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Patwant Singh

2010-12-30T08:54:00.000-08:00

Patwant Singh was a famous Sikh writer, commentator, journalist, editer and publisher, as well as a frequent TV presenter. He was born in New Delhi on March 28, 1925. He grew up and carried out his school and University education in Delhi. He began his career in the family business of building and engineering but soon merged these interests with his love for writing. He started up his first periodical, The Indian Builder, in 1953 as publisher. In 1957, he unveiled his most influential journal, Design, the only magazine of its kind in the world at that time.

Design was a revolutionary magazine which brought together the latest thinking in the fields of architecture, urban planning, visual arts, graphics, and industrial design. Subject areas that, up to that point, had tended to have isolated audiences that rarely looked at or understood each other’s fields. The journal’s strongly interdisciplinary approach led Singh to begin pondering questions about why Bombay, Delhi and other urban areas in India were being developed in ways that ran counter to his aesthetic and humanitarian sensibilities. When he realized that the answers had less to do with architecture and more to do with politicians, government policies and corruption, he began publishing newspaper articles in the 1960s with the aim of affecting public opinion and official policies.

After 1984, Patwant Singh began to delve into Sikh issues, editing and contributing the opening essay of Punjab: The Fatal Miscalculation, which was published in 1985. The Golden Temple, published in 1989, aimed to be the definitive volume on the Harimandir Sahib and show how central this “fountainhead of inspiration” has been to Sikhs since its construction.

Of Dreams and Demons is Patwant Singh’s 1994 memoir, which highlights the intersections that connect his personal history to India’s history in the 1930s to the 1990s. He returned to the topics of religion and history with his 1999 publication, The Sikhs, a survey of Sikh history beginning with the historical context of South Asia before the time of the Gurus and stretching to the present day.

Garland Around My Neck was published at the beginning of March, 2001. It the remarkable Story of Puran Singh of Pingalwara. The book was co-written with Harinder Kaur Sekhon as a tribute to the remarkable humanitarian, Puran Singh who dedicated his life to sewa in order to bring a more healthy and humane world into existence. It is the real life story of Puran Singh (1904-92), a barefoot colossus who cared for the despairing, disabled and destitute with his own hands restoring to them the dignity of human existence that an uncaring society had denied them. After 23 years of personally caring for ever-increasing numbers of people who were unable to take care of themselves, in 1957, Puran Singh expanded his service to society by establishing Pingalwara, which now serves over 1,000 residents. Unlike a hospital, which has the aim of treating the sick, Pingalwara was built for people–disabled, poor, mentally ill, with terminal diseases–who needed hope and a home. Patwant Singh and Harinder Kaur Sekhon relied on Punjab’s rich tradition of oral history in researching this book.

Patwant Singh’s latest book is The World According to Washington: An Asian View, published in 2005. In this work, the author examines the often violent history of relations between western imperial powers and Asia, including East Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. His perspective is passionately critical of the destruction western interventionists have wrought in Asia, largely through valuing their own political and economic interests over the interests of Asians themselves–and by backing up these interests with firepower. First, Singh writes, there was a time when “Europeans considered the domination of Asia their birthright.”

Now, incursions of US troops, US-made arms, and coercive development plans are the strategies of the world’s only remaining superpower. When Washington, DC and those in its pocket write history and cover current events, their perspective is so imbalanced that the general public in the western world is now ignorant of even the most basic facts about Asia. The World According to Washington was conceived as a corrective and fills in the missing histories of US involvement and interests in hotspots such as—Iran, Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, India and Pakistan.

Patwant Singh has also written extensively for newspapers and magazines and has appeared on both radio and television. His articles have appeared in many publications including the New York Times, Canada’s Globe and Mail, the UK’s Independent. Patwant Singh gave a lecture on July 22, 2006 at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York in conjunction with, I See No Stranger: Early Sikh Art and Devotion, an exhibition jointly sponsored by the Sikh Foundation and the Sikh Art and Film Foundation.

As Chairman of a family Trust, Patwant Singh established a unique rural medical facility in the state of Haryana in 1977. The Kabliji Hospital and Rural Health Centre is today acknowledged as a one-of-a-kind initiative in providing medical coverage and promoting preventive health in rural India. It was born out of Patwant Singh’s conviction that very little was being done for the medical and educational needs of the rural population in India, and that private initiative must play a role in providing these. A school was also founded next to the hospital a few years later. Both continue to flourish.

Patwant Singh will be remembered through his literary works and his charity.

Dr Anarkali Kaur

2010-02-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

Dr Anarkali Kaur Honaryar is a leading campaigner for the rights of women in Afghanistan. She was chosen in 2009 by Radio Free Europe's Afghan chapter as their "Person of the Year" for her work at the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. The award has gone onto make Kaur a household name in Kabul. Dr Honaryar is a trained dentist and is one of about 3,000 Sikhs who remain in Afghanistan. As a child she had dreamed of being a pilot, but soon she recognised that this was going to be impossible in the country in which she lived. Today she presents a radio show and is on the official Constitution Committee. She has been a part of the council that selected the interim government that replaced the Taliban. Dr Honaryar has been on the human rights commission in Afghanistan since 2006 and fights for the rights of women whose culture can go against them. Currently the female literacy rate in Afghanistan is less than 20%, which is something Dr Honaryar wants to change.

Surjan Singh Duhra

2010-01-31T14:02:00.000-08:00

Councillor Surjan Singh Dohra was the Mayor of Wolverhampton, UK for the year 2009-10. The city of Wolverhampton is a city of over 250,000 people in the West Midlands area of England. Councillor Surjan Singh was born and educated in India, where he trained to be a teacher and taught in secondary schools. He immigrated to England in 1964. He lived and worked in Leicester before moving to Wolverhampton in 1965 where he worked for British Leyland until it closed in 1982. He then started his own business until his retirement in 1996. Surjan first became a councillor for the St. Peters ward of the city in 1978. Since then he has served on commitees and was first elected mayor in 1991/1992.

Ranbir Kaur

2009-03-03T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ranbir Kaur was the first Sikh woman to join the US armed forces in 2003. She went on a one-and-a-half-year mission to Afghanistan. She had joined the National Guards at the age of 17. She was born in Nijjran village of Jalandhar district, Punjab, the young fighter reached the US as a seven-year-old after her father Mahan Singh, pursuing the American dream, secured a green card in 1990. She was brought up in an isolated town called Earlimart, in California, her brush with the uniform dates back to 2001 when she was a freshman (Grade IX) in high school at Delano, which was the closest city. In 2003, the daughter of a Sikh grape grower faced the ire of white supremacists, who posted spam emails terming her recruitment as a means to seek citizenship. However she was already a US citizen, and the young girl set about proving her detractors wrong through hard training. During the 2005 Katrina hurricane in New Orleans, the devout Sikh was instrumental in the recovery of the Guru Granth Sahib after the New Orleans gurudwara was submerged. United Sikhs, an organisation, had sought her assistance and Ranbir had got everybody moving after she announced that the living Guru of the Sikhs was under water. Amid random shootings, air force rescue experts David Cruz and Tom Bausmas had rescued the scriptures in an operation that lasted 22 hours.

Famous Sikhs has been informed by Dr Jaspreet Mundeir, that Ranbir Kaur was not the first Sikh woman to be in the US army as she herself served before Ranbir did. However we believe Dr Mundeir served as a medic and this entry states that Ranbir served in the armed forces so to our knowledge she is still the first Sikh woman to have specifically joined the armed forces. We may occasionally get things wrong so thank you for getting in touch with us, so if you know any different then please do get in touch with us.

Sukhman Dhami

2009-02-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

Sukhman Dhami, pictured with Jaskaran Kaur, is the co-founder and co-Director of Ensaaf. He was the recipient of the 2004 Unity Award from the San Francisco Coalition of Minority Bars and South Asian Bar Association for his outstanding service to the legal community. Dhami is a 2006 Echoing Green fellow. Sukhman also received a two-year fellowship through the Ford Foundation to address issues of accountability and impunity for human rights abuses in India. He serves on the Advisory Board to the Public International Law and Policy Group, which provides pro bono legal services to States in conflict and transition on issues of peace and conflict resolution and human rights abuses. Dhami earned his M.A. and J.D. from the American University.

Jaskaran Kaur

2009-02-14T17:26:00.000-08:00

Jaskaran Kaur is the co-Founder and co-Director of Ensaaf, an international human rights organisation that works to bring justice to the people of Punjab by documenting and exposing human rights violations, bringing perpetrators to justice, and organizing survivors to advocate for their rights. Jaskaran has authored reports on human rights abuses in India, including Twenty Years of Impunity: The November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India, and, as a contributing author, Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab, analyzing over 600 cases of extrajudicial execution and disappearance by India’s security forces. She is a 2006 Echoing Green fellow. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Discrimination & National Security Initiative of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. From 2003 to 2005 she was the recipient of the Irving R. Kaufman Fellowship from Harvard Law School. In 2001, she went to Punjab on a Harvard Human Rights Program Summer Fellowship to study the role of the judiciary in handling habeas corpus petitions filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court by families of the disappeared; her study was published in the Harvard Human Rights Journal. Jaskaran graduated with distinction from Yale College and Harvard Law School. SikhTruth reccommends you visit Ensaaf's website and if possible help them by making a donation.

Manjit Singh

2009-02-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

Manjit Singh was born and raised in Bombay, India. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering, from the University of Bombay in 1989. After completing his Bachelor’s, Manjit worked as a Systems Engineer for sometime with International Data Machines (IDM) in Bombay. Then in late 1990, Manjit came to the United States for further education. He received his Master’s Degree in Computer Science in 1992 from the State University of New York (SUNY) in Albany, New York. Manjit is a Computer Scientist by training and profession. While working at IBM, Manjit was one of the key persons responsible for designing a software program called “Key Ring Organizer (KRO)--a client software application for digital certificate management. Multiple private keys and digital certificates are securely stored and managed in disk files, Smart Cards and PC Cards. The KRO can generate, store and select keys for use in signing of digital information or authenticating the end-user to a host of secure client/server applications. Manjit currently holds the patent for this KRO software.

In 1996 Manjit co-founded SMART, which later became SALDEF, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund, and has been active in the Washington D.C. metro area Sikh community since early 1993. He serves on the Victim Services Advisory Board of the Montgomery County, Maryland. He is a member of the Community Advisory Board for the Washington DC region of the International Channel He served on the Advisory Board of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. He also served for two years as Member-at-Large on the Board of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.

Ajit Singh

2009-02-14T16:37:00.000-08:00

Ajit Singh is an Indian economist who graduated from the Punjab University and obtained his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been teaching economics at Cambridge University since 1965. He is currently a Professor of Economics at the University and Senior Fellow at Queens' College Cambridge. He has been a senior economic adviser to the governments of Mexico and Tanzania and a consultant to various UN developmental organisations, including the World Bank, the ILO, UNCTAD and UNIDO. He has also done a lot of research in economics, in areas such as take-overs, corporate organisation and markets. He has authored several books including, Takeovers: Their Relevance to the Stock market and the Theory of the Firm and co-author of Growth, Profitability and Valuation, both published by Cambridge University Press. He has also published extensively in academic economic journals. His books include his co-edited volume with C. Howes Competitiveness Matters: Industry and Economic Performance in the U.S., published in 2000 by the University of Michigan Press; the edited volume, (with A. Dutt and K. Kim).

Ajay Singh Banga

2009-01-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

Ajay Banga is the Chief Executive Officer of Citi Asia Pacific, a geography spanning markets from Japan to India. In this role, he is responsible for all the company's business lines in the Asian region, including institutional banking, alternative investments, wealth management, consumer banking and credit cards. He is a member of Citi's Senior Leadership and Executive Committees.

From 2005 to 2008, Ajay was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citi's International Global Consumer Group, which included all credit card and consumer banking operations outside of North America. Before this, he served as the President, Retail Banking North America. At that time, he was responsible for branch banking, commercial banking, commercial real estate, commercial financing and leasing, mortgages, student loans, and the Primerica Financial Services distribution channel. He also had additional responsibility for the operations and technology of all the real estate businesses in the consumer bank.

Ajay joined the Citi group in 1996 and has served as the business head of CitiFinancial and the U.S. Consumer Assets Division from 2000 to 2002. Previously, he worked in London as Division Executive for the Consumer Bank in Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent from 1998 to 2000. Early in his Citibank career, he was based in Brussels, where he was the Head of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Ajay began his business career with Nestle in 1981. He spent the next 13 years in a variety of assignments spanning sales, marketing, and general management. He later joined PepsiCo and was instrumental in the launch of its international fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalised.

Mr. Banga also serves on the Board of Kraft Foods Inc. In addition, he is on the Board of Trustees of the Asia Society and has served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New York Hall of Science and was a Board member of the National Urban League. Ajay graduated with a BA in Economics Honors from Delhi University and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Dr. Chiranjeev Kohli

2009-01-30T20:39:00.000-08:00

Dr. Chiranjeev Kohli is a professor of marketing. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from Indiana University. His dissertation received honorable mention in the International Doctoral Dissertation Competition. As a Professor of Marketing at California State University Fullerton, he was honored with the Business School’s Best Professor Award for 1998/1999 and Distinguished Faculty Award for 1999/2000. His research has been reported in academic journals and newspapers including Business Horizons, European Journal of Marketing, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, The Los Angeles Times and The Orange County Register. The Young Presidents Organisation of Southern California has honored him for excellence in academia. He has consulted for major companies including, Bionutrics, Canon USA, Contact East Networking, Dean Health System, Odetics, Regency Healthcare, Transamerica, and Verizon.

In his spare time he enjoys comedy, winning the Indiana University Comedy Competition and has opened for Dennis Miller of Saturday Night Live.

Nirvikar Singh

2009-01-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

Nirvikar Singh is a professor of Economics at the University of California Santa Cruz where he directs the he directs the Business Management Economics program and is codirector of the Santa Cruz Institute of International Economics. He has also taught at the Delhi School of Economics. He has been a visiting researcher at Stanford University; the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University; National Institute for Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi; Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi; Centre for Development Economics, Delhi; and Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

Professor Singh's main current research is on federalism, governance, and economic reform in India. He is also working with Dr. Govinda Rao on a book, The Political Economy of Indian Federalism. He has worked on decentralization and local government reform in India for the World Bank. His other research topics include electronic commerce, technology and innovation, the strategic behavior of governments toward multinational corporations, international technology transfer, international water disputes, and economic growth and development in South and East Asia.

Nikky-Guninder Kaur

2009-01-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

Nikky-Gunninder Kaur is a Professor of Religion at Colby College in Maine, USA and she has written several books on Sikhism, focusing on the equality of Sikh women. Nikky received her BA in Philosophy and Religion from Wellesley College, her MA from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD from Temple University.

She is the Crawford Family Professor at Colby College in Maine, USA. Her interests focus on poetics and feminist issues. She has published extensively in the field of Sikhism, including The Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), The Name of My Beloved: Verses of the Sikh Gurus (HarperCollins and Penguin), Metaphysics and Physics of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sterling). Her book on Sikhism was translated into Japanese. She has lectured widely in North America, England, France, India, and Singapore, and her views have been aired on television and radio in America, Canada, and India.

Suneet Singh Tulli

2009-01-29T20:28:00.000-08:00

Suneet Singh Tulli is an entrepeneur who is the CEO of Datawind. Suneet's company Datawind has created the PocketSurfer2 which is currently the world's fastest handheld Internet device, it is an ultra thin, sleek mobile device, the first of its kind to actually deliver the full power and original graphic intensity of the desktop web, rapidly and wirelessly - to the palm of your hand. Suneet was 11 years old when he and his family moved from India to Canada. He studied Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto and soon after formed his first company with his brother Raja called WideCom that addressed the problem of fax machines only being able to handle small documents. The product which they produced was featured in the Guinness book of records and this helped generate business for it as it was expensive at 20,000 Canadian dollars. Suneet's second company DocuPort Inc focused on portable peripherals, making handheld scanners and battery operated handheld printers. By 1999 the Tuli brothers were excited by the possibilities of the wireless Internet and launched Datawind Ltd which launched PocketSurfer2 which has been released in the UK, Germany and Spain, as well as Canada and the USA. Always on the lookout for new opportunities Suneet is now focusing his attentions to India and other emerging economies.

Jatinder Rakhra

2009-01-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

Jatinder Rakhra, born 9th April 1989, is a wrestler who is currently the British junior champion in the under 55kg division, and he was ranked 10th in the world juniors in Beijing 2007. He is training to represent Britain at the 2012 London Olympics and is expected to be a serious title contender. Jatinder was born in Slough, England but now resides in Manchester, England where he trains most days. Jatinder began wrestling at the age of 4 when he joined the gym of his dad's friend who was a wrestler in India. When that closed he joined the Slough Olypic club and he quickly progressed to British Championship level. Wrestling is not a very popular sport in Britain, as it does not have a foothold in schools, as a result there also not many wrestlers and especially not at an Olympic level. So Jatinder hopes to raise awareness of the real wrestling, which unlike the WWE wrestling is not that well-known. Jatinder was awarded the Best UK Asian Athlete of the Year in 2006 and the the Most Up and Coming Sports Personality of the Year 2007 at the British Asian Sports Awards.

Jot Singh Khalsa

2009-01-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

Jot Singh Khalsa is a weapons master who is a trained metal smith. Jot Sing grew up in Mills, Massachusetts and when he was 19 started studying fine arts at college, with a focus on gold and silversmithing. He started studying Kundalini Yoga, which he has done for over 30 years, and through this he met Yogi Bhajan. He found the Sikh religion appealing so decided to become a Sikh. Coming into contact with the Sikh religion he came across the Sikh Kirpan (click here to learn more about the 5 K's) which Sikh's wear to remind them to be a protector of the weak and innocent. So he started making Sikh Kirpan's after making his first knife in 1977. He has won many awards for his knife making , including Best Damascus Knife from Damascus USA, Best Art Knife from the Chicago Custom Knife Show and Best Knifemaker at the California Knife Show. Jot Singh is a full practising Sikh and is also a Sikh Minister.

Amongst his works he has made a sword with the entire Jaap Sahib prayer by Guru Gobind Singh to commemorate 300 years of the Khalsa in 1999. Besides forging the blade and metal work, he also supervised the engraving and finishing work. Jot Singh’s wife, Harbhajan Kaur, collected the many donations that funded the expense of the sword. Below are some images of this special sword and other examples of his work.

Bhai Ram Singh

2009-01-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

Bhai Ram Singh was an architect who designed the Khalsa College (now the Guru Nanak University), Amritsar in 1982. He also designed late 19th century, much sought after buildings in the princely states of Jind, Nabha, Patiala, Bhawalpore, Jammu and Kashmir, Mysore and so on. He has also designed a room in Osbourne House, England called the Durbar Room. In Lahore, he has designed the Chiefs College, Lahore Museum, the Mayo School of Arts, Punjab University Senate House and scores of other buildings, including the Governor's House in Simla. At Lyallpur, he designed the College of Agriculture. He was the chief designer of buildings in Punjab. He was born in a family of carpenters in a village near Batala and had a good sense of design and understanding of things mechanical. He was not even 14 when he repaired the piano of the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, even though he had no training of any kind. He integrated the colonial style with the native tradition in furniture making, tapestry making, interior decoration and architecture. He invented Indo-sarsenic style of architecture which is a mixture of Indian traditional and Mughal style of architecture. In the early 1880's, Principal Kipling (whose son, Rudyard, went on to win the Noble Prize) took him to Calcutta for an exhibition and introduced him to the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, who admired his work and invited him to the UK a little later. He performed so well there that Queen Victoria asked him to design an Indian Room in one of her palaces. His portrait is displayed in one of the Queen's palaces in England. Below is the portrait of Ram Singh and some images of his buildings inculding Khalsa College and the Durbar room.

Parmjit Singh Dhanda

2009-01-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Parmjit Singh Dhanda, born September 17, 1971, is a British Labour Party politician for Gloucester. He is the youngest Asian MP in the UK parliament. He was elected Member of Parliament for Gloucester in the 2001 general election, succeeding Tess Kingham as the Labour MP for the seat. He was re-elected in the 2005 general election. Parmjit attended the University of Nottingham, where he received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1993, and a MA in information technology in 1995. Parmjit Dhanda is married and lives with his family in Matson, Gloucester. Has been a member of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) since 1999. He speaks both Punjabi and French, in addition to English. Parmjit Dhanda became a Labour Party organiser in West London, Hampshire and Wiltshire in 1996, then went on to be assistant national organiser with Connect in 1998 where he remained until he was elected to Westminster. He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hillingdon in 1998 and served on the council until 2002. He was selected to contest the House of Commons seat of Gloucester at the 2001 General Election following the retirement of Tess Kingham. Parmjit Dhanda held the seat with a majority of 3,880 and has remained an MP since. In parliament, Parmjit Dhanda became a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee from his election until 2003. He helped setup an all-party group on Telecommunications, of which he's a Secretary.

Arjan Singh

2009-01-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, born 15th April 1919, is the only officer of the Indian Air Force to be promoted to five star rank, equal to a Field Marshal, to which he was promoted in 2002. He is also the first Marshal of the Air force. He was born in the Punjab Lyalpur, British India, into an Aulakh family. After the death of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in June 2008, he is the only living Indian military officer with a five-star rank. He was educated at Montgomery India (now in Pakistan). He entered the RAF College Cranwell in 1938 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in December 1939. He led No.1 Squadron, Indian Air Force into command during the Arakan Campaign in 1944. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1944, and commanded the Indian Air Force Exhibition Flight in 1945. Arjan was the Chief of Air Staff or CAS, from 1 August 1964 to 15 July 1969, and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1965, India's second highest civilian honour given for exceptional and distinguished service to India. He was Lt. Governor of Delhi and was made Marshal of the Air Force in January, 2002. He has flown 65 different types of aircraft. His life story is the subject of a book by Roopinder Singh called Arjan Singh: Marshal of The Indian Air Force. Rupa & Co (2002). Arjan has also been an ambassador fr India to Switzerland.

New website URL

2009-01-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

We have just bought a new website domain which is www.sikhtruth.com, this should be easier to remember and please add this to your favourites. Also click on the follow this blog link on the panel here ===============================================>
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If you know of a famous Sikh that we should profile and add to the site, just send us a comment on the blog posts or if you have a specific query you can use the contact form at the bottom of the right hand taskbar.

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Harpal Singh

Talvin Singh

2009-01-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

Talvin Singh, born 1974 in London, is a producer, composer and tabla player, known for creating an innovative fusion of classical Indian music and drum n bass. Talvin Singh is generally considered to be involved with an electronica sub genre called Asian Underground. Talvin grew up in Leytonstone and began playing the tabla, breakdancing and listening to punk rock as a child. At the age of 15, he went to India where he studied tabla under Pandit Lashman Singh, returning to the UK after just one year. In spite of this classical training, Singh's tabla playing was not accepted by British promoters of classical Indian music, as he incorporated too many western influences. By the late 1980s, Singh had decided to turn towards the fusion of sounds, and soon he began working as a musician with such artists as Madonna, the Indigo Girls, David Sylvian, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Sun Ra, Björk, Massive Attack and the Future Sound of London. Talvin signed to Island records for a compilation including several of his own productions. He worked as a remixer until releasing his solo debut, OK, in 1999. The album was recieved well and he won the Mercury Music Prize for 1999.

In late 1995, Singh founded the Anokha club night with promoter Sweety Kapoor at East London's Blue Note, where drum'n'bass DJs and South Asian punk bands went head to head with the amped-up sounds of his tabla and percussion. Guest spots by LTJ Bukem and others made Anokha a Monday-night hotspot in London, and Singh signed to Island for an Anokha compilation including several of his own productions. He worked as a remixer until releasing his solo debut, OK, in 1999. The album won him the Mercury Music Prize for 1999. His music is unique in its combination of electronic dance music styles, particularly ambient and jungle, with the tradition of Indian classical music. In describing his music, as well as his approach to composing and producing, Singh has said, "It's not fusion music....it's not crossover, because I don't separate music. If you don't separate it then you don't need to fuse it or cross it over. You just treat it as one element. Whatever it is, fundamentally it's still a group of 12 notes." He has also collaborated with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Sir Sobha Singh

2009-01-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

Sir Sobha Singh (1901-1986) is arguably the most well known contemporary painter Punjab has ever produced and is amongst the greatest Indian artists of the twentieth century. He was born on 29 November 1901 in a Ramgarhia Sikh family in Sri Hargobindpur, Gurdaspur district of Punjab and his father, Deva Singh, was in the Indian cavalry. He learnt and mastered painting by self practice. In 1919 he was present at the Jalianwala Bagh at the time of the shootings. Later, he joined the British India army as a draughtsman and was posted at various places in Iraq. He studied European Paintings and got inspiration from the works of English painters. At the age 15, Sobha Singh entered the Industrial School at Amritsar for a one-year course in art and crafts. In 1949 after the partition he was forced to move from Lahore, where he had opened a studio at Anarkali, he then settled down in Andretta near Palampur, a remote and picturesque village in the Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh beginning his career as a painter. His paintings of Sohni Mahiwal and Heer Ranjha proved very popular, his series on the Sikh guru's Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh are amongst the most mass produced pictures of the Guru's. Some of his murals are displayed in the art gallery of the Indian parliament House in New Delhi. He painted Sohni Mahiwal, one of the most popular love legends of Punjab, for the first time in 1937 and he also worked on other love tales of Punjab. Heer Ranjha, Sassi Punnu, Shirin Farhad and Mirzan Sahiban are other beautiful paintings. Sobha also dabbled in sculpture, sculpting the busts of eminent Punjabi's such as M.S. Randhawa, Prithviraj Kapoor, the patriarch of the Kapoor family, and Nirmal Chandra. The originals of his works are still displayed in his studio at Andretta. Sobha Singh died in Chandigarh on 21 August 1986. In his honour the Indian Government issued a postal stamp in 2001 and the road linking the Palampur town and Andretta has been renamed in his honour. Sir Sobha Singh is pictured with Amrita Pritam of whom he was sculpting a bust of, but did not complete. Below are a selection from some of his best artworks, from top Sohni Mahiwal, Palace of Bhutan and Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Gulzar

2009-01-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

Sampooran Singh Kalra, born 18 August 1936, is popularly known by his pen name Gulzar he is a noted Indian poet, lyricist, director, and playwright, who works primarily in the Hindi and Urdu languages. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, which is the 3rd highest civilian honour in India presented by the president and the Sahitya Akademi Award, the second highest literary honour given by the government of India. Gulzar has written in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and dialects of Hindi like Marwari (Rajasthani) and Bhojpuri. As a lyricist, he is best known for his association with the music director Rahul Dev Burman, and has also worked with other leading Hindi movie music directors including Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury, and Madan Mohan. Gulzar was born to Makhan Singh Kalra and Sujan Kaur in Dina, Jhelum District, British India, located in the present day West Punjab, Pakistan. Before becoming an established writer, Gulzar worked as a car mechanic in a garage. Gulzar began his career as a songwriter with Sachin Dev Burman, one of the most famous music composers of Hindi cinema for the movie "Bandini" (1963). The song was "Mora gora ang layle". His most famous songs have been with Rahul Dev Burman, Sachin Dev's son, writing songs sung by play back singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and her sister Asha Bhosle. He has won awards for his associations with Salil Chowdhary for the movie Anand (1970), with the music director Madan Mohan for film Mausam (1975), and more recently with Vishal Bharadwaj Maachis (1996), A.R.Rehman Dil Se (1998), Guru (2007) and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Bunty aur Babli (2005). Gulzar has leans to the left in Indian politics, this can be seen in the early films he directed such as Aandhi(1975), which criticised Indian policy and was banned for a time as it was seen as a criticism of Indira Gandhi. He has directed over 20 films, starting with Mere Apne in 1975. Gulzar is married to the actress Raakhee, they have one daugter, Meghna Gulzar who has also turned to directing and she has written a biography of her father called "Because he is...". He has won an impressive 17 Filmfare Awards, the oldest and most prominent film awards in Hindi Cinema.

Jeev Milkha Singh

2009-01-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

Jeev Milkha Singh, born born 15 December 1971 in Chandigarh, India, was the first Indian golfer to become a member of the European Tour. He has been the highest ranked Indian golfer in the world and first broke into the top 50 in October 2006, moving from 104th to 48th. He is the son of the famous Olympic athlete Milkha Singh who represented India in 200m and 400 races for the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olypics. Jeev won the NCAA Division II individual golf championship in 1993 and his first professional win was also in 1993 at the Southern Oklahoma State Open. In 2006 he won the Volvo China Open and he also won the Volvo Masters, taking home $840,000 in prize money which was at the time the biggest cheque won by an Indian in individual sport. In 2007 he became the first Indian player in the US Masters. He won the Asian Tour's Order of merit, given to the number 1 player, for 2006 and again in 2008, becoming the first player to do this. He was awarded the Player's Player of the Year award in 2008 and became the first Asian golfer to earn more than $1 million in a single season, amassing a whopping $1.45 million in 11 tournaments. In 2008 Jeev won the Australian Open title, Singapore Open, for which he was awarded $792,500 and the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup for the 2nd time. Famous Sikhs thinks golf is a very lucrative sport and Sikhs should definitely be encouraged to play, especially now that there are players like Jeev who are great role models.

Valerie Kaur

2009-01-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

Valerie Kaur is an up and coming film maker who made the film Divided We Fall (2006), which tells the discrimination faced by the Sikh and Arab communities after 9/11 in America. Valerie wrote and produced the film, which has been featured on CNN, the BBC and in Frances Moore Lappe’s book You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear. The film debuted In 2006, which was five years in the making, in 60 cities acros America. It premiered on September 14th, the anniversary of the death of Balbir Sodhi, around whose story all of the other stories in the film revolve. It has received numerous awards including Best International Documentary at the ReelWorld Film Festival of Toronto, Best Documentary - Audience Choice at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and Best Documentary at the New Jersey Independent South Asian Ciné Fest, and is currently being toured by the filmmakers at selected sites around the nation. The film has also now been released on DVD. The film can be bought at http://www.dwf-film.com. To date the film has premiered in 118 cities and has had over 160 screenings. Valerie Kaur is a thrid generation American sikh who's family has been in America for 100 years, she continues to be a writer and lecturer. The video below shows a trailer of the making of the documentary.

Joginder Jaswant Singh

2009-01-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

General Joginder Jaswant Singh, born 17 September 1945 in Bahawalpur (now in Pakistan), was the first Sikh chief of army staff of India, the second largest army in the world. He served as chief of army staff from January 31, 2005, to September 30, 2007. He was named 22nd chief of army staff on November 27, 2004, and took over the role when his predecessor, General N C Vij, retired on 31 January 2005. He was succeeded by General Deepak Kapoor. He is the first Sikh to have led the Indian Army and the 11th chief of army staff from the Western Command based at Chandigarh. His selection did not come as a surprise, as at the time of his appointment he was the most senior officer in the army after General Vij. Following his retirement, he became governor of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in January 2008. The new governor is taking a keen interest and monitoring all the developmental activities of the State, as well as taking care of his special constitutional obligation with regard to maintenance of law and order in the State. In fact, with his presence the pace of development has multiplied manifold. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the 9 Maratha Light Infantry on 02 August 1964. Hailing from a family of warriors, he is a third-generation soldier. Born on 17 September 1945 his family migrated to India (Patiala, Punjab) after partition in 1947. His grandfather served in the 1/67 Punjab Regiment during the First World War in Mesopotamia and Kut-al-Amara, both in present day Iraq, along with the 103rd, 105th, 110th, 114th and 117th Mahrattas. These five battalions subsequently joined the Maratha Light Infantry, the same regiment General Singh was commissioned into 50 years later. His father, Lt Col Jaswant Singh Marwah, served in the Electrical & Mechanical Engineers from 1943 to 1973 and is also a veteran of the Second World War. Recognising the distinguished contribution made by Gen JJ Singh towards India’s Security and Nation building ‘The Sikh Forum UK’ a renowned World Sikh body awarded him with the coveted ‘Sikh of the Year 2007’ in London, UK on 28 Oct 2007. He is married to Mrs Anupam Singh and they have a son and a daughter. He is fluent in Arabic and French, the widely spoken languages in Algeria. His nickname is "JJ". He has also been awarded the Life Time Achievement Award on the 26th April by the Mother Teresa's International & Millennium Awards Committee, for being a protector of the country and a social worker.

Gurukirn Kaur Khalsa

2009-01-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Gurukirn Kaur Khalsa is an artist, poet and story writer. She is a creative person who rejoices in the beauty of spiritual life, nature and people who live inspiring lives. On her art she says that, "I try to find a point in time and space when something essential is revealed. By capturing these transformational moments, I have been able to create a number of iconic works which convey something greater than what the image or words portray." Gurukiran began studying art as a child and her mother would take her to art classes from ayoung age. She was born in Redlands, California. She knew she wanted to be an artist by the sixth grade. For high school she went to the Ethel Walker School, in Connecticut. Where she was in the company of other creative students and was able to explore art, crerative writing and modern dance. Whilst there she became the president of the Art Club in her senior year. She continued studying art in college, both at Pomona College and the University of California, Santa Barbara where she earned her BA in studio art. Whilst at Pomona College she met her spiritual teacher, Yogi Bhajan and took Yoga classes. She comments that, "I had been searching for a lifestyle with a deeper commitment to spirituality for some time, and the Sikh way of life that he shared with us, with the practice of daily sadhana as its foundation, fulfilled this longing." She has used her talents to share aspects of the Sikh lifestyle that have been important to her, for example inn 1994, she began the ‘Pure Longing’ series, writing a poem and making five paintings of a Sikh woman doing ishnaan seva. Presently, women are prohibited from doing this service of the early morning cleaning of the floors of the Golden Temple because of gender discrimination which ironically is not inkeepin with Sikh beliefs. Yogi Bhajan presented the poem and painting to the acting Jethadar of the Akal Takht and in 1996 she was one of a group who participated in the sewa, although the issue remains unsettled to this day. Gurukiran has a studio in Phoenix where she continue to write and paint. She has also published the books, Pure Longing Fulfilled (1999), which was written to commemorate the tercentenary celebration of the Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, India in 1999 and Living with the Guru (2000), which is collection of Sikh stories from history for children. Famous Sikhs recommends that you visit Gurukirans website here, to find out more about her and her art. Below is some of her artwork.

Kanwar Singh Dhillon

2009-01-12T19:38:00.000-08:00

Kanwar Singh Dhillon, Born in Amritsar, India is an up and coming young artist. He has been influenced by great artists such as Sobha Singh, Caravaggio and J.W Waterhouse. Kanwar grew up in Toronto, Canada, wher he has explored several paths that would allow him to work as a professional artist including animation and book illustration. However, it wasn’t until he started to take an interest in the history of the Sikhs that his art took a definitive turn for the better. With his painting style Kanwar Singh Dhillon aspires to combine the grace and beauty of Sobha Singh’s portraits with the documentary style of Sikh history painters such as Devender Singh. Punjab’s history is rich with the exploits of heroes and sages from the time of Alexander to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The spread of the Sikh faith and the rise of the Khalsa have featured heavily in his recent works. Kanwar sells his artwork through his website www.artofpunjab.com, which Famous Sikhs recommends you visit as you can also buy calendars and greeting cards that feature his work. Below are some images of his artwork. If you would like to buy large prints or canvases of his work click here.

Harjinder Singh Sidhu

2009-01-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

Harjinder Singh Sidhu owns Air Slovakia, which is a European Airliner and the longest running airline in Slovakia. Air Slovakia is the first Sikh airline which Sidhu has tranformed into a Punjabi experience that takes passengers to Amritsar,. He has said that, "We have Slovakian airhostesses who speak with the passengers in Punjabi. It's an amazing achievement, because Slovakians don't speak English, but here they are speaking Punjabi.” The airline has its headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia whilst its regional headquarters are in Jalandhar, Punjab. The airline fleet consists of 1 Boeing 737-200's, 3 Boeing 737-300's and a further 2 Boeing 757-200's. The priority of Harjinder's was to improve the flight connection between Europe and Asia. Initially the furthest destination was to Amritsar in Punjab in North-western India, but has now expanded to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The airline also operates flight to and from, Tel Aviv, Isreal, Kuwait City, Kuwait, Birmingham, England, Bergamo, Italy, and Barcelona, spain. The airline has a turnover of over $30 million annually. Sidhu came to the UK from Patiala, Panjab when he was 16 and began working as a cashier in a Russian-owned petrol station and after only 9 months he was able to buy out his bosses. Within time he had a monopoly of 35 petrol stations which he sold to Shell and is now in the wholesale petrol business. He has a portfolio of property in Canada, America, India and Britain, which he says is still his main concern.

Jagmohan Singh Malhi

2009-01-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Jagmohan Singh Malhi is proud to have fulfilled his late father's dreams and become the first New Zealand police officer to wear a turban on duty. Jagmohan had grown up wearing a turban, but he shaved "because of peer pressure" when he moved to Nelson, New Zealand eight years ago. Then, when he graduated from police training college three years ago, he also shaved his head. Jagmohan said that his father had wanted him to grow his hair again, but he was unsure then whether any police protocol existed in relation to wearing a turban. When his father died last year, he decided to fulfil his wishes and began researching what other policies were in place for police around the world. "It was his wish to see me in my turban as a police officer. So I thought I would make it happen." While his family were proud to see him in a turban again, he also had a good response from his colleagues, who had been eager to see the turban worn for the first time on the beat. Nelson Bays police area commander Inspector Brian McGurk said he was delighted that the police had been able to help Malhi nurture his religious and cultural beliefs.

Jasbir Singh Tatla

2009-01-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

Lieutenant Jasbir Singh Tatla, 35, is the first turbaned Sikh to become a regular officer in the Canadian Air Force as Air Field Engineer. He was born in the Dhothar village in Ludhiana district of Punjab, India. Tatla earned his Bachelor of Engineering from G.N.E. Engineering College, Ludhiana, and Master of Technology from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Jasbir emigrated to Canada in June, 1999. He completed a one-year Architectural Drafting certification from Kwantlen University College in Surrey and worked in different fields, including as an Engineering Technician in PMC Sierra in Burnaby. His great-grandfather, Inder Singh, took part in the First World War, his grandfather, Mall Singh, took part in the Burma War, and his father, Gurdarshan Singh, retired as an Honorary Flying Officer. An uncle of his, Sukhdev Singh, was also a brigadier in the Indian Army. With thais distinguished millitary background, Jasbir passed the Canadian Forces entrance examination in 2003 and waited four years for a security background check from India. He was detailed to undergo training at Venture Naval Officers Training Center Esquimalt, Victoria, in April. His graduation ceremony was held on July 12 2008. After a struggle of five years, Tatla not only achieved his goal, but has also brought honour to his community. Tatla gives all the credit to his mother Hardial Kaur and father Gurdarshan Singh Tatla for their dedication. He has two sisters, Jasvinder Kaur Mann and Kamaljit Kaur. He is married to Pawandeep and has two sons Sahib and Jugraj. Jasbir can speak five languages, that include English, Punjabi, Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu. In addition to these Jasbir is also going to learn French, which he says will give him a greater chance for promotion.

Jarnail Singh

2009-01-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

Jarnail Singh, born 5 February 1962, is an English association football referee of Indian descent who officiates in the Football League. He is the first Sikh referee in professional football. He moved to Wolverhampton, West Midlands, at a young age, and now lives in Hounslow, Greater London with his wife and two children. Aswell as being a referee he has a full-time occupation in the Metropolitan Police in London. Singh took up refereeing in 1985, after taking his exam in order to improve his frequent outings as club linesman for the Asian youth team he managed. He progressed through lower leagues in the Wolverhampton area and then into the Conference South regionally, before being appointed as a Football League assistant referee in 1999. Whilst still a Conference referee, he was put in charge of an FA Vase semi-final first leg tie, between Oadby Town and Brigg Town on 22 March 2003, and shortly before his elevation to Football League referee for the 2004-05 season, he was appointed to the middle for the Football Conference Playoff semi-final first leg between Aldershot Town and Hereford United on April 29, 2004. Jarnail Singh has recently become a FA Ambassador, which entails promoting and encouraging minority groups and individuals into football and raising awareness of the FA’s race equality work.

Arpinder Kaur

2009-01-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

Arpinder Kaur is the first turbaned Sikh pilot to fly a commercial airline in the United States. She was hired by the American Airlines Corporation (AMR) in March, 2008. Arpinder flies Embraer Jets for American Eagle, a regional airline that is part of AMR and she is based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. On her feat she has said that, "Two of the reasons I did this were: first, my love of flying and, second, to set a precedent for the community so they know you can be in your Sikh appearance and do anything out there; so that my younger brothers and sisters [the rising generation] will pursue their passions while practicing their Sikh faith,”. She has said that she knew she wanted to be a pilot the very first time she was in an airplane. She was 14 and moving from the Panjab to the United States. The crew let her sit in the cockpit and see everything that they did. “That is the day I found in me this passion for flying,” Kaur said. She lived in Virginia after the move and attended George Mason University (VA) where she graduated with a degree in information systems, but she did not forget her dream of flying over the years, though her mother told her that girls should not be pilots because it was too dangerous. It was the love and support of her husband, Pritpal Singh that pushed her forward on the path toward becoming a pilot. From 2003 to 2005 Kaur was trained by Jesse Sherwood in Kansas. In 2005, Kaur moved to San Antonio and spent two more years as a flight instructor at Wright Flyers Aviation at the San Antonio International Airport. In January of 2008 she applied to be a pilot at American Airlines; her application was accepted in March and from 17 March through 7 June 2008, she underwent their pilot training program. She stated that just recently she had resolved the issue of her flying turbaned – the American Airlines manual allows “regulation approved hats” – by filling out an Accommodation Form. Kaur received help from The Sikh Coalition (SC), while she was planning the best way to secure an accommodation agreement about her turban. Harsimran Kaur, a staff attorney who consulted with Kaur said that, “the Sikh Coalition appreciates American Eagle’s willingness to accommodate Ms. Kaur’s religiously-mandated turban consistent with state and federal anti-discrimination law.” Harinder Singh, executive director of the Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) in San Antonio, Texas said, “This is a great day for the Sikhs in America. Religious accommodation, not assimilation, is what the founders of this great nation envisioned and we are thrilled American Airlines celebrates the rich religious and cultural diversity of all American populations.”

This is a video by Raj Singh on Arpinder.

Harry Perry

2009-01-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

Harry Perry who is also known as Har Nar Singh, born March 5th 1952 in Detroit, is a Venice Beach boardwalk musician famous for playing an electric guitar on rollerblades while wearing a turban. He has released three CDs: Harry Perry Band's Video Commander, Skate Town Ball and Harry Perry's Greatest Hits Of The Millennium. He typically uses distortion effects and plays in a style reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen. He began playing on Venice Beach in 1974. He is dedicated to health and fitness, running twenty miles daily and practicing Kundalini yoga. He has made cameo appearances in the movies Fletch, Dragnet, White Men Can't Jump, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Gift and Point of No Return, Marching out of Time, as well as the television shows CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Vengeance Unlimited. He also performed one song on the soundtrack to the movie Point of No Return. He made guest appearances with System of a Down during Ozzfest concerts of 2006. Perry and his partner Robert "Jingles" Newman were also instrumental in winning a California Court decision involving free speech rights of artists to earn their living as buskers in public places and the rights of artists to sell copies of their own original work.

Vic Briggs

2009-01-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

Victor Harvey Briggs III, born 14 February 1945 in Twickenham, London, England is a former blues musician. Briggs played guitar and piano with various groups in the 1960s, including The Echoes (Dusty Springfield's backing group), Steampacket, Brian Auger's Trinity, Johnny Hallyday and Eric Burdon and The Animals. On his musical ability Jimi Hendrix compared him to other greats by saying “I like the guitar playing of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Vic Briggs” in 1967. In the 1970s Briggs became a Sikh and changed his name to Vikram Singh Khalsa. He moved to San Diego where he had a plumbing business in the 80s. He has made several albums of Indian music and was the first non-Indian to perform kirtan at Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar, India. It was in 1979 when he went to India singing in Gurdwaras all over the North of India, he was invited to sing in the Golden Temple. In 1980 he had the privilege to repeat this pleasurable task. Vikram was a follower of Yogi Bhajan who was sending people out to cities across the US and Canada to open yoga centers and teach. It came to Vic in meditation that there was a great opportunity to start a yoga center in London. Yogi Bhajan was delighted at the idea and in December of 1970, Vic rented a basement flat in Notting Hill and began to teach Kundalini Yoga. One day while he was teaching a young woman came in to his class. She was stunningly beautiful. Vikram Singh, being the devoted yogi that he was, pointedly ignored her. Or, at least, pretended to. Her name was Kirsten Lindholm and she was a model and an actress, having already appeared in several Hammer Films horror movies. After a few months she and Vikram fell madly in love with each other. Each one realized that something had to give. Vikram would not have anything more to do with the entertainment business, while Kirsten did not want to leave her rich and famous lifestyle. Finally, love won out. Yogi Bhajan called Vikram to come back to California (for which he will always be grateful) and Kirsten came with him. Soon they were married, becoming Vikram Singh and Vikram Kaur Khalsa. Back in California, the couple settled in Marin County near San Francisco where they soon had their first child. Vikram became the President of Sikh Dharma of San Diego, which was the religious non profit corporation, and also the representative of the 3HO Foundation which was the educational non profit set up to teach Kundalini Yoga. The image shows Vikram with his family in 1978.

Lonnie Smith

2009-01-09T23:49:00.000-08:00

Dr. Lonnie Smith, born July 3, 1942 in Lackawanna, New York is a jazz musician, recognized as a player of both the Hammond B3 organ and piano. He has been performing for over five decades and many consider him as the world's top jazz organist. Lonnie was born into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music. He was part of several vocal ensembles in the 1950s, including the Teen Kings. Art Kubera, the owner of a local music store, gave Smith his first organ, a Hammond B3. His affinity for R&B melded with his own personal style, and he quickly became a local legend. He moved to New York City, where he met George Benson, the guitarist for Jack McDuff's band. Benson and Smith connected on a personal level, and the two formed the George Benson Quartet featuring Lonnie Smith, in 1966. After recording several albums with Benson, Smith became a solo recording artist and developed a career that has produced over 30 albums under his own name. Several legendary jazz artists have joined Smith on his albums, including Lee Morgan, David "Fat Head" Newman, King Curtis, Blue Mitchell, and Joe Lovano among others. Smith has performed at several prominent jazz festivals with artists including Grover Washington, Jr., Ron Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Lou Donaldson and Ron Holloway. He has also played with musicians outside of jazz, such as Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Etta James, Joan Cartwright, and Esther Phillips.

Navdeep Singh Bains

2009-01-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Navdeep Singh Bains, born 16th June 1977 in Toronto,Canada is an MP in the Canadian parliament and is currently the Liberal Critic for Natural Resources. After completing high school Navdeep attended York University where he received his Bachelor of Administrative Studies in 1999. He then went on to finish his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Windsor in 2001. He has also received his Certified Management Accounting designation. Before entering politics, Mr. Bains worked in the Finance Department at Ford Motor Company where he worked as a revenue and cost analyst. In addition, he worked as a financial analyst at Nike Canada. In 2004 he won the Liberal nomination for the riding of Mississauga-Brampton South where he defeated three political veterans, winning on the first ballot. Before taking part in the race he was considered an underdog due to the fact that he was only 26 years old. When Mr. Bains was elected for the first time in 2004 he was the youngest Liberal MP in Parliament. He was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister in 2005 as well as being sworn in as a Privy Councillor. He is one of 5 Sikh MP's in the Canadian government. Navdeep is seen as a rising star in politics and has been voted 3 years in a row as the best up and comer in a survey by the Hill Times. He currently resides in Mississauga with his wife Brahamjot and their daughter Nanki Kaur.

Vijender Singh Kumar

2009-01-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

Vijender Kumar, born 29th October 1985 is an Indian boxer from the Kaluwas village, Bhiwani district in Haryana. He became the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal when he won the bronze medal in the middleweight category at 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He used to box recreationally in his childhood and used to go to the Bhiwani Sports Authority of India center for boxing practice, this was where coach Jagdish Singh spotted his talent. Jagdish Singh is a boxing coach who trained four of five the boxer's India took to the Olympics. He also won a silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games in Melbourne for the Welterweight division. His father, Mahipal Singh, is a bus driver who worked overtime to raise funds for Vijender's training and his mother is a homemaker. His younger brother Manoj is also a boxer, but is now in the Indian Army. Vijender has also worked as a model in magazines to fund his boxing training. Vijender has become a national hero in India after winning his medal and has made several appearances on Indian TV. He has also worked as an inspector with Haryana police. He is tipped to make a Bollywood film because of his good looks, but he wants to concentrate on boxing and wants to make boxing on par with cricket as a popular sport in India. He also hopes to open a boxing academy in the future.

Andrew Singh Kooner

2009-01-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

Andrew Singh Kooner, born May 11, 1979 in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England is a professional Canadian boxer. He moved to Tecumseh, Ontario at a young age and began boxing from the age of 13 at a Windsor boxing club. He has won 10 national boxing titles and has boxed in 2 Olympic games. In 2002 he won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in the Bantamweight division. He holds the Quebec Boxing Council Super Featherweight Title and the Canadian Bantamweight Title. At the 2002Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England he nearly won Gold, only losing the final on a nail bitingly tight count-back which promoter Mick Hennessy thinks he should have won. To date he has had 9 fights, winning 8 of them with 4 K.O's. He sports several tattoos including an ek ong kaar sikh symbol standing for there is only one God on his arm. He is ranked as #1 in his weight category Bantamweight in both Britain and Canada.

Snatam Kaur

2009-01-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

Snatam Kaur, born 1972 in Trinidad, Colorado, is an American singer and songwriter. She performs Sikh devotional music called kirtan and has toured around the world as a peace activist. She currently lives in Española, New Mexico with her partner Sopurkh Singh Khalsa. Kaur's family moved to California when she was was two, living in Long Beach and Sacramento. When Kaur was six, the family went to India where her mother studied Kirtan. Kaur lived on a ranch near Bolinas, California as an adolescent, playing kirtan with her mother in Sikh temples and attending Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. While at Tam High, she played violin in the school orchestra and began songwriting. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead coached her and her classmates before they performed her song Saving the Earth at an Earth Day concert in San Francisco. Snatam was also active in social and environmental causes while in high school, serving as president of the Social Action Club, which started a campus recycling program and organized environmenal awareness programs. The Club also led the effort to change the school mascot and sports team names from the Indians to the Red Tailed Hawk in 1990 and 1991. After graduating she attended Mills College in Oakland, California, receiving a bachelors degree in biochemistry. She then returned to India, to study Kirtan under her mother's teacher, Bhai Hari Singh. In 1997, Kaur began a career as a food technologist with Peace Cereals in Eugene, Oregon which is a company started by followers of the Sikh Dharma that donates 10% of its profits to peace causes. Snatam Kaur was nominated for a Grammy Award for her album Shanti(2004) in the new age category.

Dalip Singh Saund

2009-01-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

Dalip Singh Saund (September 20, 1899–April 22, 1973 pictured shaking hands with President John F.Kennedy was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served the 29th district of the state of California from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1963. He was the first Asian American, Indian American and Sikh member of the United States Congress. Unbelievably he is to date the only Sikh to have served in Congress. Dalip was born in Chhajulwadi, Punjab, India and received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Punjab in 1919. He emigrated to the United States, originally to study agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley. While at the university, he obtained a master's degree (1922) and a Ph.D. (1924), both in mathematics. His stay was suppose to be for 3 years but, thereafter he decided to remain in the United States and became a successful farmer. Later, he campaigned to allow "Hindus," as all people of South Asian descent were identified at that time, to become naturalised citizens. After the Luce-Celler Act was passed in 1946, he applied for naturalization and became an American citizen in 1949. He ran for election in 1950 as a Justice of the Peace for Westmoreland township, California, and won the election, but his election was thrown out as he had been a citizen for less than a year. He later ran again for the same post and was elected again. In November 1955, he announced a campaign to run for the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat and won an election for an open seat against a famous Republican aviator, Jacqueline Cochran. He was re-elected twice, becoming the first member of a non-Abrahamic faith to be elected to Congress. In May 1962, he suffered a severe stroke which left him unable to speak at all, or walk without assistance, thus ending his congressional career.

Kiran Kaur Matharu

2009-01-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

Kiran Kaur Matharu,born 27 February 1989 in Leeds, England is a professional female British golfer currently playing on the Ladies European Tour. She is the first female British Asian Golf champion. Kiran started playing golf from the age of 11. She was a member of the Nick Faldo Series development programme and 2004 and 2005 Faldo Series Girls' Champion. She received an invite to play in her first Ladies European Tour tournament at the 2005 Open de España Femenino Castellón, the year she was Welsh Ladies' Strokeplay Championship Runner Up. 2006 saw her represent Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup after winning the English Ladies Amateur title. She was named Sony Entertainment Asia 2006 Female Junior Sports Personality of the Year for the second successive year. Kiran turned professional in August 2006 after winning the English Ladies Amateur title and finished 15th in her first professional tournament. She says she gets ispiration from Tiger Woods because he is a great sportsman and Lorena Ochoa because she is the No.1 lady golfer in the world and a very down to earth person.

Jagjeet Singh Sohal

2009-01-08T20:40:00.000-08:00

Jagjeet or Jay Singh Sohal is a Television Journalist from Birmingham,UK. He currently works for ITV Thames Valley for whom he produces the news and reports. He has always been interested in politics and he studied Politics at University. He says that is one real skill is writing, and he has worked for newspapers and magazines since he was 16. This eventually led to him trying out radio in New York, and setting his sights on TV after studying post-grad Broadcast Journalism. It all happened a lot faster than he thought, just 4 months after finishing his course he became a trainee journalist for ITV. He also organised the first Siikh awareness day at ITV to inform his fellow journalists about the Sikh faith.

Magic Singh

2009-01-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

Amardeep Singh Dhanjal is "Magic Singh" a member of the Magic Circle he is a brilliant magician. He is one of the youngest magicians ever to be alloweed into the Magic Circle. Magic Singh has been performing since the age of 11 and he now provides a professional service from weddings to charity events. He has performed for the BBC, Breast Cancer Research UK Charity, the Queen's Golden Jubilee, BritAsiaTv and Groove Armada DJ's. He can be booked from his website at www.magicsingh.co.uk. Singh is one of the UK's finest magicians and he performs with a unique modern style of magic that captivates and amazes his audience performing at close range. His ambition is have his own show televised on National TV representing the Sikh/Asian nation and also eventually produce my very own magic stage show in the West End.

Ashvinder Singh

2009-01-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

Ash Singh resides in Singapore and is responsible for thinking up creative ideas new initiatives to promote Sikhism like Sikhpal.com, SikhiWiki.org, Gurumustuk's Blog (MrSikhnet.com), SikhAds, RateMyTurban.com, Turbanizer.com and The Ash Singh and Gurumustuk Radio Show. He runs one of Singapore's fastest growing media companies and manages the company's investment portfolio. His consultancy company provides strategic solutions to pre-IPO and Fortune 500 companies. Ash's web clients included some of Singapore's top brands like McDonald's (McDonalds.com.sg) for whom he created the initiative of an in-store plasma screen network and Singapore's largest customer loyalty rewards program with almost 500,000 members, leveraging for all 120 McDonald's outlets in Singapore and Starhub (Starhub.com). He is also an advisor to the INSEAD Business School. An aspiring venture capitalist, Ash was recently appointed to the executive on the Young Venture Capital Society of Asia to spearhead growth all over the continent. Ash is a Canadian born, Hong Kong educated, entrepreneur and was recently awarded the Sikh Centennial Foundation Award for entrepreneurial success and community service. Ash is the current project the Interactive Director of Imagine OmniMedia (www.imagine-omnimedia.com), a Singapore based media ventures company focused on reality television in Asia. The company's recent production "The Contender Asia" (www.contenderasia.com), a joint venture production with Dreamworks and Mark Burnett Productions, was the most popular show in its category on AXN. He received the honour of "Person of the Web" from Yahoo in 2007. He resides in Sinapore with his wife Harsimran Kaur.

Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa

2009-01-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa, born on March 24th, 1975 in Los Angeles, California to Sat Kirin Kaur Khalsa and Govinda Singh Khalsa is the webmaster of Sikhnet(www.sikhnet.com), which began in 1995 and is one of the largest sikh resources on the internet. His mother and father who were raised in Jewish and Chrisitian backgrounds came into contact with Sikhism after studying Kundalini Yoga with Siri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Yogi. As they spent more time with Yogi Bhajan they became more and more interested in wearing a turban and living as Sikhs. They eventually adopted the Sikh religion. From the age of 7 Gurumustuk was sent to school in India where he studied for 11 years between 1983 and 1994, on this experience he writes "We would get up early in the morning, take a cold shower (which I dreaded at the time), and then get together with many of the other Sikhs in our area to recite Japji and practice Kundalini Yoga (to stretch and exercise our bodies). After the yoga we would do about an hour of meditation to various mantras from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, followed then by Gurdwara. This started our day by giving 2-1/2 hours to the Guru......10% of our day."

Gurumustuk Singh sacrificed a lot of his spare time to develop the website in its early stages and had to quit his job when he developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, so he decided to work part time on developing Sikhnet. Now living in Espanola, New Mexico, USA, Gurumustuk works full time on Sikhnet. He is married to Arjan Kaur Khalsa, who is a Chiropracter and has two children. He has a blog, www.mrsikhnet.com which he regularly updates about his life as a Sikh.

Baljeet Singh Lalli

2009-01-08T16:27:00.001-08:00

Baljeet Singh Lalli became the CEO of Prasar Bharati in December, 2006. Prasar Bharati runs Door Darshan which is India's public service broadcaster. Door Darshan is one of the world largest broadcasting organisations in terms of infrastructure. The company currently operates 19 TV stations in India. He is also the Director General of All India Radio the radio broadcaster of India. Baljeet was previously the Secretary of Border Management in the Ministry of Home Affairs for the Indian Government.

Kulveer Singh Ranger

2009-01-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Kulveer Ranger Ranger who is a member of the Conservative Party in Britain has been appointed as a Director of Transport policy by the London Mayor, Boris Johnson. Kulveer will lead on policy direction for Transport on behalf of the Mayor. He will also oversee the relationship between the GLA and TfL to ensure the delivery of the Mayor’s priorities. He is one of 10 Mayoral Appointments. About Kulveer London Mayor, Boris Johnson said:“I am delighted to be able to announce Kulveer as my Director for Transport Policy. He has vast experience in delivering large projects with multiple stakeholders in both the public and private sector, and has a reputation as a terrific motivator and a leader with ceaseless energy". Kulveer was the lead delivery manager of the Oystercard for London in 2003 and led commercial negotiations on behalf of the Secretary of State supporting the King’s Cross redevelopment, the procurement of a £70m. He has been an advisor to Shadow Secretary of State for the Dept of Trade & Industry, Alan Duncan MP, and is currently Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party. Kulveer has appeared on Sky News and the BBC as a political commentator. Ranger originally decided to be an architect at an early age. In 1996 he attained a degree in Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture from the University College London, but it was during that time that his career direction changed. He admires Admiring great leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela and Ghandi. He argues that there are not enough Black, Asian and Oriental youngsters involved in politics.

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi

2009-01-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, born in New Delhi, India is the first Sikh MP in New Zealand who was elected to parliament in 2008. Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi of conservative National Party defeated the Labour Party's Ross Robertson in the immigrant-dominated Manukau East constituency in suburban Auckland. Bakshi, with his wife Irvinder Kaur and two sons, moved to Auckland from Delhi in 2001 and has since been actively involved with Indian community groups in New Zealand. He is a member of a range of business and social organisations. Kanwal holds a B.Com degree from Delhi University and has 23 years of business experience. Since moving to New Zealand, he has been active in a number of business ventures covering property, wholesaling and the fashion industry. Along with other immigrant MP's Bakshi joins the most wthinically diverse New Zealand government ever.

Harbhajan Singh Samra

2009-01-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

Harbhajan Singh Samra, came to dominate okra (Bhindi vegetable) farming in record time he is known as the Okra King of America. He arrived in California with an M.A. in economics in 1985 and began supplying produce to Indian restaurants and stores in the days when tinda, methi and moolee were hard to come by. He sold produce out of the back of his pickup truck. Later he opened a stall in the downtown Los Angeles 7th Street produce market. "You have to find your own niche. It's hard in the beginning to start from scratch, but once you create something, you have the confidence," he says. After 10 years of building his business, the next step was growing his own produce. His first okra crop, planted in 1994, failed. There were serious setbacks. Debts caused him to lose his farm, but he recovered. He bought several hundred acres near Indio in Southern California. Now Samra Produce & Farms, which farms about 120 hectares, has customers for Indian vegetables throughout the United States, Canada and Britain. According to a 2001 New York Times report, Samra's annual turnover exceeds $10 million, although he declines to be specific. He credits the American system for helping him succeed. "If you are determined, you can do anything in the world. But in some places in the world it is rough, and in others it is smooth. In America you can do things smoothly," he says. "But you have to work for it."

Didar Singh Bains

2009-01-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

Didar Singh Bains is known the as the peach king of California and is one of the richest Sikh farmers in North America. He arrived in America with just $8 in his pocket saw the potenital of land for farming in California and has now become one of the wealthiest men in Northern California, worth somewhere in the region of $50 million. Didar started out driving tractors and irrigating orchards for 75 cents an hour, he did the work of four men, and soon bought his first peach orchard. He bought another, then another, and by 1978, had become the largest peach grower in California. His first name roughly means "visionary" in Punjabi, today he owns more than 40 pockets of land in 13 counties, including 667 acres next to Sacramento International Airport and much of rapidly developing western Yuba City. He has always been a leading figure in the Sikh community for the last 20 years. Before 1983 he was the head of the North America Akali Dal. After the Blue Star Operation in Amritsar he became the president of the World Sikh organization. In 1985, he became the founder chairman of the World Kabbadi federation. He is also acknowledged as the founder of the Annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City where nearly 100,000 Sikhs come together is the largest gathering of Sikhs in America. He is also a member of the World Sikh Council.

Ravi Bopara

2009-01-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

Ravinder Singh Bopara, born 4 May 1985 in Forest Gate, Newham, London is an English cricketer who plays for Essex. Although originally a specialist batsman, he is now improving his medium-pace bowling and developing into an all-rounder, especially in the shorter form of the game. His agile fielding also adds to his worth. He is the second Sikh to play cricket for England, after Monty Panesar. Bopara made his first-class debut for Essex in May 2002. In 2003 and 2004, he played several matches for England Under-19s, including in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2004. In January 2007 Kevin Pietersen sustained a rib injury in England's first One Day International against Australia, keeping him out of the remainder of the series. Bopara was called up as his replacement, and made his ODI debut on 2 February. Later that month, he was named in the England squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup,[2] and he played his second ODI in England's second match of that tournament. In England's match against Sri Lanka, Bopara was named man of the match for his 52 off 53 balls, which brought England to within three runs of victory from a seemingly hopeless position. On 9 September 2008 Bopara was selected as one of the England 15-man squad for the inaugural Stanford Super Series in Antigua. The same day, Bopara was also handed an Increment Contract by the ECB. He will receive a one-off payment and will earn points for every Test and One-Day International he plays in over the next 12 months. Should Bopara reach a certain number of points, he will be awarded full Central Contract status. Ravi was awarded the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketers of the Year 2008.

Miss Pooja

2009-01-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

Miss Pooja's who's real name is Gurinder Kaur Kainth was born on December 4th, 1979 in Rajpura, Patiala, India is a famous Punjabi Singer. She has one sister, Maninder Kaur Kainth, and one brother. She starting singing from the age of 5 and went on to gain a degree in teaching music She is widely regarded as having revived Punjabi Duet songs. During late eighties to early 21st century, the Punjabi duet songs were often given second place by DJ's. She has become the largest selling female bhangra artist in India and has had considerable success internationally. Part of her success is the number of songs she has recorded and continues to record and she has sang with over 40 male singers. She may become one of the most partnered singers of all time. Another notable reason for her success is that she seems to be recording many songs written by the famous Punjabi song writer, Mr. Karamjit Puri from Village Bhagta Bhai, Punjab, India. One or more parts of his name are invariably mentioned in every song usually in the last or second last stanza. She is also very attractive and appears in many of her music videos. She has performed in shows in The US and at melas in the UK. She is recognised for her distinctive high pitch voice and has has had several number 1 singles on the Asian UK chart.

Malkit Singh

2009-01-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

Malkit Singh MBE born in 1972 in the village Hussainpur, Jalandhar and raised in Nakodar, Jalandhar, Punjab is Bhangra singer. Most famous for the songs "Gur Nalo Ishq Mita", "Tootak Tootak Tootiyan", "Kurri Garam Jayee", as well as recently, "Chal Hun," and "Jind Mahi" from the blockbuster Bend It Like Beckham film soundtrack. Singh and his backup band Golden Star have toured in twenty-seven countries. In 1997, he was given the Recognition of the city of Los Angeles for his service to the Indian community. He is also listed in the 2000 Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest selling Bhangra artist of all time with the first million selling Bhangra album. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the queen in the 2008 New Year Honours list. To date he has released over 20 Bhangra albums. He has been living in the UK since 1984.

Rabbi Shergill

2009-01-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

Rabbi Shergill, born Gurpreet Singh Gill, 1975 in Delhi, India is a musician famous for his debut album Rabbi and the chart-topper song of 2005, Bulla Ki Jaana. His music has been described as rock, sufiana and Indipop. Rabbi himself has been called "Punjabi music's true urban balladeer". His father was a Sikh preacher and his mother is a college principal and also a Punjabi poet. Rabbi has four sisters. He is an alumnus of Guru Harkrishan Public School, India Gate and University of Delhi's renowned Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College. After leaving college, he did jingles for adverts for a while, some of them were for Nova ghee, Yamaha RX-T motorbikes, and Times FM. Rabbi struggled for many years to get his debut album published. Initially he worked with Sony Music, but Sony backed out. He then approached Minty Tejpal, brother of Tehelka's editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, who liked his music and offered him a contract. After Tehelka's first sting operation, the company ran into financial problems and eventually cancelled the contract. Magnasound also offered him a contract, but the company became bankrupt before the album could materialize. He was finally signed on by Phat Phish Records, who brought out his debut album. His self-titled debut album Rabbi (2004) was highly successful with its title track Bulla ki jaana main kaun becoming an instant hit. The other songs in the album are an eclectic mix, including songs of joy (Ajj Nachna), love (Tere Bin) and even on contemporary issues (Jugni). Rabbi writes in Punjabi, for "It is my pride", he says. Rabbi's music has been inspired by Rock,Hard rock as well as Sufi and Punjabi folk music. His favourite musicians include Bruce Springsteen, Sahotas, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Jimmy Page. His fans include Amitabh Bachchan and Sir V. S. Naipaul, who famously commented, "I didn’t understand it (his music); but it was very, very soulful, very deep." Mira Nair compared him to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He has recently released his second album Avengi Ja Nahin.

Jimmy Shergill

2009-01-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

Jimmy Shergill, born December 3, 1970, who's full name is Jasjit Shergill is an Indian actor who hails from Patiala, Punjab, India. He is married to Priyanka Puri and they have a son named Vir. Many have likened his appearance to the Hollywood actor Barry Pepper. His debut film was Maachis (1996)and he has also appeared in Mohabbatein, Dil Hai Tumhaara, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, Haasil, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar, Yahaan, Hum Tum, Tom, Dick and Harry,Kehta Hai Dil Baar Baar,Choddon Na Yaar, Dus Kahaniyan. Some of his recent roles have been in the popular films Munnabhai M.B.B.S. and Lage Raho Munna Bhai. His best movie as a lead actor is Yahaan (2005) where Jimmy portrays the role of a Captain in the army. Jimmy has also worked in Punjabi movies including Yaaran Naal Baharan, Mannat and Tera Mera ki Rishta.

Kash Gill

2009-01-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

Kash Gill is a former British professional kickboxer and the founder of IFA Kickboxing club (International Freestyle Association). He has been the world champion 3 times and out of 100 fights he has had 43 knock outs. His natural speed and athletic ability soon gave him the nickname "Kash the flash gill" and standing tall at 6 ft 2 inches Gill has been described as the UK's most prolific kickboxer. Kash retired from kickboxing in 2002 and now runs a gym in Birmingham, England that has already trained some champions such as Paul Collins who has been the W.K.M.A Featherweight Full Contact Champion.

Akaash Bhatia

2009-01-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Akaash Bhatia, born 1st May 1983 in Loughborough, England is a British featherweight professional boxer. He is the first ever professional British Sikh boxer and the current British Southern area featherweight champion. Bhatia turned professional on May 2006 in York Hall, Bethnal Green, London. In his debut Bhatia defeated Kristian Laight on points over four rounds. He went on to win his next 11 straight fights before he fought for his first title which was the vacant British Southern area featherweight title. This fight came in November 2008 against Marc Callaghan at the Robin Park Centre in Wigan and he won the fight with a second round knockout of Callaghan. To date he is undefeated in 13 fights. His nickname is "Kash the bash" and he has been the London featherweight champion 2 times. Bhatia has been training at the renowned Peacock's Gym, Canning Town, in east London, as well as Maloney's fight factory in Deptford, south London. He was awarded the Most Up and Coming Sports Personality at the Sony Entertainment Television Asia Sports Personality of the Year Awards on February 3, 2007. His promoter Frank Maloney who took Lennox Lewis to the Heavyweight titles has said "Bhatia has the potential to become something very special in this sport,".

Simran Kaur Mundi

2009-01-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Simran Kaur Mundi, born 1986, was crowned the Femina Miss India Universe 2008 in Mumbai on 5th April 2008. She represented India in Miss Universe 2008 held in Diamond Bay Resort in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 13, 2008. Although she did not win she was placed 1st runner up in the Beach Beauty Competition, 2nd runnes up in Evening gown contest and was placed 4th in National Costume round.

Sant Singh Chatwal

2009-01-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

Sant Singh Chatwal, born 1st October 1946, is the owner of Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, the Bombay Palace chain of restaurants, and a part-owner of the News Times India. He is rumoured to be worth in the region of $1 Billion. also the father of hotelier Vikram Chatwal, who is known as the Prince of New York by his friends for his extravagant lifestyle. Hampshire Hotels & Resorts owns hotels in the United States, Canada, the UK, India and Thailand, with over 3000 rooms in Manhattan alone. The Bombay Palace chain of internationally renowned gourmet restaurants has restraunts around the world in major metropolitan cities including London, Montreal, Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Beverly Hills, Houston and Kuala Lumpur.

Born in Punjab, India Sant became an Indian fighter pilot in his 20s, married a prominent actress, Dhaman Chatwal, and then moved to Ethiopia where he became close friends with the nation's leader, Emperor Haile Selassie. After Selassie was overthrown in 1974, Chatwal moved his family to Montreal and opened his first restaurant, which he named Bombay Palace. A decade or so later, he opened a second location on 52nd Street and expanded even further when he bought the moribund Beefsteak Charlie's chain from restaurateur Dennis Riese and converted them into yet more Bombay Palaces. He then moved into the hotel industry which has proved an even bigger money turner, owning 12 hotels in Manhattan alone he is also planning an incursion into southern India, and says he plans to open 27 lodgings in the region by the end of 2011.

Chatwal was a major donor for Bill Clinto when he ran for presidency and donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign when she ran for Senate. He maintains a close relationship with the Clintons who in February 2006 attended the extravagant wedding of his son Vikram Chatwal in India. The wedding included a week of festivities spread out over a week and three Indian cities and a veritable fleet of chartered planes. Other guests included Lakshmi Mittal, Deepak Chopra and the Prime Minister of India. He is also the Trustee of the William J. Clinton Foundation, a charitable foundation led by President Clinton that focuses global issues of health, security and economic empowerment. In April 1999, he became the only Indian in the United States to be honored with the “Order of the Khalsa” by the Government of India, for his outstanding service to the Community.

Harpal Kumar

2009-01-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

Harpal Kumar, born 1965, is the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, which is the world's leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research. He succeeded Alex Markham as Cancer Research UK’s Chief Executive with from 2 April 2007. Harpal graduated from the University of Cambridge with first class honours in Chemical Engineering and he subsequently gained an MBA with High Distinction as a Baker Scholar at Harvard Business School. Prior to joining Cancer Research UK, he was Chief Executive of the disability charity The Papworth Trust and founding Chief Executive of Nexan Group, a venture capital-backed medical devices company. Harpal was the Chief Operating Officer of Cancer Research UK and Chief Executive of the Charity’s fast developing subsidiary Cancer Research Technology(CRT), where he helped to treble the income of CRT. He lives in North London with his wife and two children.

Harpal Singh

2009-01-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

Harpal Singh, born 15 September 1981 in Bradford, England, is a professional footballer. He was for a time the only British born Asian professional footballer in the Football League. He was signed to Leeds United, but made his professional debut for Bury during a loan spell. He has also played for Bristol City and Bradford City, before moving to Stockport County in 2005. His favourite position is left winger. In January 2007, Singh was signed by Bohemians and played for them in their Double winning season of 2008. He was relaased by the club in December 2008 and is currently looking for another club.

Kal Kaur Rai

2009-01-06T20:27:00.001-08:00

Kal Kaur Rai, born in Huddersfield, England is a fashion designer from Britain. Her label Kal Kaur Rai has been featured in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Elle and worn by the likes of Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey, Beyonce Knowles and Danni Minogue. She fell into fashion after studying for a degree in management and has no formal fahion training. She launched the label at the London Interseason Trade Show and was quickly picked up by leading independent stores. The label has since gone from strength to strength and is now stocked in more than 70 independents in the UK. In April 2004 Kal won the Young Achiever Of The Year award at the Asian Business Awards in recognition of her entrepreneurial approach to business that has seen the business evolve.

Gul Kirat Panag

2009-01-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

Gul Panag, born 3rd January, 1979 in Chandigarh, Punjab who's full name is Gul Kirat Panag. Gul Panag won the Femina Miss India Universe in 1999, beating out 25 beautiful delegates and went on to represent India in the Miss Universe pageant where she won the miss beautiful smile award. Gul Panag is a Sikh Punjabi girl who belongs to a military family and had to travel all over India due to her father’s frequent transfers. She had been in Africa during her youth for a long time. Gul Panag is known for her attractive dimples. She studied for a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Punjabi University Patiala and then a Masters in Political Science from the Panjab University, Chandigarh. She has starred in the films Jurm (2005)and Dhoop (2003) and also the TV serial Kashmeer on STAR Plus, but she is most known for her film Dor(2006) in the role of Zeenat. The 2007 film, Manorama Six Feet Under, inspired from Roman Polanski's Chinatown, earned her fabulous reviews. She also has acted in the film Hello(2008). Gul’s good with handling guns and has been shooting skeet and rifle since her early teens. She often shoots with and trains under her brother Sherbir who’s a national level shooter.

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh

2009-01-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

Bhupinder Singh Bhupinder Singh, born 12 October 1891 in Patiala, India –23 March 1938, Patiala) was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala from 1900 to 1938. He is best known for his extravagance, and for being a cricketer. He was born at the Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala, and educated at Aitchison College. At age the age of 9 he succeeded as maharaja of Patiala state upon death of his father, Maharaja Rajinder Singh, on 9 November 1900. A Council of Regency ruled in his name until he took partial powers shortly before his 18th birthday on 1 October 1909, and was invested with full powers by the Viceroy of India, the 4th Earl of Minto, on 3 November 1910. He represented India at the League of Nations in 1925, and was chancellor of the Indian Chamber of Princes for 10 years between 1926 and 1938, also being a representative at the Round Table Conference.

He was well known for the construction of buildings with bold architectural designs in Patiala, including Kali Temple, Patiala, and Chail View Palace in the summer retreat of Kandaghat. He was known to have a collection of Rolls Royce cars. He was also known for an exceptional collection of medals, believed to be the world's largest at the time. According to legend, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh would be driven in a motorcade of 20 Rolls Royce cars. He also got a unique monorail system built in Patiala known as Patiala State Monorail Trainways. He was the captain of the Indian cricket team that visited England in 1911, and played in 27 first-class cricket matches between 1915 and 1937. He also donated the trophy for the Ranji Trophy, which is a domestic first-class cricket championship in India.

He was succeeded by his son Yadavindra Singh, who was the last Maharaja of Patiala after Patiala was incorporated into the new India on independence. His grandson Amarinder Singh became a politician and has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002-2007. Bhupinder passed away on 28 March 1938.

Sonny Caberwal

2009-01-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

Sonny or Sandeep Caberwal is an entrepreneur who was born and raised in North Carolina. He currently lives in San Francisco, where he helps start ups in the Bay Area identify and execute business development and strategic growth opportunities. He graduated from the Duke University in 2001, and Georgetown University Law Center in 2004. Prior to moving to the Bay Area, Sonny lived in Manhattan, where he was a practicing attorney before leaving to co-found Tavalon Tea, a premium tea brand. Sonny was featured in an advertisement for the designer Kenneth Cole and in doing so became the first turbaned sikh model in America. Sonny was chosen as part of a series of adverts on non-uniform thinkers and to raise awareness of people from different backgrounds. The video below shows the advert.

Jay Sean

2009-01-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

Jay Sean, born Kamaljit Singh Jhooti on March 26 1981, is a British singer-songwriter. To date he has released two albums, Me Against Myself (2004) and My Own Way (2008) along with five top 20 hits (of which 2 hit the top 10, 1 even the top 5) in the UK singles chart. Jay Sean has just signed to Cash Money Records in America and his album will be released there in the spring 2009. He was studying Medicine at the Queen Mary University before he dropped out and signed with Virgin Records after his track "One Minute" fell in to Rishi Rich's hands. His first taste of UK chart success was with his collaboration with Rishi Rich and Juggy D with the song, "Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)" which became a top twenty hit. He secured a million pound record deal with Virgin Records. His second single, "Eyes on You," became a top ten hit, peaking at number six and his third single, "Stolen," which is his biggest hit to date, peaked at number four, with Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu making an appearance in the video. His debut album Me Against Myself(2004) received critical praise and did well both in the UK and abroad, selling two million copies in India. His next album My Own Way (2008) was also received well and he won Best Video and Best Urban Act at the Asian Urban Music Awards in 2008.

Kirron Kher

2009-01-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

Kirron Kher, born June 14, 1955, is an Indian theatre, film and television actress and a TV talk show host. She was born in Mumbai to Sikh parents, and brought up in Chandigarh, Punjab, where she studied at the Panjab University, Chandigarh. Kirron has a sister and also a brother, who was a painter Amandeep Singh, who passed away in 2003. Kirron Kher made her film debut in 1983 in the Punjabi feature film Aasra Pyar Da and received rave reviews for her performance. She then acted in theatre, with the play Saalgirah from by playwright Feroz Khan, shortly after she hosted three television shows. Starting with Purushkshetra on Zee TV which got her much acclaim for bringing out the discussion of sexuality to the forum for the first time, while highlighting women's issues at the same time, Kiron Kher Today and Jagte Raho with Kiron Kher, before doing Bollywood films. She starred in the Bollywood fil Karan Arjun (1995), followed by the acclaimed film by Shyam Benegal, Sardari Begum (1996), which won her the Special Jury Award at the 1997 National Film Awards. In 2000, she appeared in film director, Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film Bariwali 1999, to critical acclaim and she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the film. For her role in the film, Khamosh Pani (2003) she portrayed the plight of a woman abducted during the partition of India, for which she won the Best Actress Award, at Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland. In October 2004 she made a guest appearance along with her husband, in the American TV series ER playing Parminder Nagra's mother, Mrs. Rasgotra, in episode Damaged (Season 11) (2004). To date she has starred in over 20 major Hindi films, she also suggested the title of one of the biggest Hindi films of all time, Dilwale Dilhunia Le Jayenge (1995). In 2003, she changed her name from "Kiron" to "Kirron" due to beliefs in numerology.

Dara Singh

2009-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Dara Singh (born November 19, 1928) is a Sikh wrestler and film actor from Amritsar, Punjab, India. Due to his physique he was encouraged to study Pehlwani, an Indian style of wrestling. Dara Singh was a favourite in wrestling tournaments in India. In addition to this he wrestled on invitation of the kings of various Indian princely states and wrestled frequently in haats and melas (fairs and carnivals). He also successfully competed against some of the greatest names in wrestling history including Stanislaus Zbyszko, and professional wrestlers in the United States. He then used his fame in films by making a number of B grade films that had him in the lead. Whilst doing so he also discovered the actress Mumtaz who made as many as 16 films with him. In the 1980's he starred in the TV epic Ramayan and the series was amongst the most widely viewed in history. To date he has acted in over 100 films. His latest Hindi movie is Jab We Met and his latest Punjabi movie is Dil Apna Punjabi. He has also worked in some television serial shows, most notable is 'Had Kar Di' which was aired on Zee TV.

Bishen Singh Bedi

2009-01-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Bishen Singh Bedi, born 25 September 1946 in Amritsar, is a former bowler for the Indian cricket team. He played Test cricket for India and also captained the national side in 22 Test matches. Bedi is known for being outspoken and forthright in his views on cricketing matters. As the captain of India, Bedi's personality inevitably led to some controversies. One famous controversy occurred during a Test match against the West Indies in 1976 when he objected to the intimidatory tactics of the West Indian fast bowlers and declared the Indian first innings closed early after two players were forced to retire hurt. In the 1974-75 season of the Ranji Trophy, he took a record 64 wickets. Bedi also represented Northamptonshire in English county cricket for many years. He finished his career with 1560 wickets in first-class cricket — more than any other Indian. In 1990, he had a brief stint as coach of the Indian national team. He was the first person to be appointed to this job in a full-time capacity. Following one cricket tour where India had played poorly, he famously threatened to dump the entire team in the sea on the return journey.

Sonia Kaur Dhami

2009-01-02T06:41:00.000-08:00

Sonia Kaur Dhami is a sikh architect. Dhami is an architect who owns a business that designs Sikh temples (gurdwaras) throughout the world. She also designs and fabricates sculptures, murals, oil paintings and articles of the Sikh faith. An example is a palki sahib, a sort of throne where the Sikh holy book rests. For the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara on Southall-London, she designed and fabricated two palki sahibs in gold and silver, as well as the marble inlay work, brass and chrome railings, chandoa and chanini sahibs. They also designed stained glass panels. She has also worked on the San Jose Gurdwara in the USA. Below is an example of her work, the image shows the stain glass window she designed for the Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Southall, England.

Dr Inderjit Kaur

2009-01-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

Dr Inderjit Kaur is the head of the Pingalwara organisation in India. She earned her medical degree M.B.B.S. from the Govt. Medical College of Patiala, Punjab, in 1967. She worked as a Doctor under the control of the Directorate of Health Services, Punjab from 1967 to 1973 and has run her own private nursing/maternity home in in Sangrur, Punjab since 1973. Pingalwara was the name given to a humble house for the destitute in Amritsar and in the early 1900's, it was an original idea of the founder, Bhagat Puran Singh to care for the people who had been rejected by society. Since the death of its founder, Bhagat Puran Singh in 1992, it is headed by Bibi Dr. Inderjit Kaur who is a physician by training and also runs a private maternity clinic in Amritsar. On January 25, 2008, she was awarded the 'Padma Bhushan', India's third highest civilian award, in recognition of her social service. In December 2008, she was honoured by the National Commission of Minorities, for her grass root efforts to promote the rights of minorities and communal harmony in India. As the Patron President of the All India Pingalwara Society she has carried out the printing and free distribution of literature, including articles of eminent writers, to spread awareness among the masses regarding environmental degradation, drug, population explosion, deforestation, ruthless depletion of precious natural resources, like coal, iron ore, and other minerals. Today Pingalwara provides shelter to 1,300 persons who are disabled, terminally ill, old or abandoned. Besides, it runs three schools where children from economically weaker sections are taught.

Sir Sobha Singh

2008-12-31T15:30:00.000-08:00

Sir Sobha Singh (1890-1978) was a civil contractor and a prominent builder of Lutyens' Delhi and was once the single largest builder and real estate owner of New Delhi. Sobha was the sole contractor for the South Block (the Secretariat Builidng which houses the most important ministries in the Indian government), the War Memorial Arch ( now India Gate), some parts of the ViceregalSir Sobha Singh had four sons and a daughter by his wife, Lady Varyam Kaur. Writer and author, his son "KS" or Khushwant Singh has made himself known the world over for his audacious and fresh style of writing. House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) and Vijaya Chowk. Sobha Singh bought as much land in Delhi as he could. He bought several extensive sites at as little as Rs 2 per square yard, freehold. There were few other takers, and he came to be described as adhi dilli da malik (the owner of half of Delhi). He also became the first lndian president of the New Delhi Municipal Council and held the post four times, in 1938, 1942, and 1945-46. He was knighted by the government and appointed a member of the Council of States. Sir Sobha Singh had four sons and a daughter by his wife, Lady Varyam Kaur. Writer and author, Khushwant Singh has made himself known the world over for his audacious and fresh style of writing. Sir Sobha Singh left a large part of his private estate to a charitable trust, The Sobha Singh Trust, which maintains homes and hospices for the terminally ill and aged all over the country, most recently it built, a dharamsala, within the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital complex, in New Delhi in 2005.

Gurbax Singh Malhi

2008-12-31T14:09:00.000-08:00

Gurbax Singh Malhi, born October 12 1949 in Chugha Kalan, Punjab, India is a Canadian politician. Malhi was the first "turbaned Sikh" elected to parliament anywhere in the western world. Prior to 1993, Canadian law prohibited members of parliament from wearing headgear of any sort in the Commons. Malhi's insistence on wearing a turban caused the law to be changed shortly after the election. He is currently a member of the Canadian House of Commons and represents the riding of Bramalea—Gore—Malton for the Liberal Party. When Paul Martin became the Prime Minister in 2003, he appointed Malhi as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, with special emphasis on Entrepreneurs and New Canadians. After the 2004 election, he was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and later was named the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. Malhi has introduced numerous Sikh ceremonies to the Canadian Parliament (including an annual Akhand Path and a Diwali celebration). He was also instrumental in having the government of Canada produce a postage stamp bearing the khanda symbol.

Gurbaksh Singh Chahal

2008-12-30T16:21:00.000-08:00

Gurbaksh Chahal, born July 17 1982, is an American entrepreneur, author and TV Personality. He founded his first company at the age of just 16 after dropping out of high school. He was the Founder, Chairman & CEO of two advertising companies which he sold for over $340 million. Recently he has appeared on several talk shows shows and has appeared on the The Oprah Winfrey Show where he discussed his childhood and business journey. He has also appeared on numerous other talks shows including The Bonnie Hunt Show, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, and Neil Cavuto. Chahal also starred in the FOX philanthropic reality show Secret Millionaire, where he went undercover in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, California to give away at least $100,000 of his own money. Gurbaksh was the youngest person on FOXs' Secret Millionaire and was the first Indian American on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He has written a book titled The Dream which is published by Palgrave Macmillan (October 23rd, 2008).

Khushwant Singh

2008-12-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

Khushwant Singh, born 2 February 1915 in Hadali, Punjab is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. He is one of the most well-known and widely read authors in India. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most widely-read columns in the country. An important Indo-Anglican novelist, Singh is best known for his trenchant secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit. He served as editor of several well-known literary and news magazines, as well as two major broadsheet newspapers, through the 1970s and 1980s. From 1980 through 1986, Singh was a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 for service to his country. In 1984 he returned the award in protest against the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army. However in 2007 the Indian government awarded Singh an even more prestigious honor, the Padma Vibhushan. The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour and consists of a medal and a citation which is awarded by the President of India.

Michael Arthur Macauliffe

2008-12-29T15:18:00.000-08:00

Michael MacAuliffe, also known as Max Arthur Macauliffe (10 September 1841 - 15 March 1913), was a senior British administrator in India, who converted to Sikhism. He was a prolific scholar and author. Macauliffe is also known for his translation of sikh scripture and history into English. MacAuliffe was born at Newcastle West, County Limerick, and was educated at Newcastle School, Limerick, and Springfield College. He attended Queen's College Galway between 1857 and 1863, where he was awarded junior scholarships in the Literary Division of the Arts Faculty for 1857-8, 1858-9, and 1859-60. He recieved a B.A. degree with first class honours in Modern Languages in 1860. He obtained a senior scholarship in Ancient Classics for 1860-1, and a senior scholarship in Modern Languages and History for 1861-2. MacAuliffe entered the Indian Civil Service in 1862, and arrived in the Punjab in February 1864. He was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Punjab in 1882, and became a Divisional Judge in 1884. He retired from the Indian Civil Service in 1893.

MacAuliffe wrote the definitive English translation of the Sacred Book of the Sikh religion, the Guru Granth Sahib. He also wrote The Sikh Religion: its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors (six volumes, Oxford University Press, 1909). He was assisted in his works by Pratap Singh Giani, a Sikh scholar. Macauliffe converted to Sikhism in the 1860s and was even derided by his British employers for having "turned a Sikh". His personal assistant remarked in his memoirs that on his death bed, Macauliffe could be heard reciting the Sikh morning prayer, Japji, ten minutes before passing away. At a lecture in Lahore he stated that the Guru Granth Sahib was matchless as a book of holy teachings. You can read the complete volume 1 of Max's brilliant The Sikh Religion (1909) by following this link http://www.sikh-today.com/sikhreligionbook/index.htm.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh

2008-12-29T14:26:00.000-08:00

Bhagat Singh (September 27, 1907 – March 23, 1931) was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He gained support when he underwent a 63-day fast in jail, demanding equal rights for Indian and British political prisoners. He was hanged for shooting a police officer in response to the killing of veteran freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. His legacy prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and also increased the rise of socialism in India. Bhagat Singh was born in the Khatkar Kalan village near Banga in the Lyallpur district of Punjab. Singh's given name of Bhagat means "devotee". He came from a patriotic Sikh family, some of whom had participated in movements supporting the independence of India and others who had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. At the age of 13, he began to follow Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement. By doing so he had openly defied the British and had followed Gandhi's wishes by burning his government school books and any British-imported clothing. Following Gandhi's withdrawal of the movement after the violent murders of policemen by villagers from Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, he became disgruntled with Gandhi's nonviolence action, joined the Young Revolutionary Movement and began advocating a violent movement against the British. In September 1928, a meeting of various revolutionaries from across India was called at Delhi under the banner of the Kirti Kissan Party. Bhagat Singh was the secretary of the meeting. His later revolutionary activities were carried out as a leader of this association. The capture and hanging of the main HRA Leaders also allowed him to be quickly promoted to higher ranks in the party, along with his fellow revolutionary Sukhdev Thapar.

As a consequence of the actions by the revolutionaries, the British government enacted the Defence of India Act to give more power to the police. The purpose of the Act was to combat revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. The Act was defeated in the council by one vote. However, the Act was then passed under the ordinance that claimed that it was in the best interest of the public. In response to this act, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association planned to explode a bomb in the assembly where the ordinance was going to be passed. It was decided that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt, another revolutionary, would throw the bomb in the assembly

On April 8, 1929, Singh and Dutt threw a bomb onto the corridors of the assembly and shouted "Inquilab Zindabad!" ("Long Live the Revolution!"). The bomb neither killed nor injured anyone. Singh and Dutt claimed that this was deliberate on their part, a claim substantiated both by British forensics investigators who found that the bomb was not powerful enough to cause injury, and by the fact that the bomb was thrown away from people. Singh and Dutt gave themselves up for arrest after the bomb.

While in jail, Bhagat Singh and other prisoners launched a hunger strike advocating for the rights of prisoners and those facing trial. The reason for the strike was that British murderers and thieves were treated better than Indian political prisoners, who, by law, were meant to be given better rights. The aims in their strike were to ensure a decent standard of food for political prisoners, the availability of books and a daily newspaper, as well as better clothing and the supply of toilet necessities and other hygienic necessities. He also demanded that political prisoners should not be forced to do any labour or undignified work. During this hunger strike that lasted 63 days and ended with the British succumbing to his wishes, he gained much popularity among the common Indians. Before the strike his popularity was limited mainly to the Punjab region.

On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh was hanged in Lahore with his fellow comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev. His supporters, who had been protesting against the hanging, immediately declared him as a shaheed or martyr. Singh was cremated at Hussainiwala on banks of Sutlej river. Today, the Bhagat Singh Memorial commemorates freedom fighters of India.

Shaheed Udham Singh

2008-12-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

Udham Singh (December 26, 1899 – July 31, 1940), born Sher Singh was an Indian independence activist, he was known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer in March 1940 in what was an avengement of the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre. Singh is considered one of the best-known of the more extremist revolutionaries of the Indian freedom struggle. He is sometimes referred to as Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh (the expression "Shaheed-i-Azam," means "the great martyr"). In 1940, almost 21 years after the Amritsar Massacre of 1919 in Punjab province of India, Singh shot dead Michael O'Dwyer at Caxton Hall in London. O'Dwyer was the Governor of the Punjab in 1919, when General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered British troops to fire on unarmed Indian protesters, mostly Sikhs. The General Dyer had already died so Udham decided to kill O'Dwyer who had supported General Dyers' action. Sher Singh was born in Sunam (now Sunam Udham Singh Wala) in the Sangrur district of Punjab, as his parents died whilst he was young he was taken in by the Central Khalsa Orphanage Putlighar in Amritsar on October 24, 1907. He was administered the Sikh initiatory rites at the orphanage and received the new name Udham Singh.

After witnessing the Amritsar massacre Udham bathed in the holy sarovar (pool of nectar) and took a silent vow and solemn pledge in front of the Golden Temple to wreak a vengeance on the perpetrators of the crime and to restore honour to what he saw as a humiliated nation. After shooting O'Dwyer Udham was called "fighter for freedom" by The Times, London, and his action was said to be "an expression of the pent-up fury of the down-trodden Indian People". To this day he remains a heroic figure and his action is viewed as patriotic by Indians. On 31 July 1940, Udham Singh was hanged at Pentonville Prison, London. In July 1974, Udham Singh's remains were exhumed and repatriated to India at the request of S. Sadhu Singh Thind. He asked Indira Gandhi to force the then British Government to hand over Udham Singh's remains to India. Sadhu Singh Thind himself went to England as a special envoy of Indian Government and brought back the remains of the Shaheed. He was given a martyr's reception. He was later cremated in his birthplace of Sunam in Punjab and his ashes were immersed in the Ganga river. His life has been the subject of three films to date, with Shaheed Udham Singh (2000) being the most recent.

Neha Dhupia

2008-12-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

Neha Dhupia, born on August 27, 1980, is an Indian model, actress and former Femina Miss India 2002. Neha's father is Commander Pradip Dhupia, who is in the Indian Navy and her mother is called Manpinder. She has an honours degree in History from Mary College, Delhi University. She became famous from the age of 5, when she starred in a drama called Rajdhani and she made her Hindi film debut in Qayamat. She has starred in over 10 Bollywood films, including Chup Chup Ke, Singh is Kinng and Garam Masala. She was crowned Miss India Universe in 2000 and competed at the Miss Universe 2002, in which she finished in the top ten. She has also appeared in music videos. She currently has four films that are due for release.

Baltej Singh Dhillon

2008-12-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

Baltej Singh Dhillon was the first Sikh Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer to be allowed to wear a turban. He was born in 1966 in Malaysia and studied criminology to become a criminal lawyer. He helped the RCMP launch Block Watch, which is a neighbourhood watch organisation and subsequently hired by the force to work on the program. When Baltej went to the recruiting office and he met all the initial requirements, but the recruiting officer raised the delicate issue of the turban. RCMP policy did not allow it at the time, however the issue went to then-Commissioner of the RCMP, Norman Inkster. Inkster sided with Dhillon, and pressure was put on the federal government to change the policy. Many people were opposed to the change and believed that the Stetson hat was part of the uniform and allowing a turban wearer would change the face of a national icon. Even though 150,000 people signed petitions to retain the traditional RCMP dress code, Sikhs pointed out that Sikhs had fought in the British army in the two world wars and On March 15, 1990, the federal Solicitor General, Pierre Cadieux, announced in the House of Commons that the policy was amended to permit Sikhs to wear the turban while on active duty in the RCMP.

Parm Kaur Sandhu

2008-12-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

Chief Inspector Parm Kaur Sandhu is the highest-ranking Asian officer in the UK. Parm Sandhu joined the police service in 1989 as a constable and was promoted as a Sergeant in 1996, to an inspector in 2000, and to Chief Inspector in 2004. She was the winner of the Asian Woman of Achievement Award in 2006 for being the highest Asian female in the UK police force. She grew up in Birmingham and on joining the force she had to keep it a secret for 6 months, but her parents eventually came around and are now very proud of her achievements.

Raj Singh Kohli

2008-12-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

Superintendent Raj Singh Kohli is the highest-ranking Sikh in the British police force. He took over as the head of the safer neighbourhoods teams in London's Camden in 2008. He is the brother of the comedian Sanjeev Kohli and the presenter Hardeep Kohli. Raj was born in London, but educated in Glasgow. He abandoned a masters degree in Biomedical Science to become to join the police force and has been in the police for over 16 years. Raj grew up in the Bishopbriggs area of Glasgow, on the outskirts of Glasgow, his family were the only Asian family in their street and when him and his brothers attended St Aloysius’ College, a Catholic private school in the city, they were the only Asians in their class.

Sukhwinder Singh

2008-12-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

Sukhwinder Singh is one of the most in demand singers in Bollywood, he is from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. His most famous song is arguably Chaiya Chaiya from the film Dil Se (1998), the same song was used by Spike Lee in his film Inside Man, which starred Denzel Washington. Sukhwinder started singing from the age of 7 and has also sung songs in Punjabi. In 1999 he won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback for the song Chaiya Chaiya. He has also contributed songs amongst others to the films, Taal, Chak de India, Om Shanti Om, Daag and Black & White, which have all helped to make him a household name. Singh got his first break in Bollywood in the Madhuri Dixit film Khilaaf in which he sang Aa Ja Sanam. He is also one of the three judges of STAR Voice of India 2.

Abhinav Bindra

2008-12-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

Abhinav Bindra, born September 28 1982, is an Indian shooter from Zirakpur, Mohali, Punjab and is the current World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and India's first gold medal since 1980, when the Men's Field Hockey Team won the gold. Abhinav comes from an affulent Sikh family and they were able to have an indoor shooting range installed in their home. He was also the youngest Indian participant in the 2000 Olympic Games. He won a gold in the 10m Air rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and won another gold in the pair event at the 2006 Commonwealth games. By winning the first individual gold medal in the Olympics, and the first in 28 years, Bindra received many awards. In 2000 he was awarded the Arjuna Award, which recognises outstanding achievement in National Sports and in 2001 he recieved the Khel Ratna which is India's highest sports award.

Harbhajan Singh Yogi

2008-12-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

Harbhajan Singh Yogi (August 26, 1929–October 6, 2004), also known as Yogi Bhajan and Siri Singh Sahib, was a spiritual leader who introduced Kundalini Yoga and Sikhism to the USA. He was the spiritual director of the 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organisation) Foundation, which has become one of the world's largest yoga-teaching bodies. Harbhajan emigrated to Canada in 1968, where he was involved in setting up the first Sikh temple in eastern Canada. In late 1968 he went to meet a friend in Los Angeles, but ended up staying to share his teachings of Kundalini Yoga with the already long haired members of the hippie counterculture of California. It was only when his students started tying turbans like his that he started to teach them about Sikhism and so many of his followers embraced Sikhism. So he was credited with introducing Sikhism to white people in the USA. Back in Amritsar, India he set up the Miri Piri Academy which he founded in 1997, which he named after Guru Hargobind’s two swords, Miri and Piri. These swords represent the mastery and balance of both temporal and spiritual worlds. In 1971 the Akal Takht gave him the title of "Siri Singh Sahib" which means great noble lion. Although Siri Singh Sahib passed away in 2004 he is still very much respected and his 3HO organisation is still going strong. He is survived by his wife Bibi Inderjit Kaur and his 3 children, two sons, Ranbir Singh and Kulbir Singh, and a daughter, Kamaljit Kaur

Dr Ruby Kaur Dhalla

2008-12-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Dr Ruby Dhalla, born February 18 1974, is a Canadian politician. Ruby has represented the riding of Brampton—Springdale in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004 as a member of the Liberal Party and is the current Canadian Shadow Social Development Minister. Ruby alongside British Columbia Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Nina Grewal are the first Asian and Sikh women to serve in the Canadian House of Commons. According to her website her experience in politics started at a very young age, beginning as a volunteer with her local MP, to knocking on doors in numerous liberal campaigns at the age of 12, to writing a letter advocating for peace to the late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, at the age of 10. Indira Gandhi mentioned the letter in a speech shortly before she died. Ruby was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to an immigrant Sikh family from Punjab, India. Ruby has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Winnipeg and in 1999 she graduated with a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine. In 2005 she was instrumental in organising the Canada for Asia concert which feature prominent Canadian artists and performers, it went on to raise over $4 million for the tsunami relief efforts. She was reported to be running for the leadership of the Liberal party but has since said that it is not the right time for her.

The Singh Twins

2008-12-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

Amrit Kaur Singh and Rabindra Kaur Singh are contemporary artists who have become internationally famous. They were born in London to parents from India and their father was a doctor. In their painting the twins use traditional techniques used in Indian miniature painting to produce vibrant, detailed paintings. They sometimes work individually and the subjects of their paintings are influenced by both Asian and Western ideas. Amrit and Rabindra Singh studied Contemporary Western Art at the Liverpool University College of Chester. They have held exhibitions of their art at amongst other places, the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art and Birmingham City Art Gallery (1999), Leeds City Art Gallery (2001), UCR Sweeney Art Gallery, Riverside Art Museum, California USA (2003) and McMaster Gallery of Fine Art, Hamilton Toronto, Canada (2004). They currently have works on loan to the Smithsonian Institute, Washington.

Rabinder Singh QC

2008-12-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Rabinder Singh QC, born 1964 in Britain, is the first Sikh to sit in the high court and wear a turban instead of a wig. He is also thought to have been the youngest person to sit as a judge in the high court. He was one of a group of barristers, along with Cherie Blair the former prime ministers' wife, who founded the Matrix chambers in 1999. He achieved a double first in law at from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1985. He has been a lecturer at the University of Nottingham and currently lectures part time at LSE. He is also one of Britain's leading experts in public and administrative law - the law relating to government departments and public authorities. Rabinder was named the Barrister of the Year by the Lawyer Magazine in 2001 and awarded Silk in 2002, this refers to court dress, which is awarded after a Barrister has served 10 years. In 2003 he was awarded the Legal Excellence Award at the Asian Jewel Awards and in 2004 he was given an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the London Metropolitan University. He has worked on a number of high profile cases and has worked on cases for the human rights organisation Liberty.

Hardeep Singh Kohli

2008-12-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hardeep Singh Kholi, born 1969 in Glasgow, is a writer, presenter, broadcaster and reporter. After studying law Hardeep was offered a job at BBC Radio Scotland and was chosen as one of a handful of prestigious BBC graduate production trainees. After two years of training in every department of the BBC Hardeep moved into directing Children's TV. In 1994 he was awarded a BAFTA and RTS Award for the kids' science show It'll Never Work. He starred in a comedy series Meet the Magoons for Channel 4 in the UK which he wrote and starred in with his brother Sanjeev Kohli. He presents the radio show Up All Night for BBC Radio 5 Live. He also wrote and presented a one-off documentary, In Search of the Tartan Turban for Channel 4, for which he won a BAFTA. He has also recently presented a series of documentaires titled Hardeep Does... where he tackles different topical issues. He has appeared twice on Question Time, the BBC's political panel programme. He also regularly appears on the One Show on BBC One and Newsnight Review on BBC two. Hardeep is an acid cook and has appeared on Celebrity Masterchef a cooking show in which he was runner-up. He grew up in a working class family and his parents ran a corner shop as well as working other jobs. His mum was a social worker and his dad a teacher, he says his mum was on her feet for 13 hours a day 7 days a week. He is currently a regular reporter on the One Show and presents Get 100 a childrens game show on CBBC. He was a Man Booker Prize judge for 2008, which is a literary prize awarded every year for the best original novel. He has himself written a book called Indian Takeaway released in 2008, in which he travels around India and cooks Bcottish dishes.

Parminder Kaur Nagra

2008-12-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

Parminder Nagra, born October 5 1975 in Leicester, England, is an actress. She became famous after starring in the film Bend it Like Beckham (2003) and she currently stars in the American medical drama ER. Parminder was the daughter of working class Sikh parents who fell into acting after completing her A-levels when she was approached by her drama teacher to star in a theatre production. For the film Bend it Like Beckham Parminder had to go through intensive futsal training in Brazil. For her performance she was awarded FIFA's Internation Football Personality of the Year, the first woman to be awarded this. In 2002 she was also awarded the Golden Wave Award at the Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema for "best actress" and Movieline Young Hollywood Award for "best breakthrough performance". After Bend it she starred in Miramax's Ella Enchanted, in which she played Arieda a friend of the title character. She was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Leicester in 2007.

Dr Manmohan Singh

2008-12-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

Dr Manmohan Singh, born 26 September 1932, is the 17th and current prime minister of the Republic of India. He also serves as the Union Minister for Finance. He is the first Sikh prime minister of India and was elected to this post on the 22nd May 2004. He is an economist by profession and has worked for organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations. He is an economist by profession and is widely credited for initiating the economic reforms in 1991 whilst he was the Finance Minister. He has a masters degree from St. John's College, Cambridge University and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law from the Oxford University. Cambridge University have named a PhD scholarship after him called the Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship that is awarded to economically disadvantaged Indian students at the university. He is considered to be the most educated Indian Prime Minister in history. Singh's administration has focused on reducing the fiscal deficit, providing debt-relief to farmers and introducing social programs. He is probably the most famous living Sikh in the World today.

Simon Singh

2008-12-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

Dr Simon Singh OBE is a British author, journalist and TV producer who specialises in maths and science. His written works include Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book and Big Bang. He has also produced documentaries for TV to accompany his books. He has won a BAFTA for his documentary on Fermat's Last Theorem and this was also nominated for an Emmy Award in the USA. He has obtained a degree in physics from the Imperial College London and a PhD from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. His latest book published in 2008 was Trick Or Treatment?: Alternative Medicine On Trial,in which he discusses alternative medicine. He worked on the BBC TV science programme Tomorrow's World for five years. His book Fermat's Last Theorem was also the first mathematical book to be a UK no.1 bestseller.

Tom Singh

2008-12-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

Tom Singh OBE, born in 1949, is the founder of New Look a chain of high street fashion stores in the United Kingdom. New Look is currently the third largest womenswear retailer in the UK with over 600 stores. New Look opened its first store in 1969 in Taunton, Somerset when Tom Singh was just 20 years old, it now has a revenue of over £1 billion. He is one of Britain's wealthiest people and was ranked 180 on the Sunday Times' Rich List in 2008. He is the brother of the author Simon Singh. The company also ranks as the 32nd largest private company in the UK.

Yuvraj Singh

2008-12-19T21:44:00.001-08:00

Yuvraj Singh, born 12 December 1981 in Chandigarh, India, plays cricket for the Indian team. He is the son of Yograj Singh who was a fast bowler for the Indian team. He made his ODI debut in 200o against Kenya. In the 2007 World Twenty20 cricket tournament Yuvraj hit six sixes in an over against England's Stuart Broad. This has only ever been done three times in any form of senior cricket but was the first time this has happened in International cricket. He first became famous for captaining the U-19 Punjab Cricket team for whom he scored 358 runs against the Bihar team winning the Cooch-Behar trophy. He scored his first 100 runs against Bangladesh in 2003 and since scored centuries against the Zimbabwean and Australian teams. Yuvraj has also reached the fastest fifty ever in a Twenty20 game, this is also the fastest ever in International cricket, he achieved this in just 12 balls. Yuvraj is mainly a left-handed batsman, but can bowl as well. He is also one of the better fielders in the Indian team and has a good aim at the stumps. He has recently had an important role in the test matches against England, where in the first test he scored 85 runs, which is the fourth highest run chase in history and the highest in India. In the Indian Premie League he captains Kings XI Punjab

Harbhajan Singh

2008-12-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

Harbhajan Singh, born 3 July 1980 in Jalandhar, India, is a bowler for the Indian cricket team. He has the third highest number of wickets by an off spinner and the highest among Indian off spinners. He made his International debut in 1998 against Australia. He is recognised as the second most famous and commercial Indian cricket player after Sachin Tendulkar. He has done promotions and adverts for Indian Airlines. He was signed for the English county team Surrey in 2005. Harbhajan is an attack-minded bowler and regarded for his ball control and ability to vary his length and pace. He is known to have a fiery temper and was involved in an altercation with fellow Indian cricket player Sreesanth who he slapped he was fined for this and given a match ban from playing for the Mumbai Indians team in the IPL. He has taken over 500 wickets in first-class cricket.

Fauja Singh

2008-12-19T21:17:00.000-08:00

Fauja Singh, born on april 1st 1911 in India, is 97 years old is a Sikh marathon runner and a world-record holder for his age group. He has completed the London marathon in 6 hours, 2 minutes and his marathon record is 5 hours, 40 minutes. In 2004 he was features in a well publicised advertising campaign for Adidas and replaced David Beckham. Whilst running he has also raised a lot of money for charities BLISS a charity dedicated to premature babies. He started to compete in marathons at the age of 81 after becoming bored of sitting around in his sons house all day. He has taken part in more than 5 London marathons. Fauja also holds another 5 world records

Monty Panesar

2008-12-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

Monty Panesar was born Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, 25 April 1982 in Luton, Bedfordshire, is a left-arm spinner for the English cricket team. He plays Test and one-day cricket for England, and county cricket for Northamptonshire. He was the first Sikh to represent a country other than India in Test cricket. Monty made his international debut on March 1st 2006 against India and his first wicket was that of the highly respected batsman Sachin Tendulkar. His best bowling was 6 wickets for 37 runs against New Zealand in 2008 Test series. He is a devout Sikh and his family are originally from the Punjab, India. In 2006 he won the Beard of the Year from the Beard Liberation Front, who are a British interest group who campaign in support of beards and oppose discrimination against those who wear them. He was awarded the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2007. He has been quoted as saying in an interview with the Daily mail newspaper, "I am working on my version of the doosra — a ball which turns the other way — but we will just have to see what happens with it. As I gradually add things, it is one of my ambitions to be the best. It would be nice one day to be recognised as that". He is still a relatively newcomer to the game and only time will tell if he will become one of the greats.

Dr Narinder Singh Kapany

2008-12-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

Dr Narinder Singh Kapany is shown here meeting with the Prince of Wales, is a physicist who is acknowledged as the father of fibreoptics. He conducted experiments that led to the invention of fibreoptics and this is the technology behind devices used in endoscopy to communication applications. He was named as one of the seven unsung heroes of the century by Forbes magazine. He was born in India, educated in England and has lived in the US. He has published over 100 scientific papers and four books. Besides work in fibreoptics he has over 100 patents and has received numerous awards. His personal interests include philantropy, collecting art and sculpting. As a philantropist he has been a major funder of the Sikh Foundation and been involved with its activities for over 30 years. One such activity was organising the first ever Sikh Film Festival with sikhs in Toronto. He has also funded a Chair of Sikh Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has a big collection of Sikh art, which he loaned to London's Victoria & Albert Museum for part of their acclaimed 'Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms' exhibition in 1999.

Bhagat Puran Singh

2008-12-18T21:41:00.001-08:00

Bhagat Puran Singh (June 4, 1904-1992) was born in Rajewal, Ludhiana to a Hindu family and adopted Sikhism later in life. He was a writer, publisher, environmentalist and philanthropist. His most famous achivement was the establishment of Pingalwara, which is a charitable society that takes care of sick, disabled and mental patients. He founded Pingalwara in 1947 with a few discarded patients. Bhagat Puran Singh's contribution in spreading awareness about environmental pollution are also notable and he believed that every Panjabi person should plant a tree as they were being cleared at an alarming rate. Pamphlets with his views on subjects such as environmental awareness etc. were printed on recycled paper and freely distributed. The Indian Government awarded him one of their highest awards the Padma Shri award in 1979, which he swiftly surrendered in the wake of the Indian army's attack on the Golden Temple in 1984. He died on August 5, 1992 at the age of 98 in Amritsar. The charity he founded has seven branches including 5 in India and 2 in Canada and the US. Pingalwara offers many services in remote regions that would otherwise not be offered such as free drug dispensing, blood banks and offers education and shelter to the disabled.

The Indian writer Kushwant Singh once described him as "the bearded Mother Teresa of Punjab. Mother Teresa had the backing of the powerful Roman Catholic Church, the English press and innumerable foundations to give her money. Bhagat Ji Had nothing except his single-minded dedication to serve the poor and the needy. And yet he was able to help thousands of lepers, mentally and physically handicapped and the dying. His name will be written in letters of gold in the history of the world". His legacy lives on with the charity going strong and has recently opened a new branch in Manawala in the district of Amritsar. The organisation is now headed by Dr Inderkit Kaur and the charity is now known as the All India Pingalwara Charitable Society.

Waris Ahluwalia

2008-12-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

Waris Ahluwalia born in Amritsar, India is a popular Indian American Actor and jewelry designer, who emigrated to the USA at the age of five with his family. He grew up in New York and has also lived in Los Angeles. His jewelry company is called House of Waris and he has collaborated with the fashion designer Benjamin Cho. Although he has not trained as an actor he has had roles in several films including Inside Man (2006) directed by Spike Lee, in which he plays a sikh banker who is held hostage in a robbery. He also acted in Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2006) and The Darjeeling Limited (2007). He is close friends with the director Wes Anderson and has had a number of small roles in films and commercials for him. He is also a socialite and can be spotted in trendy spots in New York with his friend Chiara Clemente.