The Asian Star February 9 2019

www.theasianstar.com

Vol 18 - Issue 2

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Icy winds & snow in forecast for Metro Vancouver It’s shaping up to be one nasty day for weather on Friday. Environment Canada has issued a wind warning for the eastern parts of Metro Vancouver along with the Fraser Valley, Greater Victoria, Howe Sound and Whistler areas. That’s on top of light snow that was already in the forecast, though late Thursday Global BC Meteorologist said the likelihood of a serious snow event was declining.

Gordon says snow is expected to begin falling early Friday, meaning commuters should be prepared for the conditions — including having winter tires equipped. “Our snow event for the Lower Mainland is becoming less likely. It is turning out to be more of a wind event,� said Gordon. “For the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast we could see anywhere from zero to five cenitmetres.

That’s not a major snow event. We will see it through the day, on and off, depending on your location.� The majority of this snow is forecast to fall Friday morning but there is chance of flurries later Friday into Saturday morning.

Strong winds expected for Fridayand through Saturday.

Police to act soon on BC legislature scandal The next major development in the legislature spending scandal will probably come from police, and it will be worse than the report on expense allegations released last month, BC Speaker Darryl Plecas says. In a wide-ranging interview this week, Plecas was cautious, saying only that the public should hear more from the RCMP, likely by March. “We have a police investigation going on, which is going to be going on for some time and I think is much broader than people

think. People might think, ‘Oh gee, all they care about here is travel expenses.’ But nothing could be further from the truth,� Plecas said. “I can’t tell you how difficult this exercise has been, which will become more apparent in the coming weeks.�

He wouldn’t reveal what police may or may not say, for fear of impeding the Continued on page 6

British NRI billionaire buys six new Rolls-Royces to match turban collection

Most of us are just happy to own a pair of sneakers that nicely match a t-shirt or belt, but one British man has taken his sartorial pairings next-level by purchasing six new Rolls-Royces to match his turbans.

Scheer says Trudeau’s ‘all are welcome’ immigration system damages its integrity Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says the prime minister damaged the integrity of Canada’s immigration system when he tweeted two years ago that Canadians will welcome all those fleeing persecution, terror and war. “In terms of illegal immigration, we have seen this problem grow for the past few years. We all remember Justin Trudeau’s famous tweet where he couldn’t resist jumping in on

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Twitter and tweeting out all are welcome,� Scheer said Friday at a town hall in suburban Vancouver held by the Surrey Board of Trade. “Well, people have taken him up on his word. The problem is that that damages the integrity of our immigration system and people who are trying to come to Canada the right way are now having to wait longer,� he said to applause from Continued on page 6

Billionaire Reuben Singh is without a doubt what is popularly known as a ‘baller’. He’s the entrepreneur behind alldayPA and Isher Capital, two U.K. business that Continued on page 7

Vancouver home sales fall nearly 40 per cent in January as prices slump Vancouver’s once red-hot housing market continued to cool last month as the number of home sales fell to the lowest level seen in January in 10 years. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says 1,103 homes were sold in Metro Vancouver last month, down 39.3 per cent from the same month a year earlier.

Month-over-month, January home sales were up 2.9 per cent versus December 2018. A real estate sign is pictured in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Vancouver’s once redhot housing market continued to cool last month as the number of home sales fell to the lowest level seen in January in 10 years.

The board says last month’s home sales were 36.3-per-cent Continued on page 7

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Billionaire tech entrepreneur and HCL founder Shiv Nadar advises Tamil students to learn Hindi Billionaire Tech Entrepreneur and philanthropist Shiv Nadar advised the students of Tamil Nadu to learn Hindi saying that it will be immensely useful to them in the future and stand them in good stead in their professional career, The Hindu reported.

Shiv Nadar, Founder and Chairman of HCL, was addressing the students of St Joseph’s College Higher Secondary School at Tiruchirappalli on Monday (4 February) as part of the 175th anniversary celebrations of the institution.

He is an alumnus of the school. He subsequently graduated from American College, Madurai and later went on to earn a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from PSG college of Technology, Coimbatore.

Acknowledging that his view may be a controversial (Tamil Nadu that often witnessed agitation against Hindi), Nadar

sought to remind the students that India was a large country and significant section of the population in the country understood the language.

He added that, “Hindi language is spoken not just in Indian states. It is understood by people in different countries as Indians are everywhere. This would help you when you go to other countries.”

He also underscored that knowledge of Hindi that he learnt at school enabled his competitive presence in the IT field beyond Tamil Nadu.

Nadar also lavished praise on the school, where he studied for four years, for supporting people from different faiths.

Female pedestrian dies in Friday morning crash in Surrey A woman died after she was struck by a vehicle in Surrey on Friday morning at King George Boulevard & 68th Avenue.

Surrey RCMP say they were called out for a crash involving a pedestrian shortly after 7am in 6800-block of King George Boulevard.

The woman was transported to hospital where she died from her injuries. RCMP say the male driver of the vehicle remained on scene and is cooperating with police.

The cause of the collision is unknown at this time. There were road closures in the area as the investigation continued. King

George Boulevard northbound from 67th Avenue and southbound from 70th Avenue was closed to the traffic. As well, on 68th Avenue, traffic westbound from 137th Street and eastbound from 135th Street was closed.

Anyone with more information, witnessed the collision or has dash cam footage is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502. Those who wish to make an anonymous report can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or http://www.solvecrime.ca.

Nadar credited spirit of competition and self-confidence that he imbibed at the school in helping him build HCL as a tech powerhouse that currently employs 1.29 lakh employees belonging to 75 different nationalities, with geographic presence in at least 55 countries and clocking an annual turnover of Rs 54,000 crore. Nadar has never failed to acknowledge that his meteoric success story was thanks to the education and scholarships that he received during his early years. He has consistently advocated that access to quality education is the most potent tool of transformation.

In 1994, he established the philanthropic - Shiv Nadar Foundation that has so far established six institutions covering the entire spectrum of education. As of 2018, Nadar has reportedly invested close to $800 million through the Foundation, impacting over 25,000 students directly. A nostalgic Nadar recalled the discipline enforced by Rev Fr Ehrhart, Rev Fr Marudanayagam and other priests in the school campus.

Nadar thanked his old friends, who had turned up for the function and recalled that his friendships in the campus transcended barriers of religion and caste.

He lauded the school, where he studied for four years, for supporting people from different faiths.

Nadar was bestowed with the Global educationist Award from the school during the occasion. Tamil Nadu, Tamil, Hindi, Shiv Nadar, HCL, Tiruchirappalli, St Joseph’s College Higher Secondary School,

Delta police arreste two people, drugs & weapons found from highrise building Delta police have arrested two people and seized weapons and drugs from a North Delta highrise following complaints of increased crime in the area. According to a press release issued by the Delta Police Department, a number of complaints of property and drugrelated crime brought forward to staff at the North Delta community police station led to an investigation by the Delta Police Department’s patrol support team, a group of plain-clothes and uniform officers with time to conduct more in-depth investigations. Acting on information received from the public and observations made by the investigating officers, the team executed a search warrant on a unit in Delta Rise, located at 11967 80th Ave., on Jan. 31. Delta

Rise is across the street from the North Delta community police office. “A man and woman were arrested without incident at the Delta Rise that morning. Police also seized a vehicle, and recovered drugs, weapons, cash, stolen identity documents and stolen property from several thefts in the surrounding area,” DPD public affairs manager Cris Leykauf said in a press release. The weapons seized include pepper spray, knives, rifle parts and ammunition Police have forwarded a number of suggested charges to Crown counsel, and inn the meantime officers have been actively contacting the owners of the items recovered and returning them.

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Vol 18 - Issue 2

Saturday, February 9, 2019

BC gov’t seeks to seize two properties allegedly linked to immigration scam B.C. government is going to court in a bid to seize two properties it alleges are linked to a man’s conviction in a massive immigration fraud. In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the provincial director of civil forfeiture claims that the two Richmond properties now owned by Xun (Sunny) Wang’s wife were used to facilitate the crimes and should be forfeited. Wang, an unlicensed immigration adviser, used several companies to falsify documents to show that his clients were and had been living in Canada when, in fact, they were living in China.

The sophisticated scheme involved passport frauds, address frauds, employment frauds, false documents and the coaching of clients to mislead immigration officials.

The fraud spanned nearly eight years and saw hundreds

of immigrants obtain their Canadian citizenship or permanent residency with the clients paying more than $10 million for services. Wang pleaded guilty to offences under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Criminal Code and the Income Tax Act. A judge concluded that Wang was the “mastermind” behind the scheme and had not reported any of his income during the time in question.

In November 2015, Wang received a seven-year jail term and a fine of more than $900,000. He was released on parole last year. The lawsuit says that in August 2003, Wang, who was 46 years old at the time of sentencing and had come to Canada in 1997 before becoming a citizen in 2000, and his wife Jin Li had purchased a property on No. 4 Road in Richmond.

The high price of Chinese money laundering in Canada Arthur Cockfield is professor at Queen’s University faculty of law and a frequent contributor to the Macdonald-Laurier Institute Canada-China political relations continue their downward spiral following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, with ongoing retaliatory actions and threats by the Chinese government. As a result, Canadians are increasingly asking themselves what sort of government they are dealing with. A glimpse into Chinese money laundering helps us understand the struggles within an

authoritarian state awash with cash, and how it dumps some of its problems on countries like Canada. International money laundering, which is a criminal offence in Canada and China, occurs when individuals “clean up” or launder proceeds from crime by investing in foreign assets so that the dirty monies enter the conventional financial system.

More broadly, international money laundering also takes place when a person transfers legally earned money across a border without disclosure to their home government. What do we know about Chinese money laundering?

Continued on page 6

Trudeau denies news report that his office pressed former justice minister to drop SNC-Lavalin charges Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a report by the Globe and Mail that his office tried to get the former justice minister to prevent a trial of SNC-Lavalin is “false.” But he refused to give clear answers when pressed by reporters on whether he or his office tried to “influence” the prosecution of the case more broadly.

“The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false,” Trudeau told reporters when asked about the allegations.

“Neither the current nor the previous attorney general was ever directed by me nor anyone in my office to take a decision in this matter.” Reporters noted that the questions raised in the article are not only about “directing” action.

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4

OPINION

By Premier John Horgan

O

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Strengthening the relationship between B.C. and Washington state, to seize opportunities and make life better for people

ver the past year and half, I’ve been working collaboratively with Washington state Governor Jay Inslee to strengthen the relationship between Washington state and B.C. and seize opportunities in the Pacific Northwest. On Thursday in Seattle, I announced that B.C. is backing the next phase of a potential ultra-highspeed corridor service, linking British Columbia, Washington state and Oregon.

There is enormous untapped potential for growth in our region. We’re working together to deepen ties, deliver strong, sustainable economic development, and create good jobs for people on both sides of the border.

Improving transportation connectivity

is a critically important part of the path forward. In March 2018, B.C. contributed $300,000 for a business case analysis for a new ultra highspeed corridor.

On December 10, 2018, Governor Inslee announced that he is including USD $3.25 million in his budget for the development of a new ultra high-speed corridor authority for Washington, British Columbia and Oregon as part of his broader clean energy strategy. B.C. has now committed to contributing an additional $300,000 for the proposed next

phase of the project that will explore models for a multijurisdictional authority to lead a community engagement process and preliminary environmental review.

Our governments have been working jointly to grow the innovation and tech economy, tackle climate change, protect the environment, and promote mutually beneficial trade and improve transportation connectivity.

Collaboration on the corridor study is another step towards realizing these shared goals.

Both of our governments also introduced innovative climate action plans in December of 2018.

We share the common goal of rising to the challenge of climate change, while investing in a sustainable, low-carbon economies that are ready for the future.

The CleanBC climate action plan is designed to help B.C. reduce climate pollution while creating more jobs and economic opportunities for people, businesses, and communities.

B.C. and Washington State have a lot in common, and we know we are stronger when we work together.

We’re going to keep working collaboratively to seize opportunities and build a bright future.

I’m excited about we can accomplish to make life better for people in our region.

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

From page 1

Scheer says Trudeau’s ‘all are welcome’ immigration system damages its integrity

members of the audience.

In January 2017, Trudeau posted on Twitter: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”

Scheer says PM fooling Canadians with carbon bill bigger than savings He made the post shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry of citizens from seven countries with majority-Muslim populations for 90 days.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada says 34,854 refugee claims were made by irregular border crossers between February 2017 and September 2018 and of those 3,142 – or nine per cent – were accepted. Some 2,429 were denied and 28,314 are pending. It says there has been an “influx” of irregular border crossers.

Trudeau recently warned people to be

wary of fear-mongering about immigration, suggesting the issue will be a hot-button topic during the federal election campaign this fall.

Scheer said he has met people who spent years in a refugee camp waiting to enter Canada and don’t understand why someone can enter through upstate New York.

The parliamentary budget officer recently reported that the influx of asylum seekers at the border is on course to cost Ottawa more than $1 billion, he added.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan has criticized the Conservatives and Liberal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen for using the word illegal to describe people crossing the U.S. border seeking asylum. Hussen said he was using the word to describe the act of

Police to act soon on BC legislature scandal

From page 1

investigation, but added “we are talking about a lot of really serious issues.”

Issues that go beyond allegations of the misuse of expense accounts? Yes, he said.

Issues that involve Criminal Code allegations? Yes. “The next report will sicken people,” added Plecas, who famously said before his own report was released in January that it would make people vomit. Plecas report: Itemized list from B.C. Speaker’s investigation into outrageous Legislature spending After conducting a year-long

investigation, Plecas wrote a scathing report, released Jan. 21, that accused the suspended legislature clerk, Craig James, and the suspended sergeant-at-arms, Gary Lenz, of “flagrant overspending” that included billing inappropriate expenses, lavish foreign trips that involved little work, and questionable retirement and pay benefits. The allegations have not been proven in court, and James and Lenz deny wrongdoing.

In this week’s interview, Plecas and his chief of staff, Alan Mullen, would not say how many people are the target of the police

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crossing the border outside of a normal point of entry, but he had never described asylum seekers themselves as “illegal.”

Asked by a reporter about his use of the word illegal, Scheer said there’s a sign at the border that says it’s illegal to cross into Canada outside of regular checkpoints.

He said when he talks to new Canadians, they express frustration at how long it took them to be allowed into the country compared with people crossing the U.S. border.

“To see a government that allows people to come and jump the queue and skip the line, that frustrates them,” Scheer said.

The Conservatives were probably planning to highlight immigration policies in the election, but the new People’s Party of Canada

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investigation, or whether it included James or Lenz. Nor would they reveal the nature of any criminal charges being contemplated by the two special prosecutors working with police.

Plecas said there is information not in his 76-page report that he has provided to police, but would not elaborate.

RCMP and special prosecutors “get assigned when there is a genuine, reasonable probable cause or grounds to believe or suspect that there is a Criminal Code violation or violations. That is what

led by former Tory MP Maxime Bernier is likely causing them to double down on the issue, said political scientist Hamish Telford of the University of the Fraser Valley.

“It’s going to be a wedge issue and it’s going to place the Conservatives and the People’s Party on one side and the Liberals and the NDP on the other side,” Telford said in an interview.

Asked whether the People’s Party is pushing him farther right on immigration, Scheer replied: “It’s not about left or right on this issue. It’s about what’s right for Canada. I’m going to continue standing up for principles and not be worried about the politics of it.”

Bernier’s party has promised to reduce the total number of immigrants to 250,000 a year, increase border security and end reliance on the United Nations for refugee selection.

Scheer says Trudeau won’t say how much carbon tax will cost

they are doing,” Mullen said.

“They are close to being able to have some conversations publicly and release at least some information from their side of the house. When that will happen I don’t know specifically, but it certainly won’t go on and on and on without hearing from the RCMP.” This week, Rob Shaw and guest Vaughn Palmer discuss a busy time in B.C. politics, including the final count of the Nanaimo byelection, the auditor general’s look at B.C. Hydro deferral accounts, the legislature being placed under freedom-ofinformation legislation, and other stories of the week.

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Saturday, February 9, 2019 From page 1

Vancouver home sales fall nearly 40 per cent in January as prices slump

below the 10-year sales average for January, and the lowest January sales figure recorded since 2009.

The composite benchmark price for a property, which includes detached properties, town homes and condos, dropped 4.5 per cent from a year ago to $1,019,600.

Housing Matters host Stuart McNish speaks with B.C. Minister of Housing Selina Robinson, opposition critic Sam Sullivan, and Vancouver Sun columnist Dan Fumano

NRI billionaire buys six Rolls-Royces From page 1 have made him a lot of wealth. Like, I-own-20-Rolls-Royces-now kind of wealth. Singh recently feted his success by purchasing three new Phantoms, and a trio Cullinans to match. Even if each vehicle was completely standard and not customized at all (not likely) the purchase would have totalled about US$2.3 million.

These he adds to his existing collection that already boasted 14 Rolls-Royces and a stable of other exotics and supercars, including a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, Porsche 918 Spyder, Pagani Huayara, Bugatti Veyron and more.

The man goes nowhere slowly.

The story of Singh’s unreal collection actually began back in December of 2017 when someone called his turban a “bandage.”

That was a mistake.

Recently some one disrespected my Turban by calling it a “bandage”.

The Turban is my Crown & my pride thank you for the mention @SinghLions proud of what you have achieved with a such a huge following Harjinder In retaliation, Singh began a challenge to spread awareness and acceptance for his cultural garment, in which he wore a different turban to match a different RollsRoyce every day for a week.

The stunt went viral because people love visual displays of wealth, but also because of Singh’s positive and inspirational messages that went along with them.

Today, Singh is adding to his collection with what’s being called the Jewels Collection

by Singh from Rolls-Royce. Presumably, if he didn’t already own a turban to match each one, he can easily buy one.

“Trust in God and trust in your own ability & let the ones who want to watch, watch; the ones who want to talk, talk. And the the ones who want to celebrate with you, celebrate (even if you have a few of these your luckier than most ). Rise each morning ready to write your history as everyday is a new beginning,” he wrote in the recent post.

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about how different levels of government can find solutions to Metro Vancouver’s housing affordability crisis.

Sales of detached homes fell 30.4 per cent year-over-year, while the benchmark price pulled back 9.1 per cent from January 2018

to $1,453,400. The benchmark price of an attached home last month dipped 0.3 per cent year-over-year to $800,600, while the benchmark price of a condo fell 1.7 per cent to $658,600.

The board says home prices across all property types have fallen over the region in the past seven months, pressured by the federal government’s mortgage stress test that tightened home-buying rules last year. =“This measure, coupled with an increase in mortgage rates, took away as much as 25 per cent of purchasing power from many homebuyers trying to enter the market,” said the board’s president, Phil Moore, in a statement. Examples of Metro Vancouver homeowners losing big in a plunging...

New immigrants’ Vancouver houses worth $824,000 more

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Trudeau is right: 40% of Canadians don’t pay income taxes, which means someone else is picking up the bill Many people were upset with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week for saying “low-income families don’t benefit from tax breaks because they don’t pay taxes.” Of course, some were upset because they felt it was untrue. But Trudeau was speaking the complete truth when it comes to income taxes (HST, realty taxes and other consumption taxes are another story). It is just a truth that he may not want many Canadians to know.

On average, two of every five Canadian households do not pay anything towards federally and provincially funded expenses such as health care, education, community and social services, national defence, public safety and even the good old Canada Revenue

Agency. One household of every five pays much more than 70 per cent of all of those costs. It didn’t used to be this way, but it is now. Three reasons why RRSPs still matter — and one of them you probably didn’t know These are the eight sources of retirement income you need to know about Three tips to help retirees minimize their taxes and maximize their cash flow The Fraser Institute’s Canadian Tax Simulator 2017 looked at Canadian households with income ranging from zero to $80,843, representing the bottom 40 per cent of households by income, and found they paid 4.6 per cent of all the personal tax paid. That

seems like a low number, but it still isn’t zero.

How does 4.6 per cent become zero? It happens when the tax that is paid is then given back (and more) by the federal and provincial governments. As it turns out, quite a few benefits are paid out to Canadians with household income in the lower 40 per cent — particularly those with children. The CRA even has a wonderful online calculator that will quantify just how large those benefits might be. To better illustrate this zero-percent tax bill, I ran three different scenarios through the calculator. All three scenarios were made up of a family with two working parents and three children (aged one, four

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and six) living in Northern Ontario, paying $15,000 a year in rent. In the first scenario, each parent made $22,650 for a household income of $45,300. Based on the Ernst & Young personal tax calculator, the household should pay a total of $4,564 in federal and provincial income tax. This income level lines up at the 20th percentile mark outlined by the Fraser Institute — or exactly in the middle of the bottom 40 per cent in terms of household income. But this household actually receives $14,758 from government. Although the Ernst & Young calculator suggests it should pay $4,564 in tax, and the Fraser Institute says it pays a small amount of taxes, it actually gets tax-free benefits of $19,321.96. These benefits consist of $17,485.80 from the Canada Child Benefit; $1,278.72 from Ontario Trillium Benefits (including Ontario Energy credit, Northern Ontario energy credit and Ontario sales tax credit); and a $557.44 GST/HST tax credit. Of course, not every household looks like this or has three children, but the numbers for this household are quite staggering. It effectively does not pay any tax, and then receives $14,758 tax free from other Canadian taxpayers. What if we move up the income range to what is roughly the 30th percentile, or $60,420 of household income, split equally? This household should pay $7,596 in income taxes, according to the Ernst & Young tax calculator (assuming no deductions), and would receive $13,738.32 in tax-free benefits.

In other words, it effectively receives $6,142 from other Canadian taxpayers.

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After the Canadian foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, tweeted concern about Saudi Arabia’s imprisoning of a women’s rights activist, the crown prince there seemed to go nuts. Saudi Arabia announced that it was expelling Canada’s ambassador, halting flights to Canada, ending purchases of Canadian wheat, recalling students from Canada and selling off Canadian assets. Did the United States or other Western countries stand up for an old friend and ally, Canada?

“The United States doesn’t have to get involved,” Heather Nauert, then the State Department spokeswoman, told reporters. Yet Canada stuck to its principles. When a young Saudi woman, Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, fled to Bangkok last month and warned that she would be murdered by her family if she was forced home, it was Canada that again braved Saudi fury by accepting her.

Freeland was at the airport to welcome Alqunun as a “very brave new Canadian.”

And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t mince words, saying, “We’ll stand up for human rights and women’s rights around the world.” Canada may be one of the world’s more boring countries, as yawninspiring as sensible shoes — wake up, reader, I know you’re snoozing!— but it’s also emerging as a moral leader of the free world. There’s no one else. The United States under President Trump is on a nationalist tear. Britain’s leaders seem determined to drag their people over a Brexit precipice. France is distracted by protests. Germany is preparing for succession. During the worst of the Syrian refugee crisis, President Barack Obama admitted just 12,000 Syrians and provoked a furious backlash.

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Attorney General Eby says ‘huge interest’ exists for money laundering public inquiry Attorney General David Eby has opened the door even further to a public inquiry into money laundering in B.C.’s casinos, housing market and race tracks.

In a one-on-one interview with Global BC anchor Chris Gailus, Eby a c k n ow l e d g e d the public wants to see an inquiry where blame can be assigned for billions of dollars that are alleged to have been funneled through casinos and the housing market.

“There is a huge interest from British Columbians. I am hearing that and I know my cabinet colleagues are hearing it as well,” Eby said. “The premier has been very clear a public inquiry is still a possibility in our province.” said Eby. Several former investigators allege they lost jobs in B.C.’s casino industry for whistle-blowing, the investigation found, and are questioning whether some B.C. officials deliberately allowed government-regulated casinos to be

used as hubs for money laundering.

From several of the sources, the estimate is that up to $2 billion of laundered money has flowed through Lottery Corp. casinos. The BC government has hired Peter German to conduct a follow up report from his 2018 investigation that looked into money laundering in casinos. The latest report, due back at the end of March, will look into laundering in real estate, the luxury car market and at horse racing tracks. “We knew from the beginning that the process we were engaging with Dr. German was one that was not going to lead to fault finding,” Eby said. “The problem with fault finding is that people hire lawyers and it takes years to resolve those issues.” What’s also up in the air is the timing of a possible inquiry. Provincial prosecutors are still working their way through a money laundering case that could lead to charges.

Eby says he is concerned an inquiry could compromise the investigation.

Quebec City mosque killer Bissonnette sentenced to life, no parole for 40 years Alexandre Bissonnette, who slaughtered six men at a Quebec City mosque in what a judge called an act of “visceral hate” toward Muslim immigrants, was sentenced on Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years. Mr. Bissonnette, 29, has been in custody since the attack two years ago. He will be 67 when he obtains his first chance at freedom. Quebec Superior Court Justice François Huot called the shooting at the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre a gratuitous act of fanaticism and said its date – Jan. 29, 2017 – would “forever be written in blood in the history of this city, this province, this country.” The sentencing was delivered in a courtroom packed with members of the families of the victims, as well as survivors of the deadly attack. Repeatedly, the judge told Mr. Bissonnette about the pain he had caused, and how “hate and racism” has destroyed dozens of lives, including his own and those of his family. The long-

awaited sentence comes two years after Mr. Bissonnette gunned down worshippers in an armed attack that horrified the country and cast a light on homegrown far-right extremism. The sentencing was closely watched for its legal repercussions, since Mr. Bissonnette faced the possibility of an unprecedented 150 years in prison without the chance of parole. It would have been the harshest prison sentence in Canada since the country abolished the death penalty in 1976.

The public seats in the Quebec City courtroom – more than 200 of them – were filled to capacity for Friday’s sentence. At one end of the front row sat the children and widows of the six victims. At the other end were the killer’s parents, Raymond Bissonnette and Manon Marchand.

Under changes to the Criminal Code in 2011, Canadian judges have discretion to add up periods of parole ineligibility for multiple murderers.

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Huge quantity of guns, explosives, homemade silencers seized in Vancouver Island More than 100 firearms seized after a search warrant executed in Campbell River. The search was executed after 55-year-old Tony Green allegedly pointed a loaded gun at an off-duty police officer in the Beaver Lodge Lands on January 28, the Mounties said. That night, police began what turned into a four-day search of Green’s property, in which they seized three full pick-up truckloads of guns, ammunition and prohibited devices.

Police said the search was temporarily delayed when explosive materials were found and a disposal unit was called to the scene. Vancouver police seized millions of dollars in guns, drugs, jewels and cash seized in Task Force Tourniquet, one of the most significant gang crime investigations in B.C. history. “More

than 100 guns, handguns, shotguns and assault-style rifles were seized. Many were prohibited firearms such as a WWII Bren machine gun with a tripod,” said an RCMP media release.

“Investigators also located what can be described as homemade silencers, zip guns, prohibited over capacity magazines and untraceable firearms.”

Police said none of the weapons found at Green’s residence were

locked or stored properly, and some were loaded. Canada Border Services Agency

announced that on March 23, 2018 they seized 19 handguns and 32 over capacity magazines from a U.S. traveler seeking

entry to Canada at the Pacific Highway in BC. Officials say the guns were concealed behind vehicle panels. Guns, drugs, millions in cash and jewelry seized in ‘major blow’ to Lower Mainland gangs: according to the Police.

“High explosives, detonators and detonator cords were likewise removed from the house,” said the release.

Green is already facing a slew of firearms charges, including pointing a firearm, possessing a weapon for dangerous purposes and carrying a prohibited weapon. Police said they will also recommend additional weapons charges to Crown counsel. Green is due back in court on Feb. 12.

67,000 new jobs added in Canadian economy The country saw a rush of 66,800 net new jobs in January, fuelled by a hiring surge in the private sector, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The agency’s latest labour force survey said more people also searched for work last month, which pushed the unemployment rate to 5.8 per cent from its 43-year low of 5.6 per cent in December. Economists had expected the addition of 8,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon. The biggest boost came from the number of privatesector employee positions, which climbed by 111,500 in January for the category’s biggest month-to-month increase since the agency started collecting the data point in 1976. The

number of self-employed positions, which can include unpaid work, declined by 60,700.

The services sector saw a gain of 99,200 positions, led by new work in wholesale and retail trade, while the goods-producing industries experienced a net loss of 32,300 jobs, the report said. Only the accommodation and food sectors of the service industry saw a decline between December and January, but compared to January 2018, employment in accommodation and food services was relatively unchanged.

Employment rose by 29,000 jobs in professional, scientific and technical services. Jobs in public administration increased by 21,000, led by gains in Ontario and Quebec.

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Federal immigration minister gave ‘A Lot Of Baloney’ with claim about Liberals reuniting ‘More Families’ Than Tories “Mr. Speaker, the facts speak for themselves. This is the Conservative position on parents and grandparents.

The Conservatives described parents and grandparents as a “burden” on the federal government in terms of financial support. They have described parents and grandparents as a drain on the provinces.

That is their position. They can run, but they cannot hide from that position. We are responsible for quadrupling the number of spaces that parents and grandparents have to come to Canada. We will continue to reunite more families. I am amused by

the Conservatives’ new-found passion for reuniting families. However, when they had the chance they failed.” — Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen during question period last week in the House of Commons.

The Liberal government was forced to fend off criticism last week over its new first-come-first-served online application for immigrants hoping to sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residency in Canada.

Some critics called the process unfair and discriminatory after it closed less than 10 minutes after opening, which prevented

tens of thousands of people from submitting an application. About 100,000 people were competing for 27,000 spots, said a spokesman for Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen.

Debate over the program launched the Liberals and Conservatives into a battle over how committed their respective governments have been in recent years to reuniting immigrants with their parents and grandparents.

Earlier: Hussen ‘confident’ refugee system changes can address backlog Hussen’s remark raises a question — have the Liberals succeeded in reuniting more

families under the parents and grandparents program than their Tory predecessors?

Spoiler alert: The Canadian Press Baloney Meter is a dispassionate examination of political statements culminating in a ranking of accuracy on a scale of “no baloney” to “full of baloney” (complete methodology below). =Hussen’s remark earns a rating of “a lot of baloney” — the statement is mostly inaccurate but contains elements of truth. Here’s why.

The facts: Between 2011 and 2015, the then-Conservative government admitted an average of 20,370 permanent residents per year under the parents and grandparents

Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension new drawings released Curious about what a SkyTrain extension out to Langley might look like? Wonder no more.

New renderings have been posted online for ’s promised Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. The website, found at surreylangleyskytrain. ca, offers details about the extension project.

Plans for a $1.65-billion Surrey-Newton-Guildford light-rail transit project were cancelled after newly elected Mayor McCallum won the Surrey on a promise to switch to SkyTrain extension till Langley. TransLink estimates that extension could cost more than $2.6 billion.

BC Premier says no additional money for Surrey SkyTrain Both provincial and federal politicians have said there is no additional funding for

New renderings released for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension promised by Surrey Mayor.

Surrey’s switch from light rail to SkyTrain, but both levels of government remain committed to the original 40 per cent that each had agreed to fund Phase 2 of Metro Vancouver’s transit expansion plan.

L E G I S L AT I V E A S S E M B LY O F B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A Special Committee to Appoint a Human Rights Commissioner Raj Chouhan, MLA, Burnaby-Edmonds, Chair

Greg Kyllo, MLA, Shuswap, Deputy Chair

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER The Human Rights Commissioner is a new, independent officer of the Legislature responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in British Columbia through education, research and inquiry. The Commissioner’s mandate and job description is provided by the Human Rights Code.

The successful applicant must have demonstrated executive management and leadership experience, excellent communication skills, and a solid record of achievement in public or private sector administration. The position requires a good understanding of administrative law, and human rights laws, principles, obligations and issues, including the human rights context in British Columbia. The successful applicant should also have experience working productively and collaboratively with Indigenous individuals and communities, and other diverse populations, as well as an understanding of the roles, responsibilities and activities of this new office and its relationship to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

The appointment is for a term of five years, and may be renewed for one additional five-year term. The Commissioner is to be paid compensation at a senior executive salary level as may be set by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and is eligible for the public service plan as defined in section 1(1) of the Public Sector Pension Plans Act. Applications should be received by email, fax or mail at the address below no later than March 8, 2019. Although the Committee appreciates the interest of all applicants, only those who are invited for an interview will be contacted. All applications received will be held in confidence.

For further information, please visit our website at www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/hrc or contact: Kate Ryan-Lloyd, Acting Clerk of the Legislative Assembly Parliamentary Committees Office Room 224, Parliament Buildings Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4 Toll Free in BC 1.877.428.8337 T 250.356.2933 | F 250.356.8172 HRC2019@leg.bc.ca

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City of Vancouver says 2018 empty homes tax eased tight rental market The number of vacant properties in Vancouver has fallen by 15 per cent in one year and the city says just over half of those previously empty homes have been returned to the rental market.

The statistics are from initial returns of Vancouver’s 2018 empty homes tax.

The figures show 922 properties were listed as vacant last year, compared with 1,085 in 2017, the first year of the initiative.

Of the 163 properties reclassified as occupied, the city says more than half of those are listed as rentals with tenants.

Homeowners who failed to submit a declaration by this month’s deadline face a late payment fee of $250 or a fine amounting to one per cent of the assessed value of the property, if it remains undeclared.

Empty properties shifting to rental market The empty homes tax was developed to encourage homeowners to make unused properties available to tenants who face a near-zero vacancy rate in Vancouver.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says the statistics show empty properties

are shifting to the rental market.

“The year-over-year numbers are very encouraging,” Stewart says in a news release.

An increase in the one per cent penalty is also being considered and Stewart says that would make the tax “even more effective in driving additional affordable housing to the market.”

About one per cent of homes in downtown Vancouver are still vacant, according to the report.

Ninety-seven per cent of owners made their property s t a t u s declaration by the deadline, but the city says an update to the program means those who missed the Feb. 4 cutoff will have the option of making a late declaration online after paying the $250 penalty. The largest concentration of vacant properties is in the downtown area where more than one per cent of homes are unoccupied.

The 2018 property status statistics are expected to change as the city’s audit program continues, people make their late declarations, property owners appeal and complaints are received and resolved, the news release says.

Fugitives enter into Canada after fleeing from Taiwan on $42M fraud charges: officials Three high-profile fugitives from Taiwan are of China passports means they can no believed to be in Canada, according to Taiwan’s longer use their passports to travel.

Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB).

“Currently the case is under the According to the Ministry’s database of investigation of the Taiwan Taipei District fugitives, Su Chen Tuan, a famous blogger who Prosecutors Office,” Ou adds. “And MOFA goes by the moniker Lady Nai Nai, her partner will continue to be in fully coordination with Huang Po Chien, a plastic surgeon, and her the above-mentioned Prosecutors-Office.” partner’s father Huang Li Hsiung, a doctor, On Jan. 14, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice’s are wanted by the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Investigation Bureau announced it is offering up Office for being “involved in fraud and other cases” and have “fled overseas before the cases were investigated.”

Focus Taiwan, the English publication of Taiwan’s staterun news agency, reported that Su, Huang Po Chien and Huang Li Hsiung shut down Ab Initio Medicina, a cosmetic surgery clinic, allegedly defrauding clients, friends and investors of some $42 million.

The departure of Su and Huang Po Chien from Taiwan Huang Li Hsiung, Su Chen Tuan (middle), Huang Po Chien via a flight to San Francisco, which they to $10,670 ($250,000 New Taiwan Dollar) per boarded on Nov. 30, 2018, was confirmed person for tips on the three fugitives. “Taiwan, by immigration officials at Taoyuan to the best of its ability, will work with Canada’s International Airport, the Taipei Times reports. Department of Justice to bring Su back,” said Focus Taiwan adds that they made their Taiwan’s MOFA spokesperson Andrew H.C. Lee. way across the Canadian border on Jan. 5.

The Taipei Times is reporting that the three “On January 10th, the Ministry of Foreign were questioned by the Canadian Border Affairs of Taiwan cancelled the passport of Services Agency on Jan. 5 while crossing the Ms. Su and other two Taiwanese nationals border by car from Buffalo, New York. In (both Mr. Huang) upon receiving requests addition to Su, her partner and her partner’s from Prosecutors agencies,” Joanne Ou, father, another female relative and the elder Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Huang’s wife were with them. When asked (MOFA) Spokesperson told Global News. by Global News if MOFA could confirm the “The cancellation of their passport was people accompanying Su across the border, informed to Canadian respective authorities Ou said she could not “further disclosed their through Taiwan’s Representative Office in marital status, therefore I will not comment Canada, Toronto Office and Vancouver Office.” on whether it is her ‘husband or father in law.’”

The invalidation of the trio’s Republic

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Overdose patients at St. Paul’s Hospital to get take-home opioid medication John Boyd has been using opioids like fentanyl around Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for about four years.

During that time he’s had some close calls and one serious overdose.

“You’re walking along and then, ‘bang.’ The next thing you’re looking at is ambulance drivers looking at you telling you you’ve overdosed,” said Boyd, 71.

He said the paramedics who revived him wanted to take him to St. Paul’s Hospital, but he declined.

New addiction and mental health facilities coming St. Paul’s hospital “I’ve been to St. Paul’s before,” Boyd laughed.

“As anybody will tell you, it’s just a nightmare.”

But it’s at St. Paul’s that a new program is being launched for patients who come into

the emergency department after an overdose — they’ll be discharged with a Suboxone kit.

Patients will get enough of the opioid substitution for three days of treatment, along with easy-to-follow instructions on how to take the medication. The people behind the program say it’s the first of its kind in Canada.

John Boyd, an opioid user who has experienced a serious overdose, says he avoids St. Paul’s Hospital if he can.

According to Boyd, the St. Paul’s emergency room has a reputation for being crowded and a bit of a circus, but he also said drug users who go to the hospital feel stigmatized. He said they feel unfairly judged, don’t get the best treatment and are often suspected of being drug-seekers.

Abbotsford man left ‘totally disabled’ after taking prescribed medicine awarded $888K A man who will be “totally disabled” for the rest of his life due to complications from drug he was prescribed at an Abbotsford hospital has won a lawsuit against the doctor who gave him the medication.

Jeffrey Baglot was prescribed a “powerful” anti-inflammatory drug after he was admitted to Abbotsford Regional Hospital for stomach pain related to his Crohn’s disease on July 22, 2011.

Within days, he developed an ulcer at the beginning of his small intestine.

The two-centimetre ulcer ultimately ruptured and needed to be surgically repaired. Baglot ended up in another hospital for more than two months.

Baglot, now 33, thought he was going to die.

“My body was shutting down,” he testified in BC Supreme Court last year.

Baglot sued the doctor who prescribed him the drug, Dr. Clasina Fourie, in 2013. She was ordered to pay $888,000 in damages on Jan. 31.

Justice Diane Cheryl MacDonald said Fourie’s “negligence has had a devastating impact on Mr. Baglot’s life.”

“Today Mr. Baglot is totally disabled, homebound and isolated. Without the prescribing error, I find that it is more likely than not that Mr. Baglot would have continued to have Crohn’s disease but that he would have worked and been a contributing member of society,” MacDonald said.

Surrey offers civic space for homeless as cold spell continues For the first time in Surrey civic space has been opened to house the homeless during recent cold spell to grip the region.

The Surrey Urban Mission has received permission from city to use a clubhouse on the Tom Binnie Park soccer field in Whalley area to get the homeless off the streets and out of the cold as part of the extreme cold weather response program that’s activated in sub-zero temperatures or during long periods of rain.

The mission says there isn’t enough shelter spaces in Surrey.

Coun. Brenda Locke says being allowed to

use civic space is a significant milestone.

“I do not understand why we haven’t gone to our own facilities before,” she said.

‘Someone could very well die in these cold t e m p e r a t u r e s’ : P e n t i c t o n winter shelters at capacity Locke says no one should be sleeping outside in this weather.

“It’s shocking to see people at -7 C sleeping on concrete with only a sleeping bag between them and the concrete.”

She calls the situation unacceptable.

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Mother pleads for help in returning children allegedly abducted to Lebanon by ex-husband Shelley Beyak thought that once she could get to Beirut, she would have a fighting chance of retrieving her two children, who were taken to the Lebanese capital by her ex-husband 10 months ago.

But since landing in the city where she once lived and where Mia, 10, and Liam, 8, were born, she has found hopes of getting them back home to Abbotsford, B.C., have been dashed.

She said the children seem stressed, wary and conditioned by their father, who won’t speak to her.

Because Canada has no jurisdiction in Lebanon, and Lebanese religious courts favour fathers for custody, there’s nothing she can do to bring them home, although a Canadawide warrant was issued months ago by the RCMP for her ex-husband’s arrest.

She’s now pleading for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene. “I need something tangible to be done to get the kids back home. I just can’t do it on my own,” she said in a phone interview from Beirut. A bittersweet reunion Beyak and ex-husband Wissam Tarabichi have joint custody of the children. She said that in March, he told her he was taking them to the United States for a week-long trip.

Instead, after arriving in Seattle, they boarded a flight to Paris, then another to Beirut.

For months she had no contact with her children, because Tarabichi refused to answer her calls.

Beyak had no contact with her children for 10 months after they were taken to Lebanon by her ex-husband.

In January, Beyak flew to Lebanon.

Since then, she has had some victories, most notably being reunited with her children and obtaining visiting rights, as long as Tarabichi is present.

But she said that first reunion in late January was bittersweet, taking place in a bleak government building in the seaside town of Jieh, which Beyak said had no heat and was “not fit for children.”

She said the children did not hug her when they first saw her, and repeatedly left the room during their visit, which lasted several hours, to check in with their father, who sat outside a locked door.

B.C. mother fighting to retrieve children taken to Lebanon “If the kids are this affected after 10 months, I’m so distraught about how they’re going to be after a year, a year-and-a-half, it just cannot continue on like this,” she said.

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Political manoeuvring behind $5.5-billion BC Hydro debt, says Auditor-General Richard Stout, an ecades of political expert in hydro rates interference to suppress regulator, the Bruce Ralston, the acting electricity rates in British BC Utilities who represents some of the utility’s largest minister responsible for BC Columbia has left BC Hydro’s future C o m m i s s i o n industrial customers, said Hydro’s customers ratepayers with significant debt that must be Hydro, said Wednesday (BCUC), and should not have to absorb the shock of getting his government is repaid, Auditor-General Carol Bellringer says. to ensure that Hydro back on sound financial footing. committed to fixing the Under direction from government, the “No customer wants to wake up to the BC Hydro falls Crown utility has used “inappropriate” problem, but said it will into line with bill for this,” he said. “Industrial customers take time given the size accounting to pile $5.5-billion in what are other Canadian have been concerned about the size of this known as deferral accounts without a clear of the debt. “We are going utilities by debt overhang for some time.” He said the to keep rates affordable. repayment plan. The debt can be tackled by adopting ordinary government, by repeatedly usurping the No one’s rates are going raising rates or a government bail-out, the a c c o u n t i n g independent regulator, should be on the hook. auditor said in a report released Wednesday. up by $1,300 in a year.” p r a c t i c e s . “I think most would agree the appropriate Provincial governments “BC Hydro was not allowed to charge its “It would be wrong to promise source of paying down the debt should be going back to the 1980s have used deferral customers enough to cover its operating overnight change, but we have changed from government, rather than the ratepayer.” costs each year,” Ms. Bellringer wrote. accounts to smooth rates – avoiding politically direction,” Mr. Ralston said. He noted Ms. Bellringer acknowledged the NDP unpopular rate hikes – but the practice That debt amounts to $1,300 for that the government has already reduced government that took power in 2017 has increased significantly since the early 2000s every residential customer, more than the deferral accounts by $950-million, promised reforms, but she said she will $10,000 for each commercial and light under the former BC Liberal government. bringing that portion of the debt onto direct wait to see results before she is satisfied The NDP government has promised to industrial ratepayer, and almost $5-million government books. “It’s a start,” he said. that the government’s financial statements for each large industrial consumer. restore the role of Hydro’s independent

Teacher loses licence after inappropriate messages sent to young female students A teacher lost his licence after repeatedly contacting young female students he had once taught.

According to a ruling by BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, teacher Bryan Edmund Cederholm was issued a teaching licence in July 2015 and was employed at an elementary school. In early 2016 Cederholm was warned by the Kamloops-Thompson school district to stop having inappropriate electronic contact with students.

Despite this, according to an agreed upon statement of facts, between October 2016 and January 2017 Edmund Cederholm exchanged messages with a 13-year-old female student he had taught when she was in elementary school.

Then in February 2017 Cederholm exchanged inappropriate messages with a 12-year-old female student he had also previously taught. That same month, the school district issued him a reprimand and suspended him for two days without pay. The district also reported the incident to the commissioner.

In April 2017 the district again contacted the commissioner after it learned that Cederholm had exchanged inappropriate messages with a 14-year-old former female student.

During this exchange he sent the student a picture he had taken of some of his current students. Cederholm also contacted another former student, also 14 and female, on Instagram, leading to that student blocking the teacher.

However, the following month the district again contacted the commissioner after receiving a report from a parent “regarding communications Cederholm had with their daughter.”

The commissioner investigated and determined that during the 2016-2017 school year, Cederholm had over the course of a week sent inappropriate messages to the 16-year-old female student.

Cederholm also showed the student text messages he had exchanged with another person about her. The student felt uncomfortable and blocked him from contacting her on social media.

Owners of home where toddler died say they didn’t know it was being used as a daycare The owners of the home where a toddler died in 2017, have denied responsibility for the child’s death.

In response to a lawsuit filed by the parents of Macallan Wayne Saini, the homeowners, Karen Kruse and Peter Scott, say they were not aware a daycare was operating out of their residence.

The 16-month-old toddler died on January 18, 2017 at the unlicensed Olive Branch Daycare on Kitchener Street in Vancouver.

In 2018, the child’s parents filed a suit alleging the daycare operator and the owners of the home were negligent.

The suit names Vancouver Coastal Health,

the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the owners of the home and the daycare operator.

In court documents, the toddler’s mother, Shelley Sheppard, said she “understands that Mac Saini had been left unattended and had choked on an electrical cord causing his death.”

1 year after Baby Mac’s death at an illegal daycare, his parents still have no answers In their response to the parent’s suit, the homeowners acknowledge renting out the home to daycare operator Yasmine Saad for a 12-month period starting on Oct. 1, 2016.

Embattled legislature staffers respond to Plecas report, maintain innocence The two embattled senior B.C. legislature staff at the centre of allegations of misspending have submitted their responses to a

bombshell report by Speaker Darryl Plecas.

Clerk of the legislature Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz had until 4 p.m. on Thursday to respond to the allegations laid out in last month’s report.

Speaker Darryl Plecas accuses senior staff of ‘overspending,’ stealing alcohol and ‘unjustified terminations’ Both men are asking that their responses be made public by the Legislative Assembly Management Committee (LAMC).

“I have responded to the concerns expressed about my behaviour as best as I can in the short time allowed to me and in the absence of access to records and staff,” wrote James in a statement. Questions on whether Plecas report will bring real change “I maintain, as I have all along, that I have not done anything wrong which justifies the actions that have been taken against me, or the unfair and prejudicial manner in which those actions have been taken.”

Speaker Darryl Plecas says his office turned over information to police not in Plecas Report In his own statement, Lenz wrote that he had responded to “each and every allegation” in the Plecas report, and maintained that he had committed no wrongdoing.

“The negative impact this has had on me and my family is immeasurable,” wrote Lenz.

Digging deep into the Plecas report on alleged financial mismanagement at the B.C. Legislature “Over the past 13 years of service to the people of British Columbia, I have been ethical, honest, fiscally responsible, trustworthy and non-partisan.

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rial lawyers in BC are gearing up to challenge the provincial government’s new auto insurance reforms in court.

The Trial Lawyers Association of B.C., which includes vehicle injury lawyers whose business will be impacted by the changes, have zeroed in on two potential constitutional challenges to government legislation that will cap certain minor injury claims at $5,000 starting on April 1.

That comes as the Insurance Corporation of B.C. prepares to release its latest quarterly update Thursday on what Attorney-General David Eby said Wednesday is a worsening financial situation. In a letter to members, obtained

by Postmedia News, Trial Lawyers Association president Ron Nairne said his group has hired its own lawyer to prepare for legal challenges, “including in the Supreme Court of Canada, where we must be prepared to go, if necessary, to challenge the erosion of British Columbian’s rights.� “We need to take our clients’ cases to the courtrooms en-masse — we need the judiciary and the public to see through courtroom results how unreasonable

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“We’re at the preliminary stage, Trial lawyers ready for legal fight against ‘claims caps’ by ICBC looking at this and considering our options,� he said. “Right now, the new ICBC policy is,� he wrote. “We and CRT legislation is of questionable need to wait, watch and listen for the constitutional validity,� Nairne wrote. it seems to us this legislation is a pretty Nairne said in an interview Wednesday profound attack on the rights of individuals.� expected horror stories that we anticipate In the meantime, the trial lawyers to come from this new caps regime.� that while lawyers are examining the B.C. Attorney General David Eby talks scope, timing and potential content of a are starting a new campaign to offer about changes to ICBC during a news court challenge, they have yet to make assistance to defence lawyers who challenge conference in a final decision on how to proceed. the civil resolution tribunal system. the press gallery at the legislature in Victoria in February 2018.

B.C. Attorney General David Eby talks about changes to ICBC during a news conference in Victoria.

The Insurance Corporation of B.C. will cap pain and suffering claims for minor injuries starting April 1, under legislation passed by the government last year. Eby said the caps are necessary to reduce extraordinary legal costs, rising claims and financial losses at ICBC that threaten to sharply increase rates. The trial lawyers say ICBC’s losses are being inflated for political purposes.

The new law will also direct disputes on all injuries claims valued below $50,000 out of courts and to a Civil Resolution Tribunal. “In our view, the minor injury caps

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Scott Road SkyTrain shooting suspect arrested Surrey RCMP have arrested the suspect identified in the shooting last week of a Metro Vancouver Transit Police officer on a SkyTrain station platform.

Daon Glasgow, 35, (pictured) was arrested at about 5:30 on Sunday morning at a fourplex home in Burnaby, BC He has yet to be charged but the investigation continues while officers gather evidence from the home where Mr. Glasgow was apprehended.

Mr. Glasgow is suspected of the nonfatal shooting of transit police Constable Joshua Harms, 27, on the platform of the Scott Road SkyTrain station in Surrey during rush hour on Wednesday afternoon. Later that day, police declined to explain what exactly happened during the shooting, but said transit officers were fired upon when they attempted to engage a suspect at the SkyTrain station.

Constable Harms, who has been with the transit force for three years, was released from hospital late on Wednesday evening with serious but not life-threatening injuries. “This was a high-risk arrest,“ Assistant Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, the officer in charge of the Surrey detachment of the RCMP, said at a news conference on Sunday morning. “At this time, Mr. Glasgow is being held with regard to the outstanding warrant for being unlawfully at large.�

He declined to comment on whether Mr. Glasgow was armed when arrested, but stressed Mr. Glasgow was brought into custody safely without any injuries to him or any officers.

He described the investigation as “very complex,� but was reluctant to get into details regarding how police made the arrest.

Chief Officer Barry Kross of the Metro Vancouver Transit Police said on Sunday that Constable Harms is doing well and recovering at home, noting the injured

officer showed up to a briefing on the case on Saturday. “Constable Harms attended our offices to the briefing of his squad to make sure he could raise and bolster their feelings during this period of time,� Mr. Kross said.

Sergeant Clint Hampton of the transit police said it is the first time in the 11-year history of the force that one of its officers has been shot.

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New Westminster city passes toughest renoviction laws in British Columbia New Westminster city council unanimously passed a bylaw that will use the city’s business licensing powers to penalize landlords who evict tenants in order to renovate.

The bylaw uses the city’s business licensing powers, and is being called a groundbreaking policy that could put the brakes on what are known as “renovictions” if other Metro Vancouver municipalities follow suit. The bylaw will define under what conditions landlords can evict; will set out provisions to temporarily house

tenants if vacancy is required to renovate; and will prohibit rent increases when tenants return.

Need to encourage parents & students to take more pride in their mother tongue Punjabi Balwant Sanghera - President, Punjabi Language Education Association

During the past few years, Punjabi has attained a fairly high profile in Canada, locally, provincially and nationally. We see a lot of signs in Punjabi at prominent government and private institutions, hospitals, businesses, YVR and public places. Organizations like ICBC are now offering their claim services in Punjabi as well. Signs like: We Speak Punjabi- are prominently displayed in banks, hospitals, city halls, credit unions and various other locations. Punjabi is now fast becoming the language of employment.

Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA) continues to work hard in promoting Punjabi at all levels.

However, it can do only so much. PLEA needs your help in becoming goodwill ambassadors for our mother tongue.

It is true that we have come a long way since Punjabi was officially recognized in 1994 as one of six second languages taught in BC’s public schools. With PLEA’s efforts and community and Indo-Canadian media support, Punjabi classes have been under way at various elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities around Metro Vancouver.

Also, it is encouraging to note that wellwishers of Punjabi in other parts of Canada are making efforts in promoting Punjabi wherever they can. On top of that, it is very gratifying to note that a lot of

other institutions like Khalsa Schools, Sikh Academies as well as Gurdwaras are doing an excellent job in this regard. On behalf of PLEA I would like to commend them all.

Surrey has always been a great model for us. At present Punjabi is being taught in six elementary and nine secondary schools in Surrey. The six elementary schools where Punjabi classes are under way are: Beaver Creek, Green Timbers, Newton, Strawberry Hill, Chimney Hill and T.E. Scott. The nine high schools are: Enver Creek Frank Hurt, L.A.Matheson, Panorama Ridge, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth, Sullivan Heights, Tamanawis and SAIL. In addition to that Punjabi classes are being offered in North Delta Secondary School, New Westminster Secondary and Queensborough Middle School in New Westminster, Burnaby South Secondary in Burnaby, five schools in Abbotsford as well as four Universities-UBC, S.F.U., Kwantlen Polytechnic University and University of the Fraser Valley.

PLEA would like to add more schools to these lists. However, it needs community support in order to do so. In this context, I would like to urge well-wishers of Punjabi to become its ambassadors and organise parents at schools where there is a large number of students interested in enrolling in Punjabi classes. After organizing at the local school level, they should contact the school officials and PLEA to follow up on this. We need to encourage parents and students to take more pride in their mother tongue Punjabi.

Hundreds of Libyan former slaves are coming to Canada Immigration Minister says Canada has begun resettling hundreds of people rescued from slavery in Libya, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen says.

Canada was one of the few countries to respond to a request from the United Nations refugee agency in 2017, Hussen told The Canadian Press in an email Wednesday.

More than 150 people have been resettled and another 600 more are expected over the next two years through the regular refugee settlement program, he said.

Canada is also planning to take in 100 refugees from Niger who were rescued from Libyan migrant detention centres, including victims of human smuggling, he added.

People who have ‘endured unimaginable trauma’ Libya is a major stopping point for asylum-seekers from Africa who intend to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. A video of what appeared to be smugglers selling imprisoned migrants near Tripoli became public in 2017, prompting world leaders to start talking about freeing migrants detained in Libyan camps.

Hussen revealed the resettlement plan on Monday night at an event in

Ottawa to celebrate Black History Month.

He said Canada was asked by the UN to “rescue” people who have “endured unimaginable trauma.” He said Canada has responded to the call and provided safe haven.

The minister said Canada would eventually welcome “a lot” of Libyans.

The Mediterranean Sea crossing from north Africa to Europe’s southern has been a perilous one for migrants fleeing violence and instability.

The 47 migrants aboard the ship Sea Watch, which arrived today at the port of Catania, arrives on January 31, 2019 in Catania, Italy. Forty Seven migrants, including 11 children, rescued off the coast of Libya by the ship Sea-Watch 3 on January 19th will be allowed to disembark at Catania in Italy.

Five European countries, Germany, France, Portugal, Romania and Malta, have offered to take them in after a political impasse left them stranded aboard the boat of the coast of Sicily. (Photo by Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images) Last month, the United Nations Migration Agency reported that 5,757 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through the first 27 days of 2019, an increase over the 5,502 who arrived during the same period last year.

City of Vancouver on hook for $10 million cost of capping massive groundwater leak An Italian company and its two principals are facing four charges each for the breach of a massive aquifer on a residential construction site in Vancouver’s Kerrisdale neighbourhood in September 2015, a breach that has cost the city more than $10 million to fix.

Neither Armando nor Tommaso Mascetti nor any representative of their company Geoenergia Projects (Canada) Inc. showed up in provincial court last week.

And they’re not expected to show up on Feb 13 for their next appearance. They shut down operations in the Vancouver area soon after the 2015 breach and are believed to have gone back to Italy.

“The driller was unable to stop the flow of water, left the job, took his equipment and left,” said

Vancouver’s deputy city manager Paul Mochrie.

“There was no contract in place between the owner and the driller... the company took off,” Mochrie said, A complex system of water extraction wells, sump pumps and a concrete cap on the bore hole (green) stopped the massive leak after the aquifer was breached. The charges were laid under B.C.’s Water Act because groundwater falls under provincial jurisdiction. They carry possible penalties of $200,000 and/or six months imprisonment.

City of Vancouver expects to rack up $9.9M repair bill for burst aquifer Three years after the breach, the bills have come in to the city and no-one has been held responsible: not the drillers and not the owner of the Beechwood Street property, Lin Liu. Liu had been attempting to build a large house with a geothermal heat exchange system when the incident occurred.

He hired Geoenergia to do the work.

To access geothermal energy to heat air and water, pipes must be buried deep to harness the heat from the ground.

Illegal gambling suspect arrested from Vancouver home An illegal gaming house may have been taken down by police in Vancouver last night.

The Vancouver Police Department, along withtheCombinedForcesSpecialEnforcement Unit, executed a search warrant and raided the home around 10 p.m. Friday night The agency — which is the largest integrated police program in Canada — says it was part of an investigation into illegal gambling. The team is made up of several municipal police departments, and they’re called in to investigate organized crime or matters where the public may be at risk.

A media spokesperson from the unit says she can’t provide details on arrests or charges stemming from last night’s search warrant as the operation is part of an active investigation.

Madhuri talks about Alok Nath Madhuri Dixit says she was shocked to read names of Alok Nath and filmmaker Soumik Sen, people she has previously worked with, in the #MeToo movement as she was not privy to this side of their personalities. In #MeToo movement, which hit Bollywood in August last year, Alok Nath was accused

of rape by writer-director Vinta Nanda. Sen, who directed Madhuri in Gulaab Gang, has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by three women. When asked if it was heartbreaking for her to see their names in the #MeToo movement, Madhuri told PTI, “It is always shocking. Because you’ve known

them and you’ve not known them like that.” “It is always shocking when something like that comes out. What you’ve known them and what you’re reading is two different people. It was so shocking.”

The actor is currently gearing up for her upcoming comedy, Total Dhamaal. Post which, she would be seen in Karan Johar’s production Kalank, which features an ensemble cast of Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapur.

Originally, Sridevi was meant to do the film, before she passed away in February last year. The role eventually went to Madhuri.

The 51-year-old actor said she took time to “digest” that Sridevi was no more.

“What took time was to digest the whole thing that had happened. It was so shocking, I was like ‘you want me to do this role?’ because even they (filmmakers) were stuck. They had to go on.

“As a person it was hard to deal. As an actor, you know the role, the script. It’s a different matter altogether. But to accept the truth was very difficult,” she added.

Madhuri Dixit rejoined Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5 and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6 along with her co-judges Remo D’souza and Karan Johar.

Madhuri also appeared on Indias Got Talent as a guest judge on two separate occasions for the promotion of her upcoming movies Dedh Ishqiya and Gulaab Gang that released in early 2014.

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 where Madhuri Dixit returned to the judging panel for her fourth time with her co-judges Remo D’souza and Karan Johar.

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

There is a big difference between husband, fiance & boyfriend - Priyanka

W

604-566-3111 7233 - Fraser St., Vancouver, BC

hen asked how married life is treating her, the 36-year-old Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra said, “Married life is different.” She

under the wraps, Priyanka & Nick made it official with their ceremony. And since then, the two have been inseparable. Three months after their engagement, Priyanka & Nick took the leap of faith, and exchanged

added, “There’s a big difference between a husband and a boyfriend or fiance. I didn’t understand the gravity of that when I got married.

But it’s a good thing to be married to a good husband. So that makes it easy.” Priyanka’s love story began a few months ago, and culminated into a wedding in 2018.

Priyanka Chopra & Nick Jonas tied the knot in India’s historical city Jodhpur after a whirlwind romance.

And after keeping their relationship

vows in the presence of family and friends.

Their wedding turned out to be one of the biggest events of 2018. With two weddings, four receptions and an exotic honeymoon, Nick and Priyanka have become the talk of the town. Priyanka, who has moved to Los Angeles with hubby Nick, opened up on her life was marriage on the show Good Morning America. She was promoting her upcoming Hollywood release Isn’t It Romantic on the show. Priyanka Chopra, is currently promoting her upcoming romantic comedy Isn’t It Romantic,

Saturday, February 9, 2019

HOROSCOPE

Salman & Sooraj Barjatya to reunite for a family drama Salman Khan and Sooraj Barjatya’s blockbuster jodi is expected to resume filming duty once again. As per a midday report, Sooraj Barjatya approached Salman Khan with a project and the filmmaker says that the actor assured him he’ll do the film whenever it’s ready.

Sooraj Barjatya directed Salman Khan in his breakthrough film Maine Pyar Kiya, which has achieved cult status over the years. It was also Sooraj’s debut as director. Sooraj Barjatya told mid-day: “I have discussed the primary idea with Salman. It’s going to be a family drama, and not an action film. All I can say is that it will

have all the necessary ingredients that a Rajshri Production has - emotions, drama and a lot of music. It is going to be my most satisfying film... Whenever I am ready with the script, Salman has assured me that he will be ready too.�

Salman Khan and Sooraj Barjatya last collaborated on Prem Ratan Dhan Payo also starring Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhasker.

The 2015 film exploded louder than any Diwali patakha at the box office. The film’s lifetime business is over Rs 200 crore.

Has Anushka got twin sister in USA Bollywood celebs’ lookalikes make headlines every now and then. The recent actor to grab

attention for the same reason is Anushka Sharma. The actress, who returned to India from Singapore after a romantic getaway with husband and cricketer Virat Kohli, yesterday,

has been trending on Internet and the reason is her doppelganger.

Recently, American singer Julia Michaels took to social media and shared a picture of hers and we must say her uncanny resemblance with Anushka has left Indians stunned. Soon after she posted the picture, netizens couldn’t stop themselves from calling the American singer Pari actor’s lost twin sister.

A user wrote, “Julia Michaels must be wondering what just happened. Why she’s getting so much attention.#AnushkaSharma #JuliaMichaels #kohli�. While another posted a collage of Anushka and Julia and wrote, “Nushkie @ AnushkaSharma is that really you? i really got confused but both of u are beautiful @ CozIGotIssues hi julia Nice to see u here�

Julia Michaels must be wondering what just happened . Why she’s getting so much attention.#AnushkaSharma #JuliaMichaels #kohli pic.twitter.com/IkcDYNjgQe — 12th Man (@Splendordeflame) 3

Priyank flirts with Neha Kakkar in music video Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is just like any other independent single made to woo the youth with peppy beats and cute faces. The song has some quirky lyrics with lines like ‘Jaise Karan Johar ki film me romantic scene hota hai‌ kuch kuch hota haiâ€Śâ€˜ Check out the video here: Apart from Tony, Neha and Priyanka, the video also stars Ankitta Sharma and Aashika Bhatia in important roles. The two look pretty in the video as school girls.

Meanwhile, Neha is recovering from depression after her alleged breakup with actor Himansh Kohli. In fact, recently, during a performance in Ahemadabad, Neha broke down on stage while crooning to Maahi Ve. Singer Neha Kakkar is on a national tour, performing in various cities in India and her recent live performance in Ahmedabad shows her breaking down on stage while singing Maahi Ve. Right before singing it,

19

Bollywood

Aries March 21 - April 20 This week is shaping up to be a very sociable and positive time for you in which you can accomplish much. The sun and chatty Mercury in your social sector encourage you out and about, and you could move in new circles.

With the new moon in this same sector on Monday, you have an opportunity to make a dream come true. If a goal of yours has been on your mind, this might be the time to make it reality. And there’s no reason why you should do this alone. Others could be eager to get on board

Taurus April 21 - May 20 This is very much a time to enjoy being in the spotlight and promote yourself and your ideas in any way you can. Don’t hide your light under a barrel. Enjoy sharing your special talents and abilities.

Indeed, the new moon in your career zone on Monday could inspire you to take things even further. Considering a new job? Brush up your resume and send out those applications

something more suitable.

Gemini May 20 - June 21 The week ahead brings some exciting options your way. Travel adventures might be in the cards, as well as the possibility of attending a workshop or course of study. In either case, you’ll enjoy learning because the subject will be something dear to your heart.

The new moon in your adventure zone on Monday encourages you to reach for fresh opportunities. Anything that can expand your horizons will also leave you happier and more

Cancer June 22 - July 23 As feisty Mars continues its journey through your sector of goals and ambitions, you might be moving through a busy yet very positive time. The presence of the sun and chatty Mercury in a more intense sector could encourage you to deal with issues that may be uncomfortable for you. The sooner you dive in and sort them out the better. And the new moon on Monday could spur you to take the initiative in this regard.

Leo June 24 - August 23 There is a lot to celebrate this week, and with the support of key people, you can do very well.

Rather than go it alone, this is a time to work as part of a team or perhaps collaborate on a plan or project. The sun’s presence in your sector of relating encourages you to team up with certain people, resolve relationship issues, and relish the company of friends and family. The new moon in this same zone could be a call to take a relationship to a new level. You might want

Libra Sept. 24 - Oct 22 Leisure opportunities could keep you happily occupied this week. With the sun and Mercury in your leisure zone encouraging you to seek out new diversions, you might be drawn to a new hobby or interest that proves engaging and rewarding.

The new moon in this same zone on Monday might inspire you to take a budding romance to the next level.

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 22 With the focus on your home and family sector this week, you could be eager to get your place organized. You may have some novel ideas about how to make key improvements, too, including purchasing gadgets or managing your time so that household tasks and chores are much easier. The new moon in your domestic zone on Monday can be your cue to take the initiative in this regard. You might also be eager to reorganize your kitchen so you can create healthier meals, or clear out a corner of a room

Sagitarius Nov 23 - Dec 22 Communication, administrative tasks, networking, and promoting your goods and services could be key activities this week and next. The sun in your sector of talk and thought might inspire you to reach out to others you haven’t seen in some time. Plus, if you need to negotiate, hearty discussions can lead to positive developments for all concerned.

Indeed, the new moon in this zone on Monday can help kick-start projects backed by discussion

might be eager to get moving on the most original and creative of them.

Capricorn Dec 23 - Jan 20 Financial matters may be uppermost in your mind this week, but in a way that encourages you to explore the possibilities in your present situation. If you’re eager to generate more money, then opt for novel solutions rather than the tried and trusted.

And with the new moon in this same zone on Monday, this can be the perfect time to kick-start schemes that help you save more and earn more in 2019.

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19 This can be a very positive and sociable time when your connections can bring out the best in you. The people you network with might act as mentors to advise you and encourage you when necessary.

If you’re slightly nervous about putting some plans into action, the sun’s tie with jovial Jupiter on Thursday will see friends coming to your aid. Before you know it, your

Pisces Neha had announced that she was dedicating the song to all those nursing a broken heart.

Singer Neha Kakkar‘s brother Tony Kakkar has released a new song titled ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai‘. While the video is entirely about Tony and his love interest, it features Neha in a special appearance. The video has Neha dressed up as a school girl who gets impressed with another school boy, played by Priyank Sharma.

Virgo Streamlining your daily routines can be very rewarding and leave you with more time for those things you enjoy most. With the sun in your lifestyle sector along with chatty Mercury, your guide planet, the days ahead can be an opportunity to consider how you might improve your schedule.

And with a new moon in this sector on Monday, it’s also the ideal chance to kick-start new and healthier habits that leave you feeling upbeat and energized.

Feb 20 - March 20 You might be making a big splash and attracting positive attention, but this could put you in the position of having to call the

!

to get something better. Trust your instincts on this because they can lead you in the right direction. At the same time, there’s a focus on a quieter and more spiritual zone that might

Taking a few minutes here and there in the day to sit still can bring powerful insights and

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Bollywood

Film Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, produced by Zoya Akhtar embraces the industry’s appetite for grittier stories Bollywood, India’s film industry, is known for its bigbudget, colour-saturated musical numbers that are scattered through every movie.

Dotted within each tale of star-crossed lovers, historical rivalries or family dramas is a surreal sequence where dozens of dancing extras enter the frame, characters burst spontaneously into song and locations shuttle from the Egyptian pyramids to the Swiss Alps, London streets or even space.

Yet, in recent years, this escapist function of Bollywood has been failing to capture its

Bollywood’s first hip-hop film ‘Gully Boy’- stroy of a street rapper audience. The most expensive Bollywood film in 2018, the 19th-century actiondrama Thugs of Hindostan, was made on a budget of 300 crore rupees (ÂŁ32m) but took in only half that at the box office, with owners of some Indian cinemas demanding refunds. Film-makers are increasingly turning away from spectacle

and towards realist narratives, creating a burgeoning independent Indian cinema, with films such as Chaitanya Tamhane’s 2014 film Court focusing on India’s judicial system, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan (2015), tackling the caste divide, and 2018’s Love Sonia telling the story of sex

trafficking in India. “There’s already an appetite for more gritty, realist film-making in India,� says director Zoya Akhtar, “but there’s never enough critique of Indian society happening here.� Akhtar’s latest film, Gully Boy, aims to further the realist narrative of Indian cinema by disrupting its fascination with musical numbers and subverting the system from within – the production stars two of Bollywood’s biggest actors: Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. Gully Boy is a fictionalised account of the burgeoning hip-hop scene in Mumbai. Gully, or “gutter�, rap is a musical sub-genre made by the younger people who live in the sprawling slums of the city.

Kajol’s mood swings if anyone asks

Many moods of Kajol

Kajol most - “Will your cousin Rani Mukerji tie the knot with Aditya Chopra?�

Are you still friend with SRK? It leaves lovely lady thinking

time around!

tries to get happy about “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’’ alright, but certainly not before singing ‘‘Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha.�

how she gained her current

Baba Ramdev’s expert pranayam tips.

"

memory lane and remembers how her initial cine-avatars "

$ %

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Veteran marathi actor Ramesh Bhatkar dies at 70 Veteran Marathi actor Ramesh Bhatkar days,” actor Jaywant Wadkar said.

Ramesh Bhatkar’s last rites died on Monday, after a will be held at 10.30 pm at battle with cancer. He was Shivaji Park.

70. The actor, who was Ramesh Bhatkar was suffering from cancer for known for his roles in the TV more than one and a half series Commander and Hello years, breathed his last Inspector and worked for more at a hospital here. “He than 30 years as an actor in fought bravely as much mainstream Hindi and Marathi as he could. But in the films such as Aai Pahije, Kucch last one month, he was in To Hai and Bhavesh Joshi tremendous pain and we Superhero. all were worried. He was in ICU for the last fifteen

DISCOVER

Profound Wisdom & Divine Beauty

Arbaaz Khan chooses Kareena over Malaika Arora in ‘Dabangg Series’ As the third part of the popular Dabangg franchise will be rolling around March 2019, there have been several reports around who would be doing an item number this time around. While the first part had producer Arbaaz Khan’s ex-wife Malaika Arora gyrating to Munni Badnaam, the second instalment saw Kareena Kapoor Khan dancing to Fevicol Se. Now, for Dabangg 3, Arbaaz has chosen Kareena again, over his estranged wife. Yes, speculations around this had been on the rise since quite some time, but now, the man

has finally confirmed it at a media event.

Reportedly, Kareena too has agreed on the same. We’re all pretty aware that Arbaaz and Malaika marriage boat had been rocked in 2016 and the two had started contemplating on a legal separation, Malaika was nowhere to be seen in the second part too. However, the popularity that Munni Badnaam enjoyed had a different altitude altogether.

Speaking of Kareena Kapoor Khan, she has dance numbers like Marjaani in Billu, Halkat Jawaani in Heroine and so on. Divulging details around Dabangg 3, Arbaaz had told IANS, “A lot of work on Dabangg 3 has been done.

Singer Sonu Nigam hospitalised Playback singer Sonu Nigam has been hospitalised due to low blood pressure, fatigue and minor slip disc.

“Sonu has been advised complete bed rest for the next few days for treatment of low blood pressure, fatigue and minor slip disc.

He is also suffering from tennis elbow in both his arms and is currently undergoing treatment for that as well,” Mr. Sonu’s publicist said while declining to disclose the singer’s whereabouts.

Mr. Sonu, over the last couple of year, has been shuttling between the US and India as well as travelling across the globe for stage

shows.

The 36-year-old singer had teamed up with pop singer Kylie Minogue for the ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ number in ‘Blue’ and ended 2009 with ‘Aal Izz Well’ and ‘Zooby Dooby’ in ‘3 Idiots’ Sources close to him say that Mr. Sonu’s main concern and worry now, is his forthcoming set of tours to be held in Singapore and Israel.

“He is doing everything in his power to get back on his feet as soon as possible,” the publicist said.

Bigg Boss winner Shilpa Shinde joins Congress party Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain actress Shilpa Shinde is all set for her political innings. The Bigg Boss winner joined Congress today in the presence of Sanjay Nirupam, President of Mumbai Congress Committee and party leader Charan Singh Sapra.

Shilpa Shinde feels Congress is the party that can bring a change and would like to see Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister.

According to reports, Shilpa might contest Lok Sabha Elections 2019 from North Mumbai. However, the actress hasn’t confirmed anything yet.

Mumbai: TV actress Shilpa Shinde joins Congress in presence of Sanjay Nirupam, President of Mumbai Congress Committee and party leader Charan Singh Sapra.

Shilpa

Shinde

recently

appeared

on Star Plus comedy show Kanpur Waale Khuranas with Sreesanth and his wife Bhuvneshwari. Looks like the actress got inspired by the former cricketer to join politics. Sreesanth joined Bharatiya Janata Party in 2016.

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Press release

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The Government of Canada provides $7.5M funding for the Surrey Anti-Gang Family Empowerment (SAFE) Program to support at-risk youth in Surrey On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction and the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of Defence, announced $7.5 million in federal funding for the Surrey Anti-Gang Family Empowerment (SAFE) Program.

The SAFE program will include the creation of a Children and Youth at Risk Table that brings together partners on a weekly basis to ensure interventions are coordinated for maximum impact. The program is funded under the National

Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS), which reaches out to youth through schools, community centres and neighbourhood organizations to help steer them away from drugs, gangs and other potentially harmful activities.

The hub of the program will be based in Surrey Centre at the new Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in the Civic Plaza. Partners can collaborate to support children, youth and families. Up to 4,730 high-school-aged young people in the City of Surrey are expected to benefit from this

project The SAFE program was developed out of the findings of the Mayor’s Task Force on Gang Violence Prevention.

MP Sarai was a member of the task force and commented, “As the elected representative for Surrey Centre, my constituents have expressed concerns about our youth and their affiliation with drugs and gangs. I believe this investment is a positive step to ensure that youth have safer options, and this will contribute to safer communities.” The project will be delivered in collaboration with

Options Community Services Society, Pacific Community Resources Society, DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society, Progressive Intercultural Services Society, Surrey Crime Prevention Society, Solid State Industries, Surrey School District 36, Surrey RCMP, Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Ministry of Child and Family Development, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Simon Fraser University, Yo Bro/Yo Girl and other community organizations.

MP Sukh Dhaliwal highlights new funding will benefit students, scholars & researchers to propel their careers Social sciences and humanities research plays an important role in building a healthier, stronger and more prosperous Canada. To create a thriving economy powered by homegrown discoveries and innovations, and for Canada to be world-renowned as a research leader, we need to continue to invest in talented students, scholars and researchers.

Today, Sukh Dhaliwal, Member of Parliament for Surrey-Newton, on behalf of the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, highlighted $48,256 to support talented scholars and researchers at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Sukh Dhaliwal joined grant

recipients at Kwantlen, it is one of several institutions across Canada to benefit from the $141 million investment that Minister Duncan announced on January 30, 2019 that will support close to 3,000 researchers.

Quotes: “Social sciences and humanities research is at the heart of understanding the challenges and opportunities facing our communities and our people. Nurturing young talent in these disciplines is one of the best ways to build a healthier, stronger and more prosperous Canada.”

—The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport “This investment is going to ensure that our best and brightest students and scholars can pursue research that will lead to future innovations in everything from technology to healthcare. It will also ensure that our

NDP’s new regulatory burdens are hurting BC’s businesses BC Liberal MLAs are cautioning that the NDP government has embraced a backwards attitude of increasing – rather than reducing – regulatory burdens in British Columbia, which is bad for business and our economy.

“Since taking office in 2017, the NDP has introduced new regulations across the board – making it harder for businesses of all sizes to operate in our province,” says Shuswap MLA and Jobs Co-Critic Greg Kyllo. “In particular, measures like the new Employer Health Tax and Community Benefits Agreement highlight the NDP’s problematic approach to the issue.”

The Employer Health Tax replaces MSP premiums with a levy on employers – which is complex to administer, particularly for small businesses with limited resources. Business owners also worry they will need to lay off staff, restrict hiring, cut back on staff benefits, or increase prices for customers to cover this new tax. Under the NDP’s Community Benefits Agreement, anyone working on a public-sector

project will have to join a select trade union – making it more difficult to hire workers for these projects.

Richmond-Queensborough MLA and Jobs CoCritic Jas Johal says business owners have told him they are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain workers in B.C. New regulations in areas like childcare and housing will only add to this challenge. “The Speculation Tax is a prime example of an unnecessary bureaucratic burden,” says Johal.

“Not only will this tax not improve affordability, but all homeowners in large urban centres will have to prove to the government they actually live in their home. If they’re away from their home for work, medical, or family reasons, they’ll have to prove that too. I can’t see this being a selling feature for relocating to British Columbia.” Resource industries are also feeling the hit. Cariboo North MLA and Small Business Critic Coralee Oakes points out they’re facing additional regulation thanks to the NDP’s changes to professional reliance and Environmental Assessment processes.

government can continue to make evidence- better place to live. “ — Sukh Dhaliwal, based decisions to make Canada an even Member of Parliament for Surrey-Newton

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Vol. 10 No. 2

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Saturday - February 9, 2019

Tel: 604-591-5423

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

Sales slump could signal tough times ahead for BC realtors

S

low housing market could lead to tough times for some realtors, especially those who have recently entered into the profession, said the president of the Fraser Valley real estate board. The days when all a Vancouver realtor needed was a sign and pen to make a sale may be behind us. “I think it’s going to be tougher for the more-inexperienced realtors, those who are three or four years in,� said John Barbisan. “What they’re used to is not what real estate is typically like.� The 35-year veteran said agents will be forced to be more like “consultants than auctioneers� as they help to connect buyers and sellers. While the Real Estate Council of B.C. hasn’t seen a significant drop in the

number of realtors across the province, there are signs uncertain market conditions are impacting local agents.

According to the council, there were 25,987 licensed real estate professionals in B.C. as of Dec. 31 — a 36-person drop from Sept. 30, although still slightly higher than June 30. The dramatic increase in the number of licensees — from about 21,000 in 2012 to 26,000 in 2018

reater Victoria’s housing market is now “moderately overvalued,� an improvement from its status as being “highly overvalued,� according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. The capital region and Toronto are the two areas among 15 in Canada to see their previous overvaluation rating decreased to moderate from high.

Even so, the degree of overall vulnerability remains high in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Hamilton, the federal agency said Thursday in its quarterly housing

market assessment report. Although those areas remain overvalued, it is easing, which is why Victoria is now holding a moderate rating.

That is because house prices are “moving closer to levels supported by housing market fundamentals such as population, personal disposable income, and interest rates,� CMHC said. The federal body releases quarterly reports examining how many vulnerable markets are within the country. If an area is

— seems to be slowing. The president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said agents must be able to manage sellers’ expectations in a challenging market. “Communication is going to be important,� said Phil Moore. “It’s not like it was two years ago. Properties are sitting longer on the market.�

Housing Matters host Stuart McNish speaks with B.C. Minister of Housing Selina Robinson, opposition critic Sam Sullivan, and Vancouver Sun columnist Dan Fumano

Victoria housing market remains overvalued: CMHC vulnerable, that means it is imbalanced, which occur through overbuilding, overvaluation, overheating, and price acceleration. “We are seeing overvaluation pressures unwinding in Toronto and Victoria, despite the fact that Canada’s overall vulnerability remains high,� said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist.

Braden Batch, a senior analyst for CMHC, said the change in rating took place in the third quarter of last year.

about how different levels of government can find solutions to Metro Vancouver’s housing affordability crisis. Subscribe to Housing Matters on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify. While the board’s membership has grown by about 1,000 members over the last two years, it has declined slightly in recent months. At the same time, home sales in Metro Vancouver have dropped, with about 40-per-cent less sales in January compared with the same month a year earlier. “In my experience, most people give (real estate a try for) four years,� said Moore. “Because our industry is open to part-time, you’ll find that some keep another job for the first two years while they’re learning.�

“The population of young adults, which is a key driver of household formation, increased in the third quarter adding support for house price growth,� he said. “However, the support from population growth was mitigated by a slight decline in disposable income and an increase in mortgage rates.�

Housing sales have been slowing in Greater Victoria from more than a year ago, he said in an interview. However, “What you don’t hear often is that sales are still at about

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

BC gov’t expects sagging real estate market to cut tax revenues

BC gov’t is cutting its revenue estimates because of Vancouver’s slumping real estate market.

This time last year, Victoria counted in its coffers a record amount in home sale taxes, $260 million more than it had been expecting, thanks to a red hot Metro real estate market. In mid-February when it releases its 2019 budget, it’ll be a different story. Vancouver homes are languishing on the market for much longer and sales in January were down almost 40 per cent compared the same month in 2018.

Prices, especially for higher end homes, have been falling, and in some cases, by significant amounts. A house for sale in Vancouver.

Sagging sales and dropping prices will reduce provincial tax revenue. In November, Finance Minister Carole James said the drop in home sales and losses at the Insurance Corp. of B.C.

could together mean a $250 million drop in government revenues. To offset this risk, she was increasing a fund to cushion volatile changes by $600 million.

Five examples of Metro Vancouver

homeowners losing big in a plunging market On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement that it has “been carefully monitoring (Metro) housing prices to see how

the market respond to our housing actions. In the first and second quarterly reports (April 1 though Sept. 30 of 2018), we lowered our estimate for property transfer tax revenues to reflect the moderation we’re seeing.”

The province “made a conscious choice” and “it wanted to throw everything it had at the real estate market to have an impact on prices and sales,” said Steeve Mongrain, professor of economics at Simon Fraser University, adding that housing taxes account for about nine per cent of B.C. government revenues.

He said government revenues will be harder hit by the drop in the number of home sales that can be taxed than by the drop in the sale prices. Aside from provincial taxes, there have also been measures by municipal and federal governments to cool hot housing markets.

Real estate industry poised for a tech disruption in 2019 Real estate agent Shawn Zigelstein remembers a time, just a few years ago, when a printer, scanner and fax machine were the most important tools of his trade.

“I don’t even know the last time I sent a fax, to be honest with you,” laughs Zigelstein, a sales rep with a Royal LePage brokerage in Richmond Hill, Ont. “Oh the dilemmas we used to have were unbelievable. Now our clients can open their phone up, push a few buttons and the [offer] papers are signed.”

Zigelstein says the adoption of technology

in real estate has grown exponentially over the past few years and it’s a trend he thinks will only grow as more options become available and realtors scramble to lure in the millennial market. The agents that are not adapting to this change are going to see their business drop considerably because they can’t adapt fast enough.

“The agents that are not adapting to this change are going to see their business drop considerably because they can’t adapt fast enough,” he said.

From smartphone apps like Loom, which

Real estate market expected to mederate over next 2 years

allows realtors to remotely share screens and presentation slides with clients, to digital signatures that can be verified with phones and tablets, technology is shaping a new way for realtors to do business.

Historically, the real estate industry has been a “laggard” when it comes to embracing technology, says Frank Magliocco, a partner at PwC Canada who specializes in the housing market.

“But I think what you’re going to see now is a fairly significant ramp up in embracing that technology once it becomes more mainstream,” he said.

“It’ll be increasingly important to remain and be competitive in the marketplace. Once you see these technologies prove out, you’ll see more and more adoption.”

Analysis

#106 - 7565 132 St. Surrey, BC 604.572.3005

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the country’s real estate market is expected to moderate over the next two years as the growth in housing prices is expected to slow to more in line with economic fundamentals.In its 2018 housing market outlook released today, the national housing agency projects housing starts and sales are both expected to decline

in 2019 and 2020.It predicts housing starts for single and multi-unit starts will fall to between 193,700 and 204,500 in 2019, while sales are anticipated to be between 478,400 and 497,400 units. Prices are anticipated to range between $501,400 and $521,600.

CMHC says it expects economic indicators

26

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

27

Saturday, February 9, 2019 South Asian Seniors - Share the Experiences of Journey to Canada by participants, February 10th 2019 (Sunday) at Shanti Niketan Hall from 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm.

Vedic Seniors Parivar Center of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults and Seniors, both members and nonmembers also to attend a Valuable Talk Show on sharing the Experiences of Journey to Canada by the members/ participants, to be held on February 10th 2019 (Sunday) from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan Hall of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple 8321 - 140th street Surrey BC. Volunteers will be requested to come forward and everybody is welcome to share the Experiences.Tea and light snacks will be served after the Talk Show is over.

Project funded by Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program for Hindi speaking seniors. Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 South Asian Seniors - Antakshari Hindi Songs Competition Sunday, 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan.

Vedic Seniors Parivar Center of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults, Senior members & nonmembers also to join us for Antakshari Songs Competition with Hindi songs on Sunday from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan hall of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple 8321 - 140th street Surrey BC. The participants will be divided in to two groups, could be male members against female members or combined both.

The game is of ending words of the song sung by the last singer, to be continued by the song by the next singer of the opposite group, if one group fails to sing for the last word of the song then the opponent can sing the song and the group who failed to sing is eliminated, No song is repeated in the game by both groups.

Tea & snacks will be served to all participants after the game is over. Project funded by Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program for Hindi speaking seniors.

Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 for further information.

For more Updates, Visit our Website

www.theasianstar.com

Vancouver boasts 15 per cent drop in vacancies under Empty Homes Tax The number of Vancouver homes declared vacant has dropped 15 per cent since the implementation of the Empty Homes Tax, according to numbers released by the city Wednesday.

There were 922 properties declared vacant by the Feb. 4 deadline, compared to the 1,085 declared vacant by the deadline last year.

Officials said just over half of those properties now occupied are being rented out to tenants.

“The year-overyear numbers are very encouraging,” Mayor Kennedy Stewart said in a news release.

“The main objective of Vancouver’s Empty Homes Tax is to influence

property owners to put their empty properties on the rental market and the data shows that is happening.”

The Empty Homes Tax took effect in 2017, and homeowners were given until March 5, 2018 to declare their homes as occupied, exempt or vacant.

People with vacant homes are dinged with a hefty tax of one per cent of their property’s assessed taxable value, resulting in $38 million in revenue for the city in the first year.

There are a number of exemptions, including for people who live in the city part-time for work, and other homeowners can avoid the tax if they rent out their property for just six months of the year.

The neighbourhoods with the highest number of vacant or exempt properties in 2017 were Shaughnessy and the West End. The Sunset neighbourhood in South Vancouver had the lowest number of exemptions and vacancies.

Condos accounted for 60 per cent of exempt and vacant properties that year, while single-family homes accounted for 34 per cent and multi-family homes made up two per cent.

Is a lack of foreign buyers to blame for plummeting home prices? anuary real estate numbers show further softening of the Metro Vancouver real estate market, and nowhere is that effect more dramatic than on Vancouver’s West Side. One realtor says a lack of foreign buyers is why homeowners who bought in the pricey part of the town a few years ago are now selling for huge losses.

“The West Side housing market…became very reliant of foreign capital flowing in,” said Andrew Hasman, the realtor for an owner who finally managed to sell their 1920s character home after more than a year on the market. “All of those

buyers have kind of hit the sidelines and without those buyers, prices can only go one way and that’s down.”

The property in question was first listed for $2.7 million. It then dropped to $2.4 million and then $2.2 million. Hasman said the home finally sold a couple of weeks ago for

less than $2 million—$612,000 less than in the city for years. the owner paid for it 20 months ago.

While devaluing has been the A different home located nearby is most dramatic on the West Side, the trend extends right across Metro Vancouver, with most detached homes selling for well under their assessed value.

Townhome and condo prices have fallen too. In January, asking prices across the region were down an average of 7.2 per cent from last summer. The number of sales was also down 39.3 per cent currently listed at $2.5 million. In June from January 2017 with just 2016, it sold for $4 million. over 1,100 homes sold in Metro Prices dropping across the region Last Vancouver last month—a month, a detached fixer-upper in East 10-year-low for the region.

Vancouver was listed for just shy of $1 million, a price that has been unheard of

28

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Richmond man pleads guilty of murder his wife & guest in Coquitlam home A Richmond man pleades guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend and a friend of hers who was visiting from Israel.

According to search warrant documents, at the time of the July 2015 slayings, Maurio “Mo” Salehi had recently broken up with Iryna Gabalis, 56, and was upset that her friend, Dmitri Faktorovski, had arrived in Vancouver.

On Monday, Salehi pleaded guilty in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster to the second-degree murders of Gabalis and Faktorovski.

The pleas by Maurio Salehi, who was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder, came after a judge recently issued several rulings dealing with the search warrant.

Attached to one of the rulings is information to obtain a search warrant for Salehi’s Richmond

residence, including access to his cellphone.

The document notes that a co-worker of Gabalis told police that Gabalis had told her that she had observed Salehi hiding behind a pillar at the Vancouver airport on July 14, 2015, when she went to pick up the Israeli man.

Gabalis did not confront Salehi as she wished to spend time with friend Faktorovski, says the document.

On July 16, 2015, Gabalis’ son went to his mother’s home at 1623 Alpine Lane in Coquitlam when he was unable to contact her.

In a statement to police, the son said he couldn’t get into the home at first because his key didn’t work in the door, but that he eventually gained access through an open window.

He called out to his mother and went upstairs and saw blood and a dead man at the

top of the stairs. The man was later identified as Faktorovski.

The victim’s left thumb was almost cut off and there was a deep gash in his back from an “edged” weapon.

The body of the mother, who was dressed in a nightgown that was covered in blood, was found later in the master bedroom. Her legs were tangled in bed sheets.

According to a workplace assistant of Gabalis, the mother had been in love with Salehi, but felt that he brought a “lot of baggage” to their relationship, which began after they met through an online dating site.

Maurio Salehi was disabled from a car accident, had metal in his spine, and needed

Two bodies were found in Coquitlam’s Westwood Plateau home in summer 2015.

surgery and drugs that he could not pay for.

The search warrant document also notes that while Salehi had no prior criminal convictions, he did have 32 police record files related to mental health, harassment and violence-related investigations.

Those files included an incident in August 2008 in which he allegedly punched his wife in the face, leaving her a black eye, and kicked her. He was arrested and charged with assault, but the charge was later stayed.

Three years later, a friend of Salehi’s ex-wife reported that he was allegedly harassing her as he believed that the friend was the catalyst for his divorce.

Crime Stoppers “MOST WANTED Crime Stoppers “MOST WANTED” is a weekly fan out service based on information provided by police investigators who need public assistance in making our communities safer by identifying individuals involved in committing crimes. If you have any information regarding the individuals listed here, please contact Crime Stoppers anonymously. You could be eligible for a reward of up to $2000 upon arrest and charge.

You will never be asked your name or have to appear in court.

Please distribute this information widely. ********** Subject: 1 Name: NAPESIS, Desmond, Age: 33 Height: 5’9” (175 cm), Weight: 180 (82 kg), Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown, Marks: tattoos on both arms and neck Wanted: Canada wide parole, Warrant in effect: Feb. 4, 2019 ********** Subject: 2 Name: SEPASS, Christopher Age: 32 Height: 5’10” (178 cm) Weight: 160 (72 kg), Hair: Black Eyes: Brown Wanted: Possession for purpose of trafficking Warrant in effect: Feb. 5, 2019 ********** Subject: 3 Name: SMITH, Cory Eldon Age: 26 Height: 5’7” (168 cm) Weight: 180 (82 kg) Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown Marks: Tattoo on throat Wanted: Assault, mischief, cause disturbance Warrant in effect: Feb. 5, 2019

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Former ISIS sex slaves sheltered in Canada threatened with phone calls, texts Former ISIS sex slaves, who were given sanctuary in Canada, are again living in fear after being bombarded by voicemails and texts threatening rape and murder.

Five women and one 14-year-old girl have filed reports with York Regional Police.

The victims are all Yazidis who survived an ISIS-led genocide in Iraq in 2014.

They have handed over to police recordings of the phone calls and screen grabs of the texts, which reference the Islamic State and include pictures of beheadings and armed Jihadis.

W5 has listened to the phone calls. In one, a man laughs as he says in Arabic: “I am the man who f****d you. I am your rapist.” A second caller denounces Yazidis as devil worshippers. And a third caller makes a graphic reference to rape.

The callers appear to have Iraqi, North African and Gulf state accents. York Regional Police have assembled a team to try to track where the calls are originating.

“Our investigators are going to work

through phone records, information obtained by victims and any background as to why this may be occurring,” said Const. Andy Pattenden. W5 sources say the York Regional Police intelligence unit and CSIS are also aware of the threats, which began two weeks ago.

One of the phone calls came from a 1-800 number and another from an Alberta telephone exchange. Police say with “spoofing” apps, the calls could have been placed from anywhere in the world.

Gathering at a home in Richmond Hill, Ont., the women who survived so much trauma back in their homeland are once again in the grips of terror. Adiba, who was bought and sold six different times by ISIS fighters in 2014, says: “We came here for safety, but after these threats I don’t feel safe.

We want to live without threats and fear.”

Another, Milkeya, says : “I am scared. My son is four years old, he is scared.” Fearful that ISIS will come back and get them.

Quebec’s minister considers Muslim women’s head scarf ‘symbol of oppression’ Quebec’s new minister responsible for the status of women faced criticism on Wednesday after saying she considers the hijab to be a symbol of oppression.

Speaking to reporters after being named to the portfolio Tuesday, Isabelle Charest said the Muslim head scarf does not correspond to her values and she believes it is “not something women should be wearing.”

Quebec Junior Education Minister and newly nominated as responsible for the Status of Women portfolio Isabelle Charest said she objects to the hijab because it represents a command for women to cover themselves.

Quebec Junior Education Minister and newly nominated as responsible for the Status of Women portfolio Isabelle Charest said she objects to the hijab because it represents a command for women to cover themselves.

“It does have, at some point, some significance about oppression of women, and the fact that they have to cover themselves, and for me it’s not in my values,” Charest said.

When asked to clarify, she said she objects to the hijab because it represents a requirement for women to cover themselves.

“It’s the fact that you have to wear something, so it does command an action for the women, and I think women should be free to wear whatever they want,” she said.

Charest, a former Olympic short track speed skater, was elected for the first time on

Oct. 1. She is also junior education minister.

Her statements came as the Coalition Avenir Quebec government prepares to introduce legislation prohibiting public servants in positions of authority — including teachers — from wearing visible religious symbols including the hijab, kippa and turban.

Amira Elghawaby, an Ottawabased human rights advocate, called Charest’s comments disappointing and potentially harmful to Muslim women.

“Whenever we see political officials begin to talk in a way that gives credence to an idea that Muslim women should be treated as second-class citizens, that we don’t have the capacity to think for ourselves, can’t make our own decisions and need the state to tell us what’s suitable dress, that’s very dangerous,” said Elghawaby, who wears a hijab.

“It sends the signal to the broader population that we don’t deserve respect, don’t deserve to be treated with dignity and that we don’t deserve the same freedoms everyone else enjoys.”

Members of the opposition also jumped on her comments, which were described as “clumsy” and “divisive.” Pierre Arcand, interim leader of the Opposition Liberals, said that tolerance and calm are needed in the debate prompted by the Coalition government.

“These are subjects that call for deep reflection,” he said

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Controversial Gatineau city councillor questions whether the Earth is round A Quebec municipal councillor who was already under fire for denying the existence of Islamophobia is drawing new scrutiny for recent comments questioning whether the Earth is round.

Nathalie Lemieux of Gatineau, Que., created controversy last week after she told a reporter the word “Islamophobia’’ doesn’t exist for her. She was stripped of her title as deputy mayor but remains a councillor in Quebec’s fourth largest city.

Nathalie Lemieux of Gatineau, Que. created a controversy last week after she told a reporter the word “Islamophobia’’ doesn’t exist for her.

Nathalie Lemieux of Gatineau, Que. created a controversy last week after she told a reporter the word “Islamophobia’’ doesn’t exist for her.

(Facebook)

In an interview Tuesday, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin acknowledged Lemieux’s comments about Islamophobia could be harmful.

“Yes, it could affect the (city’s) reputation, but it’s only one person,” he said by phone, calling Gatineau “a model of integration.” He said the city’s swift action to dissociate itself from Lemieux’s comments would limit the damage. “I don’t think it will hurt much,” he said.

The mayor declined to comment on another eye-opening remark from Lemieux, reported this week by Le Droit newspaper.

In an online comment two weeks ago, Lemieux suggested there is a conspiracy to eliminate evidence that the Earth is flat.

“Who decided that the Earth is round, and why should we believe it?” she asked.

Kingston youth facing terror charges held at least one more week A youth facing terrorismrelated charges in Kingston, Ont., will be back in court next week following a brief video appearance Monday.

The RCMP charged the youth last month with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity and with counselling someone to use an explosive or other lethal device to cause death or serious bodily injury.

A date for a bail hearing was expected to be set on Monday, but the court office said the case was instead put over until Feb. 12.

The youth cannot be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice

Act. Another man was arrested at the same time as the youth but was released the next day without charges.

The police, who began investigating in December following a tip from the FBI, said last Friday that no actual device was ever planted in the alleged plot. No target was identified and no time had been chosen, they said. But there was an “attack plan” that needed to be disrupted, they said.

Police said a potentially explosive substance -- “precursor elements” for a bomb -- was found in a search after the arrests,

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NATIONAL

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Ottawa moving up construction of navy’s new support ships in Vancouver In a move likely to send shock waves through Quebec and its shipbuilding industry, the federal government has decided to speed up construction of one of its permanent new naval support vessels.

The government’s multibillion-dollar shipbuilding plan has long called for Seaspan Marine in Vancouver to build an ocean-science vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard before turning to the navy’s two new support ships.

In a move that will likely send shockwaves through Quebec and its shipbuilding industry, the federal government is planning to speed up construction of two permanent support vessels for the navy.

In a move that will likely send shockwaves through Quebec and its shipbuilding

industry, the federal government is planning to speed up construction of two permanent support vessels for the navy.

But the federal procurement department says the government will finish one of the support ships — which carry food, ammunition and fuel for fleets at sea — before moving onto the science vessel.

The second joint support ship, as the permanent vessels are called, will be built last.

The government last year approved a plan for Seaspan to start some advance work on one of the joint support ships as the shipyard waited for the coast guard to finish designing the science vessel.

The decision to now go ahead and completely finish the first ship will “build

Canadian border more of a terror threat than Mexican border for USA: report It was about 2 a.m. on a moonless October night in 1987 when the police chief of a small northern Vermont town spotted a man carrying a black bag and walking down the railroad tracks from Canada toward a waiting van about a mile south of the border.

The man turned out to be linked to a Lebanese extremist group. And in his bag, later recovered from a ditch, were a ski mask and a propane-canister bomb.

“If it had been two minutes later, they would have been in the van and gone on their way, and I’d have never known the difference,” recalled Richford’s longretired police chief, Richard Jewett, who won numerous awards for apparently foiling an attack. “I guess luck was on my side.”

Whether it was luck or not, Jewett beat the odds in a way. While U.S. President Donald Trump, in arguing for a border wall, has said repeatedly that terrorists are slipping across from Mexico, known cases of extremists entering the U.S. through its land borders to the north or the south are exceedingly rare.

Even then, State Department reports on terrorism have expressed more concern about the Canadian border than the Mexican one because Canada, unlike Mexico, has been home to “violent extremists inspired by terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaida and their affiliates and adherents,” according to a 2017 paper.

A study issued last month by the libertarian Cato Institute found that between 1975 and 2017, seven people from “special interest” countries – states tied at least loosely to terrorism – were convicted of planning attacks on U.S. soil. Four of those individuals entered illegally from Canada, none from Mexico.

The only known terrorists who crossed illegally from Mexico in the 42-year span covered by the Cato study were three ethnic Albanians from Macedonia who came as children with their parents in 1984 and, in their 20s, were arrested in a foiled plot to attack the Army’s Fort Dix in New Jersey, in 2007.

Liberal government decides low-income children will receive $500 less than originally promised The Liberal government has quietly announced it’s tweaking the Canada Child Benefit, a change that will cause low-income families to see their CCB cheques lose close to $500 in value (per child) over the next four years.

By 2020, low-income families will only effectively earn an extra $6.50 each month in 2016 dollars compared to what they had received through various benefits offered by the old Harper government.

This despite the Liberals touting the CCB as an improvement on Harper’s plan – and one that would “lift 315,000 Canadian children out of poverty” too.

They’re the reason we introduced the Canada Child Benefit.

That’s because a measure tabled by the government on Tuesday confirms the CCB will be tied to inflation, a move designed to stop the value of the benefits from eroding “over the long term”: “Included in Budget Implementation Act,

2016, No. 2 is a measure that will ensure the new Canada Child Benefit (CCB) grows in line with inflation as of July 1, 2020 so that its real value is not eroded over the long term.”

Inflation usually causes prices to increase at a rate of 2%. When the amount families receive is the same year after year, not raising the CCB by 2% each year leaves you with the same end result as a 2% cut.

This problem was previously flagged by the Parliamentary Budget Office, who noted that the CCB wouldn’t keep pace with inflation.

And researchers at the Caledon Institute wondered why the Liberals would pat themselves on the back for a policy that leads low-income families back to square one: “We are at a loss to explain why the federal Liberal government would make such significant progress in assisting lowerincome families with children and then quietly unravel much of the improvement they were so proud to announce …

Auditor General Michael Ferguson remembered as ’passionate fighter for accountability’ Michael Ferguson, Canada’s auditor general for the past seven years, died of cancer on Saturday at the age of 60.

Fergusonpassed awayin Ottawa surrounded by his wife, Georgina, and sons, Malcolm and Geoffrey, his office said in a statement.

“Mr. Ferguson will be remembered by all those who had the pleasure of knowing him as a humble, compassionate and thoughtful man,” his office’s statement said.

“He cared deeply about conducting audits that brought value to the public service, always for the greater good of Canadians.”

Ferguson, who was appointed auditor general by then prime minister Stephen Harper in November 2011, gained widespread respect for his hard-hitting reports about government spending.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose own government has often been in Ferguson’s crosshairs, said the New Brunswick native “devoted his life to public service,” both in

his home province and across the country.

“We will remember him for his tireless dedication to promote a transparent, open government that is accountable to Canadians,” Trudeau said in a statement.

“His important work over the past seven years … has helped strengthen our democracy and maintain the integrity that Canadians expect from our public institutions.”

Ferguson had been undergoing treatment for cancer since last November, his office said, although a spokeswoman said he had not taken leave from his duties.

“He was still very much involved in the management of the office. This is actually quite sudden,” said Francoise Guyot, the office’s director of external communications.

Craig Scott, a university professor who also serves as an adviser to the auditor general, said he Saturday he was “stunned” by the news, adding he had met with Ferguson in November.

Saturday, February 9, 2019

NDP affordable housing motion swiftly defeated An NDP motion calling on the federal government to build 500,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years was defeated soundly Tuesday by Liberals and Conservatives. The motion, moved last week

by NDP MP Sheri Benson, asked the federal government to commit in its upcoming 2019 budget to complete 250,000 of those units before 2024. A statement released by the NDP after the vote chastised the government for being unwilling to adopt an NDP plan “aimed to bring immediate relief ” to Canadians impacted by the housing crisis.

“If the Liberal government made different choices, we could bring relief to all Canadians and start building new affordable housing

units in this year’s budget,” Benson stated in the release. “Mr. Trudeau calls the housing situation a crisis; but when it’s time for him to act with urgency, he fails to do so.”

Last year, Liberal MPs defeated a similar NDP motion that adopted language used by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that “housing rights are human rights.”

The federal government announced a 10year $40-billion national housing strategy in November 2017 with ambitious targets that included reducing homelessness by 50 per cent. Most of the money will flow after the next election, a technical detail that has encouraged the NDP to push the government to implement immediate measures.

Councillor wants local approach to mortgage rules over national ‘stress test’ A notice of motion being presented this week which asks Ottawa and the province to consider the adoption of a regional approach to lending rules, over the current “mortgage stress test,” is earning some support among councillors. The motion — being brought forth by Coun. George Chahal and which is scheduled to go before council at Monday’s meeting — says the existing nationwide mortgage rules make it more difficult for Albertans to buy homes. The mortgage stress test, which came into effect last year, is meant to ensure homebuyers can still afford their mortgages even if interest rates rise substantially. It aims to reduce the amount of

debt homeowners and financial institutions can take on and applies to all Canadian homebuyers — even those who make a down payment of 20 per cent or more. The federal rule created a minimum qualifying rate, or a “stress test” for mortgages, requiring lenders to enhance their loan-to value limits to be dynamic and responsive to risk. It “was created to deal with the unstable real estate markets in Vancouver and Toronto where red flags have been raised in recent years regarding the combination of unsustainable price appreciation and high-debt ratios,” Chahal’s notice of motion states.

Feds bundle up in $45,000 worth of Canada Goose products Taxpayers have been on the hook for at least $44,603.51 in purchases of Canada Goose products by the federal government over the last three years. Federal departments and agencies submitted what they’ve spent on Canada Goose items under the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in response to a question on the order paper by Conservative MP Ben Lobb.

Canada Goose’s headquarters are in Toronto. Many of the luxury outerwear brand’s parkas cost upwards of $1,000.

Parkas, pants and other Canada Goose products bought by the government of Canada between Nov. 4, 2015 and Dec. 6, 2018, the end date of Lobb’s inquiry, were mostly for government employees, but in the Department of Finance’s case they were gifts.

Finance Canada spent $5,085 on 20 vests to give to the heads of the delegation who attended the meeting of the G7 Finance

Ministers in Whistler, B.C. last May. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada had the highest expenditures on Canada Goose products of any government entity, having paid $17,530.52 for 19 parkas, 12 pants and three sets of overalls, which it bought for its employees in regional offices “in the North where cold weather conditions can be extreme,” according to its response.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which includes the Canadian Coast Guard, paid $9,635.48 for Canada Goose products during the same time frame. It lists each of its purchases as “protective clothing.”

The Public Health Agency bought seven parkas for $6,789.01. They were chosen based on how well insulated they are. The jackets are kept in the agency’s office and are used by staff in the winter, according to its response to Lobb’s question.

Federal Liberal minister Bains refuses Ontario’s request to drop retaliatory tariffs on US trade Ottawa dismissed a call from Ontario’s economic development minister Monday to drop retaliatory tariffs against the United States, saying doing so would mean “unilateral surrender’’ to the Americans. The federal government applied tariffs on $16.6-billion worth of American imports of steel, aluminum and other products after the U.S. imposed steel and aluminum levies last year.

Ontario’s Economic Development Minister Todd Smith had said earlier on Monday that the tariffs are hurting industries and workers in both countries, and if Canada dropped its countermeasure tariffs the U.S. could drop theirs.

Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains rejected the suggestion, saying in a statement that his government has been hard at work pressuring the Americans to end the trade dispute.

The reciprocal tariffs are critical to

pressuring the Americans to end this dispute once and for all.Navdeep Bains “The Ford government’s call for Canada to unilaterally and unconditionally remove its countertariffs would equal unilateral surrender to the Americans,’’ Bains wrote. “The reciprocal tariffs are critical to pressuring the Americans to end this dispute once and for all.’’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has discussed the tariffs over the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump and Finance Minister Bill Morneau has met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Bains said the last time any Ontario official visited Washington was five months ago. “While we’re standing up against illegal U.S. tariffs and supporting steel and aluminum workers in Ontario, Doug Ford’s government is nowhere to be seen,’’ Bains wrote. “We’re not aware of any efforts by the Ontario government to persuade any

NATIONAL

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INDIA

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Rahul Gandhi challenges PM Modi for 10 minutes debate over Rafale scandal & Econony Congress party president Rahul Gandhi mounted a double-barreled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS on Thursday, saying the Hindutva outfit wanted to control the country and its institutions from Nagpur through remote control. Addressing the AICC minority convention, Gandhi called Modi a ‘darpok (coward)’ and challenged the PM to a 10-minute debate on issues such as the economy, Rafale deal and national security.

“Constitution is the battlefield on which this election is being fought. RSS wants to run the country from Nagpur. Narendra Modi is the face, Mohan Bhagwat is the remote control,” the Congress chief said

while addressing the gathering at Delhi’s JLN Stadium. Amid shouts of ‘chowkidar hi chor hai’ from the crowd, Gandhi said nowadays fear was writ large on Modi’s face. “I know his (Modi) character after fighting him for five years. He is a coward. When someone stands up to him, he runs away,” he said.

Asserting that the image of PM Modi was “finished”, Gandhi said the Congress had torn to shreds his reputation and credibility.

“It used to be said 5 years ago that he will rule for the next 15 years. Congress has torn to shreds his reputation and credibility. He now knows you can’t rule India by dividing people,” the Congress chief said in his speech in Hindi.

Walmart may exit Flipkart as tough new FDI rules bite: Morgan Stanley The US-based brokerage firm Morgan Stanley has indicated that retail giant Walmart may exit Flipkart amid the tough changes the Indian government has brought in with the ecommerce Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules.

In a February 4 report, the firm said that “an exit is likely, not completely out of the question, with the Indian ecommerce market becoming more complicated”. On January 31, the freshly renamed Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), rejected requests by leading ecommerce giants — Flipkart and Amazon — to extend the February 1 deadline

for the changes advised in the Press Note 2 of 2018 series on FDI policy in ecommerce.PN 2 of 2018 primarily targets the following conditions for receiving FDI in ecommerce activities (in the marketplace model): control over inventory by the provider of the marketplace platformequity participation by the provider of the marketplace platform in the sellers that are selling on such platform fair and non-discriminatory dealings by the marketplace platform with such sellers exclusivity arrangements between such platform and sellers.

PM Modi lashes out opposition parites, saying ‘people don’t want ‘maha-milavat’ (adultrated) government’ Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s Address in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Congress over a host of issues and alleged that those who imposed Emergency, “bullied” the judiciary and insulted the Army were levelling allegations against him of destroying institutions. In his almost two-hour long address, the prime minister also fired back at the Congress over the Rafale issue, which has been repeatedly raised by its chief Rahul Gandhi. PM Modi alleged that the grand old party did not want the Indian Air Force to be strong and asked “which companies are they bidding for that they are acting so shamefully”.

“Congress does not want our Air Force to become powerful. I am levelling a serious allegation,” the prime minister said in his address in Lok Sabha. His retort came hours after Gandhi, at a Congress event in Delhi,

described him as a “darpok” (coward) and dared him to a five-minute face-toface debate on issues such as Rafale and national security. “Congress imposed Emergency, but they say Modi is destroying institutions.

Congress insults Army, calls the Army chief a ‘goonda’ but they say Modi is destroying institutions,” the PM said in his marathon reply.

He also coined new acronyms for ‘BC’ and ‘AD’–the two time periods to take a swipe at the Congress and said the opposition party has known only two phases–‘Before Congress’ and ‘After Dynasty’.

Taking potshots at the massive opposition unity rally held in Kolkata recently, PM Modi said people do not want a “mahamilavat” (highly adulterated) government as they have seen how the NDA government which has a majority can deliver. Congress says will abolish Triple Talaq law if voted to power “People do not want a ‘mahamilavat’ (adulterated) government of those who

Fire breaks out in Delhi’s Metro hospital More than 60 patients and other people were evacuated after a fire broke out in Noida’s Metro Hospital on Thursday, prompting the district administration to launch a probe into the incident. The fire, which started at around 11.45am on the third floor of the hospital at a busy intersection in Noida’s Sector 12, was doused after 2pm by the fire safety department of Noida Police.

At least ten fire tenders and several personnel of Noida Police were engaged in the evacuation process of the patients along with the staff of Metro Hospital for over two hours. “There were over 60 admitted patients at the time of the incident and all persons including staff and other personnel have been successfully evacuated without any

casualty or injury. There have been losses in terms of infrastructure destruction in the fire,” the hospital’s spokesperson Chhaya Malhotra said. All the evacuated patients were shifted to another branch of Metro Hospital in Sector 11, which is 500 metres away.

The fire tenders had a difficult time navigating through the congested lanes as the Sector 12 intersection saw the huge presence of onlookers and congestion in traffic. “We received information around 12.20pm that a fire has broken out in the Metro Hospital at Sector 12 and as many as 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. All police and administration senior officials also reached the spot and around 4550 persons were rescued without any casualty,” a spokesperson for Noida Police said.

CPI criticizes Mamata Banerjee over developments in Kolkata the CPI criticized the Center and the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, for developments subsequent to the IWC’s attempt to interrogate the Kolkata police commissioner in a fund scam and demanded a transparent investigation of the Ponzi schemes. One day after Banerjee ended his three-day dharna in Calcutta in protest at the action of the IWC, the ICC Secretary General, Sudhakar Reddy, accused her of trying to turn the problem into a crisis involving the relations between the center and state. He said that both action and reaction were not good for democracy.

Referring to the NDA government, he alleged that there had been cases before the elections against leaders, including Samajwadi Partys Akhilesh Yadav, the head of BSP Mayawati, the former leader of the JNU student union, Kanhaiya Kumar. The central government should stop using CBI, the Directorate of Compliance against political opponents, told reporters. Reddy alleged that the political opponents of the BJP, including the president of the Congress Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, were accused in one case or another. On the other hand, there was no

RBI surprises with rate cut, changes stance to ‘Neutral’ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut repo rate by 25 bps to 6.25% from 6.5% on expectation of inflation staying within its target range, a move that may translate into lower monthly installments for home and other loans. The Monetary Policy Committee has changed its policy stance to ‘neutral’ from ‘calibrated tightening’ earlier. The cut in benchmark interest rate is seen as a move that would result in lower cost of borrowing for the banks that are expected to transmit the same to individuals and corporates.

In the first policy review under Governor Shaktikanta Das, the six-member Monetary

Policy Committee voted 4:2 in favour of the rate cut, while the decision to change policy stance was unanimous.

As regards the reduction in the policy repo rate, Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia, Dr. Pami Dua, Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra and Shri Shaktikanta Das voted in favour of the decision. Dr. Chetan Ghate and Dr. Viral V. Acharya voted to keep the policy rate unchanged. Chetan Ghate, Viral Acharya have voted for status quo on repo rate.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, “Voted 4-2 in favour of rate cut, unanimously votes to change policy stance, MPC noted

PUNJAB

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Rahul & Priyanka can make great team, says CM Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said “Congress president Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka can make a “great team” and would “wipe out” the Modi government in upcoming elections”, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh claimed on Thursday.

Trashing allegations of the Congress promoting dynastic politics, he said, “The people vote for individuals, not for dynasty.”

Attributing the Congress victories in recent assembly elections states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattishgarh to

Rahul Gandhi’s efforts, he said the party president has “evolved greatly” as a leader.

Describing Rahul Gandhi as “extremely receptive with a deep understanding of issues” facing the country, he said the Congress party president would make an excellent prime minister.

Singh made the remarks, while speaking at a media house conclave, said an official release.

In contrast to his mother, who used to listen and mull over the issues, Rahul

New Director General of Punjab Police appointed Dinkar Gupta, a 1987 batch IPS officer, was on Thursday appointed the Director General of Punjab Police. His appointment was cleared by the Chief Minister on Thursday morning. He succeeds Suresh Arora, who had been on an extension after his retirement on September 30 last year.

A decorated officer, Gupta is the seniormost of the three officers, all of the same batch, to be empanelled for appointment to the top post by the UPSC earlier this week. In his previous stint, Gupta was posted as Director General of Police, Intelligence, Punjab, which

NRI Gurinder Khalsa announces entry into US politics Weeks after receiving the prestigious Rosa Parks Trailblazer Award, eminent Indian American Sikh Gurinder Sikh Khalsa has decided to enter electoral politics.

“An interest in public policy based on my past experiences, along with the desire to give back to my community, are among the prevailing factors as to my decision to

Sikh man reveals moment he was detained at the airport over his Kirpan A man who was detained at Gatwick Airport for carrying a religious ‘dagger’ called a ‘Kirpan’ has called for more education on why it’s important that Sikhs carry one. Jagmeet Singh was questioned by security staff while waiting for his family, who were on a flight, after a member of the public had reported a man carrying a knife. Mr Singh, from Wolverhampton, has called for more training for staff after he was detained by airport security staff.

He said: “I can see if there was a concealed weapon of some sort. and someone was acting dodgy in any way, but I’m literally a family man picking up my young family.” The Kirpan is carried

by Sikhs as a symbol of faith, however, the airport have said that it is down to managers’ discretion on decisions about carrying a Kirpan and blades up to 6cm (2.6in). Gatwick highlighted Department for Transport guidance which said airport managers had “the discretion to prohibit any article which, in their view might be used or adapted for causing injury or the incapacitation of a person”.

Body found near drain, Police says property dispute led to NRI’s murder A 53-year-old NRI from UK was allegedly murdered on Mothanwali link road, Singhawala village near Moga district, police officials said. Man’s body was found strangled near a drain. A local farmer, Jasvir Singh resident of Mothanwali village, found the body lying near the drain and informed the police. Police officials reached the spot for investigation. The man was identified as Sukhdev Singh, originally from Ghal Kalan village. Paramjit Kaur, wife of Gurdev Singh, a resident of Ghal Kalan village, identified the body of Sukhdev Singh claiming that Sukhdev was her brother-in-law. She said Sukhdev Singh had been living in UK for past 25 years and had come in Punjab for a small stay about three months. Her husband Gurdev Singh, who is brother of Sukhdev Singh, had been living in UAE for past few years.

Paramjit stated that she went to her parent’s house at Kokri Kalan village leaving behind her brother-in-law at home. When she came back she found that the room of Sukhdev Singh was locked from outside. She inquired about him from neighbours and later on coming to know about a body lying in the hospital went there. She found that the body was of her brother-in-law. After the postmortem examination, the body was handed over to family members.

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run for office,” Singh told his supporters in Indianapolis on Wednesday after announcing his plans to run for City Council of Fishers.

A resident of the Fishers community in Indiana for over a decade, Khalsa is a prominent business leader, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who has worked with

involved the direct supervision of Punjab State Intelligence Wing, State Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU).

An experienced and distinguished officer, Gupta was empanelled on April 26, 2018 for appointment to Additional Director General-level post at the Centre--one out of the 20 1987-batch IPS officers to be so empanelled, and the only one from Punjab. He did an eight-year stint on central deputation with the MHA, from June 2004 to July 2012, where he held many sensitive assignments, including Head of the Dignitary Protection Division public service leaders and organisations across the state and nation. “I want to be a part of giving back through public service,” he said according to a press release issued on Wednesday. Asked why he decided now was the time to run for council, Singh responded, “I have met many trailblazers who have made a difference in the lives of others through their

36

INDIA

Saturday, February 9, 2019

US approves sale of missile defence systems for Air India US agreed to sell two state-of-the-art missile defence systems to Air India One for an estimated cost of USD 190 million, a move that will enhance the security of planes flying the prime minister and the president.

According to the Pentagon, the sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the US by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship.

The Trump administration approved purchase of the two systems known as Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCAM) and SelfProtection Suites (SPS) for an estimated cost of USD 190 million, the US Defence Security

Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a notification to the Congress on Wednesday.

The US decision came after the Indian government recently made request for LAIRCAM SPS, given the highlevel threat to the prime minister and the president.

The defence systems, which would bring security of Air India One on par with that of Air Force One, would be installed in two Boeing 777 Head-of-State aircraft, the Pentagon said.

Robert Vadra questioned for nine hours in money laundering case Businessman and Rahul Gandhi’s brotherin-law Robert Vadra questioned for second straight day in connection with money laundering case, media reported. This is first time Rober Vadra appeared before any investigating agency in connection with corruption accusations against him. Robert Vadra left the ED office at Jamnagar House in Central Delhi on Thursday night after nine hours of questioning. On Wednesday, Vadra was questioned for more than five hours.

Quoting unidentified officials, PTI reported that Vadra was required for questioning

on Thursday to answer more questions on alleged purchase of immovable assets in the United Kingdom. Vadra’s lawyer said the businessman has answered every question.

“All charges against him are wrong,” Suman Jyoti Khaitan told reporters. “We will cooperate with the agency 100%. He will come whenever he is called.” Last week, the Patiala House Court in Delhi granted Vadra interim protection from arrest till February 16 in the money laundering case and told him to join the investigation on Wednesday.

India successfully launches 40th communication satellite India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully launched by European launch services provider – Arianespace rocket from French Guiana in the early hours of Wednesday. “It gives me great pleasure on the successful launch of GSAT-31 spacecraft on board Ariane-5, this is the third mission for ISRO in 2019,” Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Director S Pandian said at Kourou soon after the launch. Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël tweeted: “2019 is off to a roaring start for Arianespace! Flight #VA247, carrying Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 and GSAT-31, is

a confirmed success that underscores our leadership position in the geostationary launch market.” Weighing about 2,535 kg, the GSAT-31 will provide continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites.

The satellite derives its heritage from ISROs earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series, the space agency said, adding that it provides Indian mainland and island coverage.

This satellite will augment the Ku-band transponder capacity in Geostationary Orbit, ISRO said.

It also provides wide beam coverage to facilitate communication over large oceanic region, comprising large parts of Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, using a wide band transponder.

10 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh, weapons recovered At least 10 Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Thursday, the police said. The encounter took place around 11 am in a forest in Bhairamgarh police station area, when a joint team of the Special Task Force (STF) and the District

Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an antiNaxal operation, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said.

“So far, the bodies of 10 Naxals along with 11 weapons have been recovered from the spot,” he said. A search operation is still under way in the area, he added.

Girl gang-raped in front of father in Bihar In a shocking incident, a teenage girl was gang-raped in front of her father by six youths in a village in Bihar’s Kishanganj district, police said on Thursday.

According to police officials, the 19-yearold victim lodged a police complaint on Wednesday that six youths of her village under Kodhowadi police station knocked at her door on Tuesday night asking for water to drink, but forcibly entered her home and dragged her outside. Her complaint said they took her to a deserted field near her house and

gang-raped her in front of her father, who was taken hostage and tied to a tree.

The victim also informed the police that the accused threatened her and her father not to approach the police. A case had been lodged against all the named accused, Kishanganj SP Kumar Ashish said.

Ashish said the accused are absconding and no arrest had been made so far.

“I am personally monitoring the case and they will be arrested soon,” he said.

Kerala Tourism sets new record with over 2 million online followers Setting a new benchmark on social media platforms, the number of followers on the official Facebook page of Kerala Tourism has now increased to over two million followers, making it numero uno among the portals of any such tourism departments in the country.

One of the first tourism departments in India to have an online presence, the Facebook page, packed with fascinating information, presents to the followers some of the most engaging visual treats of Keralas landscape, a

release said. Innovative tourism products and experiences of Kerala such as ‘Responsible Tourism’ and ‘Village Life Experiences’ form a part of the daily updates of the page. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the achievement has brought recognition for Kerala Tourism not just from other parts of India but also from countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA, Australia and the UK. While appreciating the efforts that led Kerala Tourism to achieve the pole position

Heavy snowfall disrupts flights, closes highways in Kashmir Heavy snowfall Thursday threw normal life out of gear in Kashmir due to disruption in essential services as the valley remained cut off for the second consecutive day as the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed and flight services were cancelled at the airport in Srinagar.

Continuous snowfall in Kashmir over the past 24 hours has resulted in disruption of essential services in most of the districts in the valley with electricity supply infrastructure

suffering severe damage, officials said.

“We are on the job to restore the damaged infrastructure but the quantum of damage is very large and it will take some time to restore electricity back to normal,” an official of the divisional administration said.

The snowfall, which ranged between six inches in Srinagar to nearly three feet in some areas of South Kashmir, has blocked many roads within the valley, the official said.

He said snow clearance operations were

Saturday, February 9, 2019

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SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Nepal appoints Nilambar Acharya as new envoy to India Nepal’s Parliament on Sunday endorsed the appointment of former law minister Nilambar Acharya as the country’s next ambassador to India. There is a provision in the Constitution that the names of ambassadors should go through the parliamentary hearing committee once they are nominated by the government at the recommendation of the Constitutional Council before formally being appointed by the president. The committee endorsed the names of Acharya, Udaya Raj Pandey, Anjan Shakya and Krishna Prasad Dhakal, as Nepal’s envoys to India, Malaysia, Israel and the UAE, respectively. The names of the four proposed ambassadors will now be forwarded to President Bidya Bhandari for formal

Taliban reject Trump’s suggestion of lingering US presence in Afghanistan

appointment. While responding to questions in the parliamentary committee, Acharya said that although there is an open border between Nepal and India, the “hearts of the two countries are yet to be opened”. There is a need to create an environment of confidence as some kind of suspicion still persists in bilateral relations, he said. Acharya, a former minister for law and justice, said he will tell the Indian leadership that Nepal’s relationship with China does not affect its ties with India. He said an ambassador must be able to convince states that a nation’s relationship with another nation is not at the expense of its ties with other countries.

Taliban reject US President Trump’s several rounds of talks with the Taliban in suggestion of a lingering US presence in Qatar since last year, in what is widely seen Afghanistan on counter-terrorism after as the most serious bid for peace in the 17troops are drawn down. Taliban reiterated year war. Both sides hailed progress after their demand that all foreign troops must the latest round, last month. The U.S. team, get out of Afghanistan as head of political led by veteran envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, is office of Taliban Sher Mohammad Abbas due to meet Taliban representatives there was speaking at conference arranged by again on Feb. 25. The Taliban imposed Afghan diaspora in Moscow on February hardline Islamist rule across most of 5, 2019. Trump used his State of the Afghanistan from 1996 until late 2001.

Union address to stress importance of accelerated talks with hardline Islamist movement to end US led war in Afghanistan.

Trump offered no specifics about when he would bring home 14,000 US troops from Afghanistan but said progress in negotiations with the Taliban would enable troops reduction and “focus on counter-terrorism”.

Asked about Trump’s speech, a Taliban Head of political office of Taliban Sher Mohd Abbas official told Reuters that all foreign They were ousted by Afghan opposition troops in Afghanistan had to go.

No timeline for possible U.S. troop drawdown forces, backed by U.S. forces, for harbouring al Qaeda leader Osama bin in Afghanistan - State Department “At the first step, we want all the foreign Laden, weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, forces to leave and end the military attacks on the United States. Ever since, presence in our country,” said Sohail the Taliban have been fighting to drive Shahin, a spokesman for a Taliban office in out foreign forces and defeat the WesternQatar and a member of a Taliban team now backed government in Kabul. Fighting meeting Afghan opposition politicians in has spread over the years to most regions of the country, with many thousands of Moscow.

“But after ending their military presence, people killed every year. Diplomats said their non-military teams can come and we Trump’s comments appeared aimed at need them too, they can come and take part reassuring an Afghan government fearful in the reconstruction and development about a swift withdrawal of Afghanistan’s process,” he said. U.S. officials have held U.S.-led NATO force, and how embattled government troops would cope.

2 killed, 7 injured as lightning strikes in Nepal Two people died,seven others injured after struck by lightning, storms & rainfall in two separate locations of Dadeldhura district in Nepal on Friday morning.

The deceased have been identified as Saraswati Nath (20) of Salton in Bhageshwar Rural Municipality-5 and Gogan Dolyal (48) of Amargadi Municipality-3, both in the district.

Ac c o r d i n g to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dambar Bahadur KC at Dadeldhura District Police Office, the incident occurred when the lightning struck

at around 3:00 am today in the various parts of the district.

Meanwhile, police teams have been

deployed to the incident sites for the rescue operation, Dadeldhura police said.

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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Sri Lanka leader asks rights groups not to oppose executions Sri Lanka’s president has urged human rights groups not to stand in the way of his plans to execute drug traffickers and other criminals in the coming months, ending a 43-year moratorium on capital punishment.

Maithripala Sirisena told Parliament on Wednesday that executions will resume in the next two months. He said many larger nations carry out executions but smaller countries like Sri Lanka are hampered by human rights groups in their efforts

to control crime.

Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist, which teaches non-violence.

It last executed a prisoner in 1976.

Sirisena said while the country has had positive influences from all religions, tough law enforcement is necessary to curb crime and maintain order.

Recent large seizures of narcotics have raised suspicions that the country has become a smuggling hub.

Former president of Maldives to be charged with corruption Police in the Maldives have asked the country’s prosecutor general to charge a former president with money laundering and his former Cabinet minister with aiding him.

A police statement Wednesday night said that investigators have found grounds to charge Yameen Abdul Gayoom and his former Legal Affairs Minister Azima Shakoor.

The case stems from an allegedly shady deal to lease islands for tourist resort development and the discovery of $1 million in Yameen’s bank account.

Police also said they asked the prosecutor general to charge Yameen and Shakoor with providing false information to investigators.

Yameen lost the presidential election last year after a five-year strongman rule, during

which he was accused of corruption and suppressing freedoms.

His successor, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, has promised to investigate corruption and other allegations against Yameen and members of his administration. Maldives is an Indian ocean archipelago known for its expensive island tourist resorts.

SWIFT help for Bangladesh bank that lost US$81 million in world’s biggest cyber heist Unidentified hackers, suspected to be from North Korea, carried out the heist by breaching Bangladesh Bank’s systems and using the SWIFT network to send fraudulent money transfer orders to the New York branch of the US central bank, with which the Dhaka bank has an account.

SWIFT’s comments came after the New York Fed on Friday agreed to provide “technical assistance” to Bangladesh Bank in its lawsuit against Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC).

RCBC was used to funnel the money, much of which disappeared into the casinos of the Philippines.

RCBC has called the legal action Bangladesh Bank filed on Thursday as beyond the US jurisdiction, “completely baseless” and “nothing more than a thinly veiled PR campaign” to shift blame from itself.

“SWIFT, the New York Fed and Bangladesh Bank have worked together since the cyber fraud event occurred … to recover the entire proceeds of the crime and to bring the perpetrators to justice in cooperation with law enforcement from other jurisdictions,” SWIFT said in a statement. Watch out. North Korean hackers are coming for your bitcoin The firm would continue to lend its support

to international efforts to protect the global financial system from future cyberattacks, it added. SWIFT – the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a cooperative used by thousands of financial institutions around the world – did not say if it would also help Bangladesh Bank with the court case in New York. A person familiar with the technical assistance agreement said the Fed would prepare affidavits and clear employees to testify at hearings or a trial, and also allow Bangladesh Bank to interview employees.

It would also provide relevant non-privileged documents and information to Bangladesh Bank or to the court.

Bangladesh Bank lawyer Ajmalul Hossain QC declined to comment on SWIFT’s role in the legal case against RCBC. In its suit filed with the US District Court in Manhattan, Bangladesh Bank accused RCBC and dozens of others, including several top executives, of involvement in a “massive” and “intricately planned” multi-year conspiracy to steal its money. A 2016 Reuters investigation into the heist found that a series of missteps and miscommunication between the Fed and Bangladesh, little emergency backup, and slow reactions in New York to early warning signs all contributed.

SOUTH ASIA

39

Bangladesh protests to Myanmar over new arrival of Rohingyas Bangladesh has protested to Myanmar over a new influx of refugees fleeing troubled Rakhine state after clashes between security forces and an insurgent group, an official said Wednesday (Feb 6). Bangladesh’s foreign ministry summoned Myanmar’s ambassador late Tuesday to protest over the arrivals from Rakhine, already notorious following a military clampdown on Muslim Rohingya in August 2017 which sent more than 700,000 people across the border.

The new arrivals are from Rakhine Buddhist and other tribal groups, a senior foreign ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity, without giving a figure. “The number is increasing. Some people are already waiting on the border and they may also enter. We have asked them (Myanmar) to take effective and urgent steps so that violence is stopped,” the official said. A Bangladesh border guard official said the refugees had crossed in a remote hill area of Bandarban district in the southeast of the country. Bangladesh is already struggling to cope with the 740,000 Rohingya Muslims who arrived after August 2017 adding to 300,000 who had fled earlier violence in Rakhine.

Now Rakhine’s ethnic majority, who are Buddhist, are in conflict with the army they helped to drive out the

Rohingya just 18 months ago. On Jan 4 the Arakan Army (AA), a militant group calling for greater autonomy for Rakhine, killed 13 people in raids on police border posts. The army says 13 militants have been killed in reprisal attacks while the United Nations says at least 5,200 people

Rohingya refugees

have been displaced by the violence.

An accurate death toll has been impossible to ascertain because the zone is under a near-blanket lockdown. The fighting has added a new, complex dimension to the troubles in Rakhine that since 2012 have seen religious and communal riots, the mass exodus of Rohingya and killings across all ethnic lines.

The Bangladesh protest came after Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie said Tuesday that Myanmar must “show genuine commitment” to end violence that has driven the Rohingya into Bangladesh.

The UN is preparing to launch a new international appeal for nearly one billion dollars to look after the Rohingya.

40

FIJI

Saturday, February 9, 2019

‘Culture of torture and violence must stop’ - PM Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the culture of torture and violence has a powerful hold on the mentality of our people, and work needs to continue in Fiji and the whole of the Pacific to get rid of this culture.

While speaking in a High Level Seminar on United Nations Convention against Torture in the Pacific at the Intercontinental Hotel, Bainimarama says we think to ourselves that I was hit in school and it formed me to who I’m today or my parents beat me and it toughened me up.

Bainimarama says that mindset creates a tolerance for violence and it allows it to settle in to all parts of our day to day lives.

Bainimarama says the cycle of violence needs to end.

He also highlighted the tough stand the government had to take as some people continue to call for the return of corporal punishment in schools.

Bainimarama says according to the Fijian constitution human rights are afforded to all of us regardless of our standing in society.

Heavy rain warning for most parts of Fiji A heavy rain warning and a strong wind warning remain in force for Lau and Lomaiviti Group, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and nearby smaller islands, the eastern part and interior of Viti Levu which includes Korovou, Nausori, Rewa, Naitasiri, Suva through to Navua.

Nadi Weather Office Acting Director Viliame Vereivalu says this is due to a tropical depression that is currently east of Cikobia and is expected to track over the Lau Group before exiting Fiji waters on Saturday.

He says that the potential for the tropical depression to develop into a tropical cyclone in the next 24 to 48 hours is moderate.

Localised heavy falls may lead to flash flooding of low lying areas.

A flood alert remains in force for all low lying areas adjacent to and downstream of Korovou and Naqali and Rewa.

Flooding in Rewa, Korovou Navua & Sigatoka areas causing road blocks Fiji Roads Authority has confirmed some roads in Rewa, Korovou, Navua and Sigatoka are closed due to flooding from heavy rain.

Four roads in Rewa, two roads in Korovou, two roads in Navua and two roads in Sigatoka are closed to traffic due to flood waters.

Roads that are closed in Rewa include Waidradra Crossing on Vatulili Road, Wainavida Crossing on Lutu Vuisiga Road, Waima Crossing on Nakorosule Road and Waiwatu Crossing on Navulokani Road.

Roads that are closed in Korovou include Colata Crossing on Colata Farm Road and Bureiwai Crossing on Namarai Road Roads that are closed in Navua include Old Queens Road Wainadoi which is flooded from Nabukavesi Village end and Wainisusu 2 Bridge on Waiyanitu Road. Roads that are closed in Sigatoka include Matewale Crossing on Valley Road and Rabaraba Crossing on Nasivikoso Road.

Man charged for raping 19-year-old student Police have charged a 26-year-old man with a count of rape for allegedly raping a 19-year-old student.

The man allegedly committed the offence while the victim was gardening.

The student managed to free herself after she grabbed hold of a stick and knocked the man unconscious.

He will be produced in the Sigatoka Magistrates Court today.

Estimated cost of fire damage to USP building is $30 million Estimated cost of the damage to the USP Communications Building at the Laucala Campus which was extensively damaged in a fire last year is $30 million.

This has been confirmed to Fijivillage

by USP Vice Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia who says that the building itself is worth $20 million. Ahluwalia says they have a taskforce which meets regularly to deal with insurance claims that they have to

make and at the moment they are assessing whether they should work on the existing building structure or have to completely demolish it and build a new one.

He says in the next few days engineers will be presenting the report to the insurance company and to USP by the end of the month. Ahluwalia says they are still at the stage of deciding what to do with the building.

Fiji 7s player arrested for drunk driving A senior member of the Fiji Men’s 7s Team is in police custody for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.

The suspect is currently in custody

at the Nadi Police Station after he was arrested in Malolo this morning.

We will have more later this afternoon.

Man found guilty of raping wife The High Court in Suva has found a man, of the Central Division, guilty of the rape of his wife. The man was convicted on one count each of criminal intimidation, assault with intent to commit rape and two counts of rape.

He appeared before Justice Chamath Morais on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in January, 2013.

The man assaulted the victim, threatened her with an axe and raped her twice on the same day while their seven-year-old son was sleeping in the bedroom.

Delivering his judgment, Justice Morais said: “I am satisfied that evidence of

the prosecution through the complainant to establish the elements of the offences was proved beyond reasonable doubt.

“The assessors have also found the evidence of the prosecution as truthful and reliable, as they unanimously found the accused guilty of all counts. The three assessors have obviously rejected the denial of the accused. “In my view, the assessor’s opinion was not perverse. It was open for them to reach such a conclusion on the available evidence and I concur with the opinion of the assessors,” Justice Morais said.

The man was remanded in custody to await sentencing.

3 arrested involved in illegal auto parts racket Police have taken in three people for their alleged involvement in an illegal car parts racket.

The arrest follows a raid at the garage where the three men work where a white Toyota Wish which was stolen from Pritam Singh Road in Tovata early yesterday morning from the home of a 39 year old man was allegedly discovered.

Officers from the Southern Division found the stolen vehicle with the number

plates and some parts of the vehicle allegedly missing.

The 34year old garage owner, and two employees aged 25 and 29years old were arrested at the scene and are in custody at the Nasinu Police Station where they are currently being questioned.

PAKISTAN

Saturday, February 9, 2019 Lahore: Former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is facing corruption charges, was stopped from leaving the country by immigration officials at Lahore airport after his name popped up in no-fly, (Exit Control List).

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, 66-year-old Gilani reached at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore on Tuesday night to board a flight for Bangkok to attend a conference in South Korea. However, his name was on no-fly list. “At the immigration counter, Mr Gilani was told that his name was placed on black list therefore he could not

Former PM Gilani stopped from travelling abroad leave the country,” Federal Investigation Agency said, adding that it was following orders from the interior ministry. Reacting a senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader said he always appeared in courts in the different cases against him.

“There was no point in placing my name on (the) no-fly list. I was not fleeing

Former PM Gilani

Accountablity Bureau arrests ruling party minister over corruption charges National Accountability Bureau (NAB) acquired physical remand of arrested minister Aleem Khan, a Punjab minister, accountability court said on Thursday. NAB prosecutor Mr Waaris Janjua represented the anticorruption bureau, while Advocate Azhar Siddiq represented minister Khan. Aleem Khan’s remand will expire in mid February.

NAB arrested the minister Aleem Khan, who is known as major financier of ruling party along with Jahangir Khan Tareen, came as a bombshell

for the party as its members believed that he had been appearing before NAB since the PML-N was in power, and that he could explain the sources of his business and wealth. PTI leader is facing multiple inquiries, including one involving offshore company Hexam Investment Overseas Ltd, one for owning assets beyond his known sources of income, and inquiries into his involvement in the Park View Housing Society, River Age Housing Society, and Multan Road project.

Prime Minister Khan orders inquiry into attack on Hindu temple Prime Minister Imran Khan orders investigation into an attack on Hindu temple in southern Sindh town of Kumb, where assailants set fire to statues and holy books of the Hindu minority before fleeing.

Imran Khan went on Twitter on Tuesday, saying e of southern Sindh province swift and decisive action perpetrators” of the attack,

government “must take against the which was

the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sole agenda seems to be targeting his political opponents,” Gilani said.

“The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government should have informed me about blacklisting my name,” Gilani said, adding that he will challenge the

against the teachings of Quran, Islam’s holy book.

According to local police, they continued a hunt Wednesday to trace and arrest those involved in the attack.

No one has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack, which was condemned by Hindus as well as local Muslims. Hindu are a tiny minority in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, and attacks on their worship places are rare.

41

“illegal decision” of the government.

Gilani is facing several corruption cases and last week, the accountability court of Islamabad rejected his plea seeking exemption from personal appearance in a case related to awarding alleged illegal advertising contract to a private agency. He is accused of misusing authority to illegally grant Messrs Midas an advertising contract in contravention of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules. The act is reported to have cost the national treasury Rs. 129.07 million.

China to give $2.5bn to boost Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves In a bid to help Pakistan overcome its deepened financial crisis, China has agreed to provide $2.5 billion in loans to boost the country’s insufficient foreign exchange reserves.

“Beijing will place the $2.5 billion in deposits with the central bank,” a top Pakistan

government official was quoted by media as saying on Saturday. The $2.5 billion deposits will surge Beijing’s contribution to Pakistan in this fiscal to $4.5 billion.

Last year, China deposited $2 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan.

Court orders Army & ISI to stay away from politics Supreme Court prohibited members of armed forces from engaging in political activities and directed state agencies like the ISI to operate within the law as it ordered the government to act against those propagating “hatred, extremism and terrorism”. The order by a two-member Bench of the apex court came while delivering a verdict on the 2017 Faizabad sit-in by the hardline Tehreek-eLabbaik Pakistan (TLP) and other smaller groups. “We direct the federal and provincial governments to monitor those advocating hate, extremism and terrorism and prosecute the perpetrators in accordance with the law,” the Bench comprising Justices Qazi Faez

Isa and Mushir Alam ruled. The court also directed all government agencies and departments, including those run by the army like Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to operate within the limits defined by the law. The court also ordered that members of the armed forces were prohibited from engaging in any kind of political activity, which includes supporting a party, faction or individual. “The Government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Defence and the respective chiefs of the army, navy and air force are directed to initiate action against the personnel under their command who are found to have violated their oath,” the court

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NRI

Saturday, February 9, 2019 129 Indian students arrested in USA over enrolling fake university “pay-to-stay” program India has made a diplomatic protest to the US after 129 Indian students were arrested for enrolling in fake university. The University of Farmington, advertised as based in Michigan state, was run by undercover agents from the Department of Homeland Security to expose “pay-to-stay” immigration fraud. Prosecutors say those who enrolled knew that the facility would be illegal. However, Indian officials say the students may have been duped. On Saturday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued the protest to the US embassy in Delhi, expressing concern over the arrests and demanding consular access to

those detained “Our concern over the dignity and wellbeing of the detained students and the need for immediate consular access for Indian officials to the detainees was reiterated,” the ministry said. How were students lured?

The fake university was set up in 2015 to try to catch foreign nationals who had initially travelled to the US on student visas and wanted to stay in the country, US media reported.

A website for the University of Farmington showed pictures of students in classes and libraries, or relaxing around a grassy campus.

It advertised tuition for undergraduates at $8,500 (£6,500) a year and $11,000 a year for

Trump’s judicial nominee backs away from her remarks over date rape President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Brett Kavanaugh on a high-profile appeals court backed away from language she used as a college student in writing about sexual assault, race and equal rights for women.

“To be honest, looking back at some of those writings ... I cringe at some of the language I used,” Neomi Rao told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, adding that writings in which she criticized affirmative action and suggested that intoxicated women were partly responsible for date rape do not reflect her current thinking.

“I like to think I’ve matured as a thinker, writer and indeed as a person,” she said at a confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of

Columbia Circuit. Trump nominated Rao for the seat left vacant when Brett Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court. Rao, who currently serves as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, said there were “certainly some sentences and phrases” from her college writing in the 1990s that “I would never use today.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who recently revealed she was raped by her boyfriend in college, said Rao’s writings “give me pause,” in part because of the message they send to young women who may be reluctant to report a rape. Rao called rape a “horrible crime” and said anyone who commits rape should be prosecuted.

Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard to campaign in early-voting sta Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin Senator and Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, the two 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, on February 5 announced tour of four States which will hold the Democratic primaries early next year. Harris, 54, would travel to South Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada later this month, her campaign said. Tulsi Gabbard, 37, the Democratic colleague of Harris in the House of Representatives, who formally launched

her campaign over the weekend would be in Iowa and Chicago this month, according to an announcement by her campaign.

“In Chicago, Tulsi will be visiting faith and advocacy leaders from a spectrum of denominations and cultural backgrounds.

In Iowa, Tulsi will be sitting down with community leaders including the AsianAmerican, Latino, and youth communities,” a media release said.

NRI wins Rs 19.45 crore raffle in Abu Dhabi An Indian man in the UAE hit a jackpot on Sunday by winning Dh10 million (Rs 19.45 crore) in a monthly raffle in Abu Dhabi.

P r a s h a n t h Pandarathil bought the ticket online for the Big Ticket draw in Abu Dhabi, the Gulf News reported.

Big Ticket is the largest and longest-running monthly raffle draw for cash prizes and luxury cars in Abu Dhabi.

In January, a n o t h e r Indian, Sarath Purushothaman, who is based in Dubai, was awarded with a whopping Dh 15 million, the highest prize ever being given away by Big Ticket. These tickets priced Dh 500 can be purchased online or at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Ain Duty Free and City Terminal Abu Dhabi.

NRI boy to receive new cancer therapy in UK 11-year-old Indian origin boy has turned the first patient to receive a pioneering new cancer therapy by the UK’s state-funded National Health Service in London. Yuvan Thakkar suffers from relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and received the

ground-breaking treatment known as Kymriah – a type of immunotherapy called CAR-T therapy, which modifies a patient’s immune system cells, known as T cells, to attack the cancer cells.

Though the treatment has taken place, Thakkar has some time to go before the results are fully known.

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