“Historically” large number of foreign students is a problem
By Umendra Singh
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller admits that the large number of foreign students in Surrey, specifically, and in Canada, generally, is a serious problem.
And the situation the foreign students themselves are in is not good for them or for anyone.
At a press conference in Surrey earlier this week, Miller would not commit to agreeing to give the foreign students permanent residency
South Asian business owners say extortion calls continue, despite RCMP task force Federal Immigration Minister says no guarantee that foreign students will get to stay in Canada
visas automatically or anything close to it.
“The foreign students were given student visas and were not guaranteed or promised anything else – they were not promised a permanent resident visa if they attended and completed school in Canada,” Miller said.
He said his ministry is reviewing the situation to see what the best solution is, but it could be that the students would have to return to their home countries at the end of their studies.
Miller said that according to Statistics Canada, temporary residents (foreign students and those with temporary work permits) make up 7 percent of Canada’s population -and this large number puts a big strain on infrastructure and resources – including housing and health care.
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Dozens of Indian farm labourers have been freed from slave-like working conditions in northern Italy, police have said.
The 33 workers were lured to Italy on the promise of jobs and a better future by two fellow Indian nationals, police say.
But instead, they were allegedly forced to work more than 10 hours a day, seven days a week for a tiny wage which was used to pay off debts to the alleged gangmasters.
Continued on Page 15...
BC caps international post-secondary student enrolment
Business owners in the Fraser Valley say they are still receiving threatening phone calls demanding cash months after RCMP established a task force to deal with extortion attempts. Some business owners say they have been getting constant calls since last summer, with callers threatening to kill their families if they do not pay up.
One victim told Global News that during one phone call, the extortionist told him that police wouldn’t do anything, knowing an officer was in the room with him.
“I need help. I can’t see if something goes wrong to my family,” Jas Arora with Highway King Transport told Global News.
It appears those making the threats sometimes follow through.
RCMP said a White Rock shooting last December is connected with the ongoing extortion cases. In Edmonton, police said they
believe a series of arson and drive-by shootings are also tied to extortion cases. Earlier this year, the RCMP established a national team to tackle these threats against South Asian communities.
Global News asked the BC RCMP for updates, but no one was available for an interview.
“Police take this very seriously,” B.C.’s Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said on Wednesday.
“What’s important and what police need is information and they need people who are facing these threats or extortion attempts to come forward.”
The entrepreneurs affected by these extortion attempts say they will discuss these issues at an upcoming town hall this weekend.
“We are not seen and the only way to be visible is to come out in strength and show that we need support,” said Amit Kumar with the Canadian Trucking Association of B.C.
British Columbia’s government has introduced new guidelines for public postsecondary education institutions, capping the number of international students at 30 per cent of their total enrolment.
In a statement, the provincial Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills says the new limit is meant to make sure that “international student enrolment doesn’t strain an institution’s ability to provide appropriate services.”
The ministry says the new guidelines call for public universities and colleges to submit international education strategic plans to the government, which the province will monitor to make sure the cap is being followed.
Continued on Page 10...
Immigration minister
Marc Miller with Surrey Newton Liberal
MP Sukh Dhaliwal
2 deaths in listeriosis outbreak linked to plant-based milk recall, Canadian officials say
Two people in Ontario have died after being sickened with listeriosis, as part of a wider set of cases linked to plant-based beverages that prompted a recall.
The Public Health Agency of Canada in an advisory issued Wednesday night reported the deaths. It said a total of 12 listeriosis cases — 10 in Ontario, and one each in Quebec and Nova Scotia — are under investigation.
The agency says people became sick between August 2023 and early July 2024.
In a statement early Thursday, Ontario’s Ministry of Health confirmed both deaths occurred within the province.
“The Ministry of Health is working closely with local public health agencies, Public Health Ontario, the CFIA, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada regarding the recall of these products.”
Peel Public Health said it has received a report
The largest city in northeastern B.C. has been operating without an emergency room for multiple days in a row as the region grapples with a shortage of health-care professionals.
On Wednesday, the Northern Health Authority announced the ER at the Fort St. John hospital — which serves an immediate population of 28,000 people, and hundreds more from outlying communities — would be closed from 4 p.m. MST July 17 through to 10 a.m. MST on July 18. It is the fifth closure the ER has had in the past week, with previous shutdowns July 12-14 and on July 16, each beginning in the afternoon or evening and lasting until the next day.
of one case that is linked to the outbreak and that the person died. The agency said the link had been made through whole genome sequencing, or genetic fingerprinting.
The Ontario Health Ministry would not provide any other details about the illnesses and deaths.
Earlier this month, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled certain Silk and Great Value brands of oat, almond and coconut refrigerated beverages over possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said the people who have been sickened are 37 to 89 years old and most are women.
The frequent closures have sparked worry in the community, as well as a push for an independent review of how the hospital is being managed.
“Our lives are at stake,” said resident Tyler Holte in an interview with CBC News. “We are losing our life-saving critical service to our community.”
In every instance, the health authority blamed “physician coverage challenges” and directed people in need of emergency care to call 911 to be taken to the nearest hospital.
But Holte and others point out that Fort St. John, an industrial hub nearly 800 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, is the largest city in the region.
A B.C. Realtor who falsified her income to purchase five North Vancouver properties through an unregistered mortgage broker has been barred from the industry and fined $130,000.
The B.C. Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) revoked the licence of Realtor Rashin Rohani and ordered her to pay a $40,000 penalty and $90,000 for enforcement costs for her role in an alleged widespread mortgage fraud network involving numerous licensees, a BCFSA hearing panel ruled Jan. 11, 2024.
The panel found Rohani committed professional misconduct for using an unlicensed mortgage broker, failed to disclose to clients payments from the broker, and falsified income statements on mortgage applications, including five of her own.
Rohani participated “in a fraudulent document scheme that would bring the real estate industry into disrepute” when she used the services of an unregistered mortgage broker, ruled Chief Hearing Officer Andrew Pendray.
clients by using falsified income documents from the unregistered mortgage broker.
Rohani pleaded for a smaller penalty, claiming she is a single mother whose income is derived from monthly workers’ compensation payments, and that if she needed help, her family in Iran would provide her with money.
In order to reduce the penalties, Rohani also claimed her income was “just enough to cover expenses,” according to the ruling. But in its
According to BCFSA investigators, Rohani was able to purchase her first North Vancouver home in 2016 by declaring a T1 General tax form falsely showing she had $182,079 annual income and savings of up to $350,137. This allowed Rohani to obtain $1.4 million in mortgage financing.
Rohani later provided investigators with her actual 2015 notice of assessment showing just $16,612 income and a maximum savings of only $50,137 — a stark difference from the information filed to lenders.
The regulator also raised evidence showing six instances in which Rohani secured mortgages for
submissions, BCFSA pointed out that Rohani, “by some means, was able to service five mortgages in the past and currently services three mortgages.”
Ultimately, Pendray considered Rohani’s misconduct to be “severe” but provided some leniency to Rohani considering BCFSA sought just over $216,000 in penalties.
“In this case Ms. Rohani repetitively, over the course of a number of years, elected to personally participate in a deceptive mortgage application scheme for her own benefit, and subsequently, arranged for her clients to participate in the same deceptive mortgage application scheme,” stated Pendray, whose ruling also noted none of the mortgages led to delinquencies.
RCMP plead with drivers to slow down after fatal BC crashes
A white Corvette reportedly accelerated to 213 km/h on Highway 1 near Langley on July 9.
On July 11, a motorcyclist allegedly sped up to 142 km/h in a 70 km/h zone near Castlegar.
Then, three days after that, a blue sedan and red motorcycle were seen driving through “the heart of Squamish” at over 140 km/h in a 70 km/h area.
These are just three examples of excessive speeding, which is driving at or more than 40 km/h over the speed limit, that the B.C. Highway Patrol (BCHP) have documented this month.
The speeding also happened alongside a recent string of fatal crashes in the province, which has prompted authorities to issue several safety warnings.
“[BCHP] are pleading with drivers around the province to slow down,” police said in a Wednesday statement. Officers say they have issued at least 132 violation tickets, or over seven tickets a day, for excessive speeding since the beginning of July.
when going that fast, which is why excessive speed is so deadly.”
For instance, 19 accidental motor-vehiclerelated deaths were reported to the B.C. coroner from July 5 to July 10. They included a family of three and four family members in two separate incidents.
The B.C. Coroners Service has also encouraged drivers to reduce the risk of a collision by refraining
They stopped 40 drivers in the Okanagan area between July 8 and July 15 alone.
All of these drivers were issued tickets between $368 and $483, the release says. The vehicles were also impounded for seven days.
“Every driver needs to realize that the consequences for excessive speeding go far beyond getting an expensive ticket and your vehicle impounded,” said Insp. Chad Badry, officer in charge of the Kootenay Highway Patrol, in the statement.
“You have far less time to react to anything
from drugs and alcohol, obeying posted speed limits and driving to road conditions.
Looking ahead, Badry reiterated the call for caution as the summer festival season ramps up. In particular, he told CBC News that the expected influx of drivers headed to the Shambhala Festival in the Kootenay area next week is a concern.
“There [are] 20,000 people that are going to end up coming that way,” he said. “B.C. Highway Patrol and other police in the area are going to be out to make sure that those people get there safely and that other young road users aren’t affected by this migration of people to this festival.”
Heat warnings spread in BC as records tumble in second heat wave for July
More than two dozen daily heat records were broken or tied in British Columbia on Wednesday, as sweltering temperatures swept across the province.
At least 27 communities set daily temperature records for July 17 across B.C., and Lytton was the province’s hot spot at 42 C, shattering the 2009 record of 35.3 C. The heat wave also hit Lillooet and Ashcroft with temperatures over 40 C. Temperatures in the high 30s were seen in numerous communities, including Vernon, Kelowna, and Kamloops.
Environment Canada says the second heat wave for July is set to continue into next week in the Interior before gradually easing, while coastal areas could see conditions moderate after the weekend. Environment Canada is warning people to look for early signs of heat illness since
these symptoms can develop into life-threatening emergencies.As of late Wednesday, more than 20 regions in B.C. were under heat alerts, stretching from Whistler in the southwest, to the north and central coasts and deep into the Interior.
On Tuesday, heat records in the 30s fell in six places, including Pemberton, Whistler, Sparwood, and Penticton in southern B.C., and Dawson Creek and Blue River not far from the Alberta boundary. The daily high on Tuesday of 40.9 C was recorded in Lytton in the Fraser Canyon. Coastal and southern areas are expected to see temperatures ease slightly before spiking again over the weekend, while much of the Interior can expect continuous high temperatures with little relief at night. Environment Canada says the high temperatures in areas under alert represent a “moderate risk to public health.”
Trucker who caused Broncos crash applies to have permanent resident status returned
The truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash has applied to have his permanent resident status returned.
The Immigration and Refugee Board issued a deportation order in May for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu and his permanent resident status was revoked.
Sidhu is from India and arrived in Canada in 2014. In 2018, while living in Calgary, the rookie truck driver barrelled through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team’s bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask.
Sixteen people on the bus were killed and 13 were injured.
about the application for several months, and the application will likely take up to two years to process.
“They look at how well he’s established in Canada, what kind of family ties and community ties. They look at the best interests of the child,” Greene said.
Sidhu pleaded guilty to dangerous driving offences and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was granted full parole last year.
Lawyer Michael Greene says his client has applied to regain permanent resident status on humanitarian grounds.
“The test is what would a reasonable person want to relieve the misfortunes of this individual,” Greene said.
“Now, it’s against the horrific nature of the consequences of his mistake. He pretty much has everything else going for him in terms of humanitarian grounds.”
Greene said he likely won’t to hear anything
Sidhu and his wife have oneyear-old with severe heart and lung complications.
“In this case, it really makes a difference. It would be very difficult for that child to live in India with his health conditions. So the best interests of the child is a big issue for him.”
Several family members of those killed in the crash have said they want Sidhu deported. Others have called for him to be allowed to stay.
The Reconciliation Action Group in Calgary has extended its support to Sidhu.
“The Reconciliation Action Group stands against his deportation that is based on racial biases. Mr. Sidhu has a Canadian wife and Canadian-born child with health issues and his deportation will har m them,” the organization said in a statement. Calgary MP George Chahal is also asking federal politicians to block the deportation, saying Sidhu has served his time for the tragic accident.
City of Surrey, province finalize agreement on policing transition
After many years of back-and-forth debate, negotiation, and courtroom battles, the province and Surrey say they’ve reached an agreement on the future of policing the city.
“The B.C. government and the City of Surrey have reached an agreement that will complete the transition to the Surrey Police Service (SPS) by providing oversight, accountability, and cost mitigation for residents and businesses in Surrey,” the province said in a release Wednesday.
Both sides have reached an agreement that will see the B.C. government give the City of Surrey $30 million a year to cover transition costs up to 2029. The province says it will also offer a guarantee of as much as $20 million if costs are higher from 2029 to 2034.
“Surrey fully supports the transition, agrees that a separate police tax is not necessary, and will provide space, funding, and payroll for the SPS,” the province said. The city will get a total of $250 million in funding from the province to switch over from the RCMP.
In a statement, Mayor Brenda Locke says the new funds from the province will help to lessen the financial impact of the transition to Surrey taxpayers. Much of her statement focused on the RCMP as Locke praised their efforts in policing the city.
“Through integrated policing units, such as IHIT, RCMP will continue to support the people of Surrey. As we go through this process, council will be constantly working in the best interests of Surrey taxpayers,” said Locke.
BC portal to protect renters from bad-faith evictions
On Thursday, a new portal is going live with the goal of protecting renters from so-called bad-faith evictions in B.C.
As of July 18, landlords in the province will be required to use the Landlord Use Web Portal when they want to end a tenancy for personal occupancy or caretaker use.
“Landlords generating notices to end tenancy will be required to include information about the persons moving into the home,” the B.C. government explains.
“Through this process, landlords are informed of the significant penalties they could face if they are found to be evicting a tenant in bad faith.” The province says requiring landlords to provide information about who will be moving into the home on the notice will give tenants “a better sense of the landlords’ intentions,” and will give tenants more information if they should they want to dispute an eviction.
The Ministry of Housing has said the portal will also allow the province to gauge how often evictions occur under personal-use provisions, which some landlords use under “false pretenses.”
goes live
Landlords BC CEO David Hatniak says the site was created quickly, so hurdles are bound to happen. However, he doesn’t feel the portal will be an issue for most landlords, so long as there’s more awareness and education around it.
“[The province has] got a pretty good track record for listening to make sure whatever platforms such as this are working well, so I know that they expect they’ll have to make some changes, improvements over the coming months,” he told CityNews Wednesday.
“It’s fair to say that they’ve put this together fairly quickly, so we expect that they’re going to build more robust education around it. But right now, it’s a pretty basic tool.”
Also starting Thursday, landlords will be required to provide tenants with more notice and time to dispute an eviction. Prior to July 18, the notice period was two months when a tenant was being evicted for personal or caretaker use. As of July 18, the notice period will have to be four months.
Additionally, tenants will also have 30 days to dispute Notices to End Tenancy, as opposed to the current 15 days they are given.
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Years after Insite ruling, drug policy landscape is still being shaped in BC
By Ashley Joannou: In 2021, the Vancouverbased Drug User Liberation Front approached Health Canada with a proposal.
It wanted permission to buy heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine on the dark web, before having the drugs tested for contaminants and selling them to users through its “compassion club and fulfilment centre.”
Health Canada rejected the application for exemption from drug laws, saying DULF’s plan presented too many public health and safety risks — but the group went ahead with it anyway, saying it would save lives.
The unsanctioned operation would trigger a political firestorm, arrests and constitutional challenges.
Lawyers for DULF are now waiting to hear if a judge will agree that Health Canada violated drug users’ Charter rights when it refused to grant the exemption, while DULF prepares a second Charter challenge as part of its defence of its two co-founders, Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, who were arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The court cases keep British Columbia on the cutting edge of the legal landscape around drug use and understanding of Canadians’ constitutional rights, more than a decade after a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision that kept Vancouver’s Insite safe injection site open.
But one expert says that while the 2011 Insite decision set some key precedents, applying that decision to the DULF
Margot Young, a professor at the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, said it’s difficult to know how the Insite decision will affect the DULF cases, particularly since Insite did not address selling of drugs.
She said the Insite ruling is often seen as sitespecific to the work Insite does.
Continued on Page 9...
Calgary anti-carbon tax rally draws about 800, including CPC leadership hopefuls
Ken Murdoch has lived in Calgary for 68 years. He is not happy about the Alberta carbon tax that goes into effect in just a few short weeks.
“At my age, it is not going to matter a lot, but it certainly will for my children and grandchildren,” Murdoch told CBC News Sunday.
He was among approximately 800 people who filled a hotel ballroom in Calgary to protest the tax in a rally organized by conservative media and opinion outlet Rebel Media.
“Brad Wall said at the premier’s meetings, he says, if this is a neutral tax … then why are we doing it? For Alberta to become a socialist province is beyond comprehension for me,” said Murdoch. “We need Brad Wall instead of Rachel Notley. Rachel Notley was a mistake,” he continued.
“Everybody knows it, that’s why so many people are here. It was a protest vote. Rachel Notley does not know how to run a business,
period. We need business people there. I think in the next election, and I know the CBC doesn’t like this, but you are going to see a lot more Trump-type politics in Canada. We are going to have to or we are going to be totally broke.”
Josiah Shannon, 17, is a first-year plumber looking for employment.
“We don’t believe in the carbon tax,” Shannon explained.
“In a recession we should have less taxes so we can increase jobs. We just don’t need it at the moment.”
“I think the main reason I am against carbon tax, is because I think it is pretty pointless,” said Jones. “I don’t really see how it is going to help the environment. Researchers do say that there is no way whatsoever that it actually is going to cut down on carbon [emissions], people still need to have heat for their homes. The idea of change. We want to get in another conservative government, sort of what the Americans did.”
Evacuations ordered as BC wildfires grow
The TNRD first issued the evacuation order for 76 properties Wednesday evening. The district said about 120 people were affected under the original order, with more living on neighbouring Cooks Ferry Indian Band land.
Stephen Sherwood, the band’s fire chief, said in a Thursday interview with CBC’s Radio West that the fire overcame the band’s land used for cattle grazing and one of the Indigenous protected cultural grounds in the area. He also said the band lost a structure, however, he said it has not been inhabited for some time.
The TNRD has also expanded an evacuation alert for the area, which now includes around 170 addressed properties from Spences Bridge
to the border of the Ashcroft Ranch. Elsewhere, the Shuswap Emergency Program says it has activated an emergency operations centre in response to multiple new fire starts in the region, though it says no properties are currently at risk. Meanwhile, in the Central Kootenay Regional District, 11 properties have been ordered evacuated with another 91 on evacuation alert on the east side of Slocan Lake due to the Aylwin Creek wildfire. Dan Seguin, emergency management coordinator for Regional District of Central Kootenay, told CBC News that there has been a reception centre established for evacuees at the Royal Canadian Legion in the village of Slocan.
BC backing legal challenge of equalization formula, may launch its own lawsuit
British Columbia Premier David Eby said Wednesday his government is offering its “full support” to Newfoundland and Labrador’s court case against the federal government over equalization payments — and is looking at filing a lawsuit of its own.
Eby made the announcement in Halifax as the premiers’ annual summer meeting was winding down.
“B.C. taxpayers are sending tax dollars to Ontario through equalization. That is completely absurd. Ontario is not struggling to provide schools or hospitals,” Eby said at the onset of the meetings.
Eby said his provincial government will intervene in Newfoundland’s case “at the appropriate moment,” and B.C. officials will share information to support the legal claim at the trial level while co-ordinating on strategy in court.
Regarding the prospect of B.C. launching its own challenge, Eby said that while there are differences between his government’s legal arguments and those Newfoundland and Labrador is presenting, the two provinces
are united in seeking to reverse what he called the equalization program’s “perverse outcomes.” For decades, the federal program has transferred money to the provinces to allow for a roughly equal level of government services across the country. Payment amounts are decided based on “fiscal capacity” — a province’s ability to generate tax revenue.
The provinces that don’t receive payments, or feel they don’t receive enough — Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador — have been increasingly vocal about their discontent.
“I will acknowledge it is very hard for British Columbians to be paying into a program right now at a time when they are facing serious cost of living concerns,” Eby said Wednesday.
Wave of mortgage renewals drives owners to list homes, analysts say
With many Canadian homeowners facing a sharp rise in mortgage payments, many of them have decided to bail, resulting in the highest number of Toronto housing units for sale in more than a decade and signaling a big drop in prices in the coming months.
to the United States, where homeowners can enjoy a flat rate for the entire life of a 15-year or 30-year mortgage.
In Toronto, a city where two-thirds of the country’s condominiums are sold, considered a bellwether for other big metropolitan areas, inventories have pushed past highs reached 10 years ago, data showed. At the same time, sales have lagged.
Rising inventories with anemic sales show a high degree of stress in Canada’s biggest property market, real estate consultants said. It indicates either a string of defaults or a price correction is in the offing.
Fueling the surge in available properties are homeowners and investors who bought houses and apartments five years ago at record-low mortgage rates, aiming to grab a piece of Toronto’s lucrative rental market.
But those mortgages are now coming up for renewal in an interest rate environment starkly different than it was five years ago. Mortgage rates are sharply higher, although the Bank of Canada has recently started to guide them down.
In Canada, mortgages are typically for 25 years and renewed every three or five years, in contrast
Under current rates, many homeowners would have their mortgage payments double, according to a calculation by ratehub.ca, a website that compares mortgage offerings. Next year, roughly C$300 billion ($219.33 billion) of mortgages at chartered banks will come up for renewal.
“Some of them are investors who now just want to walk away from their units because they can’t afford it,” said Carl Gomez, chief economist at CoStar Group, a U.S.-based real estate information provider.
At the same time, many are also reluctant to lower asking prices and book losses on their investment, he said, at least for now.
“There’s just limited willingness to lose money,” said Daniel Foch, director of economic research at RARE Real Estate. “It seems like nobody has really adjusted their expectations to a market in which they aren’t going to make a profit,” he said. The trend is especially pronounced in the condominium market, where inventory is at a historic high, said John Lusink, president of Right at Home Realty, Canada’s largest independent housing brokerage firm.
Federal Immigration Minister says no guarantee that foreign students will get to stay in Canada
Continued from Page 1...
The minister further agreed that the situation was not good in Surrey as half of all schools designated to accept foreign students are in Surrey. This means almost half of foreign students are in Surrey.
Separately. the BC government has estimated there are175,000 foreign students in BC, most of them in Surrey, and the BC government has ordered all schools in BC to limit foreign students to a maximum of 30 percent of their total student populations (see related story on page 1).
The Minister admitted there has been criticism about the high number of temporary residents, including foreign students, in Canada currently. “There is a lot of blame to go around,” he said.
He said there was a lot of blame to go around as to how the situation became so bad but said his Ministry is looking at how to bring this situation under control.
The government also wants to ensure that foreign students who have paid up to $40,000 to $50,000 each get a good education and that they aren’t taken advantage of by “unscrupulous actors.”
Ther Minister said he was looking for solutions on how to control this problem and bring the situation under control so that the foreign student programs returns to what they were intended to be.
Along with the historic number of foreign students, there are historic numbers of asylum seekers and refugees seeking refuge in Canada, including about 300,000 Ukrainians trying to escape a nuclear armed invader, Russia.
Along with the historic number of students a high number of work visas given to post graduate students.
“We have never had high numbers like this
before and we need to get this under control,” he said. Answering a question, he said he has heard there are foreign students who are applying for refugee status at the end of their studies or in the middle of their studies but the Minister said he does not believe these claims will be successful.
Added to all this is what he described as “affordability challenge” including interest rates going up.
The Minister was unable to explain how transnational criminals =, specifically from India and Punjab, can brazenly move and commit crime in Canada, specifically in Surrey and BC.
He said that Canada is not immune to gangsters moving into Canada and operate here and extorting local business owners here (see related story on page 1).
He said it is a reality that gangsters move into Canada as they move into other countries, including USA. The Minister was unable to explain how international gangs are operating so smoothly in Canada. He blamed source countries (such as India) for not giving accurate data on criminal histories of those who apply for visas to Canada and said this why some criminals slip into Canada.
The Minister said he is looking at 485,000 new permanganate residents this year and 500,000 next and year and he said the government will look at people who are already here but tat does not mean foreign students will automatically will get visas. He said there may be lots of people with temporary work permits and foreign students may not get in, he emphasized.
Surrey Newton Liberal MP, Sukh Dhaliwal, who accompanied the Minister to the press conference said that the Liberal government has done more than any previous governments in welcoming new immigrants.
Trucking company suspended after Langley overpass hit
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation says it has pulled an entire fleet of commercial trucks off the road after the company that operates them was involved in an overpass strike Tuesday.
It happened early in the morning on Highway 1 in Langley at the CP Rail overpass.
The ministry tells CityNews it is still investigating, but in the meantime, S.G.D. Transport Ltd. will have to pull all seven of its vehicles off the roads, pending the outcome of the probe.
The RCMP is also involved and the ministry says it’ll have more to share soon. This comes
a couple of weeks after another company was involved in an overpass strike, this time in Richmond along Highway 99. In this case, the province’s website notes the cause of the crash was “driver error,” noting the truck’s load was “measured incorrectly.” Ludeman Trucking Ltd. was handed violation tickets by the RCMP, with the province’s Commercial Vehicle Bridge/Overpass Crash Report saying an “action plan” has been “implemented and confirmed” as of July 8.
So far in 2024, there have been 19 recorded overpass strikes, according to the province’s website.
Federal fund won’t save Metro Vancouver transit: TransLink, advocate
A Vancouver transit advocate says a new federal transit fund won’t help local transit systems operate.
The federal government announced the new Canada Public Transit Fund Wednesday, which it says will provide up to $3-billion annually for new transit projects around the country. The fund has reportedly been in the works for months and was promised in the recent federal budget.
More details were shared as Trudeau made a visit to a subway yard in Toronto.
The program is intended to be permanent, though it is currently only funded for 10 years.
“We’re stepping up with the kind of predictable, long-term transit funding that means our partners, like the City of Toronto and (Mayor) Olivia Chow, can plan for not just the next couple of years, but for the next decade and beyond,” Trudeau said.
That money will be divided into three categories: baseline funding for existing infrastructure, metro-region agreements for Canada’s biggest cities, and funding for specific things like rural communities, Indigenous communities, and active transportation.
While the money isn’t set to flow until 2026, the feds say cities can start planning now, with applications open for baseline funding and metro agreements.
Denis Agar, the executive director of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, says the potential investment isn’t designed for what he thinks the region needs.
“It’s nice that the feds are giving money to transit, but it really falls short. It doesn’t offer any money to actually operate the new transit that it might buy, and it doesn’t start for another two years, and Metro Vancouver transit riders are really desperate for relief now,” said Agar.
Vancouver man wants a new car after big lotto win
Hugh McNicoll was at the drug store and couldn’t believe his eyes when he learned he won $1 million from the Lotto 6/49 draw.
“I was at Shoppers Drug Mart and thought the machine was broken,” recalled McNicoll of the moment he realized he won. “I had to keep checking it and eventually downloaded the [Lotto!] .” The Vancouver resident was excited to share the news of his win with his wife.
“She said if I ever won the lottery, I would have to immediately tell her!”
To celebrate, McNicoll bought flowers for his wife. McNicoll plans to go on “a big vacation” and buy a new car.
McNicoll purchased the winning ticket at the Town Pantry in Chevron on Ladner Trunk Road in Delta. So far in 2024, B.C. lottery players have redeemed more than $48 million in winnings from Lotto 6/49.
Canadians think Quebec gets more than it gives to federation
Quebec’s François Legault may be facing some jealousy when he meets fellow premiers in Halifax this week.
As a three-day first ministers’ meeting began Monday, a new poll indicated that many Canadians think Quebec is the federation’s biggest beneficiary.
“Quebec is most likely to be seen to be benefiting disproportionately from its place in the nation,” the Angus Reid Institute said.
The poll also indicated that Quebecers are:
• The least aggrieved as part of the federation.
• The least likely to think the federal government is hurting their province’s economy.
• The second-most likely to say Ottawa treats their province fairly, behind Ontarians.
Despite those positive feelings, Quebecers also feel disrespected by the rest of Canada, according to the survey.
Angus Reid, a non-profit opinion research institute, asked 2,021 Canadians if they think any
provinces “get an extra advantage — that is, they get more than they give being part of Canada.”
Forty-two per cent of Canadians polled said Quebec garners an extra advantage.
Majorities in every region other than Ontario and Quebec said Quebec gets more than it gives.
Alberta was the top choice when Angus Reid asked which provinces give more than they receive.
Twenty-three per cent of Canadians said Alberta is getting a raw deal. That’s 10 percentage points higher than Ontario, which placed second.
Quebec court orders hospital to keep woman on life support so she can die in Nigeria
A Quebec court ordered a Montreal hospital in April to keep a woman on life support to give her husband the chance to arrange for her to be sent home to die in Nigeria, documents show.
McGill University Health Centre sought permission earlier this year to stop all the 42-year-old woman’s treatments and give her palliative care after concluding she had no chance of neurological recovery.
Her husband opposed the change, asking the hospital to keep his wife alive long enough for her to be transferred home to Nigeria at the end of their children’s school year.
Superior Court Justice Florence Lucas sided with the husband, writing that the advantages of the hospital’s plan did not outweigh the rights of the woman, described as Mrs. S, to die in her home country.
“In the end, the court concludes that the beneficial effects of the care plan do not outweigh Mrs. S.’s fundamental rights to live, to be cared for and ultimately, to pass away in her country,” the judge wrote in a decision dated April 18 that was recently published online.
“Given the exceptional circumstances of this case, the applicants’ demand for care must be dismissed.”
Years after Insite ruling, drug policy landscape is still being shaped in BC
Continued on Page 5...
“That’s been of some concern with respect to opening other safer injection sites across Canada, although it has happened, and Insite does lead the way for that,” she said.
“But to say that there’s an easy, transference of Insite to this circumstance, I think is probably not right.”
The DULF cases come amid a growing push in B.C. for new approaches to a drug toxicity crisis that has killed more than 14,000 people since the province declared a health emergency eight years ago. Both provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and former chief coroner Lisa Lapointe have called for alternatives to street drugs to be made available without a prescription.
A report from Henry last week cited DULF’s compassion club, and academic research on its outcomes.
Young, who focuses on the intersection of
social justice and constitutional law, said the DULF cases are among the latest to explore what it means to have the protected right to “security of the person,” beyond the risk of criminal prosecution.
“How can we say someone has security as a person, if they can’t access a safe supply of drugs that they need for the health condition of addiction?” she said.
Young said courts had repeatedly rejected the moral blame that traditionally attaches to individuals who use drugs.
“The (Supreme Court) recognized that addiction is a health issue. It’s not an issue of moral culpability, or a wilfulness or individual choice. It’s a health issue,” she said.
“And that means that this larger context is one not of where you’re dealing with individuals who have a particular lifestyle, or they’re just making bad choices, but you’re dealing with individuals who have health issues.”
Why government policies could keep BC electric-vehicle prices high
As automakers increase production at their electric vehicle plants, consumers might expect to see prices come down. After all, basic economics dictates that more production should mean lower prices if demand stays stable. Right? Consumers should brace for this not being the case.
A mix of current and anticipated government policies at both the provincial and federal levels are to blame. One initiative that has pushed many EVs’ end prices higher for consumers came from the B.C. government on June 18, when it reduced eligibility for its new-EV rebate program. That program provides rebates up to $4,000 to B.C. consumers who buy qualifying new zero-
emission vehicles (ZEVs).
The new system’s eligible rebates for new ZEVs in the regular car category are now only available for vehicles that have a retail price up to $50,000. That is down from the previous qualification level of $55,000, and therefore provides fewer rebates. Another change to B.C.’s rebate program is that sport utility vehicles (SUVs), station wagons and vans are no longer in the larger vehicle category, which would have provided rebates to buyers on vehicles with retail prices up to $70,000. Those vehicles are now lumped into the category that only provides rebates for vehicles with prices up to $50,000.
2 suspects arrested following robbery at Cloverdale
Two suspects are in police custody and one remains at-large following a robbery at a store in Etobicoke on Monday.
The incident happened at Cloverdale Mall, near The East Mall and Dundas Street West.
Toronto police said they were called to the area around 5 p.m. after receiving reports of a retail robbery.
An unknown number of suspects fled the scene with merchandise, they said.
Police said that that suspects were located in vehicles following a collision at Eglinton Avenue West and The East Mall.
One male suspect was arrested at that time, said investigators. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Two other suspects fled the area on
Mall
foot and are outstanding, according to police. One of those suspects has since been arrested.
He is described as a Black male, wearing a dark-coloured hoodie and pants. Police have not provided any further descriptive details at this time. Roads in the area are closed for the investigation.
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Canada’s government buys $9 million condo for diplomats in New York City’s landmark Steinway Tower
With a height of 1,428 ft (435 metres), the newly built Steinway Tower within Billionaire’s Row just to the south of Central Park in New York City is hard to miss.
As the third tallest building in New York City and the fourth tallest in the United States, it not only creates a new peak in the Manhattan skyline but also stands out visually as the world’s skinniest skyscraper. The 91-storey tower’s base footprint is just 59 ft (18 metres) by 78 ft (24 metres), providing the building with a height-to-width ratio of just 24-1.
And as of this month, the Government of Canada now owns a piece of this ultraluxurious property at 111 West 57th Street. According to The New York Post, Canada’s federal government has just acquired unit 11A — a 3,600 sq ft condominium on the 11th floor of the tower.
Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to the federal government’s Global Affairs
Canada for comment. Based on New York City real estate listing website StreetEasy, the property was sold on June 27, 2024, for US$6.63 million (C$9.1 million).
StreetEasy’s records show the property was on the market for 235 consecutive days before being acquired last month. It had an asking price of US$10.75 million (C$14.7 million) when it was first listed in February 2022, before dropping to US$8.495 million (C$11.6 million) in October 2023 and then US$6.895 million (C$9.4 million) in March 2024.
A major collision involving two tractor-trailers has closed Highway 17 at 136 Street in Surrey, B.C., according to RCMP.
Police say the crash happened at around 8:10 p.m. PT Tuesday.
Four ambulances were dispatched to the scene, B.C. Emergency Health Services confirmed to CBC News, and paramedics cared for and transported three patients to hospital.
In a statement emailed to CBC News, Surrey
A man charged with sexual assault has been reinstated to the Lheidil T’enneh First Nation band council in accordance with federal rules, the north-central B.C. First Nation said two months after it removed him.
John-Michael West has been charged with sexual assault, sexual interference with a person under the age of sixteen, and internet luring of a person under the age of sixteen, according to the B.C. Prosecution Service.
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Schools such as the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the University of Northern B.C. and University of Victoria say international student enrolment levels there do not exceed the 30-per-cent limit and the change will not impact operations. Kwantlen Polytechnic University exceeded the limit set for 2023-24 at 36 per cent, but officials say the school year started before the federal government capped
RCMP Sgt. James Mason said one of the drivers, a 41-year-old-man, was still in hospital Wednesday morning with serious injuries. He said the driver and passenger of the other tractor-trailer, two men aged 44 and 64, have been released from hospital.
Police said the Surrey RCMP Criminal Collision Investigation Team and the Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service are investigating the cause of the crash.
West was first suspended by the Lheidli T’enneh Band council after RCMP took him into custody at the First Nation’s conference centre, The House of Ancestors, in downtown Prince George on April 26.
Chief and council released a written statement to band members that day, saying the council did not know why West had been arrested. They later issued a statement saying West was removed from Lheidli T’enneh council on May 10.
international students at 360,000 this year — a 35 per cent decrease from 2023. The university’s vice-president Zena Mitchell says in a statement that the B.C. government guidelines aligned with their expectations. The province says the guidelines start this month, and schools are expected to come into alignment over the coming year. It says the cap is also meant “to help ensure that enrolment levels do not put pressure on local communities.”
Fijian children exposed to marijuana, meth, heroin
An anti-drug campaigner in Fiji says the use of illicit drugs among children as young as 10 years old has become a serious concern for the country.
Drug-Free World Fiji founder Kalesi Volatabu told public broadcaster FBC that the consumption of hard drugs such as methamphetamine and heroin had “grown out of proportion”.
“It’s not just one drug they’re doing. Marijuana, really huge numbers of crystal meth. Heroin, inhalants, sniffing of glue,” she was quoted as saying. She told FBC it was “distressing” to see children being exposed to the drugs and is calling for an urgent need for comprehensive strategies to combat the issue.
Fiji has established a reputation as a hub of illicit drug trafficking as authorities try to grapple
with transnational crimes.
In January, the Fiji Police seized almost five tonnes of methamphetamine with a street value of FJ$2 billion ((NZ$1.68b).
Police said Fiji was being used as a transit point and that the methamphetamine was destined for a foreign market.
The public prosecutions office has sanctioned charges against 14 people in relation to the bust.
At the time, Volatabu had told RNZ Pacific Waves that the country was “in chaos” called for “an overhaul of our social system”.
“We don’t have a drug and alcohol rehab in the country. So that’s first and foremost. The demand was initially the international market, whether it be New Zealand, Australia or any other country, but now we have a demand here locally,” she said.
Probe into death of social media influencer
Investigations continue into the death of 37-yearold local social media influencer Esala Seru. Mr Seru’s body was found in his home in Nabua early yesterday morning. Police confirmed his death was an alleged suicide, however, circumstances that led to his untimely passing were yet to be determined. Assistant Police Commissioner
Fiji
is not doing
Mesake Waqa said they could not speculate on the circumstances surrounding Mr Seru’s death as that would be part of the ongoing investigation process. Mr Seru’s death sparked online discussions with many raising their concerns about cyberbullying. Questions sent to the Online Safety Commission about Mr Seru’s death remained unanswered.
enough to tackle human trafficking
Serious questions are being asked on whether we as a country are doing enough to combat human trafficking as the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Fiji 2024 report says as reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Fiji, and traffickers exploit victims from Fiji abroad. The report highlights that about 20 percent of respondents to a 2023 prevalence study identified either experiencing themselves or knowing someone who experienced trafficking indicators in the hospitality, retail, wholesale, food service, vehicle maintenance, storage, transportation, construction, agriculture, fisheries, or forestry sectors.
It reveals that traffickers, including family members, taxi drivers, foreign tourists, businessmen, crew members on foreign fishing
vessels, and other traffickers exploit foreign victims, including from Thailand and China, as well as Fijian women and children in sex trafficking.
The US State Department report says traffickers exploit victims in commercial sex establishments, hotels, private homes, and massage parlors, and sometimes utilize websites and cell phone applications to facilitate the exploitation of sex trafficking victims.
Traffickers exploit Fijian and Chinese national women and children in Chinese nationaloperated massage parlors and commercial sex establishments, particularly in Suva.
It further says in some cases, massage parlor owners arrange for female Fijian employees to engage in commercial sex acts with clients in hotels or commercial sex establishments.
AIDS related deaths increase from 49 in 2022 to 82 in 2023
The issue of HIV/AIDS continues to rise as shocking statistics revealed by the UNDP, highlighted the increase of AIDS related deaths with 49 in 2022 and 82 in 2023.
To address the public health challenges posed by HIV, STI, Hepatitis B and TB in Fiji, the Health Ministry has signed a significant finance agreement with the United Nations Development Programme amounting to $5.2 million to implement the Multi-country Western Pacific Integrated HIV/Tuberculosis (HIV/TB) Programme in Fiji.
According to UNDP, the funding will be executed over a three-year period from 2024 to
2026 and is structured to support comprehensive strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence and impact of these diseases through enhanced healthcare services, education, and community outreach initiatives. They say in 2023, Fiji recorded 415 new cases of HIV, which is a significant increase compared to 2022, with 245 new cases reported and 151 new cases in 2021.
UNDP says the Fiji Health Procurement Project – supported under the Multi-country Western Pacific Integrated HIV/TB Programme, will assist the Ministry in obtaining timely, quality, and affordable HIV, STI, Hepatitis B, and TB health products.
Court to decide on whether charges against Aiyaz SayedKhaiyum and Mohammed Saneem will be consolidated or not
The Suva Magistrates Court will decide on when the charges laid against former Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum and former Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem will be consolidated or not. In court today, the pair appeared before Magistrate Yogesh Prasad who set a hearing date for submissions from defence lawyer Devanesh Sharma and state lawyer Nancy Tikoisuva. Ms Tikoisuva is pushing for the consolidation of charges while Mr Sharma is against the application made by the DPP. The hearing has been set for August 6.
Ramiz Raja states what he used to tell the Pakistan team about India when he was chairman
This is a crying shame for the game because these are two cricketing heavyweights who need to be playing each a lot more outside of major tournaments.
India beat Pakistan in the recent T20 World Cup and that is the only time – added with the 50-over World Cup, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup – that fans get to see them lock horns.
Ramiz Raja was Pakistan’s chairman for one year, before he was removed abruptly by the nation’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, despite being pencilled in for three years.
the future seems bleak.
Their recent display at the T20 World Cup is a prime example of that and Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten was pretty scathing of the team.
Even though the 1992 World Cup winner was in the Pakistan post for a short period of time, the team has since gone backwards and
Interestingly enough, Ramiz Raja has come out and spoken about what Pakistan need to do to get appreciated as a team, and he pointed towards their neighbours, India.
The former opening batsman thinks ‘unless you beat India or be competitive against them, then the world will not recognise you’. Ramiz Raja also revealed this was a message he used to relay to the Pakistan team when he was in the main hotseat, as Saj Sadiq posted on Twitter.
At least 8 Pakistani soldiers killed in military base suicide attack
At least eight Pakistani soldiers have been killed in an attack after suicide bombers rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a perimeter wall at a military base.
Rebels attacked the army outpost in Bannu, on the border with the tribal area of North Waziristan. In a statement on Tuesday, the military said soldiers killed all 10 assailants involved in the assault. “This timely and effective response … prevented major catastrophe saving precious innocent lives,” it added. Among the dead in Monday’s attack were seven army members and one paramilitary soldier.
“Pakistan Armed Forces will … take all necessary measures as deemed appropriate against these threats emanating from Afghanistan,” the military said.
The attack was claimed by the Hafiz Gul
Bahadur armed group, under the Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, which the army said operates out of neighbouring Afghanistan to “orchestrate acts of terrorism inside Pakistan”.
The British colonial-era base has historically been used as a launchpad for counterinsurgency operations and is surrounded by civilian homes, which were shaken by Monday’s blast, Reuters news agency reported quoting two unnamed local officials.
The initial blast took down the perimeter wall, allowing the other fighters to enter the base. An unnamed local official also told AFP news agency that 141 people were wounded after fighters wearing suicide vests “infiltrated the residential area”. They fought battles with guns and rocket-propelled grenades for 26 hours.
Pakistan to ban Imran’s party, file treason case
Upping the ante against Imran Khan, the Pakistan government on Monday said it has decided to ban his party on charges of illegally receiving foreign funds, involvement in riots and its alleged involvement in “anti-state” activities that will attract treason charges against the jailed former prime minister.
Announcing the unexpected move, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, highlighted the activities of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its leadership to weaken the sovereignty of the country and harm its integrity at the international level. “PTI and Pakistan cannot co-exist,” Tarar told a press conference here,
saying that the matter would go to the Cabinet and the Supreme Court. He said the government has decided to ban the PTI, file a review petition in reserved seat case, and file cases against the PTI founder, former president Arif Alvi and ex-National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri for subverting the Constitution.
He said strict legal action would be taken against a handful of overseas Pakistanis for anti-state activities.
The minister alleged that PTI has long been involved in anti-state activities, saying the constitution empowers the federal government to seek a ban on such a party by sending the case to the Supreme Court.
Anti-terrorism court indicts ex-Pakistan foreign minister Qureshi in May 9 violence case
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) here on Monday charged top Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a case involving the burning down of a police station during the May 9 violence last year.
Qureshi, 68, who was brought to the Kot Lakhpat jail here from the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi under tight security, has several cases related to May 9 violence, including arson, filed against him at the Shadman police station.
The court had summoned Qureshi to initiate indictment proceedings against him and ordered the prosecution to present witnesses in the next hearing scheduled for July 22.
Qureshi, who was produced before ATC Judge Khalid Arshad, however, denied the charges.
“As Qureshi was presented before the ATC judge, charges were framed against him for his alleged abetment in torching Lahore’s Shadman police station. Qureshi pleaded not guilty and maintained that a fake case has been instituted against him for being loyal to Imran Khan,” a court official said after the hearing.
The indictment of Qureshi, who is also the vice-chairman of PTI, came hours before the Pakistan government announced its decision to ban Khan’s PTI for its alleged involvement in anti-state activities.
The Lahore police had registered a case against several leaders and activists of PTI on the charges of attacking and burning down the Shadman police station during the May 9 riots following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan by the Rangers in an alleged corruption case.
Punjab and Haryana High Court raps Fazilka SSP, seeks explanation
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rapped IPS officer Pragya Jain for acting in a “callous manner” and committing contempt of court before seeking her explanation on alleged irregularities in an affidavit submitted on her behalf.
She has been asked to appear before the Bench to explain “why the affidavit was not got attested by her” in accordance with law and submitted in advance.
“An IPS officer in a disciplined force at Fazilka with the designation of SSP is expected to be strict and adhering to the procedure of law, but has taken the cause in such a callous manner which has shaken the conscience of this court,” Justice Sandeep Moudgil of the high court asserted.
following interaction between her and the family on the court’s initiative.A notary public in compliance with Justice Moudgil’s earlier order also appeared before the Bench during the hearing and admitted that Jain did not turn up in person. The affidavit was brought to him by ASI Gurmeet Singh, who identified the deponent’s signatures.
The officer on high court’s directions had furnished the affidavit on the genuineness of a marriage certificate and other issues during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed against the State of Punjab and other respondents for a woman’s release from illegal detention.
As the matter came up for resumed hearing, Justice Moudgil took note of the submission that the woman was staying happily with a relative
Justice Moudgil also observed that the deponent’s signatures were also not available in the Notary Public’s register.
“It is on that account as well the deponent has committed a serious act of criminal contempt of this Court by filing an affidavit without following due process of law,”
Justice Moudgil asserted.
Before parting with the order, Justice Moudgil also directed the Notary Public to file his affidavit, explaining the position.
He has also been asked to explain the procedure expected to be followed for carrying out the attestation of the affidavits by public officers/officials asked to file the document in the court. The case will now come up for further hearing in July last week.
3 of family killed in road accident in Punjab’s Kapurthala
Three members of a family, including two children, were killed and a woman got injured after their scooter collided with a pickup van here, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place near Fattudhinga
Singh and his two children Gora (6) and Luxmi (5).
Singh’s wife Surinder Kaur who was injured was admitted to a local hospital where her condition is said to be serious, the police said.
Centre includes Punjab in Agricultural Statistics Improvement Plan
Punjab has been incorporated into the Agricultural Statistics Improvement Plan, following a meeting between Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian.
During the meeting held at Krishi Bhavan, Delhi, various issues concerning agricultural development in Punjab were discussed.
Chouhan handed over the approval letter for Punjab’s State Agricultural Statistics Authority (SASA) proposal, expressing the central government’s commitment to support the state’s agricultural initiatives.
As per the approval letter from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Punjab has been included in the Improving Agricultural Statistics (IAS) scheme, allowing for the establishment of a Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) under SASA.
The scheme provides 100 per cent financial assistance for IAS-related activities, marking a significant step towards enhancing the agricultural statistics system.
The meeting also focused on the implementation of the Crop Residue Management Scheme, emphasizing the need for serious efforts to address environmental concerns. Meanwhile, Khudian also called for Chouhan’s intervention to address the escalating pest attacks on the Punjab’s cotton crop, specifically the pink bollworm and whitefly infestations.
Khudian also brought forth other significant agrarian concerns, including the implementation of the Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme, the timely release of funds under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), and the consistent supply of fertilizers.
Two passengers were killed and 34 injured when eight coaches of the ChandigarhDibrugarh Express derailed near Gonda in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, an official said.
Ambulances and medical teams were rushed to the spot between Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations, about 150 km from the state capital, as news of the derailment came in. The loco pilot heard the “sound of a blast” before the derailment, an official told reporters. But he did not elaborate. There was confusion initially over the death toll. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak told PTI that four people were killed, with district magistrate Neha Sharma, too, giving out the same number to the
accident, the authorities revised the figures with Sharma saying there was one death.
“Prima facie, when teams reached the spot people were lying scattered there in bad shape due to which confusion prevailed,” she said.
One more passenger died later in the evening while being taken to Lucknow for medical treatment, UP Relief Commissioner GS Naveen said. The Railways, too, had reported two deaths.
The dead were identified as Saroj Kumar Singh (31), a resident of Araria in Bihar, and Rahul (38) from Chandigarh.
Thirty of the injured were being treated at two community health centres and three at the district hospital. Apart from Rahul, another
India summoned Ukrainian ambassador over Zelensky’s comments, media reports
India summoned a Ukrainian envoy over President Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism of a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, the Economic Times newspaper reported on July 16. Speaking a day after a deadly Russian attack on July 8 that damaged a children’s hospital, Zelensky called Modi’s trip to Russia and his embrace with the Russian leader “a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts.” The criticism caused displeasure in New Delhi, as the Indian Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador on July 15 to raise the issue, the Economic Times wrote without revealing the source of the information.
India has also postponed a meeting of a joint working group on culture with Ukraine, according to the outlet.
Modi arrived in Moscow on July 8 for talks with Putin, marking his first visit to the country since the start of the full-scale invasion.
New Delhi has been calling for a diplomatic
solution to Russia’s war against Ukraine but has been simultaneously fostering close economic ties with Moscow. India became one of the chief buyers of Russian oil following Western sanctions, although pressure from U.S. sanctions increasingly threatens this trade.
During his visit, Modi called the attack against the Ohkmatdyt hospital “very terrifying,” saying that “when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds.” Despite this implicit rebuke of Putin, the meeting led to a deepening of economic ties and underscored the countries’ partnership.
New Delhi and Moscow denied rumors that there had been disagreements between the two leaders after the Indian prime minister’s visit ended unexpectedly ahead of schedule.
Ukraine has sought to engage India in peace efforts, but New Delhi has largely stayed on the sidelines. Modi has not personally attended Ukraine’s global peace summit in Switzerland, and the Indian representative did not sign the resulting joint communique.
Supreme Court directs NTA to declare centre-wise results of NEET-UG while masking identity of candidates
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to declare by Saturday 12 noon the centre and city-wise results of NEET-UG 2024 after masking the identities of candidates. “We direct the NTA to publish the marks obtained by students at the UG-2024 NEET examination, while, at the same time, without disclosing the identity of the students. The result should be declared city and centre wise by 12 noon on 20 July 2024 and shall be uploaded on the website of the NTA,” the Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said.
The order came after senior counsel Narender
Hooda submitted on behalf of the petitioners that in the absence of complete city-wise and centrewise results the petitioners were handicapped in pointing out discrepancies in NEET-UG 2024 and that publishing the entire results on the website by the NTA will bring about transparency on the centre wise marks obtained by candidates.
The Bench – which also included Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra rejected Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s repeated requests that apart from the identity of candidates, the names of cities and centres should also be masked.
13 Indians among 16 crew missing after oil tanker sinks off Oman coast; Indian Navy joins search operation
The Indian Navy has pressed its long-range maritime surveillance aircraft, the Boeing P8I, and a warship to locate survivors, including 13 Indian nationals, who were on board an oil tanker that capsized two days ago off the coast of Oman.
The Comoros-flagged oil tanker MV Prestige Falcon capsized 25 nautical miles (some 42 km) southeast of Ras Madrakah in Oman in the evening of July 15.
The merchant vessel is reported to have a total of 16 crew, which includes 13 Indians and 3 Sri Lankans. Sources said an Indian Navy warship
deployed in the region and was undergoing an ‘operational turn around’ at a port in west Asia, was sailed out at short notice to render assistance. Search and rescue efforts are progressing in coordination with Oman. The sea condition is rough with strong winds.
The Boeing P8I has specific radars and area sensors that it carries. The pictures from these radars and sensors can be beamed live to control rooms in India and shared with the Indian warship.
The Oman Maritime Centre has last evening out details that the oil tanker capsized.
Trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s mother in police custody till July 20, attempt-to-murder charge added to FIR
Police on Thursday told a court in Maharashtra’s Pune district that they had invoked IPC section 307 for attempt to murder against Manorama Khedkar, mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, as they sought her custody for five days in a land dispute case.
Cops also called Manorama, her husband Dilip and three others, all shown as accused in the FIR, as “influential and politically active” persons, in the court in Paud that remanded Manorama in police custody till July 20.
Police had launched a search for Manorama and her husband Dilip Khedkar after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil in 2023.
Manorama was apprehended in the
morning from a lodge, where she was hiding, at Hirkaniwadi village near Mahad in Raigad district and brought to the Paud police station before being placed under arrest, Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, Pankaj Deshmukh, had said earlier. She was later produced before a judicial magistrate (first class) at Paud.
Manorama, her husband Dilip and three others have been accused of threatening one Pandharinath Pasalkar (65) with a gun over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil on June 4, 2023. Justifying the addition of IPC section 307 in the FIR, the prosecution told the court that the accused had put the gun on the complainant’s head. When she was about to pull the trigger, the complainant ducked in fear, while the other accused restrained her, police told the court.
Ambani’s $500 million wedding slammed by Washington Post amid flood-like condition in Mumbai
Move over, Trump’s assassination attempt; there’s a new scandal in town. The world’s media, both Indian and Western, can’t stop buzzing about one thing: the Ambani wedding. Yes, Asia’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son, Anant, tied the knot with longtime partner Radhika Merchant in a ceremony that looked like it was ripped straight from the pages of a Bollywood script. And the budget? Well, let’s just say it left everyone with their jaws on the floor.
Not only is the Indian media losing its collective mind over the extravaganza, but the Western media has jumped on the bandwagon too. The Ambanis roped in some of the biggest names in American television, including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, to sprinkle their celebrity dust and promote the event. The pièce de résistance, however, was a particularly biting
2
terrorists
article from the Washington Post, which has since gone viral.
The Post reported that the Ambanis shelled out close to $500 million, or roughly Rs 5000 crores, on this wedding spectacle. And just to add some extra spice to the mix, they compared this obscene display of wealth with the plight of Mumbai, a city practically drowning due to heavy rains. The article and its accompanying social media posts have set the internet ablaze.
Of course, netizens have come out swinging in defense of the Ambanis. One user pondered, “Soo are you suggesting we go all communism and have nepotist children gift their wealth to the communities needing it so they can pay it forward? Or what exactly is the point of showing disparities here? I am not picking sides just curious at the backlash.”
killed as security forces foil infiltration bid along LoC in J-K’s Keran sector
Two terrorists were killed as security forces foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Thursday, officials said.
The officials said security forces had received intelligence inputs about the terrorists’ attempts to infiltrate into the Valley along the LoC in the Keran sector of the north Kashmir district. The alert security forces noticed the movement of the terrorists and challenged them. Two terrorists were killed in the exchange of fire, they said.
The operation is under way.
Christians arrested in India’s largest state, accused of ‘illegal conversion’
Four people in the India village of Moradabad, including a pastor from Uttarakhand, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly converting people by luring them on pretext of giving benefits. The village is in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India, with nearly 200 million people. However, only about 350,000 Christians live in the state, a miniscule 0.18 percent of the population. By comparison, Christians make up nearly 2.5 percent of the whole of India’s population.
Uttar Pradesh, like the national government, is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with strong links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militant Hindu nationalist organization.
Police officer Rajesh Kumar informed the media the incident happened in Rammanawala village when some people were holding a Christianity religious congregation.
He said the activists of two Hindu organizations intervened and informed the police alleging forced religious conversion through allurement.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) – meaning Universal Hindu Council – was one of the groups making the allegations. Moradabad VHP district unit general secretary Pankaj Singh Pal said a pastor of Uddhamsinghnagar, Uttarakhand, and three local villagers had converted as many as 60 people of 15 Hindu families to Christianity and trying to do the same with other villagers.
Dozens of Indian workers freed from ‘slavery’ in Italy
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The two men - who were found with approximately $545,300 (£420,000) - have been arrested.
The exploitation of farmhands – both Italian and migrant - in Italy is a well-known issue. Thousands of people work in fields, vineyards and greenhouses dotted across the country, often without contracts and in highly dangerous conditions.
Just last month, an Indian fruit picker died after his arm was severed in a work accident.
The man had allegedly been left on the side of the road following the accident, which also left his legs crushed.
His employer is now under investigation for criminal negligence and manslaughter.
The 33 men rescued by police in the Province
of Verona had paid €17,000 ($18,554, £14,293) or 1.5m rupees each in return for seasonal work permits and jobs, according to a police statement sent to the BBC.
To raise the funds, police said, some pawned their family assets, while others borrowed the money from their employers.
But they were only paid €4 per hour for their 10 to 12-hour days, with that sum settling any debt owed.
Their passports were also confiscated as soon as they arrived in Italy and they were banned from leaving their “dilapidated” apartments.
“Every morning, the workers piled into vehicles covered in tarpaulin where they hid among boxes of vegetables until they reached the Verona countryside for work,” the police statement said.
