www.theasianstar.com
Vol 19 - Issue 8
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Punjab students left in the lurch as Canada seals borders
Canada-US border closed last night The Canada - US border will be closed to all non-essential travel in both directions as of Friday night. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the expected timing of the closure Thursday morning after leaders of the two countries revealed details of the plan Wednesday. Both countries have been in talks in recent days to negotiate a mutual ban on recreational travel without restricting the flow of two-way trade and commerce. Essential cross-border workers like health-care professionals, air crews and others are to be permitted to cross. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says it was vital to the economic health of both countries to avoid restricting the $2.7-billion worth of goods that cross the CanadaU.S. border each day. She calls the agreement a testament to the strong partnership between the two countries even in the face of an escalating global crisis.
Travel restrictions, imposed by the Canadian Government on non-citizens in the wake of Covid outbreak, have dashed the foreign dream of many students. Having deposited several lakhs of rupees as fee in Canadian colleges and universities, parents are now unsure of their wards’ future. Most of them said they had no idea as to when the Canadian Government would allow entry to their wards or whether the universities would extend the session or accommodate students in the next batch. Ludhiana-based Neeraj Gautam said: “My son had taken admission in BBA in a Canadian university, where his session is due to start on April 6. We have already spent Rs25 lakh on his first-year fee and GIC funds. After flight cancellation, yesterday, we got a mail from the university, asking us whether he would be able to attend a counselling session on April 1. Continued on page 6
I
t was supposed to be a spring vacation for travel freak couple Amit Taneja & Monika Taneja and their children as they were to head to New York on March 3. As the kids’ school session had just got over, Jalandhar-based Tanejas had planned to take them to a host of tourist sites and catch up with their extended family settled in the US during the 15-day break. But the entire plan went haywire in the wake of panic over the spread of coronavirus. “I feel it was a wise decision. There is no point travelling amid so much scare,” says Amit. All his NRI relatives, too, have shelved their plans to come to India, “My Surrey-based uncle, who had his flight booked for March 26, has
Tel:604-591-5423
NRIs can’t leave Punjab
got it cancelled. My Vancouver-based cousin, who was to be here for a wedding, is skipping it. Another friend, who was in Kapurthala and was to leave after construction of his house,
advanced his tickets to New York by 22 days.” More than the Indian tourists, it is the NRIs who are affected. Currently at their native places in Doaba region of Punjab, there are many who have chosen to extend their stay here. Though most of them hail from the US, UK and Canada, they said they were avoiding travel as they were scared of catching the respiratory infection from other tourists at the airport. Tara Singh Gosal, a Calgary-based NRI, said, “As
Continued on page 9
India scrambles to escape Coronavirus crisis, so far, it’s working
BC suspends all K-12 classes in the province
ver the weekend in Lucknow, one of India’s bigger cities, young people packed into pubs. Despite the Indian government scrambling to lock things down, few on the bar scene were taking the coronavirus very seriously. “I am not scared. I eat, party, sleep,’’ said Akshay Gupta, an accountant who was bar hopping on Saturday night. “The scare is overhyped.” India has reported around 125 cases of the coronavirus, and it is a bit of a mystery how the world’s second-most-populous nation, with 1.3 billion people, has remained relatively unscathed while the number of cases explodes to its east and west. That has spawned a sense of almost disbelief about the crisis in some quarters. The latest on the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors say it is either that there are many more cases in India that have not been detected, because of the difficulties of getting tested, or that India has indeed managed to so far escape the worst,
The B.C. government has suspended all schools in the province until further notice to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to an announcement made by Premier John Horgan Tuesday. While the majority of provincial public schools are already on spring break, any remaining schools that have not yet closed are being directed to do so now. “We’re used to schools being safe places,” said Education Minister Rob Fleming. “But as the global pandemic, COVID-19, is evolving quickly, and it’s having a growing impact in British Columbia, we have to take action today to protect our students and staff.” Fleming said students would still receive a final mark and that Grade 12 students would graduate, regardless how long the closure persists. As the closure could continue for some time, however, Fleming said that the province may transition to online teaching. Currently,
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