Happy Vaisakhi
www.theasianstar.com Vol 21 - Issue 10
Daleep Singh, US Dy NSA who warned India on Russia ties US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, Daleep Singh (pictured), a key architect of Washington DC’s economic sanctions against Russia, created controversy in India Thursday when he urged the country not to enhance ties with Moscow.He made the remark while on a two-day visit to New Delhi that began Wednesday, and hours before Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in the national capital. In an interview with CNN-News18, he said it is unlikely that Russia would come to India’s defence should China breach the Line of Actual Control (LAC) again. “The more Russia becomes China’s junior partner, the more leverage China gains over Russia, the less and less favourable that is for India’s strategic posture. Does anyone think that if China breaches the Line of Actual Control, that Russia would now come to India’s defence? I don’t,” he said. Brahma Chellaney, geostrategist and professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, noted in a tweet Friday that Chinese aggression at the LAC had been going on for almost two years, but US President Joe Biden hadn’t yet commented on the issue.
Saturday, April 9, 2022
Why Australia signed historic free trade pact with India Increasing strategic and economic tensions with China, and an impending election in May, have finally made Australia sign on the dotted line to approve a free trade agreement with India that had been in the making for over a decade, a step Canberra believes will further enhance its ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ with New Delhi. “There’s a panda in the room… India has faced border tensions, Australia has faced economic coercion, we were facing new
challenges in the Pacific. Those issues are not going to disappear overnight,” Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell said, without mentioning China, at an event organised by the Australia India Institute in Delhi Monday.
Forbes India Rich List 2022 Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani once again took the top spot among the wealthiest Indians in Forbes India Rich List 2022 – with a net worth of $90.7 billion, as of March 11. The top three ranking order is a repeat of 2021. Let’s take a look at the top 10 richest Indians and their net worth as of March 11, 2022. Amid a blockbuster year for IPOs in India— more than 60 companies raised a reported $15.6 billion last year— the total number of Indian billionaires rose to a record 166, up from 140 last year; their combined wealth grew nearly 26% to $750 billion. The pecking order of the top three is a repeat of 2021. Despite a modest 7% boost to his wealth, Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance Industries is India’s most valuable company, retained his position as Asia’s richest person.
Pope Francis has made a historic apology to Indigenous peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools. Francis, in an address to Indigenous leaders after meetings with Métis, Inuit and First Nations delegates, also said he hoped to visit Canada in July. One of the leaders, who want the pope to make the apology directly to their communities on their native lands in Canada, called his words “historic” and another said they reflected the “entirety” of their message to him. “For the deplorable behaviour of those members of the Catholic church, I ask forgiveness from God and I would like to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am very pained,” he said, speaking in Italian.
Affordable housing takes centre stage in the 2022 federal budget. Here’s what you need to know Foreigners banned buying houses
Ambani remains at the top of richest Indians
Pope Francis apologises for ‘deplorable’ abuse of Canadian indigenous people
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The Liberal government will try to ease Canada’s housing crisis with more than $10 billion in funding meant to speed up home construction and repairs as well as through a ban on home buying by foreign investors and tax measures to reduce speculation, while at the same time adding help for those trying to get into the market. The commitments make up one of the biggest areas of spending in the federal budget unveiled Thursday, though the plans rely heavilyoncooperationwithotherlevelsofgovernmentandtheprivatesector. “Over the next 10 years, we will double the number of new homes we build. This must become a great national effort, and it will demand a new spirit of collaboration,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in her forward to the budget.
Omicron wave exposed, infected 50 per cent of British Columbians: Dr Henry Fifty per cent of British Columbians were exposed to and infected with COVID-19 during the surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant, provincial health officials said Tuesday. The rate among those under 19 years old was higher, at 60 per cent. The modelling presented was the first indication of how prevalent the virus has been in recent months, as testing has been restricted since capacity
was overwhelmed late last year. Dr. Bonnie Henry explained that the antibodies created by infection are different than those from vaccination, and can be differentiated in blood samples. Those caused by the virus indicate recent infection, because they “tend to fade away over time.” Henry noted not everyone with the antibodies would have experienced symptoms or even known they had contracted the virus.
Pakistan’s top court blocks PM’s illigel move to stay in power Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Prime Minister Imran Khan’s bid to stay in power, ruling that his move to dissolve Parliament and call early elections was illegal. That set the stage for a no-confidence vote by opposition lawmakers, who say they have enough support to oust him. The decision followed four days of hearings by the top court on the political crisis. Khan had tried to sidestep the no-confidence vote by accusing his political opponents of
colluding with the United States to unseat him. Lawmakers will probably convene Saturday for the vote, and the opposition says it has the 172 votes in the 342-seat house needed to oust Khan after several members of his own party and a key coalition partner defected. “It’s an unfortunate decision,” Khan’s ally and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said, that unanimous ruling by five-member Supreme Court.
MANMOHAN SEKHON M.Sc., M.Phill Life and Health insurance Advisor
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