Latest news with #182
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Canada: Historic gurdwara calls for new Kanishka memorial in British Columbia
Toronto: A historic gurdwara in Vancouver had joined in calling upon the government of the province of British Columbia (BC) to establish a permanent memorial and learning to remember the victims of the terrorist attack on Air India flight 182, the Kanishka. In a letter sent to the province's Premier David Eby, the Khalsa Diwan Society (KDS), which manages the historic Ross Street Gurdwara, said the family members of the victims 'deserve more than silence' and 'deserve a place of honor, reflection and remembrance'. KDS was formed in 1906 and remains a landmark in the history of Sikhs and Indo-Canadians in the country. 'We respectfully ask you to act now – to build the Kanishka Memorial and Learning Center – as a heartfelt and lasting tribute to those we lost, ensuring their stories and memories live on in the hearts and minds of Canadians forever,' KDS' general secretary Kashmir Singh Dhaliwal stated in the letter to Eby. KDS joined a coalition of Indo-Canadian organisations that have called upon the BC government to establish the centre. While a memorial to the victims of the bombing of the Kanishka by pro-Khalistan terrorists on June 23, 1985, was established in 2007 at Stanley Park in Vancouver, the Indo-Canadian groups want a learning centre 'to teach future generations about the real cost of extremism'. In a letter to Eby, sent earlier, five Indo-Canadian grassroots groups said the centre was envisioned as 'not merely a site of memory but a living testament to the resilience of our communities and a powerful statement of our collective values'. 'Premier Eby, building this centre is not only a moral imperative – it is a profound act of reconciliation and compassion. It represents our shared commitment to justice, our determination to confront hate, and our duty to nurture a safer, more cohesive society for future generations,' the letter noted. Among the principal proponents of the centre is Vancouver-based Sanjeev Kaul, who said the centre could serve as a year-long venue for commemorative events while offering a safe space to family members of victim for reflection. The first memorial dedicated to the tragedy was established in Ahakista in Ireland in 1986. The bomb planted by the pro-Khalistsan separatists exploded while the Kanishka was flying close to Ireland and debris washed up on and near its shores. Memorials also exist in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in recognition of what remains the worst incident of terrorism in Canadian history,and the worst instance of aviation-related terrorism till 9/11. A total of 331 persons died in the bombs targeting the Air India flights, with 329 of them aboard the Kanishka. Two Japanese baggage handlers who were killed when a second bomb placed within luggage on another Air India plane exploded at Narita airport. The victims included 268 Canadian citizens and 82 children. A website seeking the centre has also been established ahead of the 40th anniversary of the terror attack. It states, 'This was not a plane crash. It was a preventable act of terrorism, rooted in extremism and worsened by failures in Canada's intelligence, security, and justice systems.'
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Indo-Canadian organisations call upon British Columbia govt to establish learning centre in remembrance of Air India flight bombing
Toronto: A coalition of Indo-Canadian organisations has called upon the Government of the province of British Columbia to establish a learning centre in remembrance of the bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka, in June 1985. That request was made in a letter sent by representatives of five organisations to the Premier (equivalent of an Indian Chief Minister) of the province David Eby. While a memorial to the victims of the bombing of the Kanishka by pro-Khalistan terrorists on June 23, 1985, was established in 2007 at Stanley Park in Vancouver, the Indo-Canadian groups want a learning centre 'to teach future generations about the real cost of extremism'. The letter to Eby stated that the centre was envisioned as 'not merely a site of memory but a living testament to the resilience of our communities and a powerful statement of our collective values'. 'Premier Eby, building this centre is not only a moral imperative – it is a profound act of reconciliation and compassion. It represents our shared commitment to justice, our determination to confront hate, and our duty to nurture a safer, more cohesive society for future generations,' the letter noted. The first memorial dedicated to the tragedy was established in Ahakista in Ireland in 1986. The bomb planted by the pro-Khalistsan separatists exploded while the Kanishka was flying close to Ireland and debris washed up on and near its shores. Memorials also exist in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in recognition of what remains the worst incident of terrorism in Canadian history, and the worst instance of aviation-related terrorism till 9/11. A total of 331 persons died in the bombs targeting the Air India flight, with 329 of them aboard the Kanishka. Two Japanese baggage handlers who were killed when a second bomb placed within luggage on another Air India plane exploded at Narita airport. The victims included 268 Canadian citizens and 82 children. A website seeking the centre has also been established ahead of the 40th anniversary of the terror attack. It states, 'This was not a plane crash. It was a preventable act of terrorism, rooted in extremism and worsened by failures in Canada's intelligence, security, and justice systems.'
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Air India flight 182 archive opens in Canada
Toronto: A formal archive memorialising the 1985 bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka by pro-Khalistan terrorists, has been launched at McMaster University located in the city of Hamilton, in Ontario. The archive contains both physical and digital material including testimonies from the family members of what remains the worst terrorist incident in Canada's history. The initiative has been led by McMaster professor Chandrima Chakraborty, who said, 'The goal of the Air India archive is to address the silencing of the Air India tragedy in Canadian history and public memory.' She elaborated, 'The objective is to educate the public about the grief of families, preserve and honour the memories of those who perished on Air India Flight 182, and create avenues for memorialisation and ongoing research.' The university is also hosting a two-day conference this weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of the Air India bombings. Professor Chakraborty said, 'The AI tragedy has been called a Canadian tragedy, yet the grief of those who lost loved ones continue to be unacknowledged in Canadian history and public memory. Perhaps, marking the 40th anniversary through such free, public events such as this conference that centres the voices and experiences of families can create greater public awareness and enable informed engagement with this historical event.' As the conference organisers, Chakraborty, Amber Dean, also a professor at McMaster, and Maia Lepingwell-Tardieu, a PhD candidate there, stated, 'June 23, 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the Air India bombings. Although this event has been described as a Canadian tragedy that resulted in the mass murder of 331 people, it remains little known and seldom remembered in our national consciousness.' The archive is being hosted at McMaster University's Research Collections and has the support of the university's library's William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections and the Sherman Centre of Digital Scholarship. 'The Air India archive is a community co-created public memory archive that will preserve and honor the memories of those who perished on AI Flight 182 and document the experiences and memories of Air India families and critical witnesses,' Professor Chakraborty said. Physical items include badges of the pilot and co-pilot, memorial books published by the Air India victims' families, other works n the subject, seven volumes of the public inquiry report, which was released in June 2010, among other items. However, Professor Chakraborty said the project has funding till March next year but will require support in the form of donations to sustain it and allow it to expand. 'I have boxes and boxes of materials that I will not be able to digitize without receiving substantial funding to continue the work of digitising materials,' she said. The Kanishka bombing claimed 329 lives and two baggage handlers at Narita Airport in Japan were killed when another bomb on another Air India flight exploded there. The 40th anniversary of Canada's worst terror episode comes at a time when pro-Khalistan separatism has been largely normalised by Canada's political leadership and in the country's mainstream media and its link to extremism largely ignored.
TimesLIVE
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Rivian and Lucid flag increasing costs as Trump tariffs bite
US President Donald Trump's administration introduced 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and car parts. Last week, Trump signed two orders to soften the blow, with a mix of credits and relief from other levies on materials. In the face of uncertainty, several carmakers, including Tesla, have also said they were reassessing their full-year targets. Rivian on Monday said it would invest $120m (R2,182,770) to bring its key parts suppliers near its plant in Illinois as it prepares to produce its smaller, more affordable R2 SUVs next year. Lucid is also gearing up to launch a midsize vehicle with a target price of about $50,000 (R909,487) next year. However, Winterhoff said Lucid might start production of the vehicle in Saudi Arabia, a major market for and an investor in the EV maker, instead of the US, given tariff costs, though that plan was not final. A successful rollout of affordable vehicles is seen as critical for the two EV makers. Lucid and Rivian reported smaller-than-expected losses on an earnings-per-share basis in the first quarter as they doubled down on slashing costs. Rivian, which is also benefiting from a $5.8bn (R105,509,256,960) software joint venture with Volkswagen, reported a gross profit of $206m (R3,747,356,155) and stuck to its target of modest gross profit this year. The company, however, increased its forecast for capital expenditures for the year to between $1.8bn (R32,763,777,480) and $1.9bn (R34,583,990,000), as tariffs hurt its plant expansion costs, from between $1.6bn (R29,138,640,000) and $1.7bn (R30,966,604,320) predicted earlier.
