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Canada’s Trudeau defends assisted suicide bill as deadline nears
A bill legalising medically-assisted suicide in Canada strikes the right balance between defending fundamental freedoms and protecting against abuses, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday, predicting confusion if it is not approved.The draft legislation, introduced by Trudeau’s Liberal government in April, would allow people with incurable illnesses or disabilities to end their lives with a medical professional’s help, but stopped short of extending the right to minors and the mentally ill.
“There are people who think we should have gone further with this bill, there are people who think we already went too far,” Trudeau told reporters at a Liberal convention in Winnipeg.”Making this first step a responsible, prudent one that gets the balance right between protecting vulnerable Canadians and defending rights and freedoms is what we have focused on and I’m confident that we got that balance right.”
The Supreme Court of Canada overturned a ban on medical-assisted suicide last year and gave the new government until June 6 to come up with a law, adding Canada to the handful of Western countries that allow the practice.Trudeau said he expected Parliament to meet that deadline. He added, however, that failing to do so could lead to uneven access to assisted dying across Canada. If new legislation is not in place by June 6, last year’s Supreme Court ruling comes into effect, allowing assisted dying for those with a “grievous and irremediable” medical condition.
Some Canadians who should have access to medically-assisted death may not get it if doctors conclude there isn’t legal protection for them, while others may gain access to it when they should not, he said.Trudeau’s Liberals hold a majority of seats in Canada’s House of Commons, but not in the Senate. Bills must pass both chambers on their way to becoming law.
Venezuela government, opposition meet with mediators in Dominican Republic
Venezuela’s opposition and top government officials said on Saturday they met with a group of mediators in the Dominican Republic to lay the groundwork for a dialogue amid a political standoff and a deepening economic crisis.The OPEC nation is suffering a severe recession due to low oil prices and a collapsing socialist economic model. President Nicolas Maduro is locked in a standoff with the legislature after the opposition won a sweeping majority last year.
Both sides said they met with former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and former presidents Martin Torrijos of Panama and Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken to Zapatero to welcome the initiative and said that the United States stood ready to help the mediators.The opposition’s Democratic Unity coalition said its representatives told the mediators any talks with the government would have to include discussion of a recall referendum on Maduro’s rule, the release of jailed opposition leaders, foreign humanitarian assistance to cope with chronic shortages and respect for laws passed by the congress.
“These points were taken by the ex-presidents to the representatives of the ruling party, with whom there has been no direct encounter whatsoever,” the coalition said in a statement. “This has been an encounter with the mediators.Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez wrote via Twitter that government officials had also met with the same mediators.”The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs that it has held the first encounters for a dialogue between the government and the opposition,” wrote Rodriguez.Opposition leaders have been deeply sceptical of talks with the government, describing them as a stalling mechanism that would allow Maduro to gain time.
Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is leading the recall push, said in an interview this week that the only way to resolve the crisis was through a vote.The two sides held talks in 2014 amid months of violent anti-government street protests that left more than 40 people dead. Both sides agree that the dialogue did not produce any substantive agreements.Opposition leaders accuse the National Electoral Council of stalling their effort to recall Maduro, whose popularity in March dropped to 27 percent according to local pollster Datanalisis.
They also say the ruling Socialist Party has used a pro-government Supreme Court to shoot down nearly every law passed by Congress since the opposition won a two-thirds majority of seats in December. Maduro insists his government is the victim of an “economic war” led by business leaders with the backing of Washington, which has been an ideological adversary of Caracas since the presidency of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.
Telcos take cover under new technology to ‘mask’ call drops
New Delhi: Trying to deflect heat over poor service quality, mobile operators are taking refuge in a new technology to “mask” call drops that shows a call as remaining ‘connected’ even when the network connection is lost and the caller is unable to hear voice from the other side.Earlier, the call used to get automatically disconnected in case of the user moving to a poor network area, making it a ‘dropped call’ under the current regulatory framework.
The new technology ensures the call remains artificially connected until the caller or receiver decides to terminate it and the user is billed for the entire duration despite not being able to talk for full or part of the call duration.”Telecom operators are using Radio-Link Technology (RLT) which is helping them mask call drops while the consumer is being billed for the time he is on the call, although it can be said to be artificially connected to a network,” an official source involved in testing of telecom networks told PTI.
“In such cases, the customer often disconnects call himself, which is not counted in call drops. If the call in such case is disconnected, the companies continue to charge customers.”While the RLT is helping companies improve their quality of service parameters and revenue, it is also helping them mask the dropped calls,” the source added.There was no reply to queries sent to industry bodies COAI and AUSPI on this matter. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has fixed penalty of up to Rs 2 lakh for poor mobile service quality, including call drops. This penalty kicks in for more than 2 per cent call drops in a quarter in one telecom circle.
Trai had also mandated the telecom operators to pay consumers Re 1 for every call drop, subject to a maximum of Rs 3 per day, but this provision was recently quashed by the Supreme Court.Telecom operators have been facing intense heat over frequent call drops for many months now, although they have been blaming factors like lack of approvals for setting up mobile towers for this problem.Many of them claim to have made significant improvement on this front, but the menace continues, including in big cities.
Behind The Scene: KCR Defers His Plans?
KCR was supposed to come to Tirupati and fulfill his vow to the Lord. Apparently, he took a vow to visit the temple town either if Telangana became a reality or he became the CM, whatever, but he was supposed to make some sort of offering to the Lord.
If things worked out he was supposed to go this month but it now looks as if he has deferred his plans. The reason is the illegal irrigation projects taken up by Telangana.
Thanks to these projects, Rayalaseema stands in danger of becoming a desert and the farmers of the region are absolutely furious.
The TDP because of the Stephenson episode will do nothing which means the farmers are willing to fend for themselves. In such a situation, if he visits Tirupati, there can be a serious law-and-order problem. Therefore, he might have deferred his plans.
TDP Not Just A Political Party, It’s A System
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is one of the prominent regional parties that made an indelible impact in state and national political scene. For any political party to flourish, a strong cadre is a must and with nearly 55 lakh registrations, TDP is the largest party with a huge cadre base in the Telugu states.For the last two days, the TDP’s annual conclave Mahanadu has been going on in Tirupati and this time too, the event has been a grand success thanks to the enthusiastic participation of thousands of TDP cadres who thronged the event from all corners of the country.
TDP’s loyal cadre base was first set up by the party’s founder president and late film star and Chief Minister NT Ramarao, who attracted the masses into his party thanks to his film star charisma.Since then, the number of the party’s loyal followers base grew leaps and bounds under Chandrababu’s administration thanks to several developmental and cadre welfare schemes, and cultivated a deep trust factor among the rural folk, middle-class and the young and educated.
TDP started to recognize and aid its cadres on a war mission ever since Nara Lokesh launched the Party Workers’ Welfare Division at the 2014 Mahanadu and extended several welfare schemes like accidental insurance up to 2 lakhs, hospital and travel discounts, education allowances for the cadres’ children and insurance for the beneficiaries of the cadres and no other political party offers these benefits to its cadres.
Apart from these, by declaring the party’s financial assets and resolutions during the Mahanadu conclaves each year, TDP transformed itself from being a mere political party into a powerful system that strived for the welfare of the state and its lakhs of cadres in its 34 year old political journey.
Joke: Jagan’s Stay In Babu’s Singapore Hotel
YSRCP’s President and leader of opposition in AP Assembly YS Jagan never leaves a chance to attack his staunch rival and AP CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu. Jagan often accuses Babu of corruption and that the AP CM has amassed crores of assets in Singapore, including a star hotel.And according to the ongoing buzz in the political circles, all of Jagan’s MLAs will soon be heading to Singapore until the polling for Rajya Sabha concludes in June. Apparently, YSRCP’s Rajya Sabha candidate Vijayasai Reddy will be packing all the party’s MLAs to Singapore to prevent any cross voting during the polling on June 11.
The YSRCP camp is having sleepless nights with an apprehension that Babu might field a 4th candidate for Rajya Sabha polls, thereby causing a divergence among the YSRCP MLAs. Feeling the jitters already, Jagan and Vijayasai Reddy are fretting over the chances of their party’s MLAs siding with TDP.
YSRCP needs 44 of its existing 50 MLAs to win the Rajya Sabha elections, and Vijayasai Reddy’s defeat would mean that the party will suffer a huge blow and will stare at a threat of losing more MLAs to TDP before the 2019 elections.In this scenario, there is a joke being circulated in the political circles that whether Jagan will take shelter at Babu’s Singapore hotel (as he keeps on alleging) to save his party’s future.
Is Chay Taking A Big Risk With Premam?
Despite giving a hattrick of flops with Autonagar Surya, Oka Laila Kosam and Dohchay, looks like Naga Chaitanya is highly confident of his box-office stamina. The actor’s much awaited remake of Malayalam blockbuster Premam is reportedly scheduled to release on August 12.Interestingly, NTR’s Janatha Garage is also releasing on the same day and one can’t help but wonder in dismay at the confidence of Premam makers. Even though both Premam and Janatha Garage are poles apart in terms of genres, Premam will suffer heavily if Janatha Garage gets decent response.
Or, one also gets a doubt whether Premam team has learnt from inside sources that Janatha Garage will not be releasing as planned on August 12 and this might have prompted them to vie for the same date well in advance.
On the other hand, yet another Chay film, Saahasam Swaasaga Saagipo, is slated to open in cinemas on July 15, which leaves hardly a month’s gap between the release of Akkineni hero’s both the films.
Mahesh Appreciates Okka Ammayi Thappa Trailer
Sundeep Kishan is playing the lead role in the movie ‘Okka Ammayi Thappa’. Nithya Menen, who is known for choosing films with strong content, is playing the female lead.The film is being readied for a June 10th release and the censor formalities will be completed later this week. The release date will be formally announced once the censor certification is done.Rajasimha Tadinada is making his debut as a director with this project. He has worked as a writer for many successful films in the past.
Rajasimha showed the theatrical trailer of the movie to Superstar Mahesh Babu recently and Mahesh appreciated the debut director. Mahesh Babu asked details about the story and he went on to commend the visual effects quality in the trailer as well. “I have known Mahesh Babu garu since Takkari Donga. He loved the trailer and appreciated me. I am very grateful to him “, said director Rajasimha Tadinada.Sundeep Kishan, Nithya Menen, Revathi, Ravi Kishen, Ali,Ajay, Thanikella Bharani, Brahmaji, Rahul Dev, Saptagiri, Thagubothu Ramesh, Nalini and other senior actors will be seen in this film.
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu , Art: Chinna, Music: Mickey J Meyer , Editing: Goutham Raju , Lyrics : Sri Mani, Shashi Jyothsna and Dr. Meegada Ramalinga Sharma, Executive Producer : Alla Rambabu, Co – Producer : Madhavi Vasipalli,Bogadhi Swech Reddy. Producer: Bogadhi Anji Reddy , Story – Screenplay -Direction: Rajasimha Tadinada.
