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Ottawa, Canada:

In his victory speech after winning a stupendous electoral battle, where his Liberal Party came from behind to win the parliamentary election in Canada for a third consecutive time, Mark Carney, set to continue as prime minister, flayed US President Donald Trump.

The era of integration between Canada and the United States of America is over, Mr Carney said, as supporters cheered in encouragement of their new prime minister. “Our old relationship with the United States, which had brought prosperity to Canada, is over,” he added, cautioning Washington and President Trump that Canada has many other options and will explore it, cutting down dependency on America drastically.

A BLOW FROM TRUMP, A “BETRAYAL” FROM AMERICA

President Trump, who was the primary reason why snap polls were called by its northern neighbour, has been in relentless pursuit to make Canada the “51st state of the United States of America”. So determined was he, that he repeatedly disregarded Canada’s sovereignty and disrespected its prime minister by addressing him as “Governor” on several occasions.

The US President, who dreams of annexing Canada, has also suggested “buying” the country, just like he wants to buy Greenland. Ottawa initially treated these remarks as a joke in the passing, but when it soured upon repeated utterances, it hit back by sending a reverse proposal to “buy” the states of California, Oregon, Washington, and Minnesota.

As a result, a furious Donald Trump went ahead and imposed punitive taxes and tariffs on Canadian goods in order to cripple the nation economically and squeeze Canadians whose livelihoods entirely depended on trade with its southern neighbour. This put Canada under immense pressure to either comply or perish.

CANADA PUNCHES BACK

Canadians, outraged by the betrayal of their closest ally, are determined to make Canada stronger. And the first step in this direction was to elect a government with a decisive mandate in order not just to stand up to Trump, but successfully push back any future attempts he makes.

Resonating with this sentiment in his victory speech, Mr Carney, who returns as prime minister for a second time after his brief first stint, said, “Throughout our history there have been turning points. Turning points where the world’s fortunes were in the balance. That was the case at the end of the second world war, just as it was at the end of the cold war. And in each of those times, Canada chose to step up – to assert ourselves as a free, sovereign, and ambitious nation. To lead the path of democracy and freedom. And because we are Canadian, to do so with compassion and generosity.”

Mr Carney, who is inches away from a clear majority as votes continue to be counted, closed the door on Donald Trump’s motives and plans when he addressed the nation, saying, “We are once again on one of those hinge moments of history. Our old relationship with the United States – a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over. The system of open global trade, anchored by the United States, a system that Canada relied on since the second world war, a system that has helped deliver prosperity for our country for decades, is over.”

LIVE: Thank you, Canada • EN DIRECT : Merci Canada https://t.co/E4uJHXmF1c

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 29, 2025

CANADA ‘MOVES ON’

Disheartened at seeing the decades-old ties with the United States now shattered, Prime Minister Carney told fellow Canadians that “These are tragedies, but it is also our reality. We are over the shock of the American betrayal. We are over. But we should never, ever forget the lessons. We’re going to take this forward and we have to look out for ourselves, but above all, we must take care of each other.”

Mr Carney, who is a PhD in Economics with an education from Harvard and Oxford, has assured Canadians that he will send Canada’s message of rejection to Washington loud and clear. “When I sit down with President Trump, it will be to discuss the future economic and security relationship between two sovereign nations. And it will be with our full knowledge, that we have many, many other options that just the United States to bring prosperity for all Canadians,” he said.
 

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez on massive blackout across Europe

A massive power outage swept across the Iberian peninsula of Europe on Monday, paralysing cities, halting trains, grounding flights and cutting mobile signals. The massive blackout affected millions across countries including France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it “a complete collapse of the system” — something the country has “never” experienced before.
Sánchez called it one of the worst power collapses in European history, stating in a national address, “We have never had a complete collapse of the system.”
The power grid in Spain lost 15 gigawatts — a staggering 60% of national demand — in just five seconds on Monday evening, according to the Prime Minister.
By 7 am on Tuesday, more than 99% of energy demand had been restored in Spain, Red Eléctrica, the country’s electricity operator, confirmed. Portugal’s grid operator REN also announced that power had been fully restored to all 6.4 million customers, with all 89 substations back online since late Monday.
Spain’s weather agency AEMET said there were no strange meteorological conditions or temperature fluctuations that could have led to the blackout. Portugal’s National Cybersecurity Center dismissed fears of a cyber attack, and European Council President Antonio Costa confirmed there were “no indications of any cyber attack.” Sabotage has also been ruled out by Teresa Ribera, an executive vice president of the European Commission, who called the event “one of the most serious episodes recorded in Europe in recent times.”
Trains, flights, and commuters caught off guard
The blackout had a ripple effect on transport across Spain. In Madrid’s Atocha station and Barcelona’s Sants station, hundreds of stranded passengers waited overnight after train services were cancelled. The Red Cross provided blankets to travellers who spent the night in terminals.
Emergency services in Spain said that around 35,000 passengers had to be rescued from stuck trains and underground metros on Monday. Sports centres, airports, and stations became makeshift shelters.
The blackout also disrupted major events, including the Madrid Open tennis tournament, which remained affected on Tuesday after being cancelled the day before. Organisers postponed the day’s opening due to ongoing power issues.
By late Tuesday morning, the Madrid metro system was back to normal. In Barcelona, while metro services resumed, commuter trains remained suspended due to “electrical instability,” transport firm Rodalies Catalunya said.

New Delhi:

The Delhi cabinet on Wednesday cleared a legislation to regulate school fees amid complaints of “arbitrary” hikes. 

The Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees 2025 Bill was approved during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. 

“…I feel overjoyed to tell you that the Delhi government has taken a bold and a historic step, and the draft Bill has been passed by the Cabinet today,” Chief Minister Rekha Gupta told the media, referring to the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees 2025 Bill. 

“A complete guideline, procedure for fees will be decided for all 1,677 schools in Delhi, whether they are aided, non-aided or private. For the first time in history, such a Bill is being drafted by the government,” she added.  

She said the issue of “arbitrary” school fee hike was discussed widely in recent days and there was “panic” among the parents due to activities of some schools and complaints regarding “harassment” of students in the name of fee hike. “The previous governments in Delhi made no provision to prevent fee hikes. There was no guideline to help the government prevent fee hikes by private schools,” she said.

Education Minister Ashish Sood, who was also present for the presser, said three committees will be formed to implement the new rules. The panels will decide on fees for three years, based on the school infrastructure, he said. 

School teachers and parents will also be involved in the decision-making process, Mr Sood said. “Three teachers and five parents will be part of the process. These members will be selected through a draw and will decide on the fee for three years,” he told NDTV later.

The minister also said that a 10-member committee will be formed at the district level. It will include two women and one from either the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe category.

There have been long-standing complaints by parents and guardians against “irregular and exorbitant” fee hikes by private unaided schools in the national capital. The parents have also alleged coercive practices by schools, including denial of admit cards for board examinations and threats to strike off names of students over non-payment of what they describe as unauthorised fees. They also alleged that students faced mental harassment at schools if the fee payment was delayed. 

The issue took a political turn after Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Atishi took a swipe at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and challenged Ms Gupta to immediately stop fee hikes in all private schools.

On April 15, Ms Gupta said notices were issued to schools over complaints of “arbitrary fee hikes” and asserted that her government was committed to transparency and protection of children’s right to education. 

A day later, the Delhi government inspected 600 private schools following complaints of unregulated fee hikes. According to the Directorate of Education (DoE), district-level committees were formed to look into the complaints. The committees are headed by sub-divisional magistrates and include education department officials, accounts officers, and principals of government schools.

The DoE said that schools found guilty of arbitrary fee hike for profiteering were being served showcause notices under Section 24(3) of the Delhi School Education Act and Rules (DSEAR), 1973. 

Inspections also revealed that several schools failed to meet their statutory obligations regarding the submission of fee statements and audited financial reports, as mandated under Section 17(3) and Section 180(3) of DSEAR.

On April 16, the Delhi High Court pulled up Delhi Public School in Dwarka for treating students with “indignity” over a fee dispute by confining them to a library and not allowing them to attend classes or interact with their peers.

Justice Sachin Datta said the school, which was treating students like “chattel”, deserved to be shut down.

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Tuesday urged Kashmiris to disassociate themselves from terrorism not just in principle, but in practice.
Addressing a press conference, RSS leader Indresh Kumar said the people of Jammu and Kashmir must unite under a common national identity.
“The time has come for Jammu and Kashmir to reject terrorism and truly disassociate from itself terrorism, not just in theory but in practice, to find a path towards a solution,” Kumar said.
“A voice should rise from Jammu and Kashmir saying that we are Indians first, then Kashmiris, Dogris, or Punjabis. We should respond with this voice loud and clear,” he added.
Indresh Kumar also criticised the Congress party over its “Gayab” (missing) jibe, which accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not taking responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
“Congress leaders can only digest their food when they abuse the Prime Minister. If the army is going to fight, they will oppose the Army commander. They will not do any good work for society but will defame those who do,” he said.
“This has become their political method, which is very condemnable,” the RSS functionary added.
This statement follows after Congress shared a poster featuring the word “Gayab” (missing) placed over an image of a kurta, pyjama, and black footwear. The outfit appears to be worn by someone, but the figure has no visible face.
Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Prime Minister of putting party and politics above the country by absenting himself from the all-party meeting convened to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack, choosing instead to attend an election rally in Bihar.

Cracking down on delays in the construction and handover of residences, the Supreme Court has ordered a CBI probe into an “unholy nexus” between builders and banks in projects in Delhi, the National Capital Region (NCR), Mumbai, Chandigarh, Mohali and Kolkata. 

During a hearing on Tuesday, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, directed the CBI to register seven preliminary enquiries (PE) and set up a special investigation team (SIT). The directors general of police (DGPs), who are the top-ranking police officers, of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have also been asked to provide police officers to the CBI to aid in the investigation. 

One of the companies against which a PE will be registered is Supertech. The Supreme Court, which will monitor the case and hear it every month, has ordered a preliminary investigation into projects located in Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway, Gurugram and Ghaziabad in Delhi-NCR. 

An investigation will also be carried out on other builders who have projects in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Mohali and Kolkata, and the CBI has been asked to submit an interim status report. 

EMIs Deducted

The Supreme Court noted that there are banks/non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) on the one hand and builders on the other and there is a “nexus” between them. Homebuyers’ EMIs, it observed, are being deducted on schedule without possession being provided. 

The bench noted Supertech has more than 21 projects in six cities, involving 19 financial institutions. A report by the amicus curiae, who is assisting the court in the case, said the “nexus” between Supertech and eight banks should be investigated on a priority basis and three others could be done at a later date. 

Dictating its order, the court said the cases involve over 1,200 houses and the cluster of over 170 petitions has raised a very important issue – that there is a failure by authorities to discharge their functions

Builders, it noted, advertised schemes assuring that homebuyers would be given residences by a specified date and they began paying EMIs/pre-EMIs accordingly. Loans were mostly issued through tripartite agreements between banks, homebuyers and builders/developers. 

While these projects were launched between 2013 and 2015, most builders/developers started defaulting in 2018-19. Banks started demanding payments from homebuyers despite the fact that the units were incomplete, and coercive action was taken, the bench noted. 

The BJP and the Congress resumed normal service Tuesday – the ‘truce’ after last week’s terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam forgotten – with the latter accusing its rival of “taking orders from Pakistan” after the former seemed to question Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

The BJP’s attack on the Congress followed an X post late Monday – a photo (apparently) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a yellow kurta, white pyjama, and black shows, but with the PM edited out. Accompanying the photo was a short message – ‘In times of need, missing’.

The Congress’ post was in reference to its allegations the Prime Minister has been ‘missing in action’ as the Pahalgam crisis erupted and unfolded. The Congress has been particularly critical of the PM not attending the all-party meet government called last week to discuss the attack.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said he raised the question of the absent PM.

“The first question I raised… when the government convenes a meeting, the Prime Minister should be present. Since he was not present, we said it was not right,” he told reporters after the meet.

The PM, instead, was at a government event in poll-bound Bihar, from where he fired a warning – in English, to maximise coverage – to terrorists and handlers involved in the Pahalgam attack.

READ | “Am Telling The World…”: For Warning On Terror, PM’s Switch To English

The BJP fired a multi-barrel response to the Congress’ photo, accusing the party of colluding with Pakistan and of underhanded tactics ordered by senior leader Rahul Gandhi.

Former Union Minister Anurag Thakur recalled Mr Modi’s strong message – ‘if you (Pak) spill one drop of our blood, we won’t let a single drop of water (from the Indus River) flow’ – and pointed to strict measures by the Indian government, such as suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.

“But I don’t understand this compulsion of the Congress and other opposition parties of speaking Pakistan’s language and supporting Pakistan. Does their blood not boil when Indians are killed… do they not feel like taking revenge?”

BJP leader Amit Malviya accused the Congress of political skullduggery, calling the X post “a dog whistle aimed at its Muslim vote bank and a veiled incitement against the Prime Minister”.

The Congress leaves little doubt with its use of “Sar Tan Se Juda” imagery. This is not merely a political statement; it is a dog whistle aimed at its Muslim vote bank and a veiled incitement against the Prime Minister. It is not the first time the Congress has resorted to such… https://t.co/WEgblPq2FX

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 29, 2025

“It is not the first time the Congress has resorted to such tactics,” Mr Malviya raged, also accusing Rahul Gandhi of having “instigated and justified violence” towards the PM.

Not to be outdone, national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused the Congress of “taking orders from Pakistan”, claiming a Pakistani politician had quoted the opposition party’s post.

“It shows Pakistan is doing batting for Congress… Congress is doing bowling for Pakistan.”

And yet another BJP leader, Shehzad Poonawalla, said, the Congress’ post proved it had become what he artfully called ‘Pakistan Prasth Party’, play on the acronym of that country’s Pakistan People’s Party, whose member Fawad Chaudhury had reshared the Congress’ X post.

One of the BJP’s allies, LJP leader Chirag Paswan also came out to bat, pointing to the speech by J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, an on-paper ally of the Congress, as “the need of the hour”.

The Congress’ ‘gayab‘ attack seems to signal the end of any stay, which is significant given the raft of high-stakes Assembly elections – Bihar this year and Bengal and Tamil Nadu in 2026 – approaching.

READ | “Not Time For Partisan Politics”: Congress’ Message After J&K Attack

It certainly contradicts the party’s call for unity from last week; Mr Kharge had then said, “This is not the time for partisan politics. It is a moment for collective resolve to ensure justice…”

Pahalgam Terror Attack

Twenty-six people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

The Resistance Front, an offshoot of banned, Pak-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility, but the five terrorists who carried out the attack remain at large.

A massive manhunt is underway to track them down.

READ | Identify All Pakistanis In India, Send Them Back: Amit Shah To CMs

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan have traded diplomatic restrictions, including suspension of visas and bilateral deals like the Simla Agreement and the Indus Waters Treaty, in the first round of responses.

The Prime Minister, who was in Saudi Arabia at the time of the attack, and rushed back 24 hours later, his plane avoiding Pak airspace, has said terror’s evil agenda won’t be allowed to win.

With input from agencies

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