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| THIS
OUR NORTH AMERICA |
| Recession puts a stop
to Wal-Mart’s diversion plans |
Khushwant
Toor writes from Toronto
TAKING a hit form the ongoing recession and being
worried about future losses, Wal-Mart Canada Corp.
on Feb. 25, 2008, announced that it is closing
all six Sam's Club stores it operates in Ontario,
Canada. Wall-Mart was being considered as recession
proof as its corporate earnings grew in the last
months. In fact Wal-Mart has been directly affecting
other stores as cash starved consumers opted for
a cheaper alternative for their daily needs.More
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| America, a great place
for the oil business to get rich |
Stephen
Leahy
WHY do U.S.
oil companies -- some of the most profitable corporations
on the planet -- receive 20 to 40 billion dollars
a year in subsidies from the U.S. government?
And, in a time of skyrocketing oil prices and
profits, why did the George W. Bush administration
in 2005 authorise an additional 32.9 billion dollars
in new subsidies over a five-year period?More
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| Indo Candians pay homage
to Shahid Bhagat Singh |
Gupreet
Singh writes from Vancouver
A calendar
dedicated to the freedom fighters and the history
of Indo Canadian struggle was released. The calendar
jointly published by the Indo Canadian Workers'
Association in partnership with Radio India was
unveiled by the Indian Consul General, Ashok Das
at a small event in Surrey on February 23, the
birthday of Chacha Ajit Singh.More |
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| Writer
quits Gurdwara body in Surrey, BC |
RANJ
Dhaliwal (Randheer Singh Dhaliwal), author of
the best selling novel 'Daaku', has resigned as
Vice President-elect of the Surrey Guru Nanak
Sikh Temple Society Surrey/Delta. The Sikh Youth
Slate was elected into office on November 24,
2008 and Sikhs from all across the globe celebrated
with prayers that the Sikhs had finally won back
the Surrey Gurdwara that has been amidst controversy
for over a decade with accusations that the outgoing
President had been charged with drinking and driving.More |
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| ANALYSIS |
| Women
as liberators
|
Gobind
Thukral
HOW does a society that claims itself to
be enlightened and deeply religious account for
the daily run of atrocities on women. These do not
relate to just domestic violence, molestation or
rape or even dowry deaths, the horrible of all these
are the ‘honour killings’. Haryana has
the dubious distinction of almost leading the pack
along with Punjab, Rajasthan and other North West
Indians states.More |
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| Grave times ahead for
Bangladesh |
IT
was brutal but short lived, thankfully. Yet the
munity by the Bangladesh Rifles [BDR] that guards
long borders with Indian and Burma claimed 160
lives, mostly of officers from the military that
man senior positions. For the fledging government
of Sheikh Hasina Wajad the brutality of the mutiny
by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) soldiers continues
to unfold brutality as more mass graves containing
bullet- riddled bodies of army officers at its
headquarters are discovered.More |
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| The proposed interim
{mini} budget: Really a political gimmick |
Vinod
Anand
IT is really
surprising that in the name of the global meltdown,
the political rulers (political sector) in India
are planning to present the vote-of account(VOA)
perhaps on 16th Feb or so in the name “interim
(mini) budget” to bring about a major hike
of about 30 per cent or so from last year’s
allocations in the outlay for many ministries
(like agriculture, rural development, health,
minority affairs, and human resource development)
that are (artificially) running the UPA’s
so-called “flagship” schemes.More |
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| ART, MEDIA & LITERATURE |
| 96 journalists killed
during 2008 in 32 countries |
| DURING
the past year, ninety-six journalists in 32 countries
paid with their lives for exercising their profession,
according to the 2008 Press Emblem Campaign (PEC)
report. This figure is lower than the record 115
journalists killed last year, but this drop of
17.5% is due solely to an improvement in security
in Iraq.More
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Upset Jaitley not to attend
any poll meets of BJP? | No rift between Zardari,
Gilani: Rehman Malik | Set back to Congress in
Punjab, CIFA join hands with SAD | Best week for
US stocks since Nov | India lose in Auckland but
win series 3-1
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| Upset Jaitley not to attend
any poll meets of BJP? |
| Even
as the BJP presents a brave face, the deadlock within
it seems to be worsening. Sources have told NDTV that
Arun Jaitley will not attend any election committee
meeting of the BJP till Sudanshu Mittal is removed.
Jaitley has been reportedly upset with BJP president
Rajnath Singh over Sudhanshu Mittal's appointment as
party's in charge for Northeast. Mittal is a key political
appointee backed by party president Rajnath Singh.More
Updated on March
14, 2009 at 01:00 p.m.
|
- No rift between Zardari, Gilani:
Rehman MalikMore
- Set back to Congress in Punjab,
CIFA join hands with SADMore
- Best week for US stocks since
NovMore
- India lose in Auckland but
win series 3-1More
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| E D I T O R I
A L |
| Demise of parliamentary democracy |
| THE Speaker
of the outgoing 14th Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee
is not only an angry old man, but very sad one
too. The Lok Sabha he presided over for the past
five years has disillusioned him. He describes
those members of the Parliament who have been
either unruly, corrupt or have made no contribution
to the debate and proceedings were worthless duds.More |
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| FOCUS |
| Leftists were better parliamentarians
in the 14th Lok Sabha
|
| THE 14th Lok
Sabha has drawn curtains and Parliament is primarily
the forum for the opposition — to enforce
government accountability, disagree and debate —
the BJP appeared ill at ease in this role.More |
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India: Governance takes a back seat |
| Gobind
Thukral
OF late most public institutions; parliament, judiciary
and executive are facing a credibility crisis. Their
poor performance and lack of honesty are the reasons
for falling from the grace. Imagine the parliament of
the largest democracy of the world passing seven important
legislations in just 15 minutes.More |
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Airlines turn
modern day slavers
|
| Marwaan
Macan-Markar
 THE
presence of East Asian human trafficking victims in
places as far-removed as Southern Africa and Central
and South America confirm the ease with which modern
merchants of slavery exploit international air travel.More
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| FEATURES |
| 'Plight
of Tamils similar to Gaza civilians'
|
| WHILE
the Sri Lankan army has announced the capture
of Mullaitivu, the last bastion of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the plight of more
than 250,000 civilians caught in the fighting
continues to be as grim as that of civilians in
Gaza, say those involved in humanitarian work.More
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| Coping
with stress |
| Sonia G Handa
STRESS is derived
from the word ‘Stresse’ meaning strain.
In medical sense, it refers to increased strain on the
body system and is associated with a higher degree of
mental and physical preparedness to face threatening
situations.More |
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SAFMA confernce
ends: 11-point Cox's Bazar declaration adopted |
| Gobind
Thukral writes from Dhaka
SOUTH Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) called upon
the SAARC member countries to consider a task force
to handle cross-border crimes and develop a judicial
mechanism to try such criminals.More |
| LAW & JUSTICE |
| Gandharva marriage |
| Joginder Singh Toor
 THE
presence of newly wed couples in Punjab and Haryana
High Court, every day, seeking protection against those,
in whose cradle they spent their childhood, in whose
care and custody they reached the age of puberty and
marriage, got education to stand high in society, and
all of a sudden, get afraid of them, scared to the verge
of losing independence and discretion, to choose their
life partner.More |
| COMMENT |
| 'Government targets media
under the cover of civil war'
|
| Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
SRI Lanka’s
ruling establishment has become increasingly intolerant
towards the island country’s independent media,
even as President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government
steps up its military offensive against separatist Tamil
militants in the north.More
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| President
Obama presents a 'workable' recovery plan |
|  THIRTY-FIVE
days after being inaugurated as America's 44th president,
Barack Obama discussed his economic agenda before a
joint session of Congress . He focused on three priorities;
health care, energy, and education -- that will form
the backbone of his long-term vision for economic growth
and development.More
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Farmer develops
organic repellent to fight pesticides |
|  NORMALLY
agricultural discoveries by farmers get dubbed ‘accidental,’
they are born out of a creative restlessness. They have
been the mainstay of Indian agriculture for centuries.
Mr. K.M. Chellamuthu, an agricultural labourer in Kodumudi
village in Erode District of Tamil Nadu has developed
low cost organic repellent to fight pesticides and is
the role model for his fellow farmers.More
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