Golden Temple CCTV steals a march on thieves

Amritsar On February 24, a Sikh devotee from Attepur village in Gurdaspur district went to take a bath in Golden Temple Sarovar near Dukh Bhanjani Beri. As he entered the Sarovar, a man decamped with his trousers containing his wallet and cellphone. The thief — oblivious of the fact that a team was watching him doing the act on a LCD screen that  broadcasts the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) camera footage live — is caught in no time.

A Canada-based NRI complained to the Golden Temple authorities that her purse, which contained her and her colleagues’ passports, has been stolen. What worried the victims most was that they were scheduled to board a flight back to Canada in the evening. The CCTV surveillance team rewinds the recording of the video footage of the suspected place and after identifying the thieves, nabs them near the SGPC information centre. The purse was recovered from a dustbin. The NRIs managed to catch the flight back home.

With nearly one lakh devotees paying obeisance every day at the Golden Temple — the number rises to a lakh-and-a-half on weekends and festivals — the Sikh shrine is a favourite hunting ground for thieves.

But an initiative is fast heading towards earning the distinction of a “game-changer” in tackling such thefts at the holy shrine. The CCTV cameras installed at the temple are turning out to be a nemesis of kind for the thieves. Since June, 2011 — when the cameras became functional — 140 thieves have been caught in the act with the help of CCTV footage. If one goes by record, almost every alternate day, a thief is caught at the temple.

As many as 130 CCTV cameras have been installed at what officials call “strategic places” to keep an eye on thieves and unscrupulous elements inside the temple. “Ever since the installation of the cameras, there has been a positive change. We have successfully thwarted theft attempts, cracked cases and handed over the thieves to the police,” Golden Temple Manager Harbans Singh Malhi told The Indian Express.

with thanks : ExpressIndia : link in headline for detailed news.

Sikh youth has jumped into river yamuna

There is a news that a Sikh Guy of Rani Garden in East Delhi, has jumped into the River Yamuna, at around 10 pm, alongwith his motorbike. More details are being awaited.

Sd Param jit singh sarna in press conference

Sd. Harvinder singh sarna in press conference

Amritsar:Sikh preacher Dhunda apologizes at Akal Takht

AMRITSAR:Sikh preacher Sarbjit Singh Dhundha who remained in severe controversies in past due to his controversial remarks during preaching, atlast appeared before the Five Sikh Head Priests at Akal Takht (highest Sikh Temporal seat) on Saturday.

 

After appearing at Akal Takht, Dhunda tendered apology before the five Sikh Head Priests who accepting his apology suggested him to listen Sikh religious hymns for the next few weeks in the Golden Temple  besides recitation of Sikh religious scriptures and then again appear at Akal Takht to perform Ardas (prayer) as per Sikh rituals. Akal Takht Jatehdar Gyani Gurbachan Singh said that Dhundha appeared at Akal Takht being a humble Sikh and Five Sikh Head priests have given him a chance to make clear his conscious while listening religious hymns so that such mistakes couldn’t be repeated in future. 

 

Dhunda appeared at Akal Takht along with his eight supporters amidst the tight security cover given by the Task Force of SGPC. Jathedar said that earlier Dhundha had uttered some objectionable remarks about the Golden Temple Amritsar, during his appearance while tendering apology said that his words were twisted and distorted but he was always ready to aplologise if sentiments of anybody were hurt due to him. 

 

Dhundha told Akal Takht that for him Akal Takht was supreme and would always obey all the directions issued from here. Dhundha is a famous Sikh preacher in Sikh community regularly visits across the nation and even abroad. Akal Takht recently issued directions to Sikh community to all over the world to avoid Dhundha for allegedly uttering objectionable worlds against the Golden Temple unless he appeared at Akal Takht to submit his clarification along with apology.

 

 Dhunda put a full stop at all the controversies by appearing at the secretariat of Akal Takht to tender apology for hurting the sentiments of Sikh community whereupon he  clarified that he never intended any such thing since he kept high respect for Golden Temple as well as Akal Takht. 

with thanks : Punjab NewsLine : link in the headline above.

 

We are fighting over Bala Sahib Hospital in Delhi, whereas,

In Secunderabad, 365 donors of the Sikh community fund the functioning of the hospital through the year. Each one donates Rs. 5,100 on one day in a year, either for a birthday or an anniversary, and the centre gets funds all through the year. MUST READ : HEALING TOUCH OF THE SIKH COMMUNITY : http://sikhsindia.blogspot.in/2012/02/must-read-healing-touch-of-sikh.html

MUST READ : ‘Healing touch' of the Sikh community

The HinduGuru Nanak Medical Centre in Secndrabad. Photo:G:Ramakrishna

Tucked away between commercial establishments on the busy road leading to the Secunderabad station, stands an unassuming building with a board that reads ‘Guru Nanak Medical Centre'.

Inside the centre, patients enter and exit rooms allotted for varied medical services one after the other, without much wait. And as they exit, the approval in their looks is unmistakable. A stark contrast to what one would expect on one look at the non-descript exteriors.

Calling out to the poor and down-trodden over the past five years, the centre, which is a unit of the Guru Nanak Charitable Trust, has been providing quality medical services at highly subsidised prices at a time when health care costs are sky-high.

“The way the doctor listens and explains the problem itself, makes you feel like half the illness has been alleviated,” says Manga, who had just finished her consultation with a physicist.

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Interestingly, 365 donors of the Sikh community fund the functioning of the hospital through the year. Each one donates Rs. 5,100 on one day in a year, either for a birthday or an anniversary, and the centre gets funds all through the year.

with thanks : The Hindu : Link in the headline above for detailed news. MUST READ.

UK: Indian-origin British hotelier sued by parents

London Parents of a 60-year-old Indian-origin hotelier, reportedly one of Britain's wealthiest men, are sueing him for 100 million pounds (around $157 million), claiming their son took the family business for himself.

Jasminder Singh, chairman of the Radisson Edwardian Hotels, is accused of renouncing the Sikh tradition of sharing family wealth and barring his parents from their multi-million pound business, the Daily Express reported.

His 84-year-old father, Bal Mohinder Singh, stands to take a third of the family fortune if he wins the high court battle against his son.

The hotelier's name was on the family's assets purely because he was a chartered accountant and the Singhs' representative.

The family fortune is reportedly worth an estimated 415 million pounds.

In a statement to the court in London on Tuesday, Bal Mohinder Singh said he and his wife Satwant were 'deeply ashamed that Jasminder should publicly renounce his cultural heritage'.

The system of joint family ownership of all assets is based on religious teaching and widely practiced by Sikh and Hindu communities around the world, he said.

with thanks : IBNLive : link in the headline above for detailed news.

High Court reserves order on gurdwara poll

New Delhi, February 22

The Delhi High Court today reserved its order on a plea filed by the Delhi government against a single judge's order restraining it from issuing a notification for next month's Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Shah Endlaw reserved its order after both parties concluded their arguments.

The February 7 order had directed the city government to update, within a month, the electoral rolls with photographs of voters for the DSGMC elections.

The directorate of gurdwara election (DGE) also challenged the order of Justice Vipin Sanghi ordering it to complete the exercise of delimitation in 46 wards within a month.

Challenging the order, the government in its petition said that "the single judge had no right to pass such an order once the directorate has declared the schedule for the polls".

On the delimitation of 46 wards, the government said that it would take a long time and could be done only after the elections.

The single judge's order came on a petition filed by Harmohan Singh, a poll aspirant, alleging that the directorate had virtually announced the schedule for the election but the notification was yet to be issued.

The election is scheduled for March 11 and the filing of nomination papers by candidates would have started on February 16, he said.

"The election of the DSGMC on the basis of incomplete list of voters and without delimitation of wards will cause unfair representation of the members from each ward," the petition said.

"A number of duplicate voters have been mentioned in the list and non-Sikhs also figure in the voters' list," it added. - IANS

with thanks : TRIBUNE : Link in the headline above.

Refusal of Asylum to Afghanistan's Sikh

How can they go back?


An email received from Lili Van Heers ( a spokeswoman for the Sikh community in Belgium and is an author of a book on Sikhism in Dutch Language entitled: The Sikhism and the Sikhs (2008, Manohar Publishers):"

"I read the article about the documentary on Afghan Sikhs on Sikhsindia blog.I would like to add this.

One of my students Maninder Singh from Kabul in Belgium is a young Afghan Sikh who asked for asylum in Belgium together with his parents. He daily came to the Dutch lessons and tried his best to learn the language. On the day of the exams ;he didn't turn up. Because this was odd: I rang him and he sounds very sad. They( He & his family ) had been refused asylum and had to vacate their council house within a week and subsequently leave the country. He was worried about his elderly parents as their health was poor.

He said"If we have to sleep in the streets, we will have no access to a doctor and to medicine anymore". He could not understand the decision of the Belgian government after two years in this country.
How can they go back? They have nothing in Afghanistan, no family and no house anymore. Trying to ask for asylum in another European country is of course no option because of the Schengen agreement.

I myself cannot understand the refusal either, considering the dangerous conditions in Afghanistan, the precarious situation of the Sikhs over there and the health problems of the parents".

With thanks:Lili Van Heers(Belgium )

Sarna dares SAD (Badal) to prove charges

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 21

Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna today challenged the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) to prove the allegations levelled against him.

He said that he had not sold the Guru Harkishan Hospital adjacent to Bala Sahib Gurdwara located on Ring Road near Sarai Kale Khan.

The police registered an FIR against him on the direction of the district court Saket (southeast Delhi) under section 420 (cheating), 468 (forged documents) and 471 IPC (using forged documents as genuine).

SAD (Badal) member Kuldeep Singh Bhogal had filed the case against Sarna.

Addressing a conference, Sarna said, "First the Badal members had got the DSGMC election stayed. Now, they have got a complaint registered against me. They do not have any agenda for the community."

He said that the land has been given to a private company on lease. There is nothing illegal about the land being given on lease to a professional company in order to run the hospital.

He will submit the evidence concerning the Hari Kishan Hospital to the court. If the allegations against him are proved correct, Sarna said that he and his brother Harvinder Singh Sarna would leave politics and if they are not proved, he would get a criminal case lodged against Bhogal and the Chief Minister of Punjab.

Sarna said that Bhogal filed the case against him on the instigation of Parkash Singh Badal.

with thanks : TRIBUNE : Link in the headline above for detailed news.