Appliance Repair in Delhi, CA

NEW DELHI: Tunna Yadav sat on a chair outside his shanty at the JJ Colony at Udyog Nagar in west Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. Around him milled people who had come to express condolence for the death of Yadav’s school-going daughter in a motor accident in the morning. Yadav glumly told TOI, “Manisha was our future. We were sure that she would one day make us proud because she was very good in her studies. But such dreams have been crushed.” Manisha lived with her family of five in a shack, making do with whatever the father earned from his small shop. Manisha had dreamt of becoming a teacher or a charted accountant. "Yes, we are economically very weak, but we gave everything to make sure our children got educated," said Yadav. According to the family, during the lockdown too, Manisha never relented with the pace of her studies. As a Class XII commerce student, the 18-year-old was preparing for her board exams. The neighbours commented on how good a scholar Manisha was, praising her for the high marks she scored in her recent examinations. The grieving Yadav mumbled, "My daughter always told us to be positive. She often told us that there would come a day when she would turn things around for the family.” On Wednesday morning before leaving for school, Manisha made a cup of tea for her father and asked him not to clean the utensils but to leave them to her. "That was the last interaction I had with my daughter,” Yadav said. “A little later, I was brushing my teeth when a woman informed me about the accident.” When he reached the accident spot and saw his daughter's crushed face, Yadav was crushed. A day earlier, Manisha's mother and her younger son had left for Bihar where they were attending a marriage function. Yadav, Manisha and her elder brother were to board the train to Bihar on March 16. "Her mother learnt about the accident when they were in Kanpur and she is now returning to Delhi," the father said. Meanwhile, Manisha’s friend Kalpana, who was with her and was injured in the accident, sat outside Manisha's house, tears constantly rolling down her face. Kalpana's brother, Suraj, said the three girls involved in the accident — Manisha, Sanjana and Kalpana — were very close friends and went to school together. The tragic incident has raised questions about children’s safety on the road, especially since they now go to school after a break of two years. Like Manisha and her friends, they too are forced to cross the road and risk being hit by cars because they have no option, complained the residents.

New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The Rajya Sabha had an eventful and productive day on Tuesday after two key bills - The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 - were passed. Further, discussions were also held on The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022 before the House was adjourned till Wednesday.

The two bills, which have been already passed in the Lok Sabha, got a nod of the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote. Both bill have recieved heavy criticisim from opposition parties, but the government has defended them. Here's everything you need to know about the discussions in Rajya Sabha about the two key bills:

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022:

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 seeks to unify three civic bodies in the national capital. The bill, passed in Lok Sabha last week, will ensure synergised and strategic planning and optimal utilisation of resources, according to the Centre.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre was forced to bring this due to the "step-motherly treatment" of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to the civic bodies in Delhi. Defending the Centre, Shah said Delhi is a not a full state, adding that the Parliament has competence to frame laws for the city-state.

"This bill is in no way an attack on the federal structure," Shah said, as reported by news agency PTI. "It is being alleged that the bill has been brought due to fear of losing elections. But if elections are held after six months, will you lose."

The Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021:

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday also passed the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with a voice vote after negating all amendments moved by the Opposition.

This bill, cleared by Lok Sabha on March 30, aims to revamp the functioning of the institutes of chartered accountants (CA), cost accountants and company secretaries (CS). During a debate, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said this bill will usher in transparency.

Sitharaman asserted that the new legislation would facilitate India in creating homegrown world class institutions soon, comparable with the 'Big Four' in the audit and accountancy areas, and meet the global demands.

"This (bill) is with the intention of making the three institutions a lot more transparent in their disciplinary matters, and raise the quality of the disciplinary processes. Above all, I think this would also facilitate India to be able to support institutions and firms which can be encouraged by the council to create something (completely of India origin) similar to the Big Four, which we periodically talk about," she said, as reported by PTI.

"At this time, the sanctity of the audited financial statement which is where the role of CAs come into play has got to be maintained, has got to be given its due position and we need to have audit and certification quality. We also need to have a favourable investment climate being brought in," she said.

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Australia criticized India for considering a Russian proposal that would undermine sanctions imposed by America and its allies, showing a deepening rift between the emerging security partners as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov traveled to Delhi for talks.

“Now is the time to stand on the right side of history, and to stand with the United States and dozens of other countries, standing up for freedom, democracy and sovereignty with the Ukrainian people, and not funding and fueling and aiding President Putin’s war,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. She called reports of the arrangement “deeply disappointing,” while adding that she hadn’t seen details.

Dan Tehan, Australia’s trade minister who also spoke at the briefing, said it was important for democracies to work together “to keep the rules-based approach that we’ve had since the second world war.”

The comments reflect growing unease with India among fellow members of the Quad, a group of democracies seeking to counter China’s assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region that also includes the U.S., Australia and Japan. India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons, and has also sought to buy cheap oil as fuel prices surge.

While India has supported calls for a cease-fire and a diplomatic solution, it abstained at the United Nations on votes for draft resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion that were ultimately vetoed by Moscow. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that India is weighing a plan to make rupee-ruble-denominated payments using an alternative to SWIFT after the U.S. and European Union cut off seven Russian banks from using the Belgium-based cross-border payment system operator.

The Russian plan involves rupee-ruble-denominated payments using the country’s messaging system SPFS and central bank officials from Moscow are likely to visit next week to discuss the details. No final decision has been taken.

India’s middle-ground position on the war has left to a raft of diplomacy in the past few weeks, with China’s foreign minister visiting for the first time since 2019 and now Lavrov seeking to shore up support. At the same time, the U.S. and its allies are also stepping up engagement in a bid to influence Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Delhi earlier this month, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also held a video summit with Modi. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call with his counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to discuss “the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine” among other issues.

During Lavrov’s trip, India is also hosting U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh and U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Her office said she “will point to the importance of all countries reducing strategic dependency on Russia at this time of heightened global insecurity.”

India has pushed back against U.S. concerns by noting that it needs Russian arms to counter China, particularly after border clashes in 2020, and alternatives are too expensive. The strategic relationship between India and Russia dates back to the Cold War and remains robust, even as Modi has shifted the country more toward the U.S. orbit in recent years.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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A Delhi man is doubling down on a cancer-fighting donation to the London region’s largest hospital — an announcement that came hours after losing his son to cancer.

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London Health Sciences Foundation released news of the additional $3-million donation by trucking entrepreneur Archie Verspeeten, founder of Ingersoll-based Verspeeten Cartage, Wednesday morning, the same day his son, Ron Verspeeten, died of the disease.

The family opted to continue with Wednesday’s planned announcement despite Ron’s passing, the hospital foundation said.

The Verspeeten family has felt cancer’s impact deeply. The disease claimed Irene, Archie’s wife of 66 years, in June 2017 and his son, Alan, at age 56 in October 2015.

“The Verspeeten family are pillars of the community . . . It speaks so much to this family as to how they have turned this loss into something positive,” said Stephen Welch, a medical oncologist at London Health Sciences Centre, who got to know the Verspeetens while treating Ron and Irene.

“Their willingness to give back is incredible. It’s an honour, it’s a privilege to be involved.”

The family’s latest contribution builds on $3 million donated by the family in 2020 to found the Archie and Irene Verspeeten Clinical Genome Centre at LHSC.

“My wife, Irene, and I know first-hand the cost that can come with a cancer diagnosis. I wish for no family to endure such pain and no patient to experience such suffering. I want nothing more than to end cancer completely,” Archie Verspeeten said in a statement delivered at Wednesday’s news conference.

“I believe this centre has already brought us one step closer to better understanding some cancers, but there is still further work to be done. My hope is that our gift can provide time to patients and families when it may be running out.”

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The Archie and Irene Verspeeten Clinical Genome Centre is meant to help patients with diseases or conditions linked to their genes, with a particular focus on cancer.

Instead of treating every cancer patient with the same therapies, the goal of cancer genomics is to analyze the particular genetic features of a patient’s cancer and use that knowledge to target the disease through proven therapies, off-label use of existing drugs, or clinical trials.

The program already has helped patients in London, said Dan Breadner, a medical oncologist at LHSC.

At Wednesday’s announcement, Breadner spoke about a 66-year-old patient with lung cancer that recurred after chemotherapy. Breadner planned to start the patient on a standard intravenous cancer treatment, but also ordered a cancer genomics test made possible through the Verspeeten centre.

Days before her therapy was to begin, the genetic test results changed her treatment plan and prognosis, he said. “It meant the treatment we had picked wasn’t going to work . . . She is now receiving a safer and more efficacious therapy. She’s now on a pill that will, on average, add years to her life.”

The additional $3 million from the Verspeeten family will fund resources required to offer genomic testing to patients, said Bekim Sadikovic, the Verspeeten centre’s scientific and clinical director. This kind of genomic testing for research is not covered by OHIP.

The program also requires infrastructure, including specialized equipment and highly trained personnel, he said.

Welch, who’s also involved in the Verspeeten centre, can envision a time when genome-driven personalized care will be the standard for cancer patients in Ontario.

The centre is not only showing this method is effective, but also amassing data to prove this type of testing should be funded by Ontario’s public health insurance system in the future, Welch said.

In the meantime, the in-depth genetic analysis offers hope to some cancer patients with a genetic factor in their disease, he said.

jbieman@postmedia.com

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Norfolk County has many ways to help local residents with their spring cleaning, starting this April with leaf and yard waste.

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In a news release last week, the county said it is ready to haul leaf and yard waste from the curbside during regular trash collection.

For this purpose, the county has divided Norfolk into three urban zones. They are Zone 1 (Long Point and Simcoe), Zone 2 (Port Dover, Langton, Port Rowan) and Zone 3 (Turkey Point, Vittoria, St. Williams, Courtland, Delhi and Waterford).

All yard waste must be placed curbside along with regular trash and recycling in brown paper leaf bags with tops rolled shut. Weight must be no heavier than 18 kilograms or 40 pounds. Trimmings must be tied together in bundles measuring not more than three feet in length.

More details on this popular program, which is also offered in the fall, are available at norfolkcounty.ca.

Now that winter is past, the county is also gearing up for its first household hazardous waste event of the year. This will be held Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the county facilities building at 591 Norfolk Street South on the south side of Simcoe.

A second hazardous waste collection event will take place Saturday, May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Norfolk County works yard at 340 Argyle Avenue in Delhi.

Materials accepted in both Simcoe and Delhi include batteries, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, used motor oil, surplus household chemicals, and spent propane tanks.

A full list of acceptable items is available at the county website, as are instructions for registering to take part in these events.

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In the past, the county has conducted the curbside pickup of large household waste items such as worn-out furniture and old appliances every two or three years. This has been discontinued, but the county has substituted in its place an appointment-based approach for the collection and removal of these items.

The next round of collections will take place the week of April 18-22. The deadline for registering for an appointment is noon April 14. The cost per pick-up is $25.50 and can be booked and pre-paid through ServiceNorfolk by calling 519-426-5870 ext. 0. The maximum load size is two cubic metres, or the approximate size of the box on a pickup truck.

Those with the means to transfer household waste items to the waste transfer station on Fourteenth Street in Simcoe can do so 12 months of the year during regular business hours. On Friday, the South Walsingham transfer station opened for another season near Port Rowan.

The South Walsingham transfer station is located at 1180 South Walsingham Concession Road 3. The station is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Items accepted include metal, wood and tires. Depending on the size of the load, a tipping fee may apply.

For more information on the waste collection and recycling services Norfolk County has to offer, consult the municipality’s website.