Author: News Desk

Chennai, Sep 22 (IANS) Awake! Arise! Stop not till the additional goal is reached! This seems to be the message that the Indian space agency is sending to the country’s moon lander Vikram and rover Pragyan. But the two are in deep slumber.”Efforts have been made to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition. As of now, no signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.Vikram and Pragyan were put to sleep on Sept 4 and 2, respectively and were to be…

Washington, Sep 22 (IANS) The next generation powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has found a carbon source on the surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa. Europa is one of a handful of worlds in our solar system that could potentially harbour conditions suitable for life. Previous research has shown that beneath its water-ice crust lies a salty ocean of liquid water with a rocky seafloor. However, planetary scientists had not confirmed if that ocean contained the chemicals needed for life, particularly carbon. Now, astronomers using data from JWST have identified carbon dioxide in a specific region on the icy surface…

New York, Sep 22 (IANS) Current and future drinking behaviour among people can be predicted through mapping their brains in teenage, suggests a study.Teenage brains form new connections during adolescence. Two systems that are rewired during this time are networks related to reward and inhibition.Researchers from Yale University in the US sorted through a massive MRI dataset of teenage brains to see if they could predict drinking behaviour in adolescents by looking at how these two systems rewire during development.The study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry journal, revealed that the inhibitory and reward pathway, which broadly regulate “brake” and “go”…

Toronto, Sep 22 (IANS) In political and Indo-Canadian circles here, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in the House of Commons on Monday that India was possibly involved in the gunning down of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are also viewed as his compulsion for his political survival.Trudeau’s Liberal Party, which with its 157 seats fell short of the majority mark in the 338-member House of Commons in last year’s snap elections, depends on the Jagmeet Singh-led New Democratic Party, which has 24 MPs, for survival.“Jagmeet, who is a known supporter of Khalistanis and who captured leadership of the NDP by…

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Whether on the 2020 farmers’ protests, the arrest of Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh, or the recent diplomatic row over Khalistan backer Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing, many prominent Sikh politicians in Canada have been at the forefront, raising voices against Indian actions.What is noteworthy is their conspicuous silence and action on the anti-India graffiti on Hindu temples and installations, posters threatening Indian diplomats and missions, and hailing perpetrators of the 1985 Air-India bombing as heroes.Terry Milewski in his book, ‘Blood for Blood: Fifty Years of the Global Khalistan Project’, writes that the “meek Canadian response to…

Toronto, Sep 22 (IANS) Though the Sikh community has been present in Canada for over a hundred years, its numbers only started increasing rapidly from the late ’70s.The shift in the profile of the Sikh community started happening in the late 1970s and early 1980s when lots of them landed here from India and Europe seeking asylum, alleging persecution in Punjab.After the events of 1984, the pro-Khalistan sentiment became very strong and radicals took control of major gurdwaras even as more Sikhs poured into the country seeking asylum.“Being from Punjab villages where Jats lord over other communities, these Sikh leaders…

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Beginning with a handful of immigrants landing ashore in the city of Vancouver in 1904, Indians today form one of Canada’s largest and most well-integrated diaspora communities, numbering around 1.85 million or 5.1 per cent of the country’s population.As the North American nation discontinued its discriminatory immigration policies in the sixties to give way to a more multicultural society, Indians, with a sizable number from Punjab alone, began moving to Canada in pursuit of better economic prospects.Today, the number of Indians immigrating to Canada has more than tripled, from 32,828 in 2013 to 118,095 in…

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) As the diplomatic ties between India and Canada continue to deteriorate, domestic IT firms, especially those which have business and offices in Canada, remain in a state of caution, adopting a “wait and watch” approach.Indian IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro have invested heavily in Canada and have a significant presence there. These tech players have pumped in millions of dollars and created thousands of jobs in the country.Industry experts expressed concerns that the current stalemate can delay new business deals and the movement of professionals between two nations. They stressed…

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) A total of 17 Indo-Canadians, the majority of them Sikhs, were elected as MPs when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clinched a third victory in the September 2021 snap elections by securing 158 seats — short of the 170 needed for a majority — in the 338-member House of Commons. Following the elections that came two years before schedule, representatives were elected from five parties — Liberal, Conservative, New Democratic Party (NDP), Green Party and Bloc Québécois — to sit in Parliament.While the ruling Liberal Party has 158 sitting MPs, the official Opposition, Conservative has 117…

Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS) Canada has not only been home to Khalistan sympathisers, but also provided refuge to Indian gangsters wanted by enforcement agencies.Even as the names of Goldie Brar and Arsh Dalla do the rounds as wanted gangsters, with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) hot in their pursuit, a name that comes to mind is Binda Johal, who could be described as the original Indo-Canadian gangster.Such was Johal’s notoriety that Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta, who is well-known for films such as ‘Fire’ and ‘Earth’, made a critically panned movie, ‘Beeba Boys’, inspired by the gangster, with Randeep Hooda playing…