The mystique of Punjab

The Golden Temple in Amritsar is considered the holiest of all sites for Sikhs.

Hidden in the twisting lanes of the old part of the city, the busy kitchen at Kesar Da Dhaba in Amritsar is reached only by foot, cycle rickshaw or bicycle.

Pakistani Rangers (in black) and Indian Border Security Force personnel (in brown) perform the daily retreat ceremony on the India-Pakistan Border at Wagah.

Built with indigenous material, Punjabiyat Lodge's cottages merge with the surroundings. Most meals are made with ingredients grown on the lodge's farm, says the manager.

Built by Mughals in 1640, Sarai Amanat Khan is a fantastic remnant of ancient architecture. It once served travelers on the Agra-to-Lahore trade route and was a prosperous pit stop.

The main lounge at Ranjit's Svaasa, a 200-year-old heritage hotel in Amritsar, is decorated with antique pieces and art from the family's personal collection.

• India's Punjab state is home to the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion, the Golden Temple


• Every evening at the border, Indian, Pakistani guards join in a flag lowering ceremony


• For heritage stays, Amritsar's Ranjit Svaasa hotel has been around for 200 years

(CNN) -- When it comes to India travel, the state of Punjab, which borders Pakistan, doesn't make it to the top of that many itineraries.

That's good news for intrepid travelers.

From temples so gold they'll make your eyes water, to food you'll be longing for days after it hits your lips, Punjab is India at its colorful, lively best.

There's always a long queue to enter the Golden Temple's inner sanctum, which contains the holiest of all Sikh texts, the "Guru Granth Sahib."

1. Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple)

Located in Amritsar, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion, Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), is Punjab's top attraction.

Reflections of its gold-encrusted dome shimmer in the clear water of the Amrit Sarovar (Pool of Nectar), which greets those who enter from the north gate, the most impressive of all four entries.

To take it all in, it's best to simply walk around the marble pathway surrounding the pool.

Its waters are said to have healing powers.

Devotional music, bathing pilgrims, golden carps and meditating devotees add to the atmosphere.

Worth keeping in mind: There's a long line to visit the inner sanctum (Darbar Sahib), where the holy book of the Sikhs, "Guru Granth Sahib," is kept.

Visits are best scheduled for the late afternoon and early evening; every night the temple complex is illuminated. Simply stunning.

You can end the day at the temple's langar (canteen).

The scale of its free meal, put on daily by volunteers, is impressive, with 50,000 meals served each day, according to temple officials.

The Golden Temple , Golden Temple Road, Amritsar, Punjab; +91 183 255 3957; open daily, 6 a.m.-2 a.m.

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2. Punjabi eats

'If my knees could vomit with terror ... '

The city of Amritsar has a rich culinary heritage. Building a big enough appetite to give it the attention it deserves is a challenge.

'Breathtaking' gateway to the Himalayas

From melt-in-mouth chicken tikka to cream-laden, extra-large tumblers of yogurt lassi, Amritsar is an Indian food lover's dream destination.

Here's what shocked Bourdain in Punjab

The best way to get a balanced taste is to start in Kesar Da Dhaba. Hidden in the twisting lanes of the old part of the city, it's reached only by foot, cycle rickshaw or bicycle.

BOURDAIN PARTS UNKNOWN: PUNJAB TRAILER

Founded in 1916, the restaurant is particularly popular with vegetarians.

There's crispy butter-smeared tandoori bread; the house specialty, daal makhani, comes with a thick layer of ghee.

At Makhan Fish and Chicken Corner, fried singhara (catfish) fillets are a must-try. They're coated in chickpea flour and caraway seeds then cooked. Perfect with cold beer.

The creamiest and freshest yogurt lassi in Amritsar is at Surjan Singh Milk Bhandar; the thick drink is a mini-meal in itself.

Kesar da Dhaba , Chowk Passian; +91 183 255 2103

Makhan Fish & Chicken Corner ; 21A, Majitha Road, near Maddan Hospital; +91 98 1519 3241

Surjan Singh Milk Bhandar, Chowk Regent Cinema, GT Road

3. Border face off

One of Punjab's most interesting rituals is the lowering of the flags ceremony, held at India's Wagah border each evening before sunset. Wagah is about 25 kilometers from the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Indian guards in red and gold turbans march out to meet their Pakistani counterparts in a choreographed affair greeted with loud applause from onlookers.

It's a splendid show of patriotism, pomp and panache.

To secure good seats, it's best to get there by midafternoon or arrange for a VIP pass from the Border Security Force station. For security reasons, bags and backpacks aren't allowed.

The border is 30 kilometers from Amritsar and takes about 45 minutes to reach by car.

The main lounge at Svaasa is tastefully decorated with antique pieces and art from the family's personal collection.

4. Punjabiyat Lodge

Punjabiyat Lodge doesn't conjure quintessential images of India.

Instead what you get here are feather-light beds with unobstructed views of green fields as far as the eye can see.

The nature retreat in Punjab's agricultural heartland is a great place to de-stress through simple rural experiences.

Visitors can lend a helping hand to farmers, cycle around the village, milk cattle or take a tractor ride.

Rooms are luxurious but eco-friendly.

Guests get a sense of remoteness and privacy; there are only four cottages, all set in a wheat field.

Meals are a pleasure. Breakfast is served near the fields, lunch under the shade of sprawling trees and dinner on a terrace under a canopy of stars.

Most meals are made with ingredients grown on the lodge's farm, says Punjabiyat manager Jagdeep Singh.

Punjabiyat Lodge is in the village of Saidowal-Gunopur, about 75 kilometers from Amritsar; +91 981 870 5508

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5. Sarai Amanat Khan

A scenic 45-minute drive from Amritsar, Sarai Amanat Khan is an old, crumbling caravanserai (roadside inn).

Built by Mughals in 1640, it's a fantastic remnant of ancient architecture.

It once served travelers on the Agra-to-Lahore trade route and was a prosperous pit stop back in the day.

These days, the historic ruins only hint at its glorious past.

Photogenic features of the complex include an arched entry, fading calligraphy, Persian tiles, eroding walls and a mosque.

Amanat Khan, the inn's namesake, is believed to be the same guy who etched the calligraphy on the Taj Mahal in Agra.

It's a great day trip from Amritsar.

6. Ranjit's Svaasa hotel

There are few better ways to end a wild day in Amritsar than climbing into one of the plush beds at the 200-year-old Ranjit's Svaasa hotel.

Abhimanyu and his partner, Gayatri, are the gracious hosts of this charming, well-hidden retreat.

The owners are seventh-generation members of the Punjabi Mehra clan, says general manager Deepak Biala.

Corridors are dotted with family portraits, antique furniture and curios collected over their many travels.

Secluded terraces and lounging spaces are spread throughout the property.

The Rattan Chand and Dev Chand suites each come with a marble bathtub and a sitting area framed by large windows.

Guest can learn to whip up a traditional Punjabi meal or hit the spa for an innovative wine-and-sugar scrub or face treatment with turmeric, sandalwood and organic rose water.

Ranjit's Svaasa , 47A Mall Road, Amritsar; +91 183 256 6618; rooms from RS 6,500 ($108)

New set of sonar tools available

• Probe of the ocean floor will move from ping locators to sonar


• The Bluefin-21 is equipped with side-scan sonar


• And once the debris field is found, investigators would turn to remotely operated vehicles


• An intact plane could complicate the search effort, CNN analyst says

(CNN) -- Once investigators looking for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 decide to shift from listening for pings emanating from the floor of the Indian Ocean to poring over its terrain, they will begin drawing from a whole new set of tools.

Among them will be the Bluefin-21, a probe equipped with side-scan sonar -- an acoustic technology that creates pictures from the reflections of sound rather than light.

"That is a piece of equipment that does assist in locating where the wreckage may be," said Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer from National Geographic who was chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A 'massive, massive task'

Though the discovery of four pings believed to be from the jet's so-called black boxes -- its flight data recorder and its cockpit voice recorder -- have helped investigators narrow the search area, they would still face a formidable task. "It's a lot of terrain to cover," given that the Bluefin-21 moves at the pace of a leisurely stroll, she told CNN.

Though it moves slowly, it creates good images -- so good that they are "almost a picture of what's there ... but it's imaged with sound instead of with a camera."

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Searching below the surface

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Once the debris field is found, then other equipment -- such as remotely operated vehicles -- would be brought in to recover the black boxes, Earle said.

ROVs working at depths of three miles would require power conveyed down a cable from a ship above, she said. "There are not many pieces of equipment in the world able to do this."

And there are only a handful of countries that have manned submarines capable of descending to such depths, she said, citing the United States, Russia, Japan, France and China.

"Having the human presence there can make a big difference," she said. It "can give you a real edge in terms of understanding what's there."

The scarcity of resources "shows how ill-prepared we are to operate in the deep sea," Earle said. "We've invested in aviation and aerospace, and we've been neglecting the ocean."

The time to move from listening for pings to looking for debris is fast approaching, said Alan Diehl, a former Air Force accident investigator. "We're right on the cusp where we need to go from passive listening to active (looking) with the Bluefin," he told CNN.

That's because the batteries powering the black boxes' locator devices are probably already dead, said Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, who noted that more than four days had elapsed since any pings were detected.

"I'm surprised that they lasted as long as they did," she said.

The failure of searchers to find any debris linked to the plane has not surprised CNN Aviation Analyst David Soucie, author of "Why Planes Crash."

The model used for tracking the debris could be incorrect, he said, noting that that was the case when investigators were searching for evidence of Air France Flight 447, which plunged into the southern Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing all 228 people aboard.

"They spent weeks looking for debris in the wrong area," he said.

The lack of debris could also mean that the plane did not break apart on impact, but instead sank largely intact, he said.

If that was the case, it could complicate the effort to retrieve the black boxes, since they were stored inside the tail of the plane. Investigators would have to dismantle the tail in order to extract them and whatever secrets they may hold.

Lessons from past air disasters

Where's the debris?

How deep is deep?

Franken: Say NO to Comcast takeover

Comcast is in the midst of a takeover of Time Warner Cable, which would create the largest cable company in the U.S.

• Sen. Franken says pending merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable is bad for America


• The two biggest cable companies, he argues, have already carved country into local monopolies


• Franken: Takeover could negatively impact Internet access; Comcast controls much of broadband market

Editor's note: Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, has been in the U.S. Senate since 2009 and serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. You can follow him on Twitter @alfranken . Franken will be a guest on CNN'S Reliable Sources, Sunday morning at 11 a.m. ET. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, wants to acquire Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable provider. Should we be concerned?

I certainly am; that's why I oppose this deal. And I'm not alone.

More than 100,000 people -- including many from my own state of Minnesota -- have written to me expressing frustration that they are already paying significantly higher prices for increasingly poor cable and broadband service. Many note that they are unable to get a better deal because, where they live, there is only one viable option (in Minnesota, it's usually Comcast). And they worry that this deal will only make things worse.

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Comcast dismisses these concerns by pointing out that it does not directly compete with Time Warner Cable in any zip code -- as if that's supposed to reassure us.

But the fact that the two biggest cable companies have already effectively managed to carve the country up into local monopolies shouldn't make us feel any better about their plan to become one giant company. Indeed, it's a clear sign that the cable market needs more competition, not less.

As for satellite TV and wireless Internet providers -- which Comcast would have you believe are forcing it and Time Warner Cable to band together in an uphill battle for survival -- they simply don't represent real competition.

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You can get your TV from a satellite provider, but it usually won't come with high-speed broadband Internet. And wireless Internet is not a viable substitute for broadband -- particularly if you want to watch TV online.

Essentially, if you want both TV service and high-speed Internet, you are stuck with a big cable and broadband company like Comcast or Time Warner Cable -- "or" being the appropriate preposition here, because, as Comcast brags, many Americans already have just one of these companies to choose from where they live. And if this deal goes through, Comcast will become the only option for millions more consumers.

The danger in allowing Comcast to accrue even more power is not purely hypothetical. The company is already using its dominant position to dictate terms to content providers seeking to reach its 20 million customers.

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The monster Comcast deal

Take Netflix, for example. Comcast, which happens to have a rival video streaming service of its own, was able to exploit Netflix's growing popularity by refusing to provide the network infrastructure needed to keep Netflix streaming smoothly.

In the end, Netflix had to pay Comcast an undisclosed amount of money to get direct access to Comcast's broadband network and alleviate the slowdown.

As Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote, "Some big ISPs are extracting a toll because they can -- they effectively control access to millions of consumers and are willing to sacrifice the interests of their own customers to press Netflix and others to pay."

"Extracting a toll" is a polite way of putting it; this is nothing short of extortion. And acquiring Time Warner Cable would give Comcast millions more customers to use as leverage.

If Comcast is able to effectively charge popular providers extra for access to broadband customers, those costs will inevitably be passed on to consumers themselves. And if Comcast is able to determine what traffic can make it into consumers' homes, content not owned by Comcast could become harder to find online.

When the Senate Judiciary Committee recently met to review the proposed acquisition, Comcast -- which is represented by 107 lobbyists, including several who have passed through the ever-revolving door between the company and the agencies charged with regulating it -- promised to forgo such behavior.

But the company's own actions have already proven that such promises are not to be believed.

For example, three years ago, when Comcast announced plans to acquire NBC Universal, I and others raised concerns about vertical integration: Comcast already owned the pipes through which cable programming flowed, and now it would own NBC Universal's programming, including NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, and others -- more than 20 networks in all.

Fortune: Blocking Comcast-TWC will not fix America's Internet monopoly

As a nod to these concerns, the Federal Communications Commission required as a condition of the deal that Comcast "neighborhood" -- or group -- cable channels into categories, so that programming not owned by Comcast wouldn't be relegated to the far reaches of the dial where viewers would be unlikely to find it.

But once the acquisition went through, Comcast didn't comply with this condition. It refused to put rival Bloomberg News in the same "neighborhood" as its own news channels, MSNBC and CNBC -- a textbook example of the kind of anti-competitive behavior we warned about, and in which Comcast promised not to engage.

As another condition, Comcast was told by the FCC to create a stand-alone broadband product -- one that wasn't bundled with a cable TV package -- so that people who wanted to ditch their cable plans in favor of online services like Hulu and Netflix would have an option.

Indeed, Comcast did create such a product. One small problem: It failed to tell customers about it. And after receiving complaints, the FCC fined Comcast for failing to live up to this obligation.

Now Comcast plans to expand its empire by gobbling up the second-largest company in the cable market (and third-largest in broadband), a move that, as even Comcast's executive vice president admits, could mean that rates will rise at an even faster pace. Not to mention worse service -- and a threat to the free flow of information in America.

That's why I will continue to make the case against this deal. And I hope that, Comcast's outsized political influence notwithstanding, regulators at the FCC and the Department of Justice will listen.

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In school rampages, the weapon matters

Parents and students embrace near Franklin Regional High School, where authorities say at least 20 people were injured in a stabbing spree Wednesday, April 9, in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

Accused attacker Alex Hribal, 16, is escorted from a district magistrate after he was arraigned as an adult on April 9. He faces four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds, according to a criminal complaint made public.

A police officer blocks the entrance to the school on April 9.

Students leave the school's campus on April 9.

A police officer stands by the scene outside the high school on April 9.

A woman walks onto the campus of the Franklin Regional School District on April 9.

Students walk away from the campus on April 9.

Emergency responders gather in the parking lot of Franklin Regional High School on April 9.

Jenna Mickel, a sophomore at Franklin Regional High School, stands with her father, Richard, as she talks to reporters outside the school on April 9.

Emergency responders gather in the high school's parking lot.

A pair of women leave the school's campus on April 9.

A Salvation Army disaster services vehicle drives past a school bus and onto the campus on April 9.

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• Authors: Injury, not death, came from school stabbings in Pennsylvania


• They say research has long found for purposes of life and death, the weapon matters


• Writers: Deaths from gun attacks higher than those from knives, other weapons


• If public policy led to reduction in gun use in crimes, murder rate would go down, they say

Editor's note: Philip J. Cook is ITT/Terry Sanford Professor of Public Policy, and Kristin A. Goss is associate professor of public policy at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. They are co-authors of "The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know," published this month by Oxford University Press. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the authors.

(CNN) -- It rarely makes sense to draw big conclusions or make public policy on the basis of anecdotes. But the plural of "anecdote" is data, and sometimes one-off events are useful in crystallizing lessons to guide policymakers and inform the public.

So it was with the Pittsburgh-area rampage this week in which a teenager bearing two kitchen knives is accused of injuring 21 high school classmates and a security guard -- but none of them were killed. It's hard to imagine an anecdote that better illustrates what decades of data show: that for purposes of life and death, the weapon matters.

It's called "the instrumentality effect," and we owe the original scholarly findings (more than four decades old at this point) to the eminent University of California criminologist Franklin Zimring. Others, including one of us (Cook), have validated and built upon his insights.

The idea that the weapon matters emerges in studies of robberies and assaults. When committed with a gun, these crimes are far more likely to result in the victim's death than are similar violent crimes committed without a gun. For example, the likelihood that a victim will die when robbed by a firearm-wielding attacker is three times as high as when the victim faces an attacker bearing a knife and 10 times as high as when the attacker has another type of weapon. For victims injured in an assault, the likelihood of death is also greater when a gun is involved, especially in cases of domestic violence.

Of course, the choice of weapon could be simply a product of the perpetrator's focus on killing; perhaps it's this intensity, not the choice of weapon, that is really to blame. In light of Wednesday's knife attacks in Pennsylvania, Zimring's findings are particularly telling.

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Community seeks motive for stabbing

To separate the effects of the weapon vs. the intent of the perpetrator, he looked at fatality rates for different calibers of guns. If perpetrator intent were really to blame, zeroing in on attacks with guns would "control" for that effect. Zimring found, as the instrumentality perspective would predict, that people shot by larger caliber guns -- which carry bigger and more destructive bullets -- were more likely to die than those shot by smaller caliber guns.

Adding more evidence to the case that the weapon matters, Zimring and Gordon Hawkins later demonstrated that overall crime rates aren't that much higher in American cities than in comparable cities in other developed countries. We just have higher rates of homicide, and that is because our criminals are more likely to be armed with guns and thus their attacks are more likely to end in the victim's death.

The most important and interesting implication of the instrumentality effect is that if public policy could reduce gun use in crime, the murder rate would go down -- even if the overall crime rate did not. As it turns out, about half of American states have enacted policies that add prison time to felons who use a gun when committing their crimes.

These so-called sentencing enhancements, most of which were adopted in the 1970s and 1980s, were intended to reduce the use of guns in violent acts. Scholarly evaluations based on data, not anecdotes, offer some evidence that these policy innovations have been effective.

This week's tragedy can't help but invoke memories of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School some 16 months ago. The difference today is that, because the Murrysville, Pennsylvania, perpetrator chose to use knives, victims' families can look forward to a future with their loved ones -- instead of planning their funerals.

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