Why do you think there are 300 gurdwaras in the USA ... because there is so much politics and infighting for leadership and control ... so after a year or two ... the next Sikh tries starting his own gurdwara after being thrown out of the first gurdwara. It is such a terrible situation ... Sikhs themselves are burning down gurdwaras so that the insurance money will help in building a new gurdwara.
Really shocking.
Can you believe it ?
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
Where are we heading for - a wake up call for the sikh community
In Punjab the Turban is disappearing fast. Upto 90% of sikh families in Punjab have atleast a couple of members without a turban. Trimming of beards has become a fashion. In all the cities of India and in every part of Punjab, we can find the sikh youth with trimmed beards. Nearly 70% of youth in Punjab are in the grip of Drugs. This menace is blooming amongst the children and in a rapid manner, threatening the life of the youth of the State of Punjab. The sex ratio in Punjab is not improving inspite of best efforts of various organisations. Even the holy city Amritsar has 818 girls for 1000 boys, resulting into polygamy. Churches are being planted in punjab. Over 60 % localities of Ludhiana and over 50% villages in punjab have got a church.
Isn't it a wake up call for the sikh community. May i ask from the Sikh leaders, Sikh politicians, Sikh masses that where are we heading for. Please give it a serious thought.
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Huge blaze destroys Sikh temple
More than 70 firefighters tackled a blaze that destroyed a Sikh temple in Greater Manchester.
Huge blaze destroys Sikh temple
Friday, 8 May 2009 09:08 UK
The blaze ripped through a multi-use building in the Strangeways area of Cheetham Hill at 2330 BST on Wednesday.
The ground floor offices and the first floor, which was home to the temple, were gutted in the fire.
Firefighters tackled the blaze throughout the night. An investigation is under way but the fire is not thought to be suspicious.
A fire service spokeswoman said: "There was a partial collapse in the first floor ceiling and firefighters had to enter the building wearing breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze."
Bury Road is closed while crews dampen the blaze down.
with thanks : source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/8039526.stm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Huge blaze destroys Sikh temple
Friday, 8 May 2009 09:08 UK
The blaze ripped through a multi-use building in the Strangeways area of Cheetham Hill at 2330 BST on Wednesday.
The ground floor offices and the first floor, which was home to the temple, were gutted in the fire.
Firefighters tackled the blaze throughout the night. An investigation is under way but the fire is not thought to be suspicious.
A fire service spokeswoman said: "There was a partial collapse in the first floor ceiling and firefighters had to enter the building wearing breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze."
Bury Road is closed while crews dampen the blaze down.
with thanks : source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/8039526.stm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Punjabi student, Narinder Singh Kapany, is known as the father of fiber optics.
With Heading :
FATHER OF FIBRE OPTICS EXPLAINS HOW IT BAGAN
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor
The vandals who slashed fiber-optic cables, leaving thousands of South Bay residents without phone and Internet service Thursday, struck at one of the most critical elements of America's vast communication network.
People who talk to each other across a city or a nation - or do business locally or around the world, or seek electronic home entertainment from anywhere - depend on slender bundles of glass fibers, thinner than a human hair, that carry signals or images at nearly the speed of light.
"It really is a miraculous technology, and the Internet couldn't exist in its present form without it," said Joseph Kahn, a Stanford professor of electrical engineering and one of the nation's leading specialists in optical fiber transmission.
The miracle began nearly 60 years ago when a Punjabi university student who now lives in Palo Alto challenged his Indian professor's dogma and set off on his own voyage of discovery that led him to pioneer the science and technology of fiber optics.
Today's fiber-optic cables are bundles of dozens of single hair-thin strands, each fiber made of highly purified glass - often pure silica - and coated in a cladding of impure glass that holds light beams inside. A single cable, about 4 inches thick, has the capability to hold dozens of fibers, which can carry pulses of light signals as far as 200 miles - either curving or in a straight line - at about two-thirds the speed of light. Inside each fiber, the light's "message" is reflected again and again at an angle against the fiber's wall as it travels along, Kahn said.
For long-distance communication, relay stations, known as optical amplifiers, are located every 50 to 60 miles to boost the light signals until they reach the end of their voyage - a phone company, a high-speed Internet connection, or a doctor's instrument probing a patient's throat.
The Punjabi student, Narinder Singh Kapany, is known as the father of fiber optics.
On Friday, Kapany, now 80, explained how it all began.
"I was just a precocious kid taking a college physics course when one day the professor told us that light 'always travels in a straight line,' " he recalled. "But that can't be true, I thought - it must be bent sometimes."
So he continued thinking about light as he went on with his physics studies, he said.
"And when I won a Royal Society fellowship for advanced study in optics at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London," Kapany said, "I really understood the principle we now call the total reflection of light - the principle of fiber optics that let me to experiment with light beams inside bent glass tubes."
Initially, he said, he thought only of medical applications, such as the kind of fiber-optic tubes that allow physicians peer into human organs.
"Only later did I realize that a fiber-optic cable could carry light for many miles - and so it can," he said.
Kapany founded a company called Optics Technology Inc. One of its directors was the late Luis Alvarez, the UC Berkeley Nobel Prize-winning physicist.
The company succeeded, as did others, and now he calls himself a "man of changed priorities." These include teaching at Stanford, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz.
At UC Santa Cruz, Kapany has endowed a chair in optical electronics, and at UC Santa Barbara, a chair in Sikh Studies. He has also financed the collection of Sikh art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and leads international activities on behalf of the Sikh community - his own tradition.
with thanks source : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/11/MNGD170HIH.DTL
pics with thanks from : sikhnet.com
sikhsindia
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