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Celebrations
Aimed At Taking Stock
WSN Bureau
 FREMONT: In a
deeply humbling sign of an engaged readership, a concerned
participatory approach and a sense of family bonding with the
newspaper group Amritsar Times/World Sikh News, the crème de la
crème of the Punjabi Sikh and Punjabi brotherhood has highly
appreciated the contribution of the kind of community journalism
that is being led from the front by the media house. At the same
time, many intellectuals urged the media group to raise even higher
the level of professionalism and stick closely to the political line
that is in consonance with the panthic interests. In celebrations
marking the fifth anniversary of the World Sikh News, the top brass
of the Amritsar Media Group not only watched a spirited
participation by the community on May 30 at Fremont but encouraged
participants and speakers to candidly offer criticism and advice in
order to enable the group to serve the cause better. The function
organised at Raja Sweets, Hayward, took off with some Sufi strains
filling the air.
The WSN
Management laid bare the plethora of hurdles it faced, including
financial constrains, of the entire media domain, including the
Amritsar Times and specially the ones regarding the World Sikh News.
The management was also pleased to listen to many constructive
criticisms from the engaged participants. The fact that such a
function which was organised at such a short notice and was expected
to turn out to be a
meeting ground
for the Bay Area readers and well wishers of the newspaper actually
received a response beyond expectation underlined the popularity of
the newspaper. Many had reached from El Sobrante,
Livermore,
Stockton and Lodi, Well known Punjabi sports writer Principal Sarwan
Singh, leading light in the Gurmat Sangeet domain Dr Gurnam Singh of
Punjabi University, Patiala and Tribune Group's journalist Sharda
Rana were among those who attended.
 After Asha
Sharma, an integral part of the Amritsar Times family, said her
welcoming words and profiled the Amritsar Times briefly, Sukhdev
Sahil, well known across North America, began the evening with his
Sufi renditions. He presented some folk strains of
Punjab and
underlined the rich heritage and music of the region. Amritsar Times
Media Group's Director S. Jasjeet Singh briefed the audience about
the objectives behind the newspaper, the experiences and lessons
learnt over five years, the achievements till now and the dream
henceforth, as well as the obstacles that the group faced in keeping
the dream aflame. He also mentioned the hard times being faced by
the Punjabi media, particularly Amritsar Times and World Sikh News
in view of the global economic downturn. Positing not just the
difficulties but also the necessity of keeping a concern like the
World Sikh News going, S. Jasjeet Singh underscored the need for a
quality English newspaper reflecting the concerns, perspective and
point of view of the community adopting a high professional approach
and towing the line of ethical journalism. Expressing his
determination to overcome all hurdles, S. Jasjeet Singh said it was
because of the current crisis that the group decided to turn to the
community for not only financial but wider co-operation. Inviting
the particpants for a discussion about Amritsar Times and World Sikh
News, editor in chief Daljit Singh Sra specially requested that it
would be more fruitful if only critical view points are presented
instead of just appreciation.
 Dr Amarjit
Singh, respected scholar of the Sikh community, said one must remain
cautious of underplaying the Sikh culture in the garb of playing up
Punjabi culture. He said the media group must always zealously guard
the Sikh interests. He was critical of the excessive coverage
granted to the likes of Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Capt Kanwaljit
Singh in the recent past and said the WSN approach was more balanced
and its quality was pretty good. Sikh thinker and affiliated with
the prestigious Berkley University, Prabhsharandeep Singh said while
S. Jasjeet Singh's determination towards the Sikh cause was
appreciable, there
was a tendency
to often play in the hands of so-called liberal stream.
Dr Harbans Singh
Sra, a teacher by profession, praised the Amritsar Times media group
and called for extending maximum cooperation to the World Sikh News.
Balbir Singh Ragi suggested setting up of an editorial advisory
panel. Senior journalist Husan Laroa Banga urged for a more wide
ranging liberal approach. Dr Amrik Singh Sacarmento said the WSN was
an achievement of the Amritsar Times Media Group and it has
addressed a dire need of the community for a platform in English.
Daljit Singh Sra crdited all success to the team of Harjot Singh
Khalsa, jasjit Singh, jai Singh, Satnam Singh and Balwinder Kaur
Khalsa adding that all blame and blemishes can be left at his door
only because that is where the buck stops. "We will do all we can to
improve things further," he said.
 Among those who
were honored for their contribution in various domains were Prof
Gurnam Singh, also Dean of the Arts Faculty, Principal Sarwan Singh,
well known researcher and entrepreneur in IT sector Jasveer Singh
Gill, untiring fighter in the Sikh aspirational movement and a
thinker who is also involved in a determined struggle for a cause Dr
Amarjit Singh, Bay Area's revered Sikh citizen engaged in
propagating the word of the Guru, S. Balwant Singh Chahal, and the
man who is leading a movement to inculcate Sikhi saroop among Sikh
players, S. Gurpal Singh Hansra.
Chandigarh based
Tribune group's Hindi daily Dainik Tribune's Chief Sub Editor Sharda
Rana was honored as a special guest. Apart from these, among the
Sikh and Punjabi fraternity's people, organizations and forums
working in the religious, political and cultural fields who were
honored, were Sikh Youth of America, San Jose Sikh Association, Bay
Area Sports Club, United Sikh Alliance, Fremont Hockey Club, Punjab
Lok Rang, Sikh Coalition, Teri Sikhi forum as also Husan Laroa
Banga, Kulwant Singh Khehra of Akali Dal (Badal), Raj Bhanot of
Hindu Mandir Sunnyvale, Dr Devinder Shokur, Ajmer Singh Bittu, Dr.
Amrik Singh Sacramento,
Raja Sweets,
Bombay Garden, Quality Food Products, Gurbachan Singh Dhaliwal,
singer Sukhdev Sahil and Jas Aulakh. Bibi Asha Sharma who has been
raising her voice against social evils like female infanticide/
foeticide and dowry menace from every forum available was specially
honored for her contribution.
 Businessmen,
commercial ventures, entrepreneurs and companies connected to the
media house through advertisements were presented mementos. Among
these were
Bay Area Truck
Driving School, American Realty and Business Corporation, Biba
Insurance, Travel For Less, Satellite Plus, Lali truck Tyres &
Service, Nagina Travels, Harry Sandhu Mission Peak Realty, Gurdeep
Singh G.N.International, Taj Randhawa, Bikramjit Singh Bhatia,
Tarsem Singh, Leased Travels, Capital Accounting and Tax Services
and DVR Unlimited. Jas Aulakh, who has carved an impressive space
for himself in Punjabi singing domain, sang during the second round.
Sahil was once again at hand to add a special musical touch to the
late night dinner prepared by Raja Sweets, and brought the function
to an end with a heart rending song.
Jasveer Singh
Gill and his gracious wife Kaval Gill took out time for the WSN
anniversary celebrations. Jasveer Singh Gill was honored with the
“Best Sikh Entrepreneur Award”. Mr Gill is founder and CEO of
AlertEnterprise, a red hot software startup, which was awarded the
Most Innovative Product at the 6th Annual "The Security Summit" in
San Diego only last month. AlertEnterprise delighted attendees and
judges in all categories and was also named runner up for the Best
in Show award. The Gills are an example for the community as they do
well in their business while remaining engaged with the community
concerns.
3
June 2009
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