The killing of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June has sparked a diplomatic row between India and Canada.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau claimed on Monday that India played a role in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force who was designated a terrorist by India in 2020.
Mr Nijjar, who was wanted in India, was allegedly shot dead by two unidentified men outside a Sikh Temple in Surrey, British Columbia. His body was found inside a vehicle within the premises of the temple, but his killers have never been found.
India has rejected Mr Trudeau's claim that it was involved in the killing, and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in retaliation after an unnamed Indian diplomat was expelled from Canada following the accusation.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Mr Nijjar, 46, hailed from Jalandhar district in India's northern state of Punjab. He moved to Canada in 1997 where he worked as a plumber. He had been the president of the gurdwara body in Surrey since 2020.
He was designated as one of India's most wanted terrorists by New Delhi, which offered a cash reward of $12,203 for his arrest.
He was accused of conspiring to kill a Hindu priest in his hometown.
Punjab has struggled with a decades-old Sikh secessionist movement seeking the creation of a homeland called Khalistan for the religious minority.
What were the allegations against Nijjar?
India’s National Investigation Agency had filed charges against Mr Nijjar accusing him of being part of a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.
Mr Nijjar’s name was on the wanted list former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh handed to Mr Trudeau during his visit to India in 2018.
He was also accused of conspiring to create an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness and inciting people to rebel against the Indian government during the year-long farmers’ agitation against controversial farm laws in 2020.
He was also associated with Sikhs for Justice, a banned separatist organisation in India.
What is the Khalistan movement?
The Khalistan insurgency peaked in the early 1980s but declined a decade later. Tens of thousands of civilians, militants and Indian security forces were killed in the conflict.
However, the movement has remained active in the state through sleeper cells.
India has accused secessionist organisations and leaders living abroad – especially in Canada, Australia and the UK – of funding and supporting Punjab's independence movement.
Mr Nijjar’s lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had earlier said that Canada’s spy agency had warned the Khalistan Tiger Force leader that his life was under threat.
“He wasn’t worried about his safety. He was worried about how we would accomplish Khalistan and how we would accomplish the referendum,” Mr Pannun said, according to the Vancouver Sun daily.
Last year, Ripudaman Singh Malik, 75, a Canadian Sikh acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing that killed 329 passengers and crew, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in British Columbia province.
The killing triggered a wave of condemnation from the Sikh community in India.
What is the row between India and Canada?
The latest diplomatic row came after Mr Trudeau told the Canadian parliament on Monday that there were “potential links between agents of the Indian government” and Mr Nijjar’s killing, citing “credible allegations” that Indian agents may have had a role.
Canada also said it had expelled an unnamed senior Indian diplomat, said to be the head of India's intelligence operations in Canada and believed to have a credible link to the killing.
In response, India's Ministry of External affairs said: “We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.”
A senior Canadian diplomat had been ordered to leave the country “within five days”, it added.
Canada also recently suspended negotiations for a free-trade agreement with India.
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Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
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Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
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Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
Profile Periscope Media
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Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
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Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
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Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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3. Hajj
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
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%3Cp%3EDavid%20White%20might%20be%20new%20to%20the%20country%2C%20but%20he%20has%20clearly%20already%20built%20up%20an%20affinity%20with%20the%20place.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAfter%20the%20UAE%20shocked%20Pakistan%20in%20the%20semi-final%20of%20the%20Under%2019%20Asia%20Cup%20last%20month%2C%20White%20was%20hugged%20on%20the%20field%20by%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20the%20team%E2%80%99s%20captain.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EWhite%20suggests%20that%20was%20more%20a%20sign%20of%20Aayan%E2%80%99s%20amiability%20than%20anything%20else.%20But%20he%20believes%20the%20young%20all-rounder%2C%20who%20was%20part%20of%20the%20winning%20Gulf%20Giants%20team%20last%20year%2C%20is%20just%20the%20sort%20of%20player%20the%20country%20should%20be%20seeking%20to%20produce%20via%20the%20ILT20.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CHe%20is%20a%20delightful%20young%20man%2C%E2%80%9D%20White%20said.%20%E2%80%9CHe%20played%20in%20the%20competition%20last%20year%20at%2017%2C%20and%20look%20at%20his%20development%20from%20there%20till%20now%2C%20and%20where%20he%20is%20representing%20the%20UAE.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CHe%20was%20influential%20in%20the%20U19%20team%20which%20beat%20Pakistan.%20He%20is%20the%20perfect%20example%20of%20what%20we%20are%20all%20trying%20to%20achieve%20here.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20about%20the%20development%20of%20players%20who%20are%20going%20to%20represent%20the%20UAE%20and%20go%20on%20to%20help%20make%20UAE%20a%20force%20in%20world%20cricket.%E2%80%9D%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Mainz 0
RB Leipzig 5 (Werner 11', 48', 75', Poulsen 23', Sabitzer 36')
Man of the Match: Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
