The Canadian government will allow 30-year amortization periods on insured mortgages for first-time homebuyers purchasing newly built homes. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made the announcement in Toronto today, saying it would take effect Aug. 1. The Canadian Home Builders' Association has advocated for longer amortization periods, saying five more years would help with affordability and spur more construction. Freeland also said the government will nearly double to $60,000 the amount first-time homebuyers can withdraw from RRSPs to buy a home. That's up from $35,000, to take effect April

Shiromani Akali Dal may soon announce the names of the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. According to the information, a strategy is being made to announce about 7 to 8 names, which have been agreed upon within the party. For the first time since 1998, Shiromani Akali Dal is contesting the elections alone and after a long time the party will field candidates in Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur seats. According to the sources, Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Bathinda, N. from Patiala. K. Sharma and Anil Joshi from Amritsar are considered to be given the ticket. All these three are active in

Parkash Singh Langah, son of former Akali Minister of Punjab Sucha Singh Langah, has been sent to the remand of Himachal Police till April 12. A team of Shimla Police's Special Cell arrested Parkash Singh Langah along with four other accused from a hotel with drugs on Tuesday night. At the same time, he has also been declared a fugitive in a 3-year-old heroin case registered in Dhariwal police station of Gurdaspur district. The police said that the accused are suspected to be connected with the international white smuggling gang, which is being ascertained. The accused had reached Shimla with

Gurpreet Singh Maluka, son of Sikandar Singh Maluka, who was a minister in the Akali Dal government in Punjab and his IAS. Officer's daughter-in-law Parampal Kaur joined BJP today. Meanwhile, politics has heated up over Parampal Kaur's resignation, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann saying that he has not yet approved the resignation, while BJP Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that Parampal Kaur's resignation will be on Wednesday. was accepted It is to be noted that IAS Parampal Kaur resigned a few days ago. She may be the BJP candidate from Bathinda in the Lok Sabha elections.

After Sheetal Angural and Sushil Rinku quit Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab today, AAP Minister Raj Kumar Anand also resigned in Delhi. He was the Minister of Social Welfare in the Delhi Government. He said that he did not get an offer from anyone, he left the Aam Aadmi Party due to corruption in the party. Raj Kumar Anand said that it became uncomfortable for me to work as a minister in the government. Senior leader of Punjab Congress Sukhpal Singh Khaira said that the fortress of lies built by Arvind Kejriwal has started to crumble. Khaira said Kejriwal should step down as Chief Minister and pav

IAS of Punjab Another IAS officer Karnail Singh has resigned amid talk of officer Parampal Kaur joining the BJP. If the sources are to be believed, Karnail Singh was angry about not getting posting for the last two months, his retirement was still 5 months away. On January 30, he was removed from the post of DC of Kapurthala and was not posted to a new posting after that. At the same time, amid speculations of IAS officer Parampal Kaur's move to BJP, the Chief Minister has not yet accepted her resignation. Only after the signature of the Chief Minister, this resignation has to go to the Per

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to testify today at an inquiry into foreign meddling in Canada's last two elections. The inquiry has already heard that China and other state actors attempted to interfere, but there has been little evidence so far to indicate whether they were successful. Trudeau has maintained over the last year that foreign interference had no meaningful impact on Canada's free and fair elections, which echoes what senior government officials have told Parliament. Several members of Trudeau's cabinet are also slated to testify, including government House leader Kari

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Singh could not meet AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar Jail today. The Tihar Jail administration denied their visit permission citing security reasons. Only yesterday, the administration had fixed the time for CM Bhagwant Mann and Sanjay Singh to meet Kejriwal and both the leaders were to meet Arvind Kejriwal in the jail at 1 pm today. Now Tihar Jail will inform about the new time.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today...BoC expected to hold policy rate at 5% today The Bank of Canada is set to announce its interest rate decision this morning. It's widely expected to maintain its key interest rate at five per cent, but economists will be watching for any hints about the timing of upcoming rate cuts. Forecasters expect the central bank to begin lowering its key rate in June as the economy continues to slow and inflation trends lower. High interest rates have slowed demand in the economy as co