www.theasianstar.com Vol 20 - Issue 5
Saturday, March 6, 2021
Canada’s chief science adviser issues warning about BC’s ‘experiment’ with vaccine timing British Columbia’s decision to extend to four months the interval between first and second doses of three different vaccines amounts to a “population level experiment,” said Mona Nemer, Canada’s chief science adviser. “I think that it’s possible to do it. But it amounts right now to a basically population level experiment. And I think it needs to be done as we expect clinical trials to be carried out,” Nemer said. Nemer told host Vassy Kapelos that the data provided so far by Moderna and Pfizer on their vaccines were gathered when the first and second doses of the vaccines were being spaced three to four weeks apart, not three to four months apart. Continued on page 7
Indian students discover 18 new Asteroids as part of Global Science Programme The International Astronomical Union (IAU), an organisation that assigns official names and designations to celestial bodies, has recently confirmed the discovery of 18 new asteroids by Indian students as part of a global science programme. The International Asteroid Discovery Project was conducted by STEM and Space, an organisation working
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BC reports 564 new cases of Covid-19 as variant cases climb again British Columbia health officials reported 564 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, along with four additional deaths. At a live briefing, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said it left B.C. with 4,743 active cases. Another 8,659 people were isolating due to potential exposure. Of the new cases, 168 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 279 were in the Fraser Health region, 35 were in the Island Health region, 36 were in the Interior Health region and 46 were in the Northern Health region. Continued on page 3
Meena Harris rejects criticism of comments on farmers’ protest When American author Meena Harris tweeted criticism of the Indian state’s clampdown on farmers protesting agricultural reforms, nationalist counterprotesters responded by burning her portrait. Hundreds of Indians barraged her with abuse on Twitter, telling her to stay out of their country’s affairs. Harris -- who is the niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris and is also of Indian descent -- rejected the idea that the 18 million people who make up the Indian diaspora had no place in expressing opinions
on the country. In the US alone, 4.8 million people are either Indian migrants or report Indian heritage. “Don’t tell me to stay out of your affairs,” Harris wrote earlier this month on Twitter. “These are all of our issues.” Harris also tweeted a photo of counterprotesters setting her image ablaze. “Weird to see a photo of yourself burned by an extremist mob but imagine what they would do if we lived in India,” she wrote. Crowds burn portraits of Meena Harris, niece of US Continued on page 8
The US is beating Canada in the Covid-19 vaccine race and Canadians are jealous
towards the learning of astronomy and space science in India, along with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) as part of a NASA citizen science project. Over the last two years, 150 students from all around India participated in this two-monthlong campaign to find asteroids, making this the largest asteroid discovery project in India, Mila Mitra, Co-founder and Academic Head of STEM and Space, told PTI. In the project, the students from India, and across the globe analysed the high-quality astronomical data provided by IASC — an online scientific program for kids to discover Asteroids and NearEarth Objects (NEO).
We Canadians love to compare ourselves to the United States. Whether it’s mocking their cable news networks, celebrating our healthcare system or just generally feeling high and mighty during the age of Donald Trump, saying “at least we’re not like the U.S.” is basically a part of our national identity by now. But sometimes when you build your entire national identity based on comparing yourself favourably to you southern neighbours, the tables take a turn and you find yourself on the negative side of the
evaluation. Most recently, Canadians fed up with the glacial pace of our national COVID-19 vaccination campaign have had to watch the American campaign continue to ramp up and expand. Suddenly, the same America we slammed for its pandemic response is doing something better than us. And Canadians hate to see it. This week, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the U.S. is expected to fully vaccinate all adults by May, and the U.S. Continued on page 6
Pakistan agreed to ceasefire because General Bajwa had a Musharraf moment In the subcontinent, one could never complain of a dull moment. India and Pakistan seem to have surprised their own citizens again by initiating some conversation, all when we thought the prospects were dead. However, the army of India-Pakistan observers and ordinary folk are left speculating about the hand behind the initiative. From Pakistan’s end, it doesn’t look like the initiative of the
Foreign Office. The civilian government is too absorbed in domestic politics, barely keeping its head above water, to even imagine making a bold move — of opening a channel with the prime enemy. The political opposition would be at Prime Minister Imran Khan’s throat, accusing him of compromise and not taking parliament into confidence.