www.theasianstar.com Vol 20 - Issue 3
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Global Covid-19 cases have dropped As the number of new coronavirus infections in Canada continues to fall, natural seasonality of coronaviruses could all be a similar phenomenon is unfolding in many playing a part, observers say. In countries with other parts of the world, leading experts to try relatively high rates of vaccination and infection, to better understand why COVID-19 cases are such as the United States and Britain, immunity plummeting right now. Stronger public-health could also be starting to slow the spread. In the measures, stricter adherence to the rules borne past six weeks, the number of new coronavirus out of fear of faster-spreading variants, and the infections reported globally has dropped nearly
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by half
by half, from about five million the first week of January to about 2.7 million last week. Worldwide, overall daily case tallies are the lowest they’ve been since October, according to the World Health Organization. Canada is part of that trend. The country has seen new infections plunge from 57,519 in the week beginning Jan. 4 to 20,776 in the past week – a 64-per-cent drop.
2 men accused of violently killing South Asian woman appeared in court The two men accused of posing as police officers and violently attacking an elderly South Asian woman in her Vancouver home in late January, appeared in court on Tuesday. Pascal Bouthillette, 41, and Sandy Parisian, 47, are accused of attacking 78-year-old Usha
Nearly 70% blame govt for vaccine delays in new poll The vast majority of Canadians blame Ottawa rather than provincial governments for delays in COVID-19 vaccine delivery, a new poll suggests. Sixty-nine per cent of respondents believe Canada is behind on deliveries due to federal challenges obtaining doses on the global market, according to an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies. Only 14 per cent of respondents point the finger at provincial governments. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says all Canadians who want a dose will get one by the end of September, despite recent hiccups in the production of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Residents remain divided on whether they will be able to roll up their sleeves before October, with 44 per cent confident they will and 51 per cent skeptical.
Singh, who died of her injuries a few days later in hospital. Bouthillette has been charged with second-degree murder while Parisian faces a manslaughter charge. Both cases were adjourned until March 3 when disclosure statements
are expected to be submitted to the court. Bouthillette is said to be submitting written and audio disclosure statements to the court at this date, according to his counsel. The incident is Vancouver’s second homicide of 2021.
Moderate Sikh leader killed by his son in demstic fight, reports One person is dead after a fight broke out at a home in the Newton on Wednesday, according to RCMP. The dead man is moderte Sikh leader, and the person arrested for the killing is his son, According to reports. Police were called to the house in the 5500-block of 125 Street just after 8:30PM, according to a statement. Officers found a critically injured man outside the home. The officers and paramedics tried to treat the man at the scene, including with CPR, but he was pronounced dead. The
Integrated Homicide Investigation Team later said the man was assaulted during a fight with someone who lived in the same home. “A tragic and isolated incident,” read a tweet posted Thursday. RCMP said one person has been arrested and remains in custody. Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-4448 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they want to remain anonymous.
Experts say India’s Covid-19 ‘human barricade’ keeps cases under control With falling rates of Covid-19 infection in India and surveys suggesting nearly 300 million people may already have antibodies, some experts believe the worst of the disease has passed, despite a recent uptick in two hard-hit states. “There is a human barricade for the virus,” said Bhramar
Mukherjee, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, who with a team of researchers, has been modeling the trajectory of the outbreak in India. “By the end of March, we should see a very slow, steady decline (in cases),” she added. Cases that were rising by nearly 100,000 a Continued on page 7
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Indians in Canada face threats from Khalistani groups for supporting farm laws - claims National Alliance of Indo-Canadian
ndian Diaspora in Canada is facing threats from Khalistani separatist groups across Canada, a letter written by National Alliance of Indo-Canadians (NAIC) to Canadian Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Bill Blair, has alleged. The letter requests the Canadian government
to act at the federal level against this coordinated attack on Canadian Hindus and moderate Sikhs. “There have been multiple reports of Indo-Canadians, who are critical of the arguments against the laws or remain committed to improving and strengthening relations between the land of their heritage,
India, and the land that has adopted them, Canada, being intimidated online, threatened with violence including rape of women their families, and this has escalated to certain elements even gathering at the residences and offices of individual Canadian citizens,” the letter alleges. Continued on page 6