Canada revokes Suu Kyi's honorary citizenship
Ottawa, Oct 3 : Canada has formally stripped Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship over her inaction on military violence against the countrys Rohingya Muslims.
Canadian Senators on Tuesday unanimously passed a measure revoking her citizenship and declaring the treatment of Rohingyas by Myanmar's government to be a genocide. The same actions were unanimously approved last week by the House of Commons, CBC News reported.
The honour was bestowed on Suu Kyi in 2007 for her pro-democracy campaign in Myanmar, where she spent 15 years under house arrest under the former military government. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991
Now, she has become the first person to have her honorary Canadian citizenship revoked.
The votes were prompted in part by a UN investigation that in August called for six top generals in Myanmar to be tried on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. It also found that Suu Kyi had failed in her duty to protect her own citizens.
More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017, when Myanmar's Buddhist-majority security forces began a violent campaign in Rakhine state that included executions, gang rape and the burning of hundreds of villages. About 10,000 people have been killed, the UN said.
The UN fact-finding mission condemned Suu Kyi for failing to use her power or moral authority to stem or prevent the genocide and fulfil her responsibility to protect the civilian population.
Instead, civilian authorities spread false narratives, allowed hate speech to flourish and blocked independent investigations, the report said.
"Stripping her of her honorary citizenship may not make a tangible difference to her, but it sends an important symbolic message," said Senator Ratna Omidvar, who introduced the motion in the Canadian chamber.
"She has been complicit in stripping the citizenship and the security of thousands of Rohingya, which has led to their flight, their murder, their rapes and their current deplorable situation."
Omidvar also cited the imprisonment of two Reuters journalists who were reporting on the atrocities. Suu Kyi has defended the judge's verdict and sentence in that case.
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KERC increases electricity tariffs for commercial, industrial consumers
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission has reduced electricity tariffs for agricultural pump sets for 2025–26 from the earlier uniform rate of Rs 8.30 per unit to a range of Rs 6.57 to Rs 7.79 per unit across the state.
However, the Commission has increased tariffs for select commercial and industrial consumers by 10 paise to a maximum of 95 paise per unit.
As per the Commission’s order, the revised tariffs are as follows: LT-3a (low-tension commercial) consumers will pay a fixed charge of Rs 235 per kW and an energy charge of Rs 7.10 per unit, while LT-5 (industrial) consumers will be charged Rs 165 per HP as fixed charges and Rs 5.20 per unit as energy charges.
In the high-tension segment, HT-2a (industrial) consumers will pay a demand charge of Rs 365 per kVA and an energy charge of Rs 6.70 per unit, while HT-2b (commercial) consumers will pay Rs 390 per kVA as demand charges and Rs 6.90 per unit as energy charges.
The revised tariffs were notified in an order issued on March 3 after the Commission allowed a review petition filed by five state-run electricity supply companies—Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company, Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation, Hubli Electricity Supply Company and Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company.
The order, however, does not specify the date from which the revised tariffs will come into effect.
In its earlier tariff order dated March 27, 2025, the Commission had fixed the LT-4a tariff uniformly at Rs 8.30 per unit across all ESCOMs.
Consumers in the LT-4a category — primarily agricultural pump set users — are provided free power supply, with the state government reimbursing the cost through subsidies.
According to the order, the petitioners informed the Commission that despite the Government of Karnataka allocating Rs 16,021 crore towards subsidies for free power supply to LT-4a consumers, the ESCOMs would not be able to fully recover the cost of electricity supplied under the earlier tariff structure.
The Commission noted that this would leave distribution companies with no option but to demand payment of the balance amount from farmers, leading to “unexpected and undue hardship” for the agricultural community, which it described as the backbone of the state’s agricultural production.
The reduction in the LT-4a tariff would, however, result in a revenue shortfall of Rs 2,362.47 crore compared to the tariffs considered in the order under review.
Observing that it was necessary to safeguard farmers’ interests while ensuring that ESCOMs reasonably recover costs, the Commission said the review petition could be allowed under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
The petitioners informed the Commission that the Government of Karnataka has allocated an additional Rs 2,362.47 crore, supplementing the existing budgetary provision of Rs 16,021 crore, recognising that the entire financial burden should not be passed on to consumers and must be partially borne by the government.
The petitioners further stated that they will mobilise Rs 1,107.60 crore through miscellaneous revenue.
“The balance shortfall to be met by increasing tariffs for industrial and commercial consumers, amounting to Rs 1,254.88 crore, appears reasonable and justifiable,” the Commission added.
