Former President Jiang Zemin, who guided China's rise, dies at 96
Beijing (AP): Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who led his country out of isolation after the crushing of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square and supported economic reforms that led to a decade of explosive growth, has died, state TV said. He was 96.
A surprise choice to lead a divided Communist Party after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, Jiang saw China through history-making changes including a revival of market-oriented reforms, the return of Hong Kong from British rule in 1997 and Beijing's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Even as China opened to the outside, Jiang's government stamped out dissent at home. It jailed human rights, labour and pro-democracy activists and banned the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which it viewed as a threat to the Communist Party's monopoly on power.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Canada Indian shooting: Parents had wanted victim to return home
Bengaluru (PTI): The parents of an Indian IT professional, who was shot dead in Canada, had been asking their son to return home for some time but he did not pay heed.
Parents of Chandan Kumar, who was shot dead in Toronto, are inconsolable. They suspect that his efforts to form a Kannada association there could be a reason behind his killing.
The deceased hailed from Thyamagondlu in Nelamangala on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
The entire locality where Kumar lived has plunged into grief after coming to know of his fate.
"We had never expected this, not even in our dreams. We had been telling him to come back as it has been six to seven years since he left for Canada but he did not listen to us," his father Nanda Kumar told a vernacular news channel.
Nanda Kumar appealed to the Government of India to help him bring his son's body to the country so that his cremation could be performed here.
The victim's mother claimed Chandan Kumar had formed a Kannada association in Toronto, which could be the reason behind his killing.
The 37-year-old Indian-Canadian died after being shot by unidentified men in the parking lot of a busy shopping centre in Toronto, Canada, police said.
In a statement on Sunday, the Toronto Police Service identified the victim as Chandan Kumar Raja Nandakumar of Brampton.
The victim succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, they said. Officers believe it was a "targeted" incident.
