A special flight from the United States carrying 119 deported Indian nationals is expected to arrive at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar on Saturday. This is the second US flight carrying the deportees to India following a crackdown on illegal immigrants by the US government. According to sources, the majority of deportees are from Punjab, with 67 individuals returning to the state. Haryana follows with 33 deportees. Gujarat accounts for eight, Uttar Pradesh three, and Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan two each. Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have one returnee each

The Liberal party says it will not accommodate leadership hopeful Ruby Dhalla's request for a translator at the upcoming French debate in Montreal. Party spokesman Parker Lund says only the candidates and the moderator will be allowed on the debate stage and no translation will be provided. Dhalla said in a recent interview that her campaign planned to ask this week for a translator for the French debate because she is not fluent in the language. But she plans to attend either way and will make opening and closing statements in French. The Liberals have two upcoming leadership debates planned

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann convened a cabinet meeting today after a long gap of four months. This followed the party's defeat in the Delhi elections. Several important decisions in favor of the youth were taken during this meeting. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's cabinet has approved the recruitment of three thousand individuals across various government departments. This includes the recruitment of two thousand PTI teachers and eight hundred twenty-two posts in the health department. Additionally, six new courts will be established to address the issues of NRIs on a priority basis.

The former CEO of Alberta Health Services has filed a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal and high-level government corruption surrounding medical contracts. A statement of claim alleges Athana Mentzelopoulos (ment-ZAH'-lop-oh-luss) was fired last month for investigating overpriced contracts and conflicts of interest between government staff and companies being contracted. The lawsuit alleges Health Minister Adriana LaGrange (lah-GRAYNGE') tried to shut down the investigation and demanded Mentzelopoulos be fired. The allegations have not been proven in court, and LaGrange says many of them are

The NDP's national campaign director has sent a memo to all candidates and campaign staff warning them to be prepared for a snap federal election as early as March 10. If Mark Carney does win the leadership, we are hearing from many Ottawa sources that he intends on calling an election shortly after becoming Liberal leader. On that basis, we believe the rumours of Mr. Carney calling a snap election are credible, the memo states. Taking a page from Doug Ford's playbook, the Liberals believe that they can turn this crisis into a political benefit for them. In Ontario, Ford is calling a snap ele

US President Donald Trump is expected to announce reciprocal tariffs today. These measures would impose the same tariff rates on goods from countries that levy import duties on US products. Trump had pledged such tariffs during his election campaign. The new tariffs are expected to disproportionately affect developing countries, including India, Brazil, Vietnam, and several Southeast Asian and African nations, where tariff rates on US goods are notably higher than those imposed by the US. For instance, World Bank data from 2022 shows the US average tariff rate on imports from India was 3%, co

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is travelling to Europe today. The minister will be in Europe until Feb. 18, traveling to France, Germany and Belgium to take part in conferences, meet with officials to discuss topics like geopolitical conflicts and foreign interference and speak in a roundtable on Arctic security. Joly will start her trip in Paris on Thursday, where she and Canada's newly-appointed Special Envoy for Syria Omar Alghabra will attend the Paris Conference on Syria. While in Paris, the minister will meet with Jean-Noël Barrot, minister for Europe and foreign affairs of Fra

The US will soon deport another batch of 170-180 illegal immigrants to India. This would be the second batch of immigrants to be deported by the US government. Earlier this month, 104 Indian migrants were deported from the US. Though official confirmation from Indian officials is awaited, the US administration sources have said that the deportation could take place this week only. Earlier, the first batch had landed at the Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport in Amritsar. However, no confirmation yet on where the second batch will land. The US action comes as Prime Minister Narendra Mod

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, leader of the non-political Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, may attend the meeting in Chandigarh on February 14 between Punjab farmers and the Center, according to a farmer leader. The leader confirmed that while Dallewal's health may limit his participation, he will make every effort to attend the meeting and present his views. It is worth noting that in the previous meeting, the Central Government proposed a five-year plan to purchase certain crops at the minimum support price, but no consensus was reached on all of the farmers' demands. Farmers have continuously called for a l