Greater-Punjab

NEW DELHI: Avtar Grewal, 32, a Canada-based NRI, has been arrested here on the basis of a US police international warrant for the murder of his wife, Navneet Kaur (31) in Phoenix, Arizona. The CBI detained him at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday night as he was trying to flee to India. The US Police had issued a ‘look-out circular’ (LOC) for Avtar Singh Grewal, a manager with a firm in Vancouver, Canada after his estranged wife Navneet Kaur was found dead on Friday at her home in Phoenix. The two had married in October 2005 in New Delhi, but had subsequently separated. Kaur lived alone in her house at Ahwatukee in the suburbs of Phoenix. The girl’s family lives in Gurgaon. Police say Grewal was last seen outside his wife’s home around 10:30 pm — US time — on Thursday. It is believed that he flew from Canada to Phoenix. When Kaur didn’t show up for work on Friday morning, her co-workers went to her house to check on her and found blood, broken bottles and signs of a struggle, police said. Investigators then found Kaur’s body. According to the Arizona Republic daily, Kaur was seeking a divorce. She was the eldest of the three children of Ratan Singh, an IPS officer of UT cadre who retired in 2005 as Superintendent of Police (Andaman & Nicobar) and had earlier served as a DCP in Delhi. Singh, who lives in Gurgaon, has flown to the US to claim the body, the family said. Kaur had spoken to her younger brother Sandeep Singh on phone in the morning of March 29, a day before her death. She reportedly told him that Grewal was coming to see her and that she wanted to end the marriage. Navneet Kaur, was the eldest of three children of Ratan Singh, who retired as superintendent of police (Andaman and Nicobar) in 2005. Navneet's younger brother Sandeep Singh, was the only family member to speak to his sister on the morning of March 29, when she called from Phoenix — just a few hours before she was allegedly killed. "Avtar used to harass Navneet. Though, the two were mutually separated, Avtar used to call her and mentally torture her," Singh alleged. Sandeep described Avtar as a man with inferiority complex who was very possessive about Navneet. "He put many restrictions on my sister Navneet and used to keep her confined. A few months back, she wanted to attend our cousin's marriage and asked him to accompany her but he said he would not go and did not let her attend the wedding either," Sandeep added. "On March 29, Navneet told me that Avtar was coming to see her. When we could not reach her over the phone at night, we asked our relatives in USA to contact her. When one of our relatives spoke to Avtar, he reportedly said that he was in Las Vegas with my sister, enjoying the weekend. He also asked our relatives to not disturb the couple," Sandeep stated. On Friday, March 30, Navneet was found dead in her apartment by her office colleagues. "It was only when Navneet did not turn up for work the next day that her office colleagues at Assist Technology, where she was working as project manager, checked in her apartment and found her dead," Singh added. Sandeep claims that the alleged murder was planned as soon after her death Avtar flew to India where he knew that his relatives, who are influential positions, would help him. One of Avtar's brothers-in-law is a joint secretary in Public Works Department (PWD) in Delhi while another is a principal secretary with Uttar Pradesh government. India Post News Service

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You may want to think twice before eating your next sandwich on white bread. Studies show that alloxan, the chemical that makes white flour look "clean" and "beautiful," destroys the beta cells of the pancreas. That's right; you may be devastating your pancreas and putting yourself at risk for diabetes, all for the sake of eating "beautiful" flour. Is it worth it? Scientists have known of the alloxan-diabetes connection for years; in fact, researchers who are studying diabetes commonly use the chemical to induce the disorder in lab animals. In the research sense, giving alloxan to an animal is similar to injecting that animal with a deadly virus, as both alloxan and the virus are being used specifically to cause illness. Every day, consumers ingest foods made with alloxan-contaminated flour. Would they just as willingly consume foods tainted with a deadly virus? Unless they had a death wish, they probably would not. Unfortunately, most consumers are unaware of alloxan and its potentially fatal link to diabetes because these facts are not well publicized by the food industry. How does alloxan cause diabetes? According to Dr. Hari Sharma's Freedom from Disease, the uric acid derivative initiates free radical damage to DNA in the beta cells of the pancreas, causing the cells to malfunction and die. When these beta cells fail to operate normally, they no longer produce enough insulin, or in other words, they cause one variety of adult-onset type 2 diabetes. Alloxan's harmful effects on the pancreas are so severe that the Textbook of Natural Medicine calls the chemical "a potent beta-cell toxin." However, even though the toxic effect of alloxan is common scientific knowledge in the research community, the FDA still allows companies to use it when processing foods we ingest. The FDA and the white flour industry could counter-argue that, if alloxan were to cause diabetes, a higher proportion of Americans would be diabetic. After all, more consumers consume white flour on a regular basis than are actually diabetic. This point is valid, but it does not disprove the alloxan-diabetes connection. While alloxan is one cause of adult-onset type 2 diabetes, it is of course not the only cause. As the Textbook of Natural Medicine states, "current theory suggests an hereditary beta-cell predisposition to injury coupled with some defect in tissue regeneration capacity" may be a key cause. For alloxan to cause injury to an individual's beta cells, the individual must have the genetic susceptibility to injury. This is similar to the connection between high-cholesterol foods and heart disease. Eating high-cholesterol foods causes heart disease, especially in people who have family histories of heart disease. The link between alloxan and diabetes is as clear and solid as the link between cholesterol and heart disease. If you've been eating white bread for years and you have a family history of diabetes, all hope is not lost for you. Studies show that you can reverse the effects of alloxan by supplementing your diet with vitamin E. According to Dr. Gary Null's Clinicians Handbook of Natural Healing, vitamin E effectively protected lab rats from the harmful effects of administered alloxan. Now, you're not a lab rat, but you're a mammal and vitamin E is definitely worth adding to your daily regimen of nutritional supplements, especially if you have a history of eating foods made with white flour and are at high risk for diabetes. Even if you are already diabetic, some simple changes to your diet can help treat your diabetes. First of all, stop eating foods made with white flour. Even though you already have diabetes, vitamin E supplements can still help you, as can many common foods. Garlic, for example, does wonders for diabetes. As Dr. Benjamin Lau states in his book Garlic for Health, "When fed garlic, the rabbits' elevated blood sugar dropped almost as much as it did when they were given the antidiabetic drug tolbutamide. Researchers postulated that garlic may improve the insulin effect." If you can't handle the taste of natural garlic, you can take it in widely available supplements. Aloe vera is a traditional diabetic remedy in the Arabian Peninsula, and its therapeutic characteristics are now gaining worldwide acceptance in the treatment of diabetes. According to both human and animal research studies, aloe vera lowers blood glucose levels by an unknown mechanism. According to the Clinicians Handbook of Natural Healing, this natural hypoglycemic effect extended over a period of 24 hours. Adding onions to your diet (along with the garlic) can also significantly reduce your blood sugar level. Additionally, as Dr. Michael T. Murray writes in The Healing Power of Herbs, studies show that ginseng controls glucose in both diabetic humans and diabetic laboratory animals. It all comes down to asking if putting yourself at risk for diabetic coma, blindness, limb amputation and death is worth eating white bread. If you're willing to risk your quality of life and your life itself, then go ahead and eat all the foods made with white flour you want. However, if you want to stop poisoning yourself with alloxan, a known toxic chemical, then make a few simple dietary changes. Eat groceries made with whole-grain wheat flour, not processed white flour.

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very good question ?

LOS ANGELES: "We need a voice in Sacramento," these words echoed throughout the night at the Ashoka Restaurant in Artesia, where Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu celebrated his announcement to run for the California State Senate from the 33rd district. "We've established ourselves but we have no voice," uttered Dr Pyara Singh, a prominent figure in the Sikh community. "It is our collective responsibility to establish our identity." Anaheim Councilman Sidhu comes to the Senate platform with years of hard work and humble beginnings. A man of conviction, Sidhu put himself through college and earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia. He began his career at Rockwell International as a Consulting Engineer, but Sidhu didn't stop there. He established his own business, and eventually went on to accomplish his American dream. "This is the place where dreams come true. I worked hard and made my dreams come true," said Sidhu with excitement. "Now my dream is to help others achieve their dreams." During the 58th Indian Independence Day celebration at his home in Anaheim Hills, Sidhu mentioned these words: "We need to be elected and make a difference in mainstream America. Time has come for Indians to show that we are not only doctors, lawyers, engineers and entrepreneurs, but also, the politicians. We need to be the leaders and make the difference at a local level." Today, he is the role model for thousands of young Indians who want to venture into the political arena. Dr Inder Singh, one of the founding fathers of the National Federation of Indo-Americans (NFIA) brought up a good point. "In the 1950s, Dalip Saund, against all odds, became the first Asian to win a seat in the US Congress. Today, the odds are with us; we should have no problem in sending our brother to the California Senate." "If the elections were held today, I would win the elections," Sidhu pointed out the current status of the poll. At present, Sidhu is leading by 4 percent over Mimi Walters. The 33rd district includes 28 percent of Anaheim City, and parts of South Orange County.

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Editorial Review Dancing Between Cultures And Having a Great Time Tradition, Partying Mix for Bhangra Blowout By S. Mitra Kalita Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, April 12, 2004 Amid flashing strobe lights and the squealing of teenagers, South Asian college students from across the country tried to take back their culture this weekend. They carried water jugs and two-headed drums and wrapped their hair in turbans and their bodies in flailing silks. And they spun and shrugged their shoulders, dancing in a manner they expected their forefathers would have. Thousands of college students arrived in the District to take part in George Washington University's 11th annual Bhangra Blowout, a dance competition and springtime rite for many who trace their roots to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries in South Asia. Revelers readily confess that they come just as much for the other festivities of the weekend, namely the parties at nightclubs throughout the city. In fact, event organizers liken Bhangra Blowout to Howard University's homecoming or Freaknik, a spring break for black college students in Atlanta. But it wasn't always like this. Back when the contest started, it was a lot smaller -- and a lot more American. Of course, most performers were already Americans, or at least American-born. And so they borrowed liberally from the pop culture they knew best and mixed break dancing and hip-hop moves with bhangra, a popular folk dance from their parents' homeland characterized by shoulder movements and twirling to the beat of the dhol, a two-headed drum. Beside saris and turbans, costumes occasionally included sequined tops, hooded sweat shirts and Spandex gear. Along with the sudden mainstream popularity of bhangra, though, has come a debate over just how Americanized the dancers should allow themselves to be. Members of a new generation of performers say that fusing and mixing cultures has become less popular and that their goal is to dance as authentically and traditionally as possible. "Last year, our song began with an Eminem remix," said Jasmine Singh, a junior at the University of Michigan, referring to the rapper. "This year, we're pretty traditional. We added creativity, but it's subtle." Michigan's efforts paid off as its team garnered second place in the competition. Rutgers University, where South Asians constitute the largest ethnic minority on campus, took first place, and Columbia University placed third. The competition drew 4,000 screaming and cheering fans to DAR Constitution Hall. "People like us who are second-generation need a medium to find our root, and bhangra happens to be really fun," said Omar Sarwar, a member of Columbia's team and a senior majoring in religion and economics. "It's a medium to find something that your parents can't transmit to you." Both the dance and musical forms of bhangra trace their roots to Punjab, an agrarian region that straddles India and Pakistan. Punjabi men perform bhangra to celebrate such occasions as a harvest, the birth of a child or a wedding. It is accompanied by singing and the beating of the dhol. On Saturday night, many bhangra teams, dressed in color-coordinated costumes, had their own singers and dhol players. Most of the 10 acts featured human pyramids, with teammates being spun around and jumped over. The acrobatics were less than in years past but still raised eyebrows. "Historically speaking, bhangra was not like that," said Preeti Mehrotra, a pre-med junior at George Washington. "It's very much an artistic debate. Bhangra has gotten so much exposure, but we kind of lose what's authentic." Unlike the days when Bhangra Blowout began, today's college students live in a world where many things South Asian -- from the henna tattoos offered at flea markets to the opening of "Bombay Dreams" on Broadway -- suddenly seem cool. Even pop star Britney Spears and rapper Jay-Z have seen success with numbers that mix their music with bhangra. Montgomery County has started offering recreational bhangra classes, which instructor Kumud Mathur describes as a "beautiful cardiovascular exercise." She also plans to start teaching what she terms "elite bhangra," a slower, more graceful form of the dance, at Bukhara restaurant in Arlington. And promoters in the Washington area say the guest lists for their South Asian-themed nightclub parties are growing longer and longer, fueled by growth in the region's South Asian community and a cross-cultural interest in bhangra. The number of Indians in the Washington area doubled between the 1990 and 2000 censuses, as it did nationwide, and totals about 78,000, due in part to the high-tech industry's need for skilled workers. "Young professionals always need an outlet to go out and party. A lot of singles want to meet people," said Roshan Polepalli, a partner in Eclipse Productions, which organized several parties around Bhangra Blowout. "Now it's become mainstream. A lot of deejays are picking up Indian records and learning how to spin them." Eight years ago, when Aziz Ahmed started to promote parties, club owners would tell him, "No Indian music." "Now it's part of a trend," said the George Washington alumnus. "I think it's cool when you walk into a club and they play Indian beats." His company, Enigma Entertainment, organized two parties before Bhangra Blowout and one after. As he stood outside Vida Lounge in Foggy Bottom just before midnight Saturday, Ahmed beamed at the long line of people waiting to get in. He guessed most of the people probably hadn't watched the competition. "No one really cares about the show. They just come for the parties," he said. "Next year, I want to do something like Howard homecoming does with F Street. I'm going to make an outdoor block party." There appeared to be two distinct crowds this weekend: those looking to party and those clinging to tradition. The latter group, at times, admitted to looking down on the former. "People dance bhangra because it's cool, not because they know what it is," said Tejinder Singh, a coordinator with the Surrey India Arts Club, a Canada-based bhangra troupe that performed Saturday night. "You should know the base line and then experiment on top of it." Last year, when Singh judged Bhangra Blowout, he said he awarded no points for acrobatics or hip-hop moves. The software engineer said he tries to educate those younger than himself about bhangra's roots, although he admitted that the dance has a history of evolving. "There is no value for me if I cannot pass this off to the next generation," he said. "And you also have to open yourself to change. It's grown way beyond Punjab." Judging from the sentiments of the crowd of performers this weekend, he will likely have an audience of eager learners. Rutgers University's winning bhangra ensemble, for example, spent much of its early practices learning what Punjabi lyrics mean and how bhangra was danced in Punjabi villages. "Sometimes we feel like bhangra is straying away and turning into a dance other than bhangra," said Divnain Singh Malik, a Rutgers dancer. "We want to bring it back."

Chittisinghpura massacre still haunts him S.P. Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, March 17 Seven years have passed since the massacre of 35 Sikhs by unidentified terrorists at Chittisinghpura but Nanak Singh, the lone survivor of the brutal attack, still has fresh in his mind memories of the incident. Residents of this village will observe the seventh anniversary of the massacre on March 20 even as the Army and CRPF have been deployed in and around the village in Kashmir. Just a reminder of the brutal incident in which his 16-year-old son Gurmeet Singh, brother Darbari Singh (30) and three first cousins lay dead in a pool of blood sends shivers through his spine. He always carries the photo of Gurmeet Singh in his wallet. His elder son was fortunately out of the village at that time. Nanak Singh himself lay unconscious on the heap of bodies as he was also shot in the pelvis. He recalls that the 12 terrorists were laughing and sending a signal of “mission accomplished” on the walkie-talkie to someone after the massacre. He was taken to the district hospital at Anantnag and later shifted to Srinagar. He recalls that it was about 7.45 p.m. and it was drizzling after the village folk had celebrated Holi when two groups of gunmen barged into the village and asked the Sikhs to line up outside the two gurdwaras. Thereafter, they were fired at indiscriminately. Screams of women and children echoed in the village till the next morning when the security forces reached there. Nanak laments that although seven years have passed but the government has not bothered to order a probe into the massacre. In contrast, the government lost no time in ordering a CBI probe and punishing the guilty Army and police personnel involved in the killing of five persons belonging to the majority community at Pathribal that is just a stone throw away from Chittisinghpura. “Is it a sin to belong to the minority community. I am still feeling insecure and the government has not bothered to provide security to my family,” he said. Nanak Singh says that several top leaders from Delhi and Srinagar visited the village to shed crocodile tears the very next day but they forgot the promises made to the widows once they flew back through the Pir-Panchal ranges. The village does not have a telephone and the boys had to run 7 km to make a telephone call to inform the police about the massacre. Moreover, the roads to the neighbouring villages inhabited by the majority community are metalled, but Chittisinghpura continues to be linked by a kuchha road, he added.

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GREEN RIVER - How do you spell "perseverance?" When 13-year-old Kunal Sah stands before television cameras May 30-31 to represent Utah - for the second time - at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., his parents won't be there with him. Ken and Sarita Sah were deported back to India last July after 16 years residing legally in this country. They ultimately lost their battle to remain under tough U.S. immigration regulations in the post- 9/11 atmosphere. Green River boy to represent Utah at National Spelling Bee - while parents deported to India