India

Music is performed on veena during an event hosted by Sanskriti Cultural Awareness Society of BC, which is planning another Festival of India at Surrey’s Holland Park on Saturday, July 30. (Submitted photo)

Back-to-back festivals celebrate India, Jamaica at Surrey park on July’s final weekend

Holland Park to host Festival of India, followed by Jamaica Day Festival

 

Raj Singh Toor, holding the updated proclamation document naming Komagata Maru Remembrance Day an official day in B.C. (Submitted Photo)

May 23 is Komagata Maru Remembrance Day in B.C.

Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society have achieved their biggest goal to date

 

A plane is seen through the window on the tarmac of Vancouver International Airport as the waiting room is empty Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Air Canada says it is suspending flights between Vancouver and Delhi this summer due to extended flying times and a refueling stop that are needed to avoid Russian and Ukraine airspace. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Air Canada to suspend flights between Vancouver and Delhi this summer

Flights unavailable from early June to early September due to Ukraine war

 

Thousands of foreign-trained doctors are unable to practise medicine in Canada, despite severe doctor shortages. (Unsplash)

Regulations prevent foreign-trained B.C. doctor from practising

Despite severe doctor shortage, international medical graduates face years of barriers in Canada

Thousands of foreign-trained doctors are unable to practise medicine in Canada, despite severe doctor shortages. (Unsplash)
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, embraces Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they attend the opening ceremony of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. Canada and India are quietly setting the stage to reboot formal free trade talks as the Trudeau government seeks economic alternatives to China following the dispute over the two Michaels affair. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alberto Pezzali

India pushes renewed trade talks with Canada in aftermath of two Michaels China woes

Canada began trade talks with India a decade ago under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, embraces Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they attend the opening ceremony of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. Canada and India are quietly setting the stage to reboot formal free trade talks as the Trudeau government seeks economic alternatives to China following the dispute over the two Michaels affair. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Alberto Pezzali
Kisaan Sleep Out, a group that raises funds for Sahaita’s Farmer Support Project, organized a sleep out and protest at the intersection of Scott Road and 72 Avenue Friday (Nov. 26). (Photo: Lauren Collins)

Kisaan Sleep Out returns to Surrey-Delta border to continue to bring awareness to Indian farm laws

‘I don’t think any of us is under any kind of false pretence that this is just going to be a simple win’

Kisaan Sleep Out, a group that raises funds for Sahaita’s Farmer Support Project, organized a sleep out and protest at the intersection of Scott Road and 72 Avenue Friday (Nov. 26). (Photo: Lauren Collins)
Dozens of tractors rode down 104 Avenue in Whalley Saturday afternoon (March 13, 2021) as part of one of the ‘Basmodi Wave’ events happening across the Lower Mainland for the next several weeks to continue to draw attention to the farmers protests in India. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

As India’s prime minister agrees to repeal farm laws, protests continue on Surrey-Delta border

Critics say process to undo laws could take months, if it happens at all

Dozens of tractors rode down 104 Avenue in Whalley Saturday afternoon (March 13, 2021) as part of one of the ‘Basmodi Wave’ events happening across the Lower Mainland for the next several weeks to continue to draw attention to the farmers protests in India. (Photo: Lauren Collins)
File - Members of Communist Party of India shout slogans during a protest against farm laws in Mumbai, India Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, has said his government will withdraw the controversial farm laws that were met with year-long demonstrations from tens of thousands of farmers who said the laws will shatter their livelihoods. The drawn-out demonstrations have posed one of the biggest political challenges to Modi, who swept the polls for the second time in 2019. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

Bowing to protests, India’s prime minister agrees to repeal farm laws

Narendra Modi’s announcement in a national address comes ahead of elections early next year

File - Members of Communist Party of India shout slogans during a protest against farm laws in Mumbai, India Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, has said his government will withdraw the controversial farm laws that were met with year-long demonstrations from tens of thousands of farmers who said the laws will shatter their livelihoods. The drawn-out demonstrations have posed one of the biggest political challenges to Modi, who swept the polls for the second time in 2019. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2021, file photo, an Afghan refugee living in India wearing a scarf in the colors of Afghanistan flag participates in a protest against the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan outside the office of United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, in New Delhi, India. India’s leaders are anxiously watching the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, fearing that it will benefit their bitter rival Pakistan and feed a long-simmering insurgency in the disputed region of Kashmir, where militants already have a foothold. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

With Taliban’s rise, India sees renewed threat in Kashmir

India’s leaders are anxiously watching the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, fearing that…

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2021, file photo, an Afghan refugee living in India wearing a scarf in the colors of Afghanistan flag participates in a protest against the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan outside the office of United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, in New Delhi, India. India’s leaders are anxiously watching the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, fearing that it will benefit their bitter rival Pakistan and feed a long-simmering insurgency in the disputed region of Kashmir, where militants already have a foothold. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
Last winter, protesters at Cloverdale Fairgrounds show their support for farmers in India. (File photo: Jason Sveinson)

Game-play theatre show in Surrey digs into Indian farmer protests, social media ‘polarization’

Starting Sept. 23, an in-person production at Surrey Arts Centre for Theatre Conspiracy company

Last winter, protesters at Cloverdale Fairgrounds show their support for farmers in India. (File photo: Jason Sveinson)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Canada extends ban on direct flights from India, Pakistan by 30 more days

Transport Canada says barring flights from those two countries is necessary to protect the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
A health worker takes the nasal swab sample of a boy to test for COVID-19 in Gauhati, India, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India reports drop in COVID-19 cases in Delhi, Mumbai

India’s two biggest cities have reported a drop in daily infections but the government is warning that the devastating surge is spreading in rural areas

A health worker takes the nasal swab sample of a boy to test for COVID-19 in Gauhati, India, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A COVID-19 patient receives oxygen outside a hospital in Jammu, India, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP/Channi Anand)

B.C. donates $500K to Red Cross COVID-19 relief efforts in India

The money will provide oxygen cylinders and ambulances for patients in communities grappling with the virus

A COVID-19 patient receives oxygen outside a hospital in Jammu, India, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP/Channi Anand)
Medical staff is shown preparing a patient outside a hospital in New Delhi. From the start of the pandemic, there have been 19.9 million cases of COVID-19 reported in India until May 3, 2021. 16.3 million have recovered, and there have been 219,000 deaths. (Photo submitted by Vivek)

Column: Let’s uplift the heroes in India’s battle against COVID-19

India reported over 360,000 infections on Monday, May 3

Medical staff is shown preparing a patient outside a hospital in New Delhi. From the start of the pandemic, there have been 19.9 million cases of COVID-19 reported in India until May 3, 2021. 16.3 million have recovered, and there have been 219,000 deaths. (Photo submitted by Vivek)
Amrinder Singh’s remains were supposed to be flown home last week from British Columbia to India to be laid to rest. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bimaljeet Kaur Kaler

Flight cancellations to India delay shipment of B.C. man’s body back to his family

Amrinder Singh, 29, had been in Canada for a few months when he died on April 5

Amrinder Singh’s remains were supposed to be flown home last week from British Columbia to India to be laid to rest. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bimaljeet Kaur Kaler
A Sikh advocacy group says the government of India has blocked a Canadian website that aims to raise funds for COVID-19 patients in India. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bikas Das

Sikh advocacy group says India blocked Canadian website to fund COVID-19 patients

Lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs For Justice says it launched the website Tuesday to connect Indian patients with donations to buy liquid oxygen

A Sikh advocacy group says the government of India has blocked a Canadian website that aims to raise funds for COVID-19 patients in India. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bikas Das
A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 reacts at a crematorium in Jammu, India, Sunday, April.25, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Channi Anand

Opposition parties support sending COVID-19 aid to India; no specifics from Canada

U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to send help to the country of nearly 1.4 billion people

A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 reacts at a crematorium in Jammu, India, Sunday, April.25, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Channi Anand
Passengers from Air India flight 187 from New Delhi wait for their transportation to quarantine after arriving at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Wednesday, April 21, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Canada eyes policy on travel from India due to massive COVID surge

India recorded nearly 300,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with 2,000 more deaths linked to the virus

Passengers from Air India flight 187 from New Delhi wait for their transportation to quarantine after arriving at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Wednesday, April 21, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Marchers supporting Indian farmers rallied in Surrey last month, from Bear Creek Park to Holland Park along King George Boulevard. (File photo: Tom Zillich)

Surrey MP says mayor’s motion to support Indian farmers is his to make

“He has his own sovereignty, right,” Sukh Dhaliwal says

Marchers supporting Indian farmers rallied in Surrey last month, from Bear Creek Park to Holland Park along King George Boulevard. (File photo: Tom Zillich)
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum will be bringing forward a motion at the April 12 meeting, asking council to stand in solidarity with farmers in India, who have been protesting three new bills since last fall. (File photo: Lauren Collins)

Surrey mayor to ask council to stand in solidarity with Indian farmers

McCallum to bring forward motion at April 12 meeting

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum will be bringing forward a motion at the April 12 meeting, asking council to stand in solidarity with farmers in India, who have been protesting three new bills since last fall. (File photo: Lauren Collins)