September, 2023

Features

Teacher, student, parent offer opinions on B.C. teachers’ strike

British Columbia’s classrooms were barren mid-June as teachers escalated a six-month labour feud with their heftiest weapon yet: a three-day strike. The teachers, who are deemed an essential service, were granted permission for the walkout by the Labour Relations Board to back contract demands for improved wages and working conditions. The move comes as the provincial government continues to debate …

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Remembering India’s Forgotten Holocaust

The Bengal Famine of 1943-44 must rank as the greatest disaster in the subcontinent in the 20th century. Nearly 4 million Indians died because of an artificial famine created by the British government, and yet it gets little more than a passing mention in Indian history books. What is remarkable about the scale of the disaster is its time span. …

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Killing of two girls angers Indians

Sohan Lal reached the police outpost at 11 o’clock on the night his daughter disappeared, he said, already desperate for help. He bent down before the officer in charge and clutched his feet, telling him to hurry, hurry. “I was on my knees begging them to come quickly, but they would not take us seriously,” Mr. Lal, 50, said. He …

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Dr. Harry Dhanju creates dental centre for research

Dr. Harry Dhanju and the Board of Directors of his Pacific Oral Health Centre, a state-of-the art facility in Surrey, recently held an event to celebrate a visionary venture that Dhanju hopes will become a multi-faceted approach to providing dental services to low income (under $36,000 annual income) and poor families who can’t afford dental care at all. “For me …

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Let Them Have Choppers

It seemed like the diplomatic version of an ambush. On 2 June, Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of the Russian State-run company Rostec, told Voice of Russia radio that Moscow was lifting its — undeclared — arms embargo against Pakistan and was negotiating the delivery of Mi-25 helicopter gunships to the country. While some strategic experts called it a landmark development, …

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Highly anticipated Punjabi film ‘Punjab 1984’ launched in Surrey

REGARDED as one of the most highly anticipated Punjabi films ever produced, Punjab 1984 celebrated its global launch in Surrey on Wednesday with stars Diljit Dosanjh and Rana Ranbir, as well as producer Manmord Singh Sidhu. And Daljit Thind, the well-known and highly respected B.C. developer who was instrumental in bringing TOIFA (Times of India Film Awards) to Vancouver last …

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When Will We Stand Up For All Women?

“Keep your eyes down,” girls the world over are taught. If you don’t, bad things can happen, and it will be your fault. A woman with a will of her own is abnormal to some; this is the world we have created. In Lahore, which is not a village hidden behind mango trees but a big city in Pakistan, a …

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Human rights activists call for the immediate closure of Guantanamo Bay

Shortly after he became President in 2009, Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay within a year. “The detention facilities at Guantanamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order,” said Obama’s executive order. “If any individuals covered by this order remain in …

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Canadians call for reform in animal treatment

The recent animal abuse at Chilliwack Cattle sales, a British Columbia farm where a number of employees were captured on video sadistically torturing and abusing cattle, has led to calls for reform in animal treatment. The undercover video from the non-profit group Mercy for Animals Canada — shot by an activist posing as an employee of the farm — showed …

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On a path to her soccer dream – Simmrin Dhaliwal

“I’m a really competitive person so if someone says they’re better than me, I will do whatever it takes to be the best.” Before Simmrin Dhaliwal was 16, she had the numbers of Ivy League and NCAA Division 1 college soccer coaches programmed into her phone. Simmrin was all of 16 but was already weighing offers to attend Princeton, Northwestern …

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