Sikh man, acquitted in 1985 Air India bombings, shot dead in Canada; police investigate motive
Toronto (PTI): The Canadian police have said they are still working to determine the motive behind the targeted killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, a 75-year-old Sikh man acquitted in the tragic 1985 Air India Kanishka terrorist bombing case.
Malik was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia on Thursday. Malik and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the two bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people, the CBC News said.
The report cited a witness who said he heard three shots and pulled Malik from his red Tesla bleeding from a neck wound.
Another witness from a nearby business identified that the victim of the shooting was Malik.
Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said a man shot at that location at around 9:30 am succumbed to his injuries at the scene. They say it appears to be a targeted shooting and are not releasing the victim's name.
The police said they located a suspect vehicle which was engulfed in fire, the report added.
Another report in ABC News said that while police had not initially released the victim's identity, it confirmed it after Malik's son, Jaspreet Malik, posted a statement on social media about his father's shooting.
The media will always refer to him as someone charged with the Air India bombing, Malik's son wrote on Facebook.
He said that his father had been wrongly charged in the case and the court concluded that "there was no evidence against him".
The media and RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] never seemed to accept the court's decision and I pray today's tragedy is not related, he said.
In a statement, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said: "We are aware of Mr Malik's background, though at this time we are still working to determine the motive. We can confirm that the shooting appears to be targeted and there is not believed to be any further risk to the public."
The 1985 Air India bombing is among the worst terrorist attacks in Canadian history and in the history of the airline.
On June 23, 1985, the Air India flight 182, carrying 329 people, including 268 Canadian citizens and 24 Indian citizens, flew from Toronto and stopped in Montreal from where it was en route to London and then onwards to its final destination Bombay.
The plane was flying 31,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean when a suitcase bomb exploded in the front cargo, killing all on board.
Another bomb was meant to be planted in an Air India flight scheduled to take off from Japan but it exploded at Tokyo's Narita airport killing two baggage handlers.
The CBC News report said that reaction to Malik's death was mixed. While Malik's friends said they lost a hero of the Sikh community, former British Columbia premier Ujjal Dosanjh, a former acquaintance of Malik's, said he was a controversial figure.
"One of the other complicating factors is he made a recent visit to India where he wrote a letter in support of [Prime Minister] Modi and his policies and I think that may have reverberated and had implications within the community," Dosanjh said in the report.
The report added that in recent years, Malik had served as chairman with Khalsa School and managed two of the private schools' campuses in Surrey and Vancouver. He was also president of the Vancouver-based Khalsa Credit Union (KCU), which has more than 16,000 members.
He is survived by his wife, five children, four daughters-in-law, and eight grandchildren.
Inderjit Singh Reyat was convicted on various charges and spent 30 years in prison for helping to make the bombs, and for lying during trials, including Malik's. He was released in 2016 after serving two-thirds of his perjury sentence.
Reyat was the only person convicted for the Kanishka bombing blamed on Khalistani extremists seeking revenge for the Indian Army's action at the Golden Temple to flush out militants in 1984.
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Karnataka Minister directs officials to expedite integration of 28 services in various depts
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Large and Medium Industries M B Patil on Thursday directed officials to expedite the integration of the remaining 28 services in various departments under the SWS.
The direction was issued at a review meeting on EoDB and Single Window Committees held at Vidhana Soudha, attended by senior officials from various departments.
In a statement, Patil said, "We face intense competition from neighbouring states. We have studied their policies and regulations and are determined to establish a system that is even more efficient and industry-friendly," he said.
Under the Single Window System, 115 services across 20 departments have already been integrated, the minister said, adding the remaining 28 services have been prioritised for time-bound implementation.
Patil said Revenue, Forest, Home, Environment, Primary Education, Fire Services and Energy departments are among the services.
According to the minister, the goal is to ensure that investors do not lose valuable time and are encouraged to invest in Karnataka.
He sought cooperation of all the government departments to make it happen.
Referring to emerging challenges, he said Karnataka has long been a frontrunner in the IT sector but the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced new uncertainties.
He stressed that all departments, including KIADB, must ensure swift approvals for industrial projects.
Patil underlined that entrepreneurs should not be subjected to "unnecessary delays," he said, adding that clearances for electricity connections, Fire Department NOCs and Pollution Control Board approvals must be issued promptly.
Detailing the reforms, the minister said the time limit for Fire Department NOCs has been reduced from 60 days to 21 days, while electricity connection approvals have been cut from 25 days to 10 days. Permission for lift and escalator operations has been brought down from 40 days to 20 days, and new water connection approvals from 42 days to 30 days, he said.
The Labour Department will now issue industrial licences and boiler registrations within 14 days instead of 30 days, he said, noting that necessary notifications have already been issued.
"These amendments will soon be placed before the Cabinet and formalised through legislation on a fast-track basis," Patil said.
He further stated that timelines at the State Pollution Control Board have been significantly reduced.
Change-of-land-use permission within Bengaluru city limits, which earlier took up to 120 days, will now be granted within 45 days.
With 32 data centres currently operating in the state, Patil underscored the importance of uninterrupted power supply and called for the development of dedicated data centre clusters with exclusive power lines.
A ministerial-level meeting will soon be convened to identify suitable locations and ensure essential infrastructure, including power connectivity, he said.
