The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 20

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The International News Weekly India November 10, 2017 | Toronto 14 Record 74 percent voter turnout in in Himachal assembly polls Agencies SHIMLA: A record over 74 per cent, highest in four decades, of Himachal Pradesh's 50.25 lakh electorate on Thursday exercised their franchise in the assembly elections where the ruling Congress and the BJP were locked in a straight contest. "The percentage is expected to go up further. This is the highest poll percentage recorded by the hill state in assembly polls," Dilip Sharma, Director General, Election Commission, told reporters in New Delhi. Election officials said the polling was peaceful and no major untoward incident was reported from the 68 seats. However, there were reports of malfunctioning of EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines at a few polling booths, which led voting continuing at these booths even after the polls officially closed at 5 p.m. "Despite minor hiccups as EVMs developed snags at some places, there was no report of any delay in starting the poll process," an electoral officer told IANS. A total of 337 candidates, 19 of them women, are in the fray. There are 112 Independent candidates. The main contest is between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress has projected incumbent Virbhadra Singh, 83, as its Chief Ministerial candidate, while former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, 73, is the BJP's. Both are contesting the elections. Both Singh and Dhumal cast their votes along with family members at their hometowns Rampur and Samirpur respectively. After casting his votes, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who is try to get at the helm for the seventh time, said he was confident of the Congress getting a majority. On the other hand, two-time Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Dhumal said the BJP was aiming to get 60 plus seats this time. Punjab CM writes another letter to Modi on smog crisis Indo-Asian News Service CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking compensation for farmers for crop residue management to check the dangerous trend of stubble burning, which has triggered a major smog crisis in the northern belt of the country. Amarinder Singh also requested the Prime Minister to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of the affected states along with the Union Ministers for Agriculture, Food and Environment on the issue. Reiterating his request, earlier raised in a letter on July 5 this year, the Chief Minister sought the Prime Minister's intervention for arresting the problem of paddy straw burning by providing a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal as incentive to compensate the farmers to manage the crop residue scientifically. He pointed out that most of north India, including New Delhi, is currently in the throes of a pollution crisis, induced largely by burning of paddy straw in the paddy-growing areas of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. "The higher courts of the country and the National Green Tribunal have also taken cognizance of the matter. "However, what is probably not being understood in proper perspective is that a problem which is essentially scientific and economic cannot be tackled through other means, including coercion," said the Chief Minister. "Scientific management and disposal of paddy straw entails significant cost for the farmer and he naturally prefers the cheaper and easy solution of burning the crop residue," he pointed out, adding that at present there are no technical or biological systems for managing this farm operation that is economically attractive to the farmer. India battles smog by odd-even traffic plan Continued from page 01 which was also the case with Safdarjung Hospital across the road. The NGT (National Green Tribunal) asked the pollution control boards of NCR to ban all industrial and construction activities in the region till November 14 and directed the Delhi government to sprinkle water on the hot spots using helicopters. It also banned entry of trucks carrying construction material into the NCR. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who inaugurated 20 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations here, blamed stubble burning for the "severe" air quality and said the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab should come together with Delhi to find a solution. The 'emergency' under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) came into force in Delhi-NCR on Thursday with weather officials saying that change in wind direction is set to further worsen the air quality of Delhi on Friday. The announcement of the third phase of odd-even rationing traffic plan from November 13 to 17 was made by Delhi's Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot at a press conference here. He said the modalities of the scheme, under which private four-wheeled vehicles with odd registration numbers were allowed to run on odd dates and those with even numbers on even dates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., would be the same as the previous phases. The first phase of the odd-even rule was implemented by the Delhi government from January 1 to 15 and the second phase was from April 15-April 30 last year.But members of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) said that November 13 "is too late" as the "emergency or severe-plus" category under GRAP calls for immediate implementation of the odd-even traffic rationing move. The "emergency or severe-plus" situation arises after the major pollutants -- PM2.5 and PM10, or particles in air with diameter less than 2.5 and 10mm, remain above 300 and 500 units respectively for at least 48 hours. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Thursday informed that both PM2.5 and 10 had been beyond the "required limit" since past 52 hours. On Thursday (since Wednesday evening), all ten monitoring stations of centre's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar) recorded "beyond severe" or 500 plus units of PM10 and PM2.5. According to Safar, the average PM2.5 was 546 units and PM10 was 895. According to CPCB, at 5pm, average PM2.5 in Delhi NCR was 478 units, across 20 active stations (including Alwar in Rajasthan), with an average Air Quality Index (AQI) placed 478 (on a scale of 0 to 500). The safe limit for PM2.5 and PM10 as per international standards is 25 and 60 microgrammes per cubic meters, while as per national standards it is 40 and 100 units respectively. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that some relief will be visible from Sunday due to rise in wind speed and rains likely on November 14 in the neighbouring states would bring major relief by dispersing the pollutants. Kejriwal said the one month period from the mid-October to mid-November, when farmers burn the stubble, "the whole of north India and not just Delhi turns into a gas chamber". He said that in September this year, the PM10 was recorded at 300 units and PM2.5 was 160 and the rise had not happened due to the local problems. "All of us (North Indian states) will have to keep politics aside and work together to tackle this huge problem of pollution," he said. He said that farmers should be provided with an economically viable alternative to stubble burning. The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a slew of directions to control pollution in Delhi-NCR and banned felling of trees, ordered sprinkling of water on roads to control dust and strict enforcement of construction code. The court questioned the move to increase parking rates by four times. In the wake of incessant air pollution and smog, some schools in Delhi shifted their winter opening and closing timings by an hour. Environment Minister Harshvardhan said in a tweet that crop burning increased this year "due to lack of advanced planning." He also said that air quality will improve in the next few days.
The International News Weekly WORLD November 10, 2017 | Toronto 15 China has a solution to North Korea problem, says Trump By Gaurav Sharma BEIJING: US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged all countries to stop arming, financing and trading with the "murderous" North Korean regime even as he claimed that China had a solution to the Korean nuclear crisis. Addressing a joint press conference with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, Trump, on a three-day visit that began on Wednesday, said he and Xi had agreed not to replicate failed approaches to resolve the growing crisis. North Korea figured majorly on the agenda when Xi and Trump held talks at the Great Hall of the People. Trump indicated that he wanted China to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear designs. While Xi promised cooperation and coordination, Trump said China had the solution to the problem. "Our meeting ... was excellent, discussing North Korea and I do believe there is a solution to that, as you do," Trump told Xi. "We have the capacity to solve world problems for many years to come." Xi said: "China is ready to work with the US to enhance cooperation and properly manage the differences in a spirit of mutual benefit." He said the US and China had "more coordination and cooperation in North Korea nuclear issue and other world challenges. Right now China and US relations are at a new starting point". At the press conference, Trump said all responsible countries must join together to stop arming and financing and even trading with the "murderous North Korean regime". "Today, we discussed our mutual commitment to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea. "We agreed on the need to fully implement all the Security Council resolutions on North Korea and to increase economic pressure until North Korea abandons its reckless and dangerous path." China is the North's ally and its biggest trading partner. Washington believes that Beijing has influence over Pyongyang because of the close ties. Mao Zedong's son died fighting in Korea against the US in the 1950s. Australia's Muslim Senator called a terrorist Agencies MELBOURNE: An Iranian-born Australian Senator has been racially abused by members of a far-right group in Melbourne. Sam Dastyari, the Senator representing New South Wales (NSW) for the Australian Labour Party (ALP), was abused by members of the Patriot Blue group in a city bar here on Wednesday night, Xinhua news agency reported. A video of the incident posted on social media by Patriot Blue shows the men surrounding Dastyari while abusing him. "You terrorist, you little monkey," they said. "Why don't you go back to Iran, you terrorist?" Dastyari fired back at the men, calling them racists to which they replied: "What race is Islam? We are the real Australians. Look at this terrorist." Speaking about the incident on Thursday, the Senator said he would consult with his family before deciding if he would pursue legal action against the men. "There is a rise in the extreme right and there is a rise of white nationalism and it needs to be called out," he said on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday said there was "zero tolerance" for racism. "There is no place for racial vilification in Australia," Turnbull said on Australian breakfast television. "We are the most successful multicultural society in the world and that is because... our society is built on a foundation of respect," said Turnbull. Canada settles 650 Yazidi refugees, officials target 1,200 Agencies OTTAWA: A promise to resettle 1,200 people who escaped torture and persecution at the hands of Islamic militants is within reach by the end of the year, immigration officials said Tuesday. A total of 807 people had arrived in Canada by the end of October out of the 1,383 who've been selected for resettlement, and the remaining files are being processed, officials told the House of Commons immigration committee. Of those already here, 81 per cent are Yazidi, a minority sect from Iraq specifically targeted by Islamic militants over the course of the conflict in Iraq. The House of Commons unanimously passed a motion in 2016 calling the persecution of Yazidis a genocide and committing to provide asylum to Yazidi women and girls. A subsequent commitment to bringing in 1,200 people by the end of 2017 was made last February. Islamic State militants have taken a systematic approach to trying to eradicate the Yazidi population since the outbreak of conflict in Iraq in 2014. Some 200,000 Yazidis were displaced in the initial clashes between militants, Iraqi government forces and the Kurdish militia. Yazidi women, girls and boys were routinely sold into slavery, while older men were forced to convert or be killed. "Given the extensive trauma these individuals have survived, including torture, sexual violence, death of their family members in front of them, there are a tremendous amount of psychosocial supports that need to be put in place," Dawn Edlund, an official with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, told the committee. The newcomers have largely been settled in four cities — Winnipeg, Calgary, Toronto and London, Ont., — because there were already pockets of Yazidis there to help provide some of that support, Edlund said. Still, finding translators who can speak the Yazidi's primary language of Kurmanji has been among the issues newcomers have already faced. India holds top spot for tourism in Dubai Indo-Asian News Service DUBAI: According to the latest data released by Dubais Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), India has retained top spot on Dubai's list of source markets for inbound tourism, with 1,478,000 Indian tourists arriving in the city between January and September, registering a significant 20 per cent rise over the same period in 2016. This increase affirmed the effectiveness of various innovative promotional activities driven by Dubai Tourism in the market, including highly successful influencer-led collaborations with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, a statement said. Saudi Arabia and the UK also retained their positions as Dubai's second and third largest feeder markets. "Ultimately, our aim is to make every satisfied Dubai visitor our customer for life and our strongest advocate, in order to drive not only higher repeat traffic but also acquire newer audiences most efficiently, as we strive towards our 20 million target by 2020," Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said in a statement. Pakistan, India must collaborate on smog: Pakistan Minister Agencies ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan need to get together to find a sustainable solution to smog, the Pakistani Punjab Minister of Environment Zakia Shah Nawaz Khan has said. The only proper forum to do this is the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), Geo News quoted Khan as saying on Thursday. "There are no two ways about it. Smog is not just an India or Pakistan issue, it is a regional issue. Both countries need to collaborate in order to find a sustainable solution. The only proper forum to do that is the Saarc," Khan wrote in an opinion piece. "The nature of this emergency is such that let's say Pakistan effectively tackles smog and India is still struggling, we will, regardless of our efforts, still be affected by air pollution. Hence, it has to be a joint effort," she said. Schools have been shut in parts of north India after pollution hit hazardous levels. The skyline in parts of Pakistan too has been shrouded in toxic smog for over a week. In both countries, experts have warned of dangers to health. "Smog is pollution... and it is harmful to us... We have to clean our air... Punjab is already implementing some urgent, short-term measures," Khan said.
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