Thursday, March 6, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Abandoned Sikh youth reunites with uncle after 20 years
Vadodara: Joy of 21-year-old Vir Singh, abandoned by his father, knew no bounds when he reunited with his paternal uncle after a gap of about 20 years here.
Vir, the youngest of the three siblings, was left at children's remand home 'Balgokulam' here by his father Biyant Singh when he was about one-and-a-half years old, since his mother had passed away and his father was finding it difficult to take care of him.
Thereafter, his father went to Chandigarh along with his two elder sons and never got in touch with the remand home.
After Vir turned 18, the remand home's rules did not permit him to stay there any further, superintendent of Balgokulam, Seemaben Yadav said.
However, being kind to him, the authorities employed him as a guard.
"He was not entitled to stay in the Balgokulam after attaining the age of 18 years. So, we decided to employ him as a duty guard here as he had no place to go," Yadav said.
In the meantime, Vir's uncle Santok Singh Tonk, a resident of Khodiyarnagar locality on Waghodiya road here, last week referred to his neighbour about his elder brother Biyant, who had died some time back, and his missing sons.
The neighbour then told him about a youth at the children's remand home, following which Santok Singh and his wife met Yadav claiming that they were Vir's uncle and aunt.
Santok produced old family photographs and documents to establish the relationship to the remand home authorities, when they asked him to prove his relationship.
Finally, after the verification, Vir met his uncle and aunt yesterday and was overjoyed meeting his family members.
"I am very excited and delighted over meeting my uncle and aunty after a gap of 20 years and feel there is someone who are my close relatives and family members. I am sorry to learn about the death of my parents and missing elder brothers," Vir told a news agency today.
"Though I am a Sikh, I do not know my mother tongue Punjabi, which I have started learning now," he said, adding that he will not give up his job as guard in Balgokulam, which took care of him all these years.
PTI
with thanks : Zee News : LINK
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
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Sikh bus driver wins right to wear turban in Finland
London : A Sikh bus driver in Finland has won his fight to wear a turban while at work.
Gill Sukhdarshan Singh has been in dispute with his employer, Veolia Transport in the city of Vantaa, for more than a year for his right to wear turban at work, Yle, the Finnish public broadcasting company,reported Tuesday.
His year-long dispute with the Veolia bus company was resolved after an agreement between the transport workers union (AKT) and the employers’ organisation (ALT).
Now, after this development, Sikhs would be able to wear either their own turban or one provided by their employer, the report said.
“It feels nice,” Gill was quoted as saying. “I can wear my turban at work now and that’s the important thing,” he added.
With thanks : Mizonews : LINK
Sunday, February 23, 2014
No Sikh farmer will have to leave Gujarat: Narendra Modi
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday said no Sikh farmer settled in Gujarat's Kutch region will have to leave the state.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Sunday said no Sikh farmer settled in Gujarat's Kutch region will have to leave the state.
Addressing a rally in Punjab's Jagraon town, over 40 km from Ludhiana, Modi said "misinformation" was being spread that Sikh farmers, who were cultivating the land for decades, were being uprooted from the Kutch area by the Gujarat government.
"Let me assure you that no Sikh farmer will be forced to leave Gujarat. Instead, if any officer has done anything wrong (in this regard), he will have to go," the Gujarat chief minister said.
Thousands of Sikh and Punjabi families settled in Kutch area of Gujarat in the 1960s and are cultivating land there.
The Modi government in Gujarat came in for criticism for passing an order under which farmers from other states re-settled in Kutch were to be dispossessed of their land.
The issue had become embarrassing for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance government in Punjab since Gujarat also has a BJP government.
with thanks : DNA : LINK
Sikh honoured in Singapore for voluntary service
IANS
Singapore, Feb 23: An elderly Sikh in Singapore has been honoured for his outstanding volunteer services.
Surjan Singh, 82, received the Ministry of Social and Family Development Volunteers Award for helping some 60 boys, mostly involved in petty crimes such as theft, the Straits Times reported.
Singh, a retired teacher, worked for Community Probation Service, a voluntary service, for 42 years.
With thanks : IANS : LINK
UK to change work law on turbans for Sikhs
Britain is close to changing employment laws to remove an anomaly that meant Sikhs were exempt from wearing head protection in a high hazard industry such as construction, but were required to do so in lower hazard workplaces.
Following the completion of a consultation process carried out by the health and safety executive, the David Cameron government is expected to shortly place an amendment to the De-regulation Bill currently before parliament.
The forthcoming change takes forward British rules and legislation relevant to the Sikh community that were first challenged in 1969, when bus driver Sohan Singh Jolly succeeded in his campaign to overturn a local ban on bus drivers wearing turbans in Wolverhampton.
Minister of state for health and safety Mike Penning told HT: "I've listened to the arguments and I'm supportive of the Sikh Council's desire to extend the exemption. That is why I'm personally intervening to change the law".
He added: "It's about restoring a common sense approach to health and safety to get rid an anomaly which means turban-wearing Sikhs are exempt from wearing hard hats on construction sites be made to wear them in lower hazards workplaces."
Official sources said the wording of the amendment is still subject to discussion and approval but the initial proposal is to replace the phrase "on a construction site" with "in a workplace" in the Employment Act 1989.
Representations to the government by the Sikh community, especially the Sikh Council UK, had identified problems experienced due to the limitations of the current exemption. They pointed out that limiting the exemption to an industry which has a high risk of head injuries, and not to other lower risk industries, was an anomaly.
Members of the Sikh community have faced disciplinary hearings and dismissal for refusing to wear head protection, while some were unable to follow their chosen professions because of the insistence of the need to wear head protection.
In a recent debate in the House of Commons, Penning said: "As the law currently stands, turban-wearing Sikhs are exempt from wearing head protection in a high hazard industry, construction, but may be required to wear it in lower hazard workplaces".
He added: "I am seeking to table an amendment to the De-regulation Bill, which is currently before Parliament, to extend this exemption to all workplaces, including industrial premises. The amendment will also extend the limitation on liability for employers to any work situation where a turban-wearing Sikh chooses not to wear head protection".
There may be very limited exceptions, such as specific roles in the emergency services or armed forces, Penning said.
With thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK
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