www.theasianstar.com
Vol 19 - Issue 28
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Conservative dean Deepak Obhrai dies at 69, MPs honour his service to Canada Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai has died following a brief battle with liver cancer. A statement said he passed away surrounded by family on Friday night. He was 69. “We are still shocked by his sudden departure,” the statement said. Obhrai’s office said he had received a diagnosis of Stage 4 liver cancer just weeks ago. Obhrai, who represented Calgary Forest Lawn, had been an MP since 1997 and was dean of the Conservative caucus. Born in Tanzania, he was the longest-serving Conservative MP and the first Hindu elected to the House of Commons. Andrew Scheer said Obhrai was a “constant source of joy inside the Conservative caucus.” “He brightened every room he walked into and often injected warmth, kindness, and good humour into our deliberations,” he said in a statement. “I know I speak on behalf of my Conservative colleagues when I say that he will be missed tremendously.” The Conservative leader was one of many paying tribute to Obhrai on Saturday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Obhrai “dedicated himself to serving his constituents with utmost integrity, and we will miss him dearly. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he was sorry to hear of the passing of the “dedicated public servant.” “I’ve known him and his family forever; you’ll never meet someone who loved his job and public service so much,” he tweeted. Calgary Confederation MP Len Webber said Obhrai was a kind and gracious man. Webber added that Obhrai brought good cheer to the caucus. “There is some heated debate in the House of Commons now and then and of course, he would get serious when he had Continued on page 7
Indian politician charged with murder over car crash involving woman he ‘raped’ Police in India have opened a murder investigation against a ruling party lawmaker after a fatal crash involving a woman who had accused him of rape. The woman was seriously injured in the crash in Uttar Pradesh state on Sunday. BJP lawmaker Kuldeep Two of her aunts were killed and her lawyer was seriously injured. Her family Sengar is in jail awaiting and opposition MPs have alleged the trial charged with raping a girl. crash was a deliberate attempt on her
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India government revokes Kashmir’s special status The Indian government has used a presidential order to revoke the special constitutional status of Kashmir, in a bid to fully integrate its only Muslimmajority region with the rest of the country, the most far-reaching political move on the troubled Himalayan territory in nearly seven decades. Some political leaders in Kashmir warned in recent days that any such move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration — through the repeal of the constitution’s Article 370 — will trigger major unrest as it would amount to aggression against the region’s people. Authorities, meanwhile, have launched a new clampdown in the state of Jammu and Kashmir by suspending telephone and internet services, and putting some leaders under house arrest.
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PM Trudeau in Surrey
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended fundraising dinner for Liberal party of Canada hosted by Dr Gulzar S. Cheema and family in Surrey last week. Pictured (from left) Mrs & Mr Cheema, Prime Minister Trudeau (third from left) and T. J. Cheema.
Vancouver offers best work-life balance in North America Vancouver is the 10th-best city worldwide in terms of the work-life balance it offers to residents, according to a list released Wednesday. It’s also the only city in North America to make the top 10. The rankings were produced by Kisi, an app-based office security company. Kisi looked at 40 cities around the world, which were selected based on their status as “in-demand metropolises” with “sufficient, reliable, and relevant datasets,” the company said in a release. Each city was scored based on 20 factors pertaining to work-life balance, with a total score out of 100 assigned based on those factors. Vancouver received a score of 72.55 overall, just slightly ahead of Ottawa, which came in at number 11 on the list.