Montreal – Prime Minister Stephen Harper came within a stone's throw of a majority government Tuesday as Canadians re-elected a minority Conservative government.

Early returns showed Conservatives elected or leading in 143 ridings, which would be a gain of 16 seats. The opposition Liberals were elected or leading in 75 ridings.

The separatist Bloc Quebecois, which runs candidates only in the French-speaking province of Quebec, was leading in 49 ridings, and the socialist New Democratic Party was leading in 38 ridings.

Montreal - Canadian voters headed to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new Parliament in the third nationwide vote in just four years.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party was favoured to remain in power with a minority government, with one poll showing them leading with 34 per cent of the vote to 29 per cent for the opposition Liberals.

Harper had called for elections in hopes of securing a stable majority government, but support for the party has slipped in the intervening weeks.

Jalandhar, Oct 13 : Educational institutions in Punjab are in the process of becoming truly global by providing students the option of studying abroad.

Over 1,000 students of Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar have come together to interact with the Canadian university representatives that include Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning and Thompson Rivers University.

The delegates highlight differences in teaching methodology adopted by the Canadian education system.

Pakistan beat hosts Canada by 35 runs in their opening match at the Al Barakah Twenty20 Canada Cup tournament here.

Electing to bat first, Pakistan scored 137 for the loss of seven wickets in their quota of 20 overs. Opening left hand batsman Salman Butt scored an impressive 74 from 56 balls which included six boundaries and three huge sixes. From Canada, both Harvir Baidwan and Umar Bhatti took three wickets each. 

Montreal - Canadians are expected to elect another minority Conservative government as they head to national polls on Tuesday, the latest opinion polls show.

"We're not talking about a majority," Prime Minister Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, conceded during a last ditch campaign effort Saturday in southern Ontario.

"There's a million polls. Don't be fooled by any of them. This is a close election," Harper said at a rally in London, Ontario.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit on Wednesday announced that the invasive Group A streptococcus strain known as emm-59 has infected 75 people in Thunder Bay and killed 10 of them. Health authorities came to know about it in late February. But the general public was made aware about it on Wednesday. Dr. Dave Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health said that the strain, which first appeared on the British Columbia coast in 2006, could move into Quebec and the Maritimes in the coming fall and winter months.