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pics of  christmas and  new year

In a major setback to the newly elected general house of SGPC, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today quashed the Centre's notification debarring Sehajdharis (non baptised Sikhs) from voting in the Sikh body's polls.
Accepting the plea moved by Sehajdhari Sikh Federation (SSF), challenging the Centre's October 8, 2003 notification depriving Sehajdharis of their voting rights in SGPC polls, the court held that the notification is "bad" under the law as it did not fall under the purview of Section 72 of Punjab Re-organisation Act. The bench, comprising justices Surya Kant, M Jeyapaul and M M S Bedi observed in their 128 page verdict that the Centre's notification was tampering with the essential and basic character of Sikh Gurudwara Act of 1925.
On September 18, elections to the general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee(SGPC), known as mini-parliament of Sikhs, were held. Now, it is for the Election Commission to decide whether it goes for a fresh SGPC polls or continues with the body which got elected in 2005. The quashing of Centre's notification will give the Sehajdharis voting rights in the SGPC polls, SSF chief Paramjeet Singh Ranu said. Paramjeet claimed that the entire process of SGPC polls recently held had no meaning now as the SSF had already moved the court against the Centre's notification prior the polls for the religious body were held.
The verdict will now affect the fate of recently held SGPC polls, he said. The petitioners had mainly challenged the Centre's notification "whereby Sehajdharis Sikhs are not being considered as Sikhs in view of the impugned amendment in Section 49 and Section 92 of the Gurudwara Act." The petitioner had submitted that the original Act declared Sehajdhari Sikhs as qualified electors for the SGPC elections and the Apex court had in numerous judgements held that the state cannot regulate the definition of religion.
It was argued by the petitioner that state authorities cannot fetter the definition of Sikhs in general and Sehajdhari Sikhs in particular when religion is not within the bounds of any kind of legislation. Earlier, the High court on October 19 had reserved its verdict.

Iphone 5

There are no Christmas trees in my home, not even a Chanukah bush, no sign of tinsel and no sound of children singing carols. If I was asked on Facebook to describe my relationship with Christmas, like most Jews I would opt for the  ‘it’s complicated’ or even the ‘separated’ status. The personage of Jesus, whose birthday it marks, is the main theological divide between Christianity and Judaism. So whilst a minority in my community do mark it in some way, it would be difficult for me as an observant Jew to do so. Perhaps therefore, it is surprising to some that I have joined the HappyChristmas4All campaign. So why?

For me, it comes down to good neighborliness. It gives me no satisfaction to see others denigrate another person’s religious festival or stop my neighbours from practising their beliefs. That’s why I joined the HappyChristmas4All campaign that has attracted over a thousand supporters on Facebook and captured the attention of the broadcast media in Britain. People have signed up for their own reasons, but in essence Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs and secularists have joined together to say Christmas in Britain must be respected. Some from other communities have gone further and I have learnt this week from both Muslim and Buddhist friends the meaning that the birth of Jesus has in their traditions.

The ‘War on Christmas’ myth needs to be debunked. I share similar concerns to my closest Christian neighbours that the festival risks becoming on one hand a secular consumerist feast or on the other a time when the majority of the population wrongly believes it has to play down celebrations so as not to offend others
Consumerism is dangerous. The current global economic crisis has shown what happens when we borrow beyond our means. Christmas is a time of great debt for many families who face huge pressures to get those close to them expensive and highly marketed gifts. I share the concerns of those that see this consumerist festival is slowly usurping the religious one that promotes ‘Peace on Earth’ and encourages family gatherings. A religious Christmas is a tonic to this excess and a national consumerist festival is of no interest to any of us.

Playing down Christmas celebrations is not the answer either. We should not make it into some inert ‘Winterval’ or generic ‘Holidays’ which is increasingly popular in the United States. There is a tendency to roll the Jewish holiday of Chanukah into Christmas and celebrate the Holiday period along with Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year and Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate it if someone offers me Happy Chanukah greetings or wants to play ‘spin the dreidel.’ But let’s face it — Chanukah is a minor Jewish festival whilst Christmas is one of the most important days of the Christian calendar. Sso why ‘big up’ Chanukah or have our neighbours downplay Christmas? Indeed, critics of the term ‘Happy Holidays’ deem it to be either consumerist in its origins or an attack on the centrality of Christmas for the majority of the population in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The ‘War on Christmas’ seems to take away enjoyment for the majority of people and only a few bitter secularists and some ideological extremists, who want to be on the fringe of society, want to see that happen. Surely a Christmas tree or lights on the Main Street or at City Hall can’t possibly offend anyone. The notion is simply ridiculous. I used to get phoned up by public sector workers two weeks before Christmas when I was the Senior Race Equality Officer at the UK Government’s Commission for Racial Equality. They were concerned that placing a Christmas tree in the town hall would offend non-Christians. In the main, the same authorities were marking Eid, Diwali and Chanukah where there were sizeable relevant populations. So I asked them, why not Christmas? I told them that I would be offended if 85% of the population could not celebrate their festival. Point taken, my advice was often met with relief and I am probably responsible for saving a dozen or so Christmas trees in town halls across Britain.

Journalists have been fascinated by the numbers of religious leaders from Jewish, Muslim and Sikh backgrounds joining in with this call to respect Christmas. Even the orthodox Chief Rabbi of Britain, Lord Sacks, joined in. On n a recent visit to the Scottish Parliament, he stated that “Jewish and other faith communities love the fact that Christians celebrate Christmas… When I go to Trafalgar Square and hear carols being sung, I feel uplifted.”

When they ask me what I am doing this Christmas, I tell them that I have a role. The country still needs people to work or volunteer. At Christmas time, members of my family offer to take colleagues shifts at work or volunteer in understaffed charities in order to help others take the time off to celebrate their festival, or else look in on those that may be lonely over this period. And when asked, I urge members of my community to do likewise. In other words, to show respect for Christmas and their neighbours. Happy Christmas for all…

ਪਿਆਰ ਵੀ ਸਰਕਾਰੀ ਨੌਕਰੀ ਵਰਗਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ, ਧੱਕੇ ਖਾਕੇ ਹੀ ਮਿਲਦਾ ..ਓਹ ਵੀ ਕਿਸੇ ਕਰਮਾ ਵਾਲੇ ਨੂ......

Frds hun Tusi Punjabi V read kar Sakde ho mobile ch _____

step 22 step ds da han main.
1st step download opera in ur mobile.

2nd step tuc opera d address bar ch likhna hi opera:config
likh ke enter kar dayo .eh opera dia stetings ne

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Stepping up pressure, Anna Hazare today announced a new agitation of filling up jails (jail bharo) from January 1 if Parliament does not pass a strong Lokpal law, amid indications that it is unlikely to be done before the scheduled conclusion of the current winter session.
 The agitation is in addition to the indefinite fast Hazare has already announced from December 27 unless a strong Lokpal bill is not not adopted by Parliament. Racing against time the Department of Personnel has begun drafting the Lokpal legislation taking into account the views of the Parliamentary Standing Committee and those of various political parties as articulated at yesterday’s all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
 What appears to be certain now now is that the Lokpal Bill would be introduced before December 22 when both Houses of Parliament are scheduled to adjourn sine die. However, the government has the option of extending the session into early January and taking a year-end break to enable members be with their families for Christmas and the New Year. Both Houses could reconvene in the first week of January to consider the Lokpal law.
 The draft legislation is expected to be considered by the Union Cabinet early next week, either on Sunday or Monday, after the Prime Minister returns from Moscow on Saturday. It could then be introduced in Parliament on December 20 or 21.

A new research has investigated the potency of Indian wild plants against bacterial and fungal infections in the mouths of oral cancer patients.
Researchers from Rohtak, India, tested extracts from several plants used in traditional or folk medicine against microbials found in the mouths of oral cancer patients. Of the 40 patients involved in the study, 35 had compromised immune systems with severely reduced neutrophil counts. Eight of the plants tested were able to significantly affect the growth of organisms collected by oral swab, and pure cultures of bacteria and fungi grown in the lab. This included wild asparagus, desert date, false daisy, curry tree, caster oil plant and fenugreek.
"Natural medicines are increasingly important in treating disease and traditional knowledge provides a starting point in the search for plant-based medicines. Importantly we found that the extraction process had a huge effect on both the specificity and efficacy of the plant extracts against microbes," said Dr Jaya Parkash Yadav. "Nevertheless several of the plants tested were broad spectrum antibiotics able to combat bacteria including E. coli, S. aureus and the fungi Candida and Aspergillus.
Both desert date and caster oil plant were especially able to target bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are known to be difficult to treat with conventional antibiotics," Yadav added. "Although the plants tested had a lower potency than conventional antibiotics they offer hope against resistant species. These results are a starting point for further testing in the lab and clinic," added Yadav. The study has been published by BioMed Central`s open access journal Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials.

America's contentious and costly war in Iraq officially ended Thursday with an understated ceremony in Baghdad that contrasted sharply with its thundering start almost nine years ago.
U.S. troops lowered the flag of command that flew over the Iraqi capital, carefully rolled it and cased it in camouflage in accordance with Army tradition.
The quiet ceremony, under a bright Iraqi sun, was the opposite of the nighttime "shock and awe" bombardment of Baghdad that launched the war against Saddam Hussein in March 2003.
Justified by President George W. Bush on the grounds that Hussein was seeking weapons of mass destruction that he could share with terrorists such as al Qaeda, the invasion cased deep divisions in America and around the world.After that, men and women from Maine to Hawaii began crossing the border into Iraq -- and began dying or coming home with lifelong injuries.
Hussein's regime proved easy to topple, but no weapons of mass destruction were found, and the United States and its allies were left occupying a country where they were not greeted as liberators, despite the prediction of Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney.
Iraq erupted into sectarian violence, leaving U.S. troops to try to contain what threatened to become a civil war. Improvised explosive device became a household term, traumatic brain injuries a signature wound of the war.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who flew into Baghdad for Thursday's flag-lowering ceremony, recalled that when he visited in 2006 as a member of Bush's Iraq Study Group, "sectarian violence was skyrocketing, and it seemed as if nothing was working."
But, he said, "After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real."
On Thursday, the Iraq war officially ended as President Barack Obama described it: not with a final battle but with a final march home for U.S. troops.
In all, the United States spent more than $800 billion in Iraq.
Panetta reflected on a greater cost.
He said the United States was "deeply indebted" to all Americans in uniform. Nearly 4,500 of them were killed in this war, more than 30,000 wounded.
In their own words: Eight lives changed by the Iraq war
And he hailed the advances made in Iraq since Hussein was ousted.
"This is a time for Iraq to look forward," he said. "This is an opportunity for Iraq to forge ahead on a path to security and prosperity. We owe it to all of the lives that were sacrificed in this war not to fail."
No one knows how many Iraqis have been killed since March 2003, but the independent public database Iraq Body Count has compiled reports of more than 150,000 between the invasion and October 2010, with four out of five dead being civilians.
Thousands of other Iraqis struggle to cope with lives marred by war. For them, the battle goes on as the Americans leave behind a fragile nation struggling to establish democracy, struggling to establish stability.
Violence still claims innocent lives in Iraq. People are frustrated with the lack of electricity. Baghdad is awash in trash. No one can predict Iraq's future without the presence of Americans.
"As long as there are assassinations and explosions from time to time in this country, then of course I have fears," said ministry of transportation employee Abu Hadeel. "When I walk in a crowded street, I have concern of any sudden explosion. There are no guarantees."
Student Moutazz Sami said Iraq was not prepared militarily or politically to handle challenges. But businessman Ethar Mohammed said "every beginning has an end."
"The political divisions are huge and no one knows what will happen after December 31," the date by which American troops must leave, said Iraqi journalist Mina al-Oraibi, assistant editor-in-chief of Asharq Alawsat newspaper in London.
Fareed Zakaria on Iraq's oil potential
All U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by the end of this month after Washington and Baghdad failed to agree on terms under which they could remain.
At the height of the war in 2007, when Bush ordered a so-called surge, more than 170,000 American troops were stationed in Iraq, living on more than 500 bases and outposts across the nation.
As of Tuesday, only 5,500 American troops remained. A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said that some troops -- perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 -- will remain in Kuwait for a certain period of time but said the details have not been worked out with the Kuwaitis.
Only half of Americans think their nation achieved its goals in Iraq, according to a CNN/ORC International poll conducted last month. Still, 61% favored the withdrawal of all troops by the end of the year. And 68% said they opposed the war in Iraq.
Opinion: I'm grateful my husband served in Afghanistan, not Iraq
Iraqis, on the other hand, are worried that the United States wants to disengage from their country entirely, al-Oraibi said, pointing out that Obama came to office partly on the strength of his opposition to the war and sent Vice President Joe Biden to visit recently rather than coming himself.
But Brett McGurk, a former adviser to three U.S. ambassadors, pointed out that U.S. disengagement has been a process, rather than a sudden action. Iraq, he said, has been in charge of its own security since 2009.
"It's not like we were controlling Iraq's security situation last week, and now we're suddenly leaving," he said. "We haven't had troops in Baghdad for over two years."
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, explained in practical terms what the end of the U.S. military mission meant.
Departing from his prepared text, he said he had been able to fly into Iraq on this occasion simply because he wanted to do so.
"The next time I come here, I'm going to have to be invited by the Iraqi government, and I kind of like that," Dempsey said before concluding his speech with thanks and a blessing in Arabic.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will help the people "realize their own ambitions for a free and sovereign Iraq." It also will work closely with the Iraqi government to ensure the safety of U.S. civilians staying in the country, she said.
"I think it's understood this is one of the most challenging missions that the State Department has ever led, but we've had a great deal of thought given to what needs to be accomplished," Clinton said in Washington.
Back home, many of those Americans who sacrificed in Iraq harbor mixed feelings about the war.
But if Iraq can emerge as a free and democratic nation, every American soldier should feel proud, said retired Army Gen. Mark Kimmitt.
"If that's the case, then these soldiers can say, yes, indeed, they won," he said. "Every soldier and their families should walk away extremely satisfied and proud of what they accomplished and what they left behind. I just hope it can remain that way."
Obama laid out that same message as he welcomed home returning troops Wednesday at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
"Because of you, because you sacrificed so much for a people that you had never met, Iraqis have a chance to forge their own destiny," Obama said. "That's part of what makes us special as Americans. Unlike the empires of old, we did so not for territory or for resources. We do it because it's right.
Obama said there was no fuller expression of U.S. support for self-determination than its withdrawal from Iraq. That, he said, speaks volumes for the American people.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta marks the end of the US war in Iraq at flag ceremony