India should go via Canada to boost trade with US: Report

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/india-should-go-via-canada-to-boost-trade-with-us-report/articleshow/9096725.cms

 The Economic Times, 4 JUL, 2011, 11.27AM IST,IANS

TORONTO: India's route to boost its trade with the US lies through Canada, says a report here. 
          With a free US-India trade accord nowhere in sight, New Delhi should ink a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Ottawa to get more access to the US market, says the report by the Toronto-based C.D. Howe Institute. 
           "For India, the strategic priority could be to gain greater access to the US market through Canada, given that a comprehensive US-India bilateral free trade agreement does not seem to be in the cards,'' says the report titled 'Does Canada Have an India Strategy? Why it Should and What Both Sides Can Gain from Comprehensive Talks.' 
          "A negotiation with Canada could be a second best route to this objective as a strategic signal of India's potential importance to the North American economies.'' 
           With their bilateral trade picking up after a slew of accords signed in the past two years, India and Canada are negotiating CEPA to take their trade to $15 billion in the next four years. 
          Canada should "aim high in a deal with India,'' says study author Wendy Dobson, who is a professor at University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. 
           "In the past seven years, in particular, India's economy has displayed increasing dynamism - indeed, measured at current exchange rates, Canada's and India's economies are about the same size (11th and 12th largest in the world, respectively), while on a purchasing power parity basis, India jumps to 4th and Canada drops to 14th,'' according to the report. 
           With this treaty inked, Canada can "take advantage of the efficiencies available from Indian information technology services providers, and to gain greater access to both the Indian and wider Asian markets using India as a platform for regional operations.'' 
          While India is Canada's 15th largest trading partner, Canada ranks 33rd on India's list. 
Currently, Canadian goods face 16 percent tariff in India while Indian goods face nine percent tariff in Canada. 
           But once the deal is signed and tariffs are eliminated, "each side could realize gains of between $6 billion and $15 billion,'' according to the report.

SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2011

Mr. T. P. Sreenivasan was at the Mini PBD in Toronto from June 9-10. It was one of the better organised PBDs in terms of organisation, attendance and quality of discussions. Shrimati Preneet Kaur, MOS, MEA headed the Indian delegation. Apart from the formal inauguration and connected activities, there were several concurrent and Plenary Seminars.
          Mr. Sreenivasan spoke for the traditional five minutes at the final Plenary Seminar on Engaging Global Indians.

Deepak Obhrai pays tribute in Parliament to Canada's senior citizens

(Ottawa) March 11, 2011 - Deepak Obhrai, M.P. for Calgary East and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of
          Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement in the House of Commons:
          "I stand in this House today to salute the Senior Citizens, not only of my Riding of Calgary East, but all across Canada. Our seniors have made countless and invaluable contributions that have shaped our great nation and molded us into what we are today.
          That is why our government is committed to enhancing the well-being of Canada's seniors during the retirement they have earned. Since 2006, our Government has :
• Introduced tax relief measures specifically for seniors such as pension income splitting, twice increasing the Age Credit amount, and increasing GIS benefits.
• Introduced legislation to make our streets and communities safer so that seniors feel safe in their own homes and communities.
• Created a dedicated Minister of State for Seniors, bringing seniors issues directly to the Cabinet table.
• And finally, we have established October 1st as National Seniors Day.
Mr. Speaker, we owe our Senior Citizens a debt of gratitude. And our government will continue to stand up for seniors across Canada. "

Gopika Sharma / January 19, 2010
Warm weather closes Vancouver Olympic ski venue

Warm weather and heavy rain have led to the closure of one of Vancouver's Olympic ski hills, one month before several 2010 Winter Olympic events are scheduled to open on the hill. On Wednesday morning, Olympic officials announced that alpine ski runs at the Cypress Mountain Resort, located on the North Shore of Metro Vancouver, will remain closed to the public, effective immediately in order to preserve the snow remaining on the slopes. The hill was closed to the public temporarily on Monday due to the warm weather, but on Wednesday VANOC officials announced that closure would be extended until after the Games. The hill was originally scheduled to close to the public at the beginning of February so that Olympic officials could prepare the resort to host the Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboard half-pipe events. Backcountry trails on the mountain have also been restricted in the lead-up to the Games, but the resort's Nordic ski trails remain open to the public.

Gopika Sharma / January 19, 2010
Seniors snared in Lethbridge prostitution crackdown

The arrest of four elderly men for solicitation has raised eyebrows in a southern Alberta city that recently decided to name the accused clients of prostitutes. Lethbridge police Chief Tom McKenzie is defending the policy to name those accused of soliciting sex on the streets, calling it a return to old-fashioned community policing. "Families are outraged that we would release the names of their loved ones, but they are involved in an illegal activity," he said. "We gave plenty of warning. We let everyone in the public know and in a small community everyone was well aware that the police were going to start naming people." Four seniors, three in their 80s, have been arrested since the policy began last October. One of the men had a court appearance scheduled Wednesday morning.

Gopika Sharma / January 19, 2010
Canadians' fitness levels plummet

Canadians are officially flabby and unfit. Statistics Canada released the Canadian Health Measures Survey on Wednesday, a comprehensive fitness survey that actually directly measured Canadians of all ages, rather than relying on less reliable self-reports on data such as weight. "The results demonstrate a significant deterioration since 1981, regardless of sex or age. In particular, muscular strength and flexibility have decreased, and all measures of adiposity [fat] have increased," the authors of the report on children's fitness levels concluded. "Children are taller, heavier, fatter and weaker than in 1981." Among young children, 17 per cent are overweight and nine per cent are obese, based on the body mass index (BMI), a widely used measure of body fat. Researchers use it to track body-weight patterns in the general population. Among those aged 15 to 19, the percentage whose waist circumference put them at an increased or high risk of health problems more than tripled, from less than three per cent to 15 per cent among boys, and from nine per cent to 28 per cent among girls. The UN suggests healthy adults should have a BMI of between 18.5 and 25.

Gopika Sharma / January 19, 2010
Woman with stroller killed by driver running red light

A 28-year-old Toronto woman died Tuesday after being hit by a car whose driver ran a red light and plowed into her as she crossed the street with her baby in a stroller, police said. The accident happened at about 12:45 p.m. as the two crossed from the southwest corner of Martin Grove Road and Eglinton Avenue West to the southeast corner. Police are questioning the 83-year-old woman who was driving the car to determine what she will be charged with, said Toronto police Const. Hugh Smith. She is in hospital being treated for shock. Witnesses said that just before the vehicle hit, the mother pushed the stroller out of the way although police couldn't confirm those details. The 12-week-old baby boy, who fell out of the stroller, was taken to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children but appears to have suffered only minor injuries, police said. The Toyota Camry was travelling north on Martin Grove and appeared to go through a red light, police said. The mother, who was trapped under the vehicle, died on the scene shortly before 1 p.m. A stroller could be seen at the southwest corner of the intersection, which was closed for several hours while police investigated. They are looking for more witnesses.

Gopika Sharma / January 2, 2010
Carry-on baggage subject to strict new rules

Canadian airline passengers are barred from bringing any carry-on luggage aboard U.S.-bound flights, with some key exceptions, under new security rules announced Monday. Transport Canada decreed the new airport security measures — which take effect immediately — in a statement Monday evening. They include a prohibition on bringing baggage aboard the cabin of any flight bound for the United States, with certain exceptions:

• Medication or medical devices, including crutches, canes, walkers and containers carrying life-sustaining items.

• Small purses.

• Cameras.

• Coats.

• Items for care of infants.

• Laptop computers

• Musical instruments.

• Diplomatic or consular bags.

• Other special needs items.

Transport Canada also said that RCMP and local police officers have been authorized to help airport security staff in screening baggage and travellers. The federal department said the new rules aim "to alleviate the immediate pressures at the security checkpoint." Stepped-up security measures have delayed travellers in the wake of an in-flight bombing attempt on Christmas Day on a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit.
That first round of new travel regulations for U.S.-bound passengers included a requirement for all carry-on bags to be hand-searched and for all travellers to be subject to a secondary pat-down screening. Massive lines at airport security desks ensued, and many flights destined for the United States were delayed several hours at major Canadian airports. All the new security measures are temporary and will last at least "several days," Transport Canada said.

Gopika Sharma / January 2, 2010

        Summerside wind farm briefly powers entire city

The new wind turbines in Summerside have been working well, the western P.E.I. city's chief administrative officer says. As of midnight Wednesday night, three of the four machines, which went online this week, were synchronized with the electricity grid and producing power, Terry Murphy said. The city's entire electricity needs were satisfied by wind energy for six hours overnight, Murphy said — an achievement that exceeds the city's expectations for the turbines. He said the city will be happy if it gets a third of its electricity annually from wind, on average. Winter, with its fierce air currents, is the best time of year to create aeolian energy. Construction began on the four 80-metre-high turbines over the summer in the city's St. Eleanors neighbourhood. Costing $30 million total, they are designed to generate 12 megawatts of power. Some local residents ardently opposed the wind farm, saying it would cut into their property values, create noise and pose possible health risks.

Gopika Sharma / January 2, 2010
                Woman dies after setting house on fire

A Calgary woman died Sunday night after deliberately setting fire to a duplex on Pensacola Crescent S.E. Fire officials were called by neighbours around 4:30 p.m. Sunday. One neighbour had tried to enter the house to rescue the woman, but the building was full of smoke, said fire officials. Six fire units responded and were able to confine the damage to the kitchen and a bedroom. The lone female occupant died in hospital.

"There was more than one ignition source ... ," officials said in a release. "The fire is believed to have been deliberately set by the victim."

Fire and arson investigators were combing the scene, where damage was estimated at $25,000.