www.theasianstar.com Vol 17 - Issue 14
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Tel:604-591-5423
British Columbia considers halt to exclusive access for condo presales Forcing developers to make preconstruction condo units available to all potential buyers at the same time and the same price is something B.C.’s Finance Minister says she is open to trying in order to help make real estate more affordable in and around Vancouver. It’s part of a broader promise by the B.C. government to address soaring real estate prices in the Vancouver area. “We are open to looking at options that are necessary to make our housing market more affordable. We are not closing any door,� Carole James said in an interview. “If there are further steps we need to take we will be moving on them because this is a critical situation for people who live
Mahindra to acquire up to 10% stake in Canada’s Resson Aerospace Corp Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) has signed a share subscription agreement to acquire up to 10 percent share capital of Canada’s IT firm Resson Aerospace Corporation for up to CAD 6.63 million to be paid in cash. “The company has today signed a share subscription agreement for subscribing up to 8,00,402 Class C preferred shares of Resson Aerospace Corporation, Canada, which would result in the company holding up to 10 per cent of the share capital of Resson on a fully diluted basis,� M&M said in a regulatory filing. Continued on page 6
Single-family home sales weakest in decades Vancouver saw its weakest April for singlefamily home sales in nearly 30 years last month, data shows. The numbers are in line with the downward trend in detached home sales the city has seen all year — which experts say doesn’t bode well for the rest of the calendar year, given the fact that the spring months are usually the busiest time for sellers. On Wednesday, The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said only 171 detached homes in the city were sold Continued on page 7
and work in our province.� Ms. James’s reaction comes after a Globe and Mail investigation found select realtors and speculators who buy multiple condos have preferential first access to the most sought-after units in Vancouver, through private deals with developers. The probe also discovered a significant number of industry insiders − particularly realtors − are buying then flipping condos themselves, for sixfigure profit, further squeezing
tight supply and driving up prices for ordinary buyers. The B.C. Real Estate Association, a trade group for roughly 23,000 agents in the province, issued a statement on Monday saying it supports efforts to track presale information, increase transparency and enforce higher penalties against unethical realtors. The association, which guards
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NDP MLAs share Khalistani stage Four Surrey New Democratic Party MLAs mounted a stage that featured a banner proclaiming Khalistan Zindabaad, or “Long Live Khalistan,� in big orange letters behind them during Surrey’s Vaisakhi celebration in Newton this past Saturday. The slogan is rooted in a Sikh separatist movement to create a new country called Khalistan in northern India. Liberal MLAs, on the other hand, said they chose not to go on the stage, which was at 128th Street and 76th Avenue, because of the controversial
banner. “We were there with (Liberal leader) Andrew Wilkinson at that very stage. As soon as we saw that banner in behind, we told the organizers we’re not going on the stage, because we’re not going to get our pictures taken with that behind us,� Marvin Hunt, Liberal MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale, said. “We have no problem being part of the Vaisakhi and the celebrations of Vaisakhi in Surrey, but we’re certainly not going to get into that political turmoil that is India.�
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Abhimanyu Mishra Youngest US Chess Master Ever Abhimanyu “Abhi� Mishra (pictured) made history this week, becoming the youngest US Chess master ever. And then he ate ice cream. Mishra broke the magic 2200 barrier at 9 years, 2 months and 17 days, besting the previous record held by Liran Zhou of 9 years, 3 months and 22 days. Abhi clinched the honor on April 22, at the South Jersey Chess Club Action Quad in Marlton, NJ. Afterwards, he celebrated at Cold Stone Creamery, where he ordered the “Birthday Cake Remix� and “Our Strawberry Blonde�. Mishra told US Chess that
his favorite game on his final stretch to the NM title was in a quad a week prior, also in New Jersey. Mishra faced World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana in a 2016 simul, as described in the New Yorker: “Among the very last players to be eliminated—and the only one to survive beyond his bedtime— was Abhimanyu Mishra, six years old, who had been taking swigs from a Lightning McQueen water bottle.� With Continued on page 7
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