ICCC Weekly Newsletter

Asha Bajaj

8 min readJan 14, 2022

ICCC Weekly Newsletter

14 JANUARY

Image: Sanjeev Malik

DID YOU KNOW?

India has two types of calendars — the solar calendar and the lunisolar calendar. Like the Roman (Julian) calendar, the Indian national calendar is a solar calendar with 365 days [with a slightly different way to account for the leap years]. Thus, the calendar starts every year on March 21/22, the Makara Sankranti [Pongal] falls every year on Jan 14/15, the Mesha Sankranti [Vishu] falls every year on April 14/15, and the Mithuna Sankranti [Raja] on June 14/15

Sankranthi (or rather Makar Sankranthi) as the names suggest is a movement of the Sun into the constellation of Makara (know as Capricorn in English). So, it is not related to the movement of the moon. It would have correlated to the dates on the Hindu calendar only if it was related to the movements of the moon. Pongal is a harvest festival, which again is related to the seasons that are dependant on the Sun rather than the movements of the moon.

By the way, there are many festivals that fall on similar dates on the English Calendar, like the festivals of Vishu, Baisakhi, and others fall around the same dates. Again, these are based on solar movements hence matching with English Calendar.

President’s View

RIPUDAMAN SINGH DHILLON

Hope springs eternal

The appointment of Cameron MacKay as Canada’s High Commissioner to India is a welcome announcement. Along with MacKay, new Consul Generals have been appointed in Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Bengaluru. Global Affairs Canada made the announcement on 22 December. A day later, Ministers Mary Ng and Piyush Goyal held talks to discuss bilateral trade ties.

Canada’s new thrust on the Indo-Pacific front has been gathering momentum, with overtures to South-East Asian countries, and especially Taiwan. Canada’s initiatives will have to necessarily involve India. The new appointments in the high commission in New Delhi and consulates in India will hopefully bring about a new thrust in restarting long-dormant Canada — India ties that everyone agrees has unrealized potential that has long been neglected by both countries.

Pertinently, it is necessary to engage the Indo-Canadian diaspora in this effort. The steadily growing diaspora is rapidly changing in complexion especially following the changes in the immigration regulations. Indians coming to Canada are qualitatively different from those that came five years ago. It is necessary to involve them, as well as those who have been here for long and have established themselves into the process of making Canada — India economic relations more meaningful.

Facing the Omicron variant — Support to small businesses

Chrystia Freeland

In recent weeks, most parts of Canada have announced new lockdowns or other public health restrictions. Many of these restrictions have an impact on people’s jobs and their businesses. I would like to reassure Canadians, by reminding them that the federal government has made sure that economic support is available to you if you need it.

Last week, applications opened for the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit. If you are a worker in a region that is locked down or subject to 50 percent capacity restrictions — and if you have lost 50 percent or more of your income as a direct result of those restrictions — you can be eligible to receive $300 a week. You can now apply online directly through the Canada Revenue Agency.

We also know that businesses, especially small businesses, need support.

That’s why we have in place the Local Lockdown Program, which will provide wage and rent subsidy support of up to 75 percent to employers who have had to reduce the capacity of their main business by 50 percent or more. And I will remind business owners that we have also temporarily lowered the revenue decline threshold from 40 percent to 25 percent.

There is also further rent support of an additional 25 percent that is available for businesses subject to a full lockdown.

Expanded eligibility for both the wage support and the rent support runs from December 19, 2021, through to February 12, 2022.

For businesses facing other pandemic-related losses, support is also available through the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program and the Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program.

Our government takes seriously our responsibility to be prudent managers of public finances and we expect eligible Canadian companies to respect this support and use it only when needed.

Read more: Support

Are you looking to hire highly-skilled, knowledgeable students?

Many Centennial College students are available year-round for Work Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunities, including co-op placements and field placements. Our students can help businesses with short-term staffing needs, small projects, peak period demands, and other recruitment needs.

Co-op Students

Centennial College offers over 50 co-op programs in the fields of Business, Engineering Technology and Applied Sciences, and Transportation.

The co-op program gives our students a chance to gain meaningful work experience while allowing them to fill short-term staffing needs and assess potential full-time employees.

Students are available full-time for 4-month assignments (8- and 12-month work terms may be arranged)
Organizations that offer paid co-op opportunities may be eligible for the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit (up to $3000 per student for each co-op work term)

If you are interested in hiring a co-op student, contact our staff by phone: 416–289–5209 or by email: cooped@centennialcollege.ca.

Field Placement Students

A large number of academic programs require students to complete a mandatory field placement. These placements are ideal for short-term recruitment needs. Field placements are unpaid and can range from a few days to several weeks, depending on the program. Placements are offered in a range of programs, such as Community and Health Studies; Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts; Communications, Media, Arts, and Design.

If you are interested in hiring a field placement student, please contact SOLV, our single point of contact for employers seeking to connect with business-enhancing opportunities and services across Centennial College. You can reach SOLV by phone: 416–289–5022 or by email: solv@centennialcollege.ca.

Virtual Employer Session for ICCC Members

For more information on how your business can benefit from our various Work Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunities, learn about available employer funding programs and discover the numerous ways you can work with Centennial College to attract qualified employees, attend our Virtual Employer Session:

Date / time & registration information to be announced soon

Cameron MacKay is Canada’s High Commissioner to India

Cameron Mackay, who was Canada’s ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, has been appointed as Canada’s High Commissioner to India, replacing Nadir Patel. Diedrah Kelly has replaced Annie Dubé as consul general in Mumbai, Patrick Hébert has replaced Mia Yen in Chandigarh, and Benoit Préfontaine has replaced Nicole Girard as consul general in Bengaluru.

Cameron MacKay

Trade Talk:

Ministers Mary Ng & Piyush Goyal

Mary Ng

Piyush Goyal

Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business, and Economic Development, spoke with Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles on 22 December 2021.

Minister Ng and Minister Goyal underscored Canada and India’s robust relationship based on the two countries’ long-standing friendship, which is strengthened by strong people-to-people ties and growing economic cooperation.

They welcomed a re-engagement on negotiations toward a Canada-India comprehensive economic partnership agreement and a Canada-India foreign investment promotion and protection agreement and committed to working closely together to reach agreements in the coming months.

Minister Ng underscored Canada’s long history of supplying high-quality pulses to India and reiterated the importance of further facilitating this trade.

Finally, Minister Ng and Minister Goyal reaffirmed their shared commitment to a successful 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, when it is rescheduled. The ministers agreed to continue the momentum of the WTO and support ambitious outcomes on key priorities, including on trade and health and fisheries subsidies. They also agreed to continue working together toward a strong, inclusive, and sustainable economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

ICCC is Partner Organization

at Panorama India’s Republic Day Celebrations