Month: September 2023

Punjab-origin NIA-wanted gangster Sukhdool Singh shot dead in Canada  Sukhdool Singh, alias Duneke, was part of the Khalistan movement in Canada.  Sukhdool, an associate of the Devinder Bambiha Gang in Punjab, escaped to Canada in 2017 on forged documents.  He was booked in seven criminal cases at that time, the police allegedly mentioned only five cases and skipped the two in which he was declared a proclaimed offender.  On Wednesday, his name was found among the list of 43 gangsters released by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which sought information…

India issues tit-for-tat travel advisory for Canada.  Ratcheting up diplomatic tension with Ottawa, India, cited “politically condoned violence” and issued a travel advisory for all Indian nationals in Canada.   Apart from the nosediving bilateral relations Canada-India ties have also been affected by the ongoing online activities by Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.  The ongoing spat began after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday made unprecedented allegations against India while speaking in the House of Commons.  Responding to that India also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat on Tuesday…

Azerbaijan began its “anti-terrorist” operation.  Russian peacekeepers have evacuated more than 2,000 civilians from Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region controlled by ethnic Armenians.  A former top official in the ethnic Armenian administration said close to 100 people had been killed and hundreds more injured in the breakaway region.  Russian losses ‘significantly increased’ in recent days  The US-based think tank said the Russian military “likely struggles with a lack of available combat effective units that the Russian command is willing to laterally redeploy to this sector of the front.”  A diesel fuel…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue of Kashmir during his address to world leaders at the high-level 78th session of the UN General Assembly session here.  Erdogan said it was a matter of pride that India was playing a role at the United Nations Security Council.   He said he favored making five permanent and 15 “temporary” members as permanent members of the UN Security Council.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comment comes weeks after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit…

The Khalistan movement wants an independent Sikh state carved out of India and dates back to India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947.  The Sikh religion was founded in Punjab in the late 15th century and currently has about 25 million followers worldwide.  Sikhs form a majority of Punjab’s population but are a minority in India, comprising 2% of its population of 1.4 billion.  The Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government. The bloodiest episode in the conflict between the government and Sikh separatists occurred in 1984. …

President Joe Biden lauds the newly announced India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor at UNGA 2023.  The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will consist of two separate corridors, the East corridor connecting India to West Asia/Middle East and the Northern corridor connecting West Asia/Middle East to Europe.  While highlighting US efforts to maximize collective investment to deliver consequential results across multiple countries and multiple sectors, Biden made reference to the rail port project.  President Joe Biden said the project will spur opportunities for investment across two continents.  At the G20 Summit, India, the…

Germany announces aid package worth 400 million Euros for Ukraine.  Russia-Ukraine crisis: Germany is second behind the United States in supplying weapons to Ukraine.  Hinting at possible supplies of Taurus long-range cruise missiles, the minister said that the German government must “thoroughly weigh each batch of weapons supplies.”  “We have also taken care of the coming winter: we will send clothes, power and heat generators. The package will be worth 400 million euros,”- German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.  Berlin will keep its assistance to Ukraine “as long as it…

America’s gross national debt exceeded $33 trillion for the first time, providing a stark reminder of the country’s shaky fiscal trajectory.  The fiscal milestone comes as Congress is facing a new spending fight with a government shutdown looming.  Some federal spending programs that passed during the Biden administration are expected to be more costly than previously projected.  Unless Congress can pass a dozen, appropriations bills or agree to a short-term extension of federal funding at existing levels, the United States will face its first government shutdown since 2019.  The debate…