It’s really laughable the way Indians have been going bonkers over racism in Australia lately. Come on! Take it easy on Australia. Before passing judgment on others, lets first look at our own backyard.

Punjab, January 21: Although the world is finding itself deep into the recession, the global financial meltdown is coming up as a boon for small-scale industries in Punjab. “This slowdown in the economy has certainly proved a blessing in disguise for many small-scale units operating here. Various small-scale industries have started getting good business,” said K.S. Mahal, general secretary, Mohali Industries Association (MIA).As big units focus on cutting costs by resorting to various means, the small-scale sector is going to see its full potential. Adhish Bansal, who runs a small auto bearings manufacturing unit in the industrial town Mohali, about 10 km from Chandigarh said, “Our business has gone up by over 60 percent in the past three-four months. Many of our new clients are from Gujarat and Maharashtra. Our workers are working round the clock to complete orders.” This has led to an increase in demand and an excessive work load. With deadlines to be met, owners feel compelled to refuse orders. “Earlier, we only had clients in this industrial area and did not send our products to other states. It's different now,” said Atul Mahajan, owner of a small-scale precision engineering equipment unit in Mohali. However, there is another side to this story as the bigger units in Punjab’s Jalandhar industrial area are a suffered lot as they cannot run production on a lower scale to execute small orders, said a senior MLA official.

Punjab, January 20: Punjab is a land of rich culture and heritage with rural sports being a strong part of its cultural inheritance. The government is taking initiatives to inspire youngsters and encourage them to be a part of it. To take rural sports to new standards of excellence at both national as well as international levels, village authorities joined hands with the government and non-resident Punjabis to organize annual rural sports meet in Ludhiana. Thousands of spectators thronged the venue to enjoy the sports meet in which different competitions were organized including bullock cart race, dog race and horse race were held. They felt enthralled by the thrilling traits of the participants. “Rural sports is their in our blood, and it a part of our culture and tradition. People take part in various events like bull race. Even if they fall down and get hurt, it is like a passion and they get up and take part in the race again,” was how Gurbax Singh, one of the participants, felt about the competition which is a much-awaited occasion for NRI the world over.

India or Australia, cops will be cops and they will always look for that bad man in you. But there’s something, according to Harpreet Bhagrath, an Aussie cop is doing right. Read on to find out what...

We all love the 'ideal' in life. The ideal home, the ideal job, the ideal partner and an ideal nation, all amounting to a perfect life and perfection is the ultimate we desire, isn’t it? So, how about a perfect political scene, the ideal one that gives the nation a facelift and all us voters a breather from the war of the parties. Imagine our political arena dominated not by parties but by agendas. How? Read on to find out.

Each one of us on this earth has urges to which one is susceptible. An urge, which no matter how much we try to restrict and refrain, does manage to surface every now and then, whenever tempted. Someone has an urge to smoke, someone an urge to shop, someone might have an urge to eat chocolates and Moms in general have an urge to correct.

Life is a strange journey that brings you full circle, soon enough to realize mistakes, smile and say, “Oh! now I understand”. As a teenager, I was very rebellious. Set norms and patterns always bothered me. Moreover, not only was I too unreasonable in my demands at times, I was also too vocal about my likes and dislikes, my mother often becoming the soft target of all my frustrations. One thing I vowed was to never bring up my kids on the same mundane laid down patterns and made sure my Mom got to hear what I had to say about it.

Motherhood is a blessing, true enough, but more blessed I feel are those who are able to sail smoothly through the initial formative years of parenting. In our side of the world the common belief is that, in giving birth to a child a woman is born again. And really, after having two kids of my own today, I completely stand by this belief.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee plans to appeal to the international community to seek a ban on the auction of all kinds of religious relics. The decision comes in light of the controversy over the auction of a medieval-era armour, professed to be one, belonging to Guru Gobind Singh Ji by the Sotheby’s in London.

The moment you read this heading you must be thinking how is someone trying to relate all these issues. I am myself not an economist but a keen observer of the economy. In the next few paragraphs I will explain how these things are affecting you and why you should not quit the Army.