Kalalwala (Talwandi Sabo), April 4
At the crack of dawn, a group of 80 men, women and children get busy plucking roses from the six-acre farm of Rajinderpal Singh. The exercise is completed by 9 am when the flowers are sealed in boilers with mud paste on the cover to extract rose oil, which has a good market here and abroad.

This is the success story of Rajinderpal who, through his innovative effort, has in the waterlogged village in the desert area of Kalalwala near Talwandi Sabo made roses bloom in his farm.

The intelligently planned diversification was fetching anything between Rs 3.50 lakh to Rs 3.75 lakh per litre of rose oil. The entire activity of plucking roses and extracting oil is possible only two months in a year, says Rajinderpal. The farm has become a seasonal source of employment as each person is paid Rs 3 for each kilogramme of pluck. Generally each labourer plucks 10 to 15 kg of flowers every morning.

He is perhaps the only farmer who is engaged in this type of activity in this part of Punjab. He has set up in the backyard of his house an indigenously developed boiler system to extract rose oil by experts from Uttar Pradesh.

He sold a litre of rose oil for Rs 3.50 lakh last year and is holding back a stock of 4 litres, waiting for the price to improve. He is expecting a bumper harvest this year as roses are in full bloom in his farm. He is expecting to pluck 15 to 16 quintals of flowers this season.

He says that the flower crop over each acre gives a yield of only 200 to 250 millilitre of rose oil. The residue is marketed as rose water that, too, has a good domestic market.

Rajinderpal took up the challenging job of cultivating roses at a time when most of the government buildings, including the school and health centre, were abandoned due to acute problem of water logging that had rendered the land infertile. Moreover, the village is situated in the desert area where extra effort had to be put in to make the land fit for floriculture.

He says that a sum of Rs 80,000 was annually being spent for the upkeep of the farm, whereas he was earning anything between Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 from each acre of rose cultivation. He has hired an expert hand, Mujeeb Khan, of Hathras in UP to extract good quality rose oil. He comes to the village only for a month during which the activity of extraction of oil and packing is done.

Rajinderpal says that due to lack of marketing facility of his produce in Punjab, he has to go all the way to UP to sell the rose oil. The tendency of the middlemen in the trade is to exploit the innocent farmers by keeping a big margin of money with them. The rose oil traders at Delhi pay less than those in UP for the produce.

For extracting oil, he has brought specially designed copper utensils from UP where rose oil business was flourishing. He is planning to expand the area under rose cultivation to make handsome earnings out of the business.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100405/punjab.htm #9

Sikh men commonly wear a peaked turban that serves partly to cover their long hair, which is never cut out of respect for God's creation. Devout Sikhs also do not cut their beards, so many Sikh men comb out their facial hair and then twist and tuck it up into their turbans along with the hair from their heads. Sikhism originated in northern India and Pakistan in the 15th century and is one of the youngest of the world's monotheistic religions. There are an estimated 18 million Sikhs in the world, with some 2 million spread throughout North America, Western Europe and the former British colonies.

Muslim religious elders, like this man from Yemen, often wear a turban wrapped around a cap known in Arabic as a kalansuwa. These caps can be spherical or conical, colorful or solid white, and their styles vary widely from region to region. Likewise, the color of the turban wrapped around the kalansuwa varies. White is thought by some Muslims to be the holiest turban color, based on legends that the prophet Mohammed wore a white turban. Green, held to be the color of paradise, is also favored by some. Not all Muslims wear turbans. In fact, few wear them in the West, and in major cosmopolitan centers around the Muslim world, turbans are seen by some as passé.

Afghan men wear a variety of turbans, and even within the Taliban, the strict Islamic government that controls much of the country, there are differences in the way men cover their heads. This Taliban member, for example, is wearing a very long turban — perhaps two twined together — with one end hanging loose over his shoulder. The Taliban ambassador to Afghanistan, on the other hand, favors a solid black turban tied above his forehead. And some men in Afghanistan do not wear turbans at all, but rather a distinctive Afghan hat.

Iranian leaders wear black or white turbans wrapped in the flat, circular style shown in this image of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The word turban is thought to have originated among Persians living in the area now known as Iran, who called the headgear a dulband.

Indian men sometimes wear turbans to signify their class, caste, profession or religious affiliation — and, as this man shows, turbans in India can be very elaborate. However, turbans made out of fancy woven cloths and festooned with jewels are not unique to India. As far away as Turkey, men have used the headgear to demonstrate their wealth and power.

The kaffiyeh is not technically a turban. It is really a rectangular piece of cloth, folded diagonally and then draped over the head — not wound like a turban. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, has made the kaffiyeh famous in recent times. However, the kaffiyeh is not solely Palestinian. Men in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab Persian Gulf states wear kaffiyehs in colors and styles that are particular to their region. Jordanians, for example, wear a red and white kaffiyeh, while Palestinians wear a black and white one. And a man from Saudi Arabia would likely drape his kaffiyeh differently than a man from Jordan. The black cord that holds the kaffiyeh on one's head is called an ekal.

Desert peoples have long used the turban to keep sand out of their faces, as this man from Africa is likely doing. Members of nomadic tribes have also used turbans to disguise themselves. And sometimes, the color of a person's turban can be used to identify his tribal affiliation from a distance across the dunes. This man's turban is a very light blue. In some parts of North Africa, blue is thought to be a good color to wear in the desert because of its association with cool water.

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/lifestyles/links/turbans_27.html

CREDITS: Thanks to http://www.punjabione.com/harshvir

Punjab Government holidays in 2010 

Chandigarh, December 4

The Punjab government today released a list of 33 holidays for 2010. The government will also observe 18 restricted holidays from which each employee can choose two days to observe as holidays.

The public offices will remain closed for Sri Guru Gobind Singh’s birthday (January 5); Basant Panchmi and Satguru Ram Singh’s birthday (January 20); Republic Day (January 26); Sri Guru Ravidas’s birthday (January 30); Maha Shivaratri (February 12); Holi (February 28); Shahidi Divas of Bhagat Singh (March 23); Ram Navami (March 24); Mahavir Jayanti (March 28); Good Friday (April 02); Baisakhi and Dr BR Ambedkar’s Birthday (April 14); May Day (May 1) and Parshuram Jayanti (May 16).

Guru Arjan Dev’s martyrdom day (June 16); Kabir Jayanti (June 26); Shahid Udham Singh’s martyrdom day (July 31); Independence Day (August 15); Janamashtami (Sptember 2); Id-ul-Fitr (September 11); Baba Sri Chand’s birthday (September 16); Birthday of S. Bhagat Singh (September 28); Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday (October 2); Agarsain Jayanti ( October 8); birthday of Sri Guru Ram Dass (October 9); Dasehra (October 17) and Mahrshi Valmiki’s birthday (October 22).

Diwali (November 5); Vishwakarma Day (November 6); Id-ul-Zuha (Bakrid) (November 17); Guru Nanak Dev’s birthday (November 21); Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom day (November 24); and Christmas (December 25).

New Year Day (January 1); Lohri (January 13); Nirwan Diwas of Bhagwan Adinath Ji (January 14); Id-e-Milad (February 27); Hola Mohalla (March 1); International Women’s Day (March 8); Buddh Purnima (May 27); Nirjala Ekadashi (June 22); death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji (June 29); birthday of Baba Jiwan Singh Ji (September 5); Anant Chaturdashi (September 22); Birthday of Baba Banda Singh Ji Bahadur (October 16); Karva Chauth (October 26); Birthday of Sant Nam Dev Ji (October 26); New Punjab Day (November 1); Goverdhan Pooja (November 6); Muharram (December 17) and Jor Mela Fatehgarh Sahib (December 24, 25 and 26) are restricted holidays in the Calendar, 2010.

The public holidays in Punjab during the calendar year 2010 within the meaning of Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, are birthday of Sri Guru Gobind Singh (January 5); Republic Day (January 26); Birthday of Sri Guru Ravidass Ji (January 30); Holi (February 28); Ram Naumi (March 24); bank holiday (April 1); martyrdom day of Sri Guru Arjan Dev (June 16); Independence Day (August 15); Janmashtami 
(September 2); Id uI Fitr (September 11); bank holiday (September 30); birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (October 2); Dasehra (October 17); Birthday of Maharishi Valmiki (October 22); Diwali (November 5); birthday of Sri Guru Nanak Dev (November 21) and Christmas (December 25).

source:  http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091205/punjab.htm #2

Till October, about 17,820 HIV positive cases have been recorded in the state. However, Dr Raghbir Singh Bains, who has worked on AIDS in Uganda and Tanzania, said the number of HIV positive cases in the country was far higher than that of the official figure. “No efforts have ever been made to screen vulnerable sections of the population,” he said. The official number of the HIV positive and AIDS cases is near 25 lakh. Of it, 38 per cent are women and near 3 per cent children.

HIV is highly transmissible through sharing of needles and other injecting equipment within drug users.

According to the state AIDS control society, the major problem emerging in Punjab is injectable drug users (IDU). The latest mapping study and surveillance data too has indicated that the increasing trend of HIV positivity is due to the IDUs.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091201/punjab.htm #5

Lahore, November 22
After years of promises, the Pakistan government will finally begin work on setting up a university named after Guru Nanak, at his birthplace of Nankana Sahib. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will lay its foundation stone in January next year.

Syed Asif Hashmi, chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which looks after shrines of minority communities, told PTI that the varsity will be established at a cost of Rs 5 billion.

Gilani will lay the foundation stone for the institution, which will have sprawling campus of 2,500 acres at Nankana Sahib.

“We will make it an institute of international learning and faculty will be hired from foreign countries, including India,” Hashmi said.

The ETPB will acquire the land and funding for the varsity, which is expected to be built in three years, he said. The university has been a long-standing demand of Sikhs, living in various countries, including India. They had even offered to provide funds to the Pakistan government for the project.

Sikhs have also demanded the development of an airport at Nankana Sahib, which is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. The government recently improved the road, linking Lahore to Nankana Sahib.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091123/world.htm #4

Bathinda, November 22
Taking advantage of people’s ignorance and illiteracy to make a quick buck, matriculate quacks, instead of MBBS doctors, are ruling the roost in cancer-hit southwest Punjab.

A conservative estimate by health authorities puts the number of quacks operating in the region at 4,000. In addition, spurious drugs have also found their way into the area.

Ram Lubhaya, a migrant labourer from Bihar, had a skinny figure before he decided to put on some weight. He got in touch with a quack, who recommended a steroid - Methyl Prednisolone.

After a month he put on enough weight and stopped the steroid. However, a few days later, Lubhaya suddenly started vomiting and now he can barely move from bed.

Savita Sachdeva, a renowned sociologist working with Adesh College of Nursing at Muktsar, said: “People are being taken for a ride by these quacks because the archaic Indian Medical Degree Act of 1916, which still goes by fines it imposed almost 83 years ago. That means a penalty of Rs 250 for people flaunting fake medical degrees and Rs 500 for any subsequent offence. The Punjab government does not have an anti-quackery cell till date.”

“Whenever we receive complaints about quacks operating in our area, we form teams under the supervision of Senior Medical Officers (SMOs) who raid their premises,” said Neelam Bajaj, civil surgeon, Bathinda.

However, nobody in health departments of Bathinda or Muktsar, the two main districts of southwest Punjab, are sure about the number of quacks they have caught till now.

“While some practise as bone surgeons others claim to be experts at treating cancer. These quacks use the abbreviation RMP as a title. The abbreviation should rather stand for Rural Medical Practitioner instead of Registered Medical Practitioner,” said Dr Sudhir Raj, vice-president of Punjab unit of the Indian Medical Association.

“Whether it is cold or cancer, quacks offer dangerous remedies without regret. In the case of childless women, they give steroids which can lead to fluid retention and make the abdomen swell. These quacks should be stopped at all cost,” said Dr Shoubhick Kaushal, a Muktsar-based orthopaedician.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091123/punjab.htm #3

Jalandhar, November 22
Perturbed over the denial of justice to 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Dal Khalsa wrote a letter to permanent member countries of the UN Security Council, including the US and China, seeking their intervention to press the Indian government to deliver justice to the victims the anti-Sikh riots.

The timing of the letter assumes significance as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is currently in the US for bilateral talks, will meet US president Barak Obama on Tuesday.

In a communique addressed to the High Commissions of the US, the UK, Russia, France and China, the party's secretary for political affairs Kanwarpal Singh pinned hope that their countries must take necessary diplomatic and legal steps to ensure that justice to victims of 1984 carnage is delivered.

The letter stated that the pogrom against the Sikhs in November, 1984, wherein more than 4,000 Sikhs were killed by frenzied mobs, continues to haunt the Sikhs.

It further stated that after 25 years, they still had hope for justice. All attempts to get justice within the legal framework of the Indian system for the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh carnage had failed, added in the letter.

The letter mentioned that a seven-member delegation of the Khalsa Action Committee and the Dal Khalsa met Shalini Dewan, director, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), in New Delhi last week to seek the UN intervention through a memorandum to the UN Secretary General.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091123/punjab.htm #9

Amritsar, October 19
Coordinator of the American Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (AGPC) Pritpal Singh has criticised a raid at a gurdwara in Belgium by the Belgian police on the eve of Gurta Gaddi Diwas, disrupting akhand path of Guru Granth Sahib.

Talking to The Tribune on the phone today, the convener of the committee sought immediate intervention of Akal Takht to defuse the situation.

Dr Pritpal Singh said: “On behalf of 45 gurdwaras, he will write to the Belgian government for an explanation and also ask the America’s State Department to investigate the matter”.

The United Sikhs, an organisation, alleged that prayers were in progress for the tercentenary celebrations when the police raided Gurdwara Guru Nanak Singh Sahib in Vilvoorde, Belgium.

It stopped the prayers abruptly and arrested 30 persons as part of a citywide immigration raid.

The United Sikhs alleged that despite the protest of the gurdwara management that akhand path of Sri Guru Granth Sahib was taking place and that the granthi (person conducting the prayers) immediately displayed valid immigration papers, the police arrested him, stopping the path.

“The Sikh community was appalled by the police’s insensitivity in its actions during the raid, as it knew that the gurdwara was a place of worship. The organisation has decided to send a letter to the Belgian Prime Minister, seeking an investigation into the incident, an apology from the Belgian police and changes to the police procedures while handling places of worship”, Mejindarpal Kaur, legal director of the United Sikhs, said in a press note e-mailed today.

Mejindarpal contacted Ines Wouters, a Brussels-based lawyer, to investigate the matter and ensure that those arrested were being provided legal representation. The akhand path would restart.

Kuldip Singh, president of the United Sikhs, said: “Belgium has the right to enforce its immigration laws. However, the police actions here were blatantly disrespectful and violated all laws and norms regarding people’s right to prayer and worship in peace. There was no need for the police to stop the akhand path as valid papers were produced on the spot by the granthi”.

SGPC president Avtar Singh told the United Sikhs, “Sikh sentiments are hurt with the disruption of the akhand path of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The Belgian government should seek an explanation and apology through the Police Department for the action inside the gurdwara”.

“I will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the government of Belgium to investigate the matter,” said the SGPC president.

 http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081020/punjab1.htm