The Asian Star January 12 2019

www.theasianstar.com Vol 17 - Issue 50

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Former PM Harper has friendly meeting with PM Modi

Driver in Humboldt crash wasn’t distracted at time of collision with bus, document says

In India for an were left by the semiThe semi-trailer international summit, tractor unit,� reads truck involved in the former Canadian a draft statement of Humboldt Broncos leader Stephen facts agreed to by the team bus crash was Harper dropped in Crown and defence in travelling at nearly 100 on Indian Prime the court case of semi km/h at the moment Minister Narendra driver Jaskirat Singh of impact, and the Modi on Tuesday for semi’s driver isn’t thought to Sidhu (pictured). It says Sidhu a visit. Harper gave have been distracted.

The simply “failed to recognize that Modi a copy of his document has not yet been his vehicle was approaching an new book, the two presented to the court. “No intersection and did not heed strolled around some MP Modi meeting with former Prime Minister tire skid marks due to braking the stop sign.�

Stephen Harper in Delhi on Tuesday ceremonial gardens Continued on page 7 and then discussed Muslim cleric says his remarks about ‘Merry Christmas’ “co-operation among democracies,� according to the office of were taken out of context the Indian prime minister. The warm visit between the two comes only 10 months after a disastrous India visit by the A Muslim cleric who said wishing someone Merry sitting Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Over nine Christmas is a sin worse than murder claims his days, Trudeau received widespread mockery for repeatedly comments were taken out of context. During a sermon being photographed in formal Indian dress. He was unable to on December 23, Sheikh Younus Kathrada, (pictured) meet Modi until well into the visit and his team accidentally in Victoria said that Muslims must be offended when invited a convicted terrorist to a Canadian diplomatic event, people worship Jesus. Sheikh Kathrada can be seen fuelling Indian accusations that Canada remains a hotbed of addressing worshippers in a video titled ‘Greeting NonSikh separatist terrorism. In the wake of the visit, Public Safety Muslims On Their Holidays,’ published to YouTube by Canada began listing “Sikh extremism� as a Canadian terrorist Muslim Youth of Victoria.

Continued on page 6

Half of Kabbadi players who came to Canada failed to return to India Almost half the kabaddi players who come to Canada to play the rough sport don’t return to India.

Instead, an internal Immigration Department report reveals more than 120 professional kabaddi players in a three-year period have either vanished within Canada, applied for refugee status or been able to obtain a work visa. The kabaddi players, most of whom come from village teams in the Punjab region of India, come to Canada to play for about $50,000 through a season of large tournaments, especially in Surrey but also in Edmonton,

Calgary and the Toronto suburb of Brampton, which has a large Punjabi population.

While some South Asians in Canada are unhappy with the way kabaddi athletes pay consultants to help them jump Canada’s visa and immigration queues, federal Immigration Continued on page 7

Tel:604-591-5423

Continued on page 7

BC operation laundered massive amounts of cash, court documents say The BC couple that recently had their high-profile moneylaundering case dropped by the Crown was allegedly washing $220-million a year for criminals, including an international cocaine trafficker associated with a transnational gang, according to new court documents.

The documents were filed this week in BC Supreme Court as part of a continuing civil-forfeiture case aimed at permanently confiscating more than $4-million of their cash and property. The couple had the money and personal

items seized when they were charged, but when the case collapsed, they applied unsuccessfully to have them returned immediately.

Instead, the provincial civilforfeiture agency, which does not need a criminal conviction or even charges to pursue a file, has stepped in.

According to the documents, Caixuan Qin and Jian Ju Zhu allegedly laundered more than $80-million through their Richmond, B.C., business Silver International over the Continued on page 6

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

Canada to welcome more than 1 million new immigrants in next three years Remember when you said you wanted to move to Canada? Now is a good time to start packing your bags. The Canadian Parliament has announced plans to add more than one million new permanent residents in the next three years.

That’s nearly one percent of the country’s population.

Canada welcomed more than 286,000 permanent residents in 2017 and projects that number could reach 350,000 this year.

That’s a lot of immigrants, eh?

“Thanks in great part to the newcomers we have welcomed throughout our history, Canada has developed into the strong and vibrant country we all enjoy,” said Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC). Hussen, himself an immigrant from Somalia, said the influx will

help offset Canada’s aging population and declining birth rate while growing its labor force.

Canada’s friendly stance towards new residents comes as many other Western nations, including the United States, are adopting more restrictive immigration policies.

Canada is especially dedicated to offering protection to refugees. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported unprecedented levels of refugees in 2017, with the number of forcibly displaced people reaching 68.5 million.

IRCC has pledged $5.6 million to support global resettlement initiatives.

Vanity plates reading ‘F--k You’ in Punjabi language still on Greater Toronto Area man warns A Brampton man says he still sees vanity plates with phrases like “shot of liquor,” “opium,” and even “f--k” translated from Punjabi on the streets of Brampton, even after Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation flagged dozens of offensive plates for recall.

Gagandeep Kanwal, a journalist for Samay Indo Canadian, a local Hindi newspaper, has been taking photos of the license plates and passing them on to the province.

‘Peg Sheg’ means ‘shot of liquor’ in Punjabi. “I see them every day,” said Kanwal.

“It’s disturbing because if my kid’s reading it, I cannot explain to them what it means.”

The anglicized Punjabi phrases spell out colloquial words for “opium”, “shot of liquor”, and the F-word. Kanwal says he has also seen

words for male genitalia, and one that could be interpreted as, “I want to have sex with your sister.”

Gagandeep Kanwal, who works for community newspapers in Brampton, has been documenting offensive license plates he sees in the GTA. Several months ago a local media revealed a story about community’s concerns over Punjabi plates spelling out “rifle” or “musket.” The Ministry of Transportation reviewed 52 plates and flagged 33 of them for recall because they violated its guidelines, which don’t allow offensive language or references to drugs, alcohol, violence or sex.

Ottawa man volunteering with orphans in Nepal charged with child porn An Ottawa man who volunteered at an orphanage in Nepal has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography and luring a child.

Paul McCarthy was initially stopped by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers in mid-December when he returned to Canada from Nepal.

Police said that, at the time, CBSA officers found evidence of child pornography on the 62-year-old, as well as communications that allegedly showed him requesting sexual relations with children under 16.

An Ottawa man who volunteered at an orphanage in Nepal has been arrested

and charged with possessing c h i l d p or n o g r ap hy and luring a child.

P a u l McCarthy was initially s t o p p e d

by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers in mid-December when he returned to Canada from Nepal.

Police said that, at the time, CBSA officers found evidence of child pornography on the 62-year-old, as well as communications that allegedly showed him requesting sexual relations with children under 16.

Kitimat mayor defends LNG project amid protests Kitimat is one of the British Columbian cities at the heart of the Coastal GasLink project, which led to protests and arrests this week. Fourteen people were detained on Monday after members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation opposed the pipeline which runs through its territory in Northern B.C. and blocked access for pipeline workers. Rallies in support of the Wet’suwet’en antipipeline movement were held in cities across Canada.’

But those in favour of the project, like Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth, remain adamant the benefits outweigh the costs. The project aims to take natural gas from Dawson Creek to an LNG export facility near Kitimat.

It’s a game changer for Kitimat and not just for Kitimat either — it’s also for our region up here in Northern B.C. and, of course, for the economy of B.C. and Canada. It means

a lot jobs-wise as well as the tax base. LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink have done an

outstanding job of their engagement and consultation over these past five or six years.

I can’t say exactly why, but Coastal GasLink and LNG Canada have been working with those hereditary chiefs for over five years now.

HARINDER DAIL3

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

Alleged ‘shadow’ mortgage broker implicated in dozens of shady deals BC financial authorities have identified a woman accused of acting as a ‘shadow’ mortgage broker by feeding altered tax documents to licensed professionals on behalf of dozens of people who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for loans. The province’s acting registrar of mortgage brokers claims investigations into three brokers identified 44 files containing documents that were either completely fake or altered to misrepresent borrower incomes.

The probe has already resulted in one Surrey mortgage broker being barred from the profession for 10 years. Hearings are pending against two other licensed individuals. And last month, the province’s financial institutions commission (FICOM) announced a hearing into the actions of Vinita Devi Lal, the woman accused of acting as an an unregistered broker by “giving instructions and directions” to the brokers whose files raised concerns.

Although officials won’t speculate on amounts, the fact dozens of mortgages in the Lower Mainland have been compromised means tens of millions of dollars are involved. The case is one of the most significant the regulator has investigated into the practice of “shadow” brokering — where unregistered individuals direct deals fronted by licensed brokers. It exposes gaps in both the criminal prosecution of mortgage fraud, as well as the process for qualifying new mortgage brokers. The registrar of mortgage brokers accuses Vinita Lal of feeding altered tax documents to three licensed mortgage brokers on behalf of people who would not otherwise qualify for loans. And at a time when the province is trying to determine the extent of money laundering in the real estate market, the allegations also raise questions about something as simple as the keeping of statistics to track mortgage fraud.

This Indian scientist says Newton & Einstein are wrong, Harsh Vardhan better than Kalam At 106th Science Congress in Jalandhar, Tamil Nadu scientist questions fundamentals of physics, wants to name gravitational waves after Narendra Modi.

Jalandhar: When Kanan Jegathala Krishnan took the stage on the second day of the 106th Indian Science Congress in Jalandhar Friday, he was to deliver a talk on Einstein’s theories. Instead, Krishnan, who claims to be a senior research scientist at the World Community Service Centre at Aliyar in Tamil Nadu, spent a considerable amount of time hyping up his own ‘achievements’ before

going on to denigrate the very theories he was to explain.

“The present understanding of physics will be destroyed once my theories are proved,” said Krishnan. And he was just getting started. Krishnan went after Isaac Newton, saying the English physicist had little understanding of gravitational forces. “Newton was not able to understand gravitational repulsive force, which is why he was not able to answer most questions related to gravity,” the professor said. “His calculations were perfect but there was a problem in his theoretical physics. I have been able to solve these theories.”

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Sunil Chhetri strikes twice in India’s first Asian Cup win since 1964, goes past Lionel Messi Indian football’s goal machine Sunil Chhetri struck a brace to help the country stunningly outplay Thailand 4-1 and record its first victory in the Asian Cup since 1964 on a historic night here Sunday. Playing in his second Asian Cup and 105th match, Chhetri scored in the 27th (penalty) and 46th minutes for his 66th and 67th international goals.

Midfielder Anirudha Thapa and second half substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua then struck in the 68th and 80th minutes to completely outclass Thailand at the Al Nahyan Stadium in front of a sizeable Indian supporters.

With his two strikes, the 34-year-old Chhetri went past Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who has so far scored 65 goals from 128 matches. Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest scorer with 85 from 154 matches. Thailand captain and striker Teerasil Dangda pulled one back for his side in the 33rd minute of the Group A match. A draw in either of the two coming matches against UAE and Bahrain could see India through to the knockout round.

Ranked 97th in the FIFA charts, India went into the match eyeing a win against their 118th ranked opponents, but the scoreline and impressive show by the players, especially in the second half, was unexpected.

Thailand were the better side in the first half with an overwhelming 70 per cent possession and more shots on target. With three players who ply their trade in Japanese top tier J-League, the South East Asian country dictated terms with their fluid and neat interchange of passes to build their moves from their own half. India had to do a lot of defending. India had few such neat moves and lost the ball often. They had very few quality crosses from the flanks and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was far busier than his Thai counterpart in the first half. But the complexion of the match completely changed in the second session with India scoring three goals in stunning fashion to take the match out of Thailand’s reach.

They suddenly became a team which can stitch neat passes and build goal-scoring moves.

Bollywood’s Khans lost top spots of the box-office to Ranbir Kapoor & Ranveer Singh Bollywood’s Khans have lost top three spots of the box-office ladder to Ranbir Kapoor & Ranveer Singh It is for the first time in last 12 years that Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are not among the top three spots of the box-office ladder.

They lost the positions to Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. Box-office 2018: Bollywood’s Khans lost the three spots to Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh Boxoffice 2018: Bollywood’s Khans lost the three spots to Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh

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OPINION

By Sheilla Jones, Senior Fellow Frontier Centre for Public Policy

It isn’t easy to grasp just how vast and complex Canada’s federal Indigenous affairs portfolio has become over the past 50 years.

Now divided into Indigenous Services and Crown-Indigenous Relations, it’s unlike any other federal government department. The portfolio is more accurately described as a federally-run province. This makes sense because, according to the department, some 80 per cent of the Indigenous programs and services it delivers, particularly in First Nations communities, are provincial responsibilities such as health care, education, housing and employment programs. How does this federally-run province stack up against Canada’s real provinces and territories? First off, it’s a super province. No matter how the department is divided, it has jurisdictional reach over about 90 per cent of Canada’s landmass through the historic and the modern treaties signed after 1975. That’s a lot of territory. As a federal government

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Indigenous affairs portfolio is democratically flawed entity, the department is naturally federally funded. Provinces and territories are also funded in part by federal transfers. We know the amount of those transfers because Ottawa publishes those figures.

What we don’t know is how much the federal government spends annually delivering Indigenous programs and services. The department had a budget of about $10 billion for 2017-18. But there were, according to the department, another 33 federal departments and agencies acting as its co-delivery partners for Indigenous programs and services. Until 2004-05, the department published the names and contributions of its co-delivery partners.

It’s funding was $5.8 billion that year, and its 13 co-delivery partners spent an additional $3 billion on Indigenous programs. Collectively, Indigenous Affairs plus its federal codelivery partners spent $8.8 billion delivering Indigenous programs and services across Canada. After that, it stopped providing data

on co-delivery partners.

A guesstimate of what the department and its 33 co-delivery partners spent delivering Indigenous programs and services in 2017-18 is about $19 billion. That’s a lot of money.

If the department were a real province, $19 billion in federal funding would, in 2017-18, have placed it just behind Quebec ($22.7 billion) and Ontario ($21.1 billion) as Canada’s third largest recipient of federal transfers, and well ahead of fourth-place British Columbia ($6.7 billion).

But that’s not all. The government has announced new spending on Indigenous programs and services of another $4.8 billion over five years and $1.7 billion over 10 years. As the government continues to accelerate spending on Indigenous issues, the department may soon overtake Quebec to become Canada’s largest ‘province.’

The Indigenous people (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) who are recipients of these programs and services are effectively the department’s citizens. Not all of the 1.5 million people who self-identified as Indigenous in the 2016 census are department clients, but the majority are. But here’s where the analogy breaks down. In normal federal government departments, the minister is appointed by the prime minister and accountable to the PM and cabinet. Departmental bureaucrats are, in turn, accountable to their minister.

However, this is not a normal department.

This department holds inordinate power over the lives of people in First Nations and Inuit communities from birth to death, yet the citizens have no say in how it operates.

Not a single person in the department administration is elected by ordinary Indigenous people to represent their interests.

Indigenous people can’t express their dissatisfaction with the administration by throwing it out and electing one more to their liking. There are no structural mechanisms whereby citizens can demand their voices be heard or hold the administration accountable to them.

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

Former PM Harper has friendly meeting with PM Modi From page 1 terrorist threat, spawning accusations even from within Trudeau’s own cabinet that the measure was a capitulation to overblown Indian government fears. Harper was in India to attend the Raisina Dialogue, an annual geopolitical summit sponsored by the Indian minister of external affairs. With Modi a more conservative Indian leader, he was more drawn to Harper while the latter was still Canadian prime minister. In 2015, Harper hosted Modi as the first sitting Indian prime minister to visit Canada in more than 40 years, signalling an end to decades of frosty Indo-Canadian relations that began in the 1970s after New Delhi clandestinely used

Canadian technology to build a nuclear bomb.

In a Twitter message after their Tuesday meeting, Harper called Modi “the most significant leader of India since Independence.”

Harper appears to have made all his recent Indian appearances in the same dark Westernstyle suit, although he occasionally swapped out a red tie for a blue one.

From Opposition Leader to External Affairs Minister, I have long admired. She is a true champion for India on the world stage, and a real asset of cabinet.

BC operation laundered massive amounts of cash, court documents say span of 4½ months in 2015. Based on ledgers seized by the RCMP in raids of the alleged money-laundering business, B.C.’s Office of Civil Forfeiture alleges that the pair was able to launder close to $220-million a year. To better understand the scope of Silver International’s business, Mounties selected one day of records (Sept. 30, 2015) and found that on that day, nearly $2.7-million was brought into the nondescript office while $1.65-million was taken away, the civilforteiture agency said in its filing.

These records also identified one of the company’s customers as Nelson Wong, whom, the claim states, is an alias of Maxim Poon Wong. Mr. Wong, according to the filing from the civil-forfeiture agency, is known to police as an associate of the Triads and the Yellow Triangle Boys gang and also a business partner of Michael Whieldon, a high-level importer of cocaine from Mexico to Metro Vancouver. Mr. Wong was arrested by Vancouver police in 2015 while carrying a box

of bundled $20 and $50 bills worth $225,000 as well as the recipes and equipment needed to make methamphetamine, according to the court document. “Customers included individuals linked to various unlawful activity including drug production and trafficking, money laundering, homicide, assault, possession of property obtained by crime, and counterfeiting instruments and extortion,” the Jan. 3 filing states. Silver International did not store its money according to bankingindustry standards, nor keep adequate records identifying customers by their full names, the statement said. And it was not registered as a money services business with FinTRAC, the federal financial intelligence agency, until after the RCMP raided its offices, it said.

None of the allegations detailed in the civil-forfeiture claim have been proven in court and lawyers for Ms. Qin and Mr. Zhu did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. The two defendants have not yet filed a response to the claim.

Diversity, friendship, food served up at White Rock interfaith lunch Prayers, food and connections were enjoyed by more than 100 people last weekend at St. John’s Presybterian Church in White Rock, where volunteers served up the 6th Annual New Year’s Interfaith Community Lunch.

The event is part of a community-led Interfaith Food and Clothing Ministry that has been serving food and providing clothing to the homeless in Whalley every second Saturday for the past seven years.

The White Rock lunch tradition sees families and volunteers who prepare and serve the meal also join those who turn out at the tables. In addition to providing a place for people who may not have company over the holiday season to enjoy a festive meal, the program is an opportunity for younger volunteers “to learn how to connect with

others without judgment.” Children attend with their families to help prepare and serve the meal. “They become aware of wider societal issues like inequality and they take this awareness with them wherever they go to lead meaningful and compassionate lives,” Arun Chatterjee, organizer of the 2016 luncheon, said in a previous interview.

Ten Canadian immigrant-serving organizations selected for unique growth initiative LIFT Philanthropy Partners (LIFT), with funding from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, is pleased to announce the 10 Canadian immigrantserving organizations selected to participate in its new Better Beginnings, Bigger Impact initiative. This unique initiative was created to help 10 organizations expand their capacity and reach to deliver real change in the lives of Canadian newcomers. LIFT sought organizations helping individuals overcome barriers specific to the newcomer experience, integrating newcomers into Canadian life, and supporting individuals to build a cohesive and diverse society. Core service areas include language skills, employment assistance, community connections and needs assessments for smooth integration.

According to Statistics Canada, more than 1.2 million newcomers settled in Canada between 2011 and 2016. There is a significant need for newcomer transition services, says Bruce Dewar, President & CEO of LIFT. “As a national organization, we are well positioned to leverage our unique methodology – which combines business expertise and strategic support – to grow the impact of Canadian immigrant-serving organizations through Better Beginnings, Bigger Impact,” says Dewar. “We are excited to partner with 10 organizations from across the country that will be able to have a bigger influence on newcomers seeking better lives for themselves and their families, while building a better Canada for everyone.”

“The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that high-quality settlement services are provided to all newcomers, including refugees, across Canada,” said the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

“I’m excited to see the positive impact this initiative will have as LIFT begins to help these organizations increase their capacity to better serve newcomers.”

The 10 selected newcomer organizations are: 1.

Association for New Canadians, St. John’s: provides wrap-around services, including settlement information and orientation, language learning, skills development and employment counselling to Canadian newcomers.

2.

Furniture Bank, Toronto: facilitates the soliciting, transporting, storing and distributing of furniture to people in

need; helping to contribute to Canadian newcomers’ sense of belonging.

3.

Global Gathering Place, Saskatoon: drop-in centre offering English language training, life skills, settlement advice, individual client support, mental health counselling, and a variety of supplemental programs for immigrants and refugees.

4. Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, Winnipeg: offers safe and secure affordable housing to newcomer families, complemented by holistic, wrap-around settlement service for the whole family, including after-school programs, financial planning and ESL training.

5.

Immigrant Employment Council of British Columbia, Vancouver: provides B.C. employers with the solutions, tools and resources they need to attract, hire and retain qualified immigrant talent.

6.

Immigrants Working Centre, Hamilton: offers orientation and settlement assistance, English language training, employment services, and community networking and volunteer opportunities.

7.

Mennonite New Life Centre of Toronto: provides community employment counselling, language instruction, community mental health counselling and networking opportunities.

8.

New Brunswick Multicultural Council, Fredericton: is a bilingual, umbrella organization committed to supporting immigrant-serving agencies, and multicultural and ethno-cultural associations in New Brunswick through advocating and promoting the economic, social and cultural value in diversity.

9.

WIL Employment Connections, London: works directly with employers and job-seekers toprovide employment support and career development including assessment, counselling and preparation, assistance with licensure for internationally trained professionals, and volunteer placements.

10. Windmill Microlending (formerly known as Immigrant Access Fund), Calgary (head office):provides microloans of up to $10,000 to internationally trained immigrants so they can obtain the Canadian licensing or training required to work in their field in Canada.

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Saturday, January 12, 2019 Half of Kabbadi players who came to Canada failed to return to India From page 1 Minister Ahmed Hussen says in a government document that the special visa program for the mostly Punjabi athletes “provides benefits” to Canada. A 2018 internal Immigration Department report, obtained under an access to information request, says “Kabaddi players applying through Chandigarh (Canada’s visa office in the capital of the Punjab region) are typically young, single, unsalaried males with limited economic prospects in their country.”

The report acknowledges that it’s hard to control abuse of Canada’s quick-entry program for the players, which is managed by three large kabaddi clubs in Canada. “It is difficult to gauge a player’s skill or standing in the sport as there is no formal structure. … Misrepresentation and fraudulent documentation are a matter of concern.” Given that the past decade has featured intermittent controversy over bringing kabaddi athletes to Canada, Surreybased radio talk-show host Harjit Singh Gill said Friday that many Indo-Canadians are “disgusted” with the government’s leaky sports-visa program. “Everybody knows about this in the Punjab. Most of the athletes who apply to come here to play kabaddi know they’re not going back.” The internal report said that of the 261 players who entered Canada between 2014 and 2017, only about half returned to India. Twenty-six per cent were somehow able to obtain work permits (which are easier to apply for in Canada than in India), 21 per cent can’t be traced at all and a few made inland refugee claims.

Muslim cleric says his remarks about ‘Merry Christmas’ were taken out of context From page 1 “If a person were to commit every major sin, murder, committing adultery, dealing with interest, all of these sins, if a person were to do all of those major sins, they are nothing compared to the sin of congratulating and greeting the non-Muslims on their false festivals,” he said. “It is not possible that a true believer will allow himself or herself to congratulate people, we have no shame.”

By the end of the sermon, Sheikh Kathrada stressed that he never calls for the killing of non-Muslims, who should be treated justly.

In a follow-up video posted on January 5, he accused media outlets of stirring up trouble by selectively cutting and pasting parts of his speech to boost sales. “Tonight’s session is neither a retraction nor an apology,” he said in the video posted to the Muslim Youth of Victoria Facebook page.

“I stand by what I said and I will not retract unless I am proven to be wrong.

What you see is what you get, unedited, uncut.” According to the Washington D.C.based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Sheikh Kathrada was born in South Africa, studied in Medina, and is now based in British Columbia. He grew up in Canada and has lived here for approximately 45 years.

He is affiliated with the Vancouver-based Dar Al-Madinah Islamic Society, MEMRI said. “We cannot simply get emotional and take words that people who are out to cause trouble put out there out of context,” he said.

Social media commentators accused the cleric of being divisive. According to its Facebook page, Muslim Youth of Victoria was formed in 2014. In 2018 it established the Dar Al-Ihsan Islamic Centre in Victoria.

Led by Sheikh Kathrada, the aim of the centre is to “serve the community of Victoria with fun and educational activities and to provide a place for Muslims to gather for religious and social events, provide religious education for children, teens and adults and a place for non-Muslims to come to learn about Islam.”

Driver in Humboldt crash wasn’t distracted at time of collision with bus, document says In Melfort, Sask., provincial court Tuesday morning, Sidhu pleaded guilty to 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

On April 6, 2018, the truck Sidhu was driving collided with the Humboldt Broncos’ tour bus while the team was travelling to a playoff game in Nipawin, Sask. Sixteen people died and 13 were injured in the crash. five-page statement, based largely on the RCMP “Forensic Collision Reconstruction Report” following the brief but emotional hearing. It states Sidhu drove into the intersection at a speed of 86 to 96 km/h. This was despite a 1.2-metre-wide (four feet) stop sign with a red flashing light on top, as well as clearly marked highway signs warning of an intersection from approximately 400 metres, 300 metres, 200 metres and 100 metres away.

As Sidhu approached the intersection on Highway 335, the driver of the Broncos bus travelling down the larger Highway 35

From page 1 recognized the danger, according to the statement. The bus driver applied the brakes and skidded for 24 metres before the collision, it stated.

“The driver of the bus did not contribute to the collision,” it stated. “The actions of Mr. Sidhu while operating the semi-tractor unit caused the collision.” The bus “T-boned” the semi, sending it into the ditch. Alcohol, drugs, cellphone not factors.

According to the statement, there were no environmental factors causing the crash such as sun glare or weather conditions. The nearby trees did not obstruct the view and were “inconsequential,” it stated.

The document notes alcohol and drugs were not a factor. Sidhu was also not distracted by cellphone use. Outside the court, Sidhu’s lawyer read a prepared statement, saying his client feels terrible and is very sorry. “His position to me was, ‘I just want to plead guilty,’”

said lawyer Mark Brayford. “Mr. Sidhu advised me, ‘I don’t want to make things any worse.’”

Sentencing begins January 28.

The lawyer went on, stating that Sidhu is devastated by the grief he’s caused the families.

“He’s overwhelmed by the expressions of sympathy and kindness that some of the families and players have expressed to him, in spite of the fact that their grief is entirely his fault.”

Judge Inez Cardinal said sentencing is scheduled to begin Jan. 28 in Melfort and will likely take three to five days to complete, due to the number of victim impact statements expected to be entered. Security screenings will be in place for everyone entering the building.

‘Time is irrelevant’: Father of Humboldt Bronco killed in bus crash reacts to driver pleading guilty Scott Thomas lost his son Evan in the highway crash between a semi-trailer and the Humboldt Broncos team bus.

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

India is, and has been since independence in 1947, a liberal secular democracy. Its first generation of leaders resolutely refused to accept the argument of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah that the Hindus and the Muslims of the subcontinent represented two different nations. Thus, while Pakistan became a Muslim homeland, India insisted it was a state for citizens of all creeds. Whatever else might have changed in the seven decades since, that much has remained true.

Till now. For the first time, India’s leaders have sought to redefine the country effectively as a home for South Asians that aren’t Muslims -- and they’re enshrining the distinction into law. That’s the underlying message of a bill that was passed this week by the lower house of

Is India becoming a Hindu Pakistan?

India’s Parliament, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has a majority.

The new law amends the religion-blind Citizenship Act written in the early years of Indian independence “to facilitate acquisition of citizenship by six identified minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.”

Calling them “persecuted migrants,” the government minister who introduced the amendment said “they have nowhere to go but India.”

Sadly, that may well be true. Many of India’s neighbors have a far worse record dealing

with their religious minorities than India has with its own. And India must certainly welcome them.

Yet, in spite of its claims, India’s government is not in fact acting purely on humanitarian impulses. After all, at the moment the most persecuted minority on India’s borders are the Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar; being Muslim, they’re very obviously not welcome.

Neither are the Shias and Ahmadis who are the focus of everyday violence in Pakistan -- or, for that matter, the atheist bloggers of Bangladesh that have been threatened by machete-wielding extremists. As one commentator put it, the amendment could be summed up in one phrase: “No Muslims

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Pakistan’s army is to blame for the poverty of the country’s 208m citizens

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please, this is India.”

Not surprisingly, electoral politics -- and the complex history of India’s eastern states -- are also playing a role. The state of Assam has been convulsed in the past by violence supposedly directed at migrants from nextdoor Bangladesh, but in fact targeting anyone of Bengali ethnicity, regardless of national or religious background.

A decades-old accord set the date beyond which cross-border migration became illegal at 1971, the same year that Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan. Now, the government is demanding people prove they or their parents arrived before then -- an absurd process that, if carried to its logical end, would require India to set up internment camps for literally hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people. (Some camps have already been built.) The government hopes, through the new citizenship rules, to ensure that no non-Muslims are caught up in this sweep of “foreigners.”

Assam’s sub-nationalists are furious: They don’t want to welcome any outsiders, Hindus included. Yet the government is facing a tight reelection later this year, and at least some BJP strategists appear to hope that antiMuslim sentiment will serve as a wedge issue elsewhere in India -- especially in nearby West Bengal state.

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It has for so long been a country of such unmet potential that the scale of Pakistan’s dereliction towards its people is easily forgotten. Yet on every measure of progress, Pakistanis fare atrociously. More than 20m children are deprived of school. Less than 30% of women are employed. Exports have grown at a fifth of the rate in Bangladesh and India over the past 20 years. And now the ambitions of the new government under Imran Khan, who at least acknowledges his country’s problems (see Briefing), are thwarted by a balance-of-payments crisis.

If Mr Khan gets an IMF bail-out, it will be Pakistan’s 22nd. The persistence of poverty and maladministration, and the instability they foster, is a disaster for the world’s sixthmost-populous country. Thanks to its nuclear weapons and plentiful religious zealots, it poses a danger for the world, too.

Many, including Mr Khan, blame venal politicians for Pakistan’s problems. Others argue that Pakistan sits in a uniquely hostile part of the world, between war-torn Afghanistan and implacable India. Both these woes are used to justify the power of the armed forces. Yet the army’s pre-eminence is precisely what lies at the heart of Pakistan’s troubles. The army lords it over civilian politicians. Last year it helped cast out the previous prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and engineer Mr Khan’s rise (as it once did Mr Sharif ’s). Since the founding of Pakistan in 1947, the army has not just defended state ideology but defined it, in two destructive ways. The country exists to safeguard Islam, not a tolerant, prosperous citizenry.

And the army, believing the country to be surrounded by enemies, promotes a doctrine of persecution and paranoia. The effects are dire. Religiosity has bred an extremism that at times has looked like tearing Pakistan apart.

The state backed those who took up arms in the name of Islam. Although they initially waged war on Pakistan’s perceived enemies, before long they began to wreak havoc at home.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

$60-million lotto jackpot won by group of auto parts workers A group of coworkers at an Ontario automotive parts plant are the latest winners of $60-million lottery jackpot.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. says the nine colleagues worked the same shift on an assembly line in Guelph, Ontario.

They say they only began buying lottery tickets as group in last few $60-million Lotto Max winners poses with the cheque in Toronto months of 2018 to buy new homes or take a family trip to as the jackpot crept higher.

Disneyland, one winner hopes to open an They got lucky on December 21 when Ethiopian restaurant while another intends their ticket came up in Ontario Lotto Max to explore Canada. “I’ve been in Canada for draw.

The coworkers, eight of whom less than a year and so far I’ve only known describe themselves as immigrants, say work,” says one of the winners Bassam Abdi. they have big plans for the winnings they “I’m excited to explore the country.” collected on Thursday. While some plan

Surrey RCMP investigate alleged assault near pool in Cloverdale Surrey RCMP was on site near Cloverdale’s Greenaway Pool on Friday morning.

Investigators were called Friday morning with a report of an assault that allegedly occurred in the area on

Thursday night.

Officers cordoned off the area for a time during the morning of Jan. 11 while they searched for evidence.

The investigation is ongoing at this time.

RCMP partners with Surrey School District to organize basketball classic The Surrey RCMP is once again partnering with the Surrey School District to host this year’s 28th Annual Surrey RCMP Basketball Classic which has expanded and evolved year after year. This tournament continues to be one of the largest in BC and is the largest RCMP sponsored tournament in the country. The tournament not only assists student athletes secure scholarships for their future academic and athletic aspirations, it also provides a great opportunity for the community to come together and experience a wonderful Surrey tradition.

Basketball players throughout Surrey schools look forward to this tournament as it not only brings out the highest level of healthy competition between students, but it also strengthens the bonds between

students and police officers who are actively engaged every day in their school settings.

Officers from the Surrey RCMP’s Youth Unit and Gang Enforcement Team will be in attendance at the games cheering on the students and engaging with youth and parents. What: Surrey RCMP Basketball Classic When: Sunday, January 13th Saturday, January 19th Where: Various schools within the Surrey School District Who: Over 650 student athletes, coaches, staff, Surrey RCMP officers, and City of Surrey representatives.

For information on the tournament please visit the Surrey RCMP Basketball Classic website and for information on the Surrey RCMP’s Youth Programs please visit our website.

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

The Liberals will Liberals reimburse House of Commons reimburse $500 to the House the video violated Commons rules, which of Commons for using Prime Minister Justin prohibit the use of parliamentary resources Trudeau’s parliamentary office to record a video for partisan purposes. National director says pitch for donations to the party. other parties have not made reimbursements Liberal national director Azam Ishmael says In a letter to the chief of staff of Commons the party is also offering to reimburse people Speaker Geoff Regan, who chairs the board, who made donations linked to that video.

Ishmael says the end-of-year message from The move comes after New Democrat MP Trudeau was recorded using equipment Charlie Angus complained to the board of “paid for and owned by the Liberal Party of internal economy — the multi-party body that Canada, and not with parliamentary resources, oversees the operation of the Commons — that equipment or expenditures.”

Scott Brison is resigning from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s cabinet after deciding he won’t run for re-election this fall.

After 22 years representing the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants, Brison says he’s ready for a change and looking forward to spending more time with his four-year-old twins.

In a tweet issued moments after the news became public, Brison said he plans to work with the government to ensure the

after using PM’s office in fundraising video Nevertheless, he says “out of respect for full compliance” with the rules, the party has decided it would be “appropriate” to reimburse the Commons for the use of the prime minister’s office as a backdrop.

Based on the cost of using similar spaces for short video recordings, Ishmael says the party estimates that $500 would be an appropriate amount. Ishmael accuses other parties of using parliamentary resources for partisan purposes

Federal Liberal cabinet member Scott Brison resigns transition goes smoothly. “I’ve informed the Prime Minister of my decision to not seek re-election in 2019. ” Brison said. “As such, I’ve decided to step down from my role as President of the Treasury Board and will work with the PM [prime minister] to ensure a smooth transition.” I would like to share an important family decision: I’ve informed the Prime Minister of my decision to not seek

re-election in 2019. As such, I’ve decided to step down from my role as President of the Treasury Board and will work with the PM to ensure a smooth transition.

He’s not sure whether he’ll remain a Liberal MP until the Oct. 21 vote but he will be resigning shortly from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, where he serves as president of the Treasury Board.

“I’ve informed the prime minister that I’m

without making reimbursements.

The NDP caucus “has sill not repaid the entire $2.7 million that they owe” the Commons for using MPs’ parliamentary budgets to defray the costs of satellite party offices in Quebec and elsewhere, Ishmael says in the letter.

He goes on to list six videos recorded by Conservatives in parliamentary offices or hallways, soliciting donations or promoting their party.

not running again but I’ve also told him that I want to relinquish my cabinet responsibilities in a timely manner and support transition to a new minister,” Brison said. “My personal view is that the prime minister and the government are best served by ministers who will be running in the next election.” He said he’s announcing his decision now to give Liberals in his riding time for a nomination contest to choose who will carry the party’s banner in the coming election.

Trudeau defends Canada’s refugee program, as he addresses a teen girl’s killing in BC Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced questions on several topics at a town hall held at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, B.C. on Wednesday night.

They covered areas such as climate change, First Nations and international students.

But one question in particular had Trudeau reminding his audience they were going to hear from a “wide range of perspectives.”

One audience member asked him about the killing of Marrisa Shen, a 13-year-old girl who was found dead in Burnaby, B.C.’s Central Park in July 2017. Ibrahim Ali, a 28-yearold Syrian refugee who arrived in Canada in

March 2017, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death.

The audience member asked Trudeau, “can you guarantee that Marrisa Shen was not killed by a Syrian refugee who came to Canada after you were elected, and if not, what in your opinion is the acceptable number of Canadian lives lost as a result of your policies on refugees?”

Trudeau responded first by saying violent crime — and what the Shen family has gone through — is a “terrible tragedy, and we have a judicial system, we have a process through which to go.”

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Crown mistakenly exposed police informant, killing massive BC money laundering probe A massive RCMP investigation of alleged underground bankers in Richmond estimated to be laundering over $1-billion per year, collapsed in November because federal prosecutors mistakenly exposed the identity of a police informant who they feared could have been killed if the case proceeded, Global News has learned.

The so-called E-Pirate investigation started in 2015 and targeted Richmond-based Silver International, an alleged illegal money services business. The investigation culminated in a series of undercover raids in October 2015.

RCMP said they seized millions in cash, as well as B.C. Lottery Corp. casino chips, from Silver’s office in a Richmond business complex, plus computers, cell phones and digital evidence containing tens of thousands of documents, from Silver’s office and other locations.

Federal prosecutors laid charges in September 2017. The allegations have not been proven in court. After lengthy preliminary proceedings in B.C. provincial court and the Supreme Court of Canada, the case was scheduled to go to trial in January 2019.

But for reasons they refused to explain, federal prosecutors and the RCMP stayed charges against Silver, and Caixuan Qin and Jian Jun Zhu, the Vancouver couple that allegedly ran the operation.

It was believed to be the largest money laundering probe in Canadian history, and a crucial prosecution for B.C. that sources say has failed because of weaknesses in Canadian law enforcement, including the inadvertent disclosure of information that could have endangered a hidden informant co-operating to help the RCMP break the case.

Silver took in about $1.5 million in criminal cash deposits per day, and distributed funds to

about 600 bank accounts in China, as well as using cash from Vancouver drug dealers and casino loan sharks to fund Chinese high-rollers in B.C. casinos, the RCMP investigation alleged.

Initial investigations by the RCMP estimated that Silver allegedly laundered about $500 million in two years.

But according to new information in a case study of the E-Pirate investigation by the Financial Action Task Force — an international government body that sets antimoney laundering standards — it is now estimated the alleged “professional” laundering network washed over $1 billion per year.

One component of the network’s alleged operations was using legal and illegal casinos to help gamblers from China move money to and from Canada, and in some cases cash out chips for a “B.C. casino cheque” to deposit into Canadian banks and buy Vancouver real estate, the FATF report says.

The FATF report also alleges the underground bank used B.C. as a hub to perform crucial drug-trafficking and global money transfer services for Chinese Triads, Mexican Cartels, and Middle Eastern organized crime groups.

In November, B.C. Attorney General David Eby reacted to news of E-Pirate’s collapse, calling it a “crisis” for Canada and saying he had no advance warning of the prosecution failure.

Eby said he will seek answers because the public deserves to know why the case collapsed.

By reviewing court filings and interviewing sources with knowledge of the decision to stay E-Pirate charges, Global News has learned that federal prosecutors mistakenly revealed the identity of a secret police informant when they released a large volume of digital files to Silver’s lawyer in a standard evidence disclosure process.

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Who cut these trees? Vandal sought by Vancouver police Vancouver officials are asking for the public’s help to identify the culprit in a different type of offence: someone damaged several trees.

The city’s park board said in a statement Friday that the limbs and tops of eight trees at Spanish Banks were cut off.

The board believes the conifers, which are located at Tolmie Street and Northwest Marine Drive, were intentionally damaged.

Trees located along city streets are protected under Vancouver’s “Street Tree Bylaw,” which was passed in 1986.

Those determined to be violating

the bylaw face fines of between $50 and $2,000.

Vancouver also has a “Protection of Trees” bylaw, passed about five years ago, which restricts when larger trees can be cut down and addresses intentional damage. Violators of that bylaw can face fines as high as $10,000.

In 2004, a woman admitted to drilling holes in five trees, poisoning three of them, because they were blocking her view of English Bay. June Matheson walked out of court without a record, but did pay a $30,000 fine to replace the three.

WE VALUE YOUR PROPERTY AS MUCH AS YOU DO. If you’re among BC’s approximately 2 million property owners, you should receive your 2019 property assessment in the mail early in January. If you haven’t, call us toll-free at 1-866-valueBC. Access and compare property assessment information using our free assessment search service at bcassessment.ca.

The 2019 assessments are based on market value as of July 1, 2018.

If you have questions or want more information, contact us at 1-866-valueBC or online at bcassessment.ca. The deadline to file an appeal for your assessment is January 31, 2019.

For more property information, assessment highlights and videos visit

bcassessment.ca We Value BC

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

Anti-trans activist tapped to run against NDP’s Singh in byelection A Burnaby School Board candidate who campaigned on a platform of opposition to BC’s sexual orientation and gender identity policy (SOGI) now plans to run against federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh in an upcoming byelection for the riding of Burnaby South, as a candidate with the newly-formed People’s Party of Canada.

And while an official date for the byelection has yet to be called by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, both the party and the candidate – Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson – made the announcement via Twitter. On Facebook, Thompson laid out the reasoning behind her decision to run. “About a year ago, I became extremely aware that Canada was changing very fast,� she wrote. “I saw laws being made that did not represent the grassroots conservative folks in Canada. It was alarming to see the speed at which our Country was changing.�

She recalled travelling to Ottawa at the beginning of 2018 for the National Prayer Breakfast and got to see where the politicians speak out at Question Period. “That day changed my life‌ I knew it was time to stand with courage.â€?

Following that day, a series of “fascinating coincidences� eventually lead Thompson to a meeting with PPC leader Maxime Bernier. “He bravely declared the death of political correctness,� she explained. “He opened the door for conversations, healthy debate and holding fast to what is really Canadian – freedom. He is willing to take the heat to do politics a different way.�

Thompson said she plans to fight along with Bernier and “the whole team� of the PPC. “We’re going to fight for a better Canada.

For freedom, integrity, prosperity and personal responsibility.�

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Trudeau faces heated comments about pipelines, reconciliation in Kamloops town halls Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced a combative crowd in Kamloops, B.C., Wednesday night at a public town hall meeting dominated by questions about reconciliation with Indigenous communities and the future of several pipeline projects.

The meeting, staged in a packed university gymnasium, came amid a tense standoff between RCMP and First Nations in northern B.C., which has sparked protests across Canada.

RCMP, Wet’suwet’en reach tentative deal to let gas company workers through Since Monday the Mounties have been enforcing a court injunction granting workers with the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline project access to a road and bridge from which they had been blocked by opponents of the project.

On Monday, the RCMP entered the first of two blockades and arrested 14 people. Hours before Trudeau’s townhall meeting, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and RCMP reached a tentative agreement allowing workers access to the pipeline.

Audience members react as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a town hall Q&A. Arnie Jack from the Shuswap nation in the B.C. Interior confronted Trudeau about RCMP actions in northern B.C., saying that without the consent of the people, the Prime Minister would have to “go through us first.� “You can stand up all the elected chiefs that you want and say that you have consent,

but you do not have consent from the people on the ground, and you said yourself that these major projects would not be approved without community consent,� Jack said. “What you did to the Unist’ot’en [camp], that’s a national disgrace.�

Trudeau responded by saying there are a broad range of Indigenous

perspectives regarding the project. “We are going to have to work together,� he said amid heckles from the crowd. “I understand your frustration.�

Justin Trudeau greeted by angry pipeline supporters and protesters in Kamloops Trudeau addressed the issue again in a later question, saying the process of reconciliation should not be rushed. “We’ve gone from a place where Indigenous people were not listened to, were not consulted, were not included, and we are doing a better job of it,� he said. “If we choose to determine what the right solution is for Indigenous

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Richmond realtor Morning Yu fined $18,000 for professional misconduct The Real Estate Council of BC has fined Richmond realtor Chen (Morning) Yu $18,000 for professional misconduct in a pair of real estate transactions.

The council says Yu advertised and operated under the name Team Morning Yu while working for Metro Edge Realty, a move that had not been approved by the council.

She was reprimanded for failing to disclose important information to a potential buyer in Richmond and failing to document records. The council says she instructed the buyer’s agent on how to deal with the buyer, who had decided not to purchase the home on the basis of a feng shui report.

She is also being reprimanded for acting for a buyer and her mother in the sale of a property

in Richmond, providing real estate services other than on behalf of her licensed brokerage.

The council collectively fined her $18,000 and said she must undergo further real estate training at her own expense.

Gang related shooting left two dead including one bystander in Vancouver The gang-related shooting left two people dead, including uninvolved bystander.

Vancouver police have released new information about a gang-related double murder a year ago that left a young innocent bystander dead.

On Friday, the VPD released a photo of a vehicle that police allege was involved in the Jan. 13, 2018 shooting, a red Pontiac Montana.

Kevin Whiteside, 23, and Alfred Wong, 15, were shot and killed at East Broadway Avenue and Ontario Street near the Indochine Kitchen and Bar. Investigators believe that Whiteside was there planning to kill a 28-year-old Vancouver resident and rival gangster, Matthew Navas-Rivas, who was at the Indochine restaurant with a female companion.

As the two left the restaurant, a second person opened fire and Whiteside was hit and later died in hospital. The gunfire also struck Wong, who was in a vehicle with his family driving through the area.

He died two days later in hospital after family decided to take him off life support.

Wong was described by friends as a polite, respectful, church-going boy with a bright future. The Pinetree Secondary School student was a gifted student, who liked basketball and was a competitive

swimmer and a volunteer lifeguard.

Navas-Rivas was not hurt that night, however, police said he was murdered on July 15, 2018 in Vancouver.

Investigators have seized the red Pontiac Montana. They have also found video of a dark pickup truck turning into the crime scene at the time of the killings, and officers would like the occupants to contact them.

Sgt. Mike Heard, a commander with VPD homicide detectives, said they have made progress on the case but they are releasing the photo because they know there are people with important information about the deaths who have chosen not to talk to investigators.

“We are asking them to do the right thing and contact us now,” he said.

Anyone who may have information is asked to contact detectives at 604-7170515 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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Chilliwack School District struggling to operate at 111% capacity Melissa Cormier arrives at least 20 minutes elementary schools, which really helped before school is out to pick up her 9-year-old with the capacity at our elementary schools daughter, Tehanna. The line up to pick up but put a lot of pressure on our middle and her child at Unsworth Elementary School in secondary schools this year,” Slykhuis said.

Chilliwack, B.C., wraps around several blocks.

The district also got $10 million from While Cormier finds the traffic jam the provincial government to acquire annoying, she’s grateful that her daughter the old University of The Fraser Valley was able to get into the school at all. Campus, which moved to the south Cormier moved back to her hometown in October and lives just up the road from the elementary school. But when she went to register her daughter, she was shocked to hear there was no space.

“They said they were just full,” she said. “Completely full. It didn’t matter if you lived in the catchment area or not.”

It took weeks of back and forth with the district to enrol her.

Operating at 111% capacity The Chilliwack School District is using 89 portables to The Chilliwack School District says it accommodate the influx of students has been a real challenge to accommodate the influx of nearly 500 new students this year. side of Chilliwack a few years ago.

Gerry Slykhuis, the school district’s The district takes possession later secretary treasurer, says the district is operating this month and plans to fit 700 students at 111 per cent capacity. Slykhuis believes the in that space in about two years. problem has to do with more young families “Because it was a former university, moving to the city to find affordable housing. it’s got classrooms in it and everything “It’s meant using a lot of portables. like that. So we don’t have to do a whole We’re up to 89 portables now in our bunch of work in order to start getting fairly small district,” Slykhuis said. kids in there, so that’s really great,” he said.

Gerry Slykhuis, secretary treasurer Slykhuis says finding sites suitable for with the Chilliwack School District, schools are difficult because most of the says it has been a real challenge to find large parcels of flat land in Chilliwack are space for the nearly 500 new students. located on the Agricultural Land Reserve, The district has also had to get creative which is kept for farming purposes only. and reconfigure some of its spaces.

There are plans for a new K-8 school “We moved Grade 6s out of our on Tyson Road near the Vedder River.

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

Saudi teen who fled her family arrives in Canada An 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled her family saying she feared for her life has been granted asylum in Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, as Thai officials confirmed the teen was en route to Toronto.

Trudeau said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had asked Canada to take in Rahaf Mohammed alQunun, who grabbed international attention this week after she barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room to resist being sent home to her family, which denies any abuse.

“Canada is a country that understands how important it is to stand up for human rights, to stand up for women’s rights around the world, and I can confirm that we have accepted the U.N.’s request,” he told reporters.

The decision is likely to exacerbate Canada’s already poor relations with Saudi Arabia, which last year barred the Canadian ambassador to Riyadh after Ottawa criticized Saudi authorities for detaining women’s’ activists.

Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed alQunun is seen before departing from Thailand at Suvarnabhumi Airport in

Bangkok, Thailand January 11, 2019.

Thailand Immigration Police via REUTERS Qunun arrived in Bangkok on Saturday and was initially denied entry, but she soon started posting messages on Twitter from the transit area of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport saying she had “escaped Kuwait” and her life would be in danger if forced to return to Saudi Arabia.

Following a 48-hour stand-off at Bangkok airport, some of it barricaded in a transit lounge hotel room, she was allowed to enter Thailand and was then processed as a refugee by the UNHCR. The UNHCR welcomed Canada’s decision and also acknowledged Thailand had given Qunun temporary refuge.

“Ms. al-Qunun’s plight has captured the world’s attention over the past few days, providing a glimpse into the precarious situation of millions of refugees worldwide,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement.

Qunun has accused her family of abuse, and has refused to meet her father and brother who arrived in Bangkok to try take her back to Saudi Arabia.

RCMP’s BC commander to leave for government position The commanding officer of the RCMP in B.C. is leaving to become the provincial government’s new director of police services.

Brenda Butterworth-Carr, the deputy commissioner in charge of RCMP’s B.C. division, will become an assistant deputy minister and director of government policing policy effective March 5.

Butterworth-Carr was named the RCMP’s top officer in B.C. in 2017, after heading its criminal operations division, commanding the force in Saskatchewan and serving as a national director in charge of aboriginal policing in Ottawa.

As a First Nations woman from the Yukon Territory, the RCMP has described Butterworth-Carr as a trailblazer within the organization during her rise over a 30-year career from a native reserve constable to lead some of its largest operational divisions.

The government’s director of police services job will become vacant later this year because current director, Clayton Pecknold, was selected by MLAs as the new independent police complaints commissioner.

The RCMP confirmed Thursday that Butterworth-Carr is retiring from the force, but she was unavailable for an interview.

Black market cannabis is $3 cheaper per gram, Statistics Canada survey finds Statistics Canada says that the average price of a legal gram of recreational pot last year was $9.70, nearly 50 per cent higher than the illicit market price of $6.51.

The agency says it received 385 price quotes deemed plausible using the StatsCannabis crowdsourcing application between Oct. 17, when adult-use pot became legal in Canada, and Dec. 31.

It added that roughly half of the respondents told the agency they bought recreational pot from a legal supplier.

Statistics Canada also says the average

amount of non-medical cannabis purchased from an illegal supplier was more than double the quantity bought from legal channels, such as government-run stores or websites.

Respondents told the agency since Oct. 17 they purchased an average of 17.2 grams from illegal suppliers, compared with 8.3 grams from legal retail outlets or online for mail delivery.

However, availability of legal cannabis amid widespread product shortages across Canada since legalization day may be a contributing factor.

RCMP seek witnesses after 9-year-old allegedly grabbed by man RCMP are investigating after a nine-year-old boy said a stranger grabbed him as he was walking in Courtenay, B.C., on Monday morning.

The boy said the man grabbed his backpack as he walked along the sidewalk of Willemar Avenue between 17th and 20th Street around 8:15 a.m.

The child broke free and made it to school, where he told his principal what had happened. RCMP responded but didn’t find anyone matching the suspect description in the area.

4-month-old girl pinned under truck after it crashes into Surrey home A statement described the man as middleaged and white, with short grey or dark brown hair and a deep, “garbled” voice. Mounties said he wasn’t clean shaven and wore a black toque, and a dark green puffy coat that looked old.

‘Very likely’ someone saw what happened: RCMP Investigators said they’re looking for witnesses to come forward. “This area of Courtenay has quite a bit of traffic in the morning when it’s time to get our children to school. It is very likely that someone in the area saw the suspect, or even what happened,” said Const.

Monika Terragni.

“We are asking anyone who may be a witness to give us a call, and for caregivers to talk to the children in their care about situations they may encounter when they’re out on their own.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Comox Valley RCMP at (250) 338-1321 and refer to file 2019-357, or Crime Stoppers if they prefer to remain anonymous.

Former BC financial consultant who owes $195K in fines jailed for failing to attend court A Surrey woman who was largely banned from the investment industry because of her involvement in a Ponzi scheme has been sent to jail for 30 days

for failing to appear at a court hearing.

Former financial consultant Renee Michelle Penko was ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $40,000 and another $155,000 in fines to the B.C. Securities Commission in 2016 after a panel found that she’d participated in fraud.

Penko has not paid any of the money she owes, according to the BCSC, and failed to appear at two court hearings late last year about paying her debt.

The BCSC obtained an apprehension order and Penko surrendered to the court on Dec. 31. A B.C. Supreme Court judge found her to be in contempt of court and ordered her to spend a month in jail.

B.C. insurance group allegedly defrauded investors of $47 million Penko was first sanctioned in August 2016 after a BCSC panel found that she’d been part of an $11.7-million Ponzi scheme led

by Thomas Arthur Williams and the Global Group of Companies. She was banned for four years from purchasing and trading in securities and most other investment activities as part of her disciplinary settlement.

Since then, the BCSC says it has taken several measures to collect the money Penko owes, but it’s come up short. A writ of seizure and sale for Penko’s possessions turned up no assets, according to a news release.

Fraudster hit with $8.6M in fines, repayments after diverting investments into his own companies. The commission issued a subpoena to debtor on Nov. 6, a measure that would require her to provide information about her financial situation and could lead to a court order for paying

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Canada passed new laws making it even harder to fly drones for fun

C a n a d a released new regulations for flying recreational drones this morning. The rules apply to noncommercial drone operators flying aircraft weighing between 250 grams (about half a pound) and 35 kilograms (77 pounds). Violators can face fines up to $3,000 Canadian, or about $2,248 U.S. That’s almost 60 percent higher than fines in the U.S., where it tops out at $1,414.

Before these new rules, Canada had a set of guidelines for flying recreational drones safely, but there were no penalties for not following them, Canada’s Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said in a press conference today.

Under the new recreational drone rules,

you can’t fly: Higher than 90 meters (300 ft.) above the ground At a distance of more than 500 meters (1,640 ft.) from the operator Within 75 meters (246 ft.) of buildings, vehicles, vessels, animals, people or crowds At night or in the clouds Within 9 km (5.6 miles) from the center of an airport or other facility where aircraft takeoff or within 9 km of forest fire If your drone doesn’t have your name, address and telephone number labeled on the aircraft In a way that interferes with first responders or police Canada’s new rules are more restrictive than U.S. recreational drone regulations, which allow for flying up to 400 feet, don’t have a set

Man found in donation bin even after Burnaby announces to remove the bins off the streets A Burnaby man was found in a donation bin just a day after the city announced its plans to remove them from city streets.

A Global News camera operator spotted someone climbing into a donation bin on Kensington Avenue just before 8 a.m. Tuesday.

When asked if he was OK, the man in the bin said: “Yes, I’m fine.

Thank you.” The man then turned down an offer of assistance.

RCMP were called, and officers arrived about an hour later. After a short interaction with the officer, the man was able to roll out of the bin on his own.

Police say he wasn’t injured. Several Metro Vancouver municipalities are choosing to shut down the bins after the death of a man in West Vancouver last month. On Monday, the City of Burnaby announced it had sent letters to organizations with donation bins asking them to remove the bins from private

property. City Manager Lambert Chu said it’s only until a safer option can be provided.

“We are just sending the letter out and saying there are safety concerns, generally, about donation bins, and if there is any doubt if their bins are safe to be used or not, to cease using them until there has been a proper assessment,” Chu said.

Chu said some bins will remain at the city’s eco-centre because it is staffed during the day and gated at night. The centre also has “mailbox-style” bins, which are considered safer.

‘Abuse is possible’ with BC nurses’ unlimited massage benefits: $31 million in 2017 The B.C. Nurses Union is investigating how one nurse’s family managed to use $174,000 in massage therapy benefits over the course of a year through the taxpayerfunded extended benefits plan.

This amid a raging controversy triggered by news that public health care employers spent $31 million in nurses’ massage therapy costs in 2017, a 900-per-cent increase from 2008.

Unlike most other public and private employees, nurses do not have a limit on the number of massages they and their family members can get each year and there are no co-pays; massages are 100 per cent employer paid at rates up to $110 per hour.

According to BCNU contract bargaining documents, a disproportionate number of nurses are using most of the massage benefits. Twenty-one per cent ate up 82 per cent of the expenditure on massage therapy.

The vast majority — 80 per cent — of union members used less than $1,000 per year in such benefits.

But there are cases of apparent abuse, according to nurses union CEO Umar Sheikh.

In a town hall question and answer teleconference for nurses soon after the tentative contract was reached last month, he told union members that under the system of unlimited massages “abuse is possible.”

He cited the $174,000 case and said at that rate, the nurse and his or her dependents would have had 1.8 massages per day. There is a provision in the nurses

union benefits package to curb such egregious spending but the language is vague, with reference to “reasonable and customary limits” on such perks.

distance restriction for flying near buildings and allow for recreational flying at night.

U.S. rules also don’t have a set restriction for how far away a drone is allowed to fly from its operator, but rather require drones be kept within the operator’s line of sight.

Members of the drone industry say they didn’t see Canada’s new regulations coming.

“I’m very surprised,” Brendan Schulman, the

15

head of policy at DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer, said in an interview. “There was no consultation with any relevant stakeholders before this announcement was made.”

The order issued this morning is an interim order; according to CBC, Garneau said in a press conference that he plans to update Canada’s drone laws more fully this summer.

16

Saturday, January 12, 2019

PICS announces its new board members Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) Society is thrilled to announce the appointment of Amar Sidhu to its Board.

Amar Sidhu is the Assistant Vice-President, Commercial Banking for Envision Financial, a division of First West Credit Union, and brings more than 16 years of experience in the financial services industry. Amar leads 21 branches and four major centres in Surrey/Delta, Langley, Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Amar is currently on the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Langley.

Amar joins the current board members who are accomplished professionals in their diverse careers.

Paul Resham Dosanjh (President) has over 30 years of operations management experience in retail business including sales, financial management and human resources.

Puneet Khaira (Vice President) is an associate lawyer at Lindsay Kenney LLP’s Langley office, practicing in the area of general civil litigation, personal injury and family law.

Arvinder Bubbar (Treasurer) is the principal of A. S. Bubber and Associates, Chartered Professional Accountant in Surrey, BC. He has served as Board member, Board chair and first Chancellor of Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

He also served as Vice-Chair, BC Premier’s Asia Pacific Trade Council. Arvinder currently serves on SFU President’s Advisory Council on India and SFU President’s Surrey Advisory Council.

Arvinder also served on the Fraser Health Authority Board of Directors and as Director and Treasurer of Surrey Board of Trade.

Dr. Tina Purewal (Secretary) is a practicing dentist and an instructor at the University of British Columbia in the Faculties of Dentistry and Medicine.

Ranbir Manj is a highly accomplished Senior Program Manager and community activist with over 20 years of experience working with new immigrants and mentoring young and other personnel. He brings with him a diverse skillset and in-depth knowledge of job mentoring, social activities, organization of fundraising events and building teams for success.

Dave Hans is a professional Engineer (Registered P. Eng. in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Northwest Territories). With over 15 years of experience in the industry, Dave has worked on big projects involving cities, universities and multinational organizations.

Dr. Leena Jain is a practicing Internal Medicine specialist and a Clinical instructor at UBC. She is also a Geriatrician in outpatient clinic in Burnaby and Surrey BC, Royal Columbia Hospital, Victoria Heights and Fraser Health Authority.

Harry Kooner is a dynamic leader, skilled in developing and maintaining a broad vision, cultivating excellent relationships, and communicating effectively across the organization to build focused teams & strong partnerships. He has over 15 years of experience as the Senior Bylaw Officer with the City of Surrey along with Operations Management experience.

PICS Society is looking for two additional Board members with one or more of the following competencies and expertise: t 'VOESBJTJOH XJUI $PSQPSBUF 4FDUPS t .BOBHFNFOU PG -BSHF $POTUSVDUJPO 1SPKFDUT t -POH UFSN $BSF 'BDJMJUJFT 4FOJPST )PVTJOH t 4PDJBM 4FSWJDFT 4FDUPS t (PWFSONFOU -JBJTPO t %FWFMPQJOH 4PDJBM &OUFSQSJTFT t &NQMPZNFOU -BX t *OTVSBODF 4FDUPS To be considered for the Board position, a person must be a regular member of PICS for at least 1 year or a Lifetime member of PICS. “PICS is excited about the unique expertise that our board members bring as the Society continues to evolve and is looking forward to getting new talent to join the team.� Satbir Cheema, C.E.O. The PICS Society Board of Directors have been steering the organization for over 30 years. In addition to working closely with, and supporting, the Chief Executive Officer, our Board of Directors approve the annual budget and annual report as well as any major capital investment; they actively set the policy for our Society by creating and updating the mission and vision statements and approving the strategic plan. Our Board Members serve as ambassadors for our organization, and participate in robust fundraising by soliciting funds from individuals, foundations, corporations and government entities.

Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) Society is a registered nonprofit society and has been serving the community since 1987. PICS provides a broad spectrum of programs and services which includes Employment Programs, Settlement Services, Language Services, Social Programs and Housing Services. Our services assist new immigrants, seniors, farm workers, women and youth.

For more information about PICS please visit pics.bc.ca or for interviews please call Dorothy Poudel at 604-596-7722 ext. 115 or email dorothy.poudel@pics.bc.ca

Couple charged after hog-tying a man they accuse of trying to lure their daughter, 13, into sex A Port Alberni mother is in court to face charges of vigilantism after she tackled and hog-tied a 28-year-old family friend she alleged was trying to lure her 13-year-old daughter into sex.

The 28-year-old allegedly showed up at suburban home expecting sex from waiting 13-year-old girl when he was instead punched, tackled and tied up by three adults, the girl’s mother, her stepfather and another man who had come to help. The aftermath of the April 12 incident was streamed on Facebook Live in a video that was soon circulated by mainstream media outlets around the world. “He came to my house to meet my 13-yearold f—ing daughter to f–k her ‌ we f— ing tackled him and zap-strapped him and called the police,â€? the mother (whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of her daughter) says in the video as she points a smartphone at a bearded man lying bound and silent on her floor.

The video ends when two RCMP officers arrive at the home and announce that the trio are facing charges for assault. “You’re all being detained for assault right now, sorry,� says an attending officer before seizing the phone

being used for the recording. Before the video ends the mother turns the camera on herself and says, “I am arrested because we caught a predator that the police refused to catch.�

Early this year, BC Crown prosecutors confirmed charges of assault and forcible confinement against the three. In a court appearance last week, the mother and stepfather pleaded not guilty to the charges, while the third man is awaiting sentencing after agreeing to a deal with prosecutors that would avoid a trial. Speaking to the National Post via Facebook message, the Port Alberni mother said the saga began in February when she was checking her daughter’s phone on an unrelated matter and saw lewd Instagram messages from a man who turned out to be a family friend. She initially approached RCMP with the messages and met several times with an investigating officer. However, she said she got “discouraged� with the police investigation about six weeks later when she noticed that the suspected child lurer was messaging another social media account owned by her daughter.

She said RCMP turned down her request to immediately participate in a sting to catch the man. Fearful that the man might be targeting

Surrey shootings dropped by 36 per cent in 2018: RCMP Surrey RCMP say shootings were down by more than a third in 2018, compared to the year prior. This week, the detachment tweeted that shots-fired incidents – meaning any time a gun is discharged in the city – dropped 36 per cent in that time period.

According to police, there were 38 incidents of gunfire in 2018, and 59 in 2017. In 2016 there were 61, and 88 in 2015.

Sergeant Chad Greig noted the decline from 2015 to 2018 equates to 57 per cent. “We’re happy to see that, and we want that to continue,� Greig noted. “I think it’s a multi-faceted approach,� he said when asked what may have contributed to the drop. “We have our education component, the youth presentation Shattering the Image, and our other youth programs. We have a parent’s help line if they have issues, we have our Mini Code Blue program where we have

officers in the schools being athletic with the kids and working out with them. It’s that oneon-one interpersonal work our youth section is doing.� The incidents of shots fired in #SurreyBC decreased significantly in 2018 (-36%).

Combatting gangs and violence will continue to be a top priority for us in 2019, through enforcement, education and early intervention.

On the enforcement side is the Surrey Gang Enforcement Team which “strategically targets individuals and areas known to have some criminality aspect in driving this down,� Greig said. “What we’re doing right now seems to be working so we’re just going to continue doing that,� he added, also noting successful youth education initiatives are now being rolled out to community partners “so they also have an understanding of what we’re doing and how they can help.� Meanwhile, Mayor Doug McCallum has vowed to replace the Surrey RCMP and instead create a municipal force for the city. It’s an issue he campaigned on prior to being elected on Oct. 20, 2018.

Minutes after being sworn into office, the new council voted unanimously to issue notice that the city desired to pull out of its contract with the RCMP. McCallum has set an ambitious goal of two years to have the new force up and running, but some on council doubt it can be done within that time frame. In a split 5-4 vote, the new Surrey council approved a budget last December that will see no new police officers hired for 2019, despite 12 previously on the books, under the direction of the former Surrey First council.

At the time, McCallum said he’s “comfortable� the city will be safe despite no new Mounties being hired, after Councillor Jack Hundial (a former cop who is in the mayor’s Safe Surrey Coalition) said “public safety is at risk� as a result.

Upright & assured Anuskha Sharma

W

ith her debut o p p o s i t e Shahrukh Khan in ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ in 2008 Anushka has taken a leap in her filmy career.

In the long 9 years in the Bollywood film industry, she has managed to attain a remarkable position with her talent and beauty.

She was born on May 1st, 1988 in Ayodhya. With her perfect acting skills and performance in various films she got many awards in different catagories. She came more into limelight with good looks and make-over looking more bold and gorgeous. Her amazing performance in PK has made her get a large number of fan followers in the recent past. She is seen largely doing energetic and fresh roles in the Bollywood.

After Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - 2008 she took

commercial success, emerging as the secondhighest grossing Hindi film of that year, and earned Sharma Filmfare Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Female Debut. Two years later, Sharma played the leading lady in the crime-comedy Badmaash Company, directed by Parmeet Sethi and co-starring Shahid Kapoor, Vir Das and Meiyang

a day to prepare for her screen test at the Yash Raj Films studio and refused to do an impromptu one. She was signed for a three-film deal with the company and landed the leading role of Tani Sahni, a young bride to a middle-aged man, portrayed by Khan, according to media reports she is to be “assured and upright” in the film but critics thought that she “lacks all chutzpah and can barely hold your attention”. The film was a major

Chang. The film, which tells the story of four underachieving friends who begin a scam business enterprise, received mixed reviews. Later in 2010, Sharma completed her three-film contract with Yash Raj Films by starring in Band Baaja Baaraat, a romantic comedy directed

by Maneesh Sharma and co-starring debutant Ranveer Singh.

18

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Film review - ‘Zero’

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

Red Chillies Entertainment & Colour Yellow Productions present “Zero” Produced by: Gauri Khan & Aanand L. Rai Directed by: Aanand L. Rai Written by: Hemanshu Sharma Music: Kalyanji-Anandji, LaxmikantPyarelal, Ravi, Ajay-Atul & Tanishk Bagchi Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Tigmasnhu Dhulia, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Brijendra Kala, Sheeba Chaddha, Jaipreet Singh, Sp. App.: Juhi Chawla, Sridevi, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, R. Madhavan, Abhay Deol, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Ganesh Acharya, Remo D’Souza & others Bauua Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) is a verticallychallenged son of a rich businessman (Tigmashu Dhulia) from Meerut. A matrimonial agent (Brijendra Kala) shows him a picture of the half-Afghan, halfSikh Aafia Bhinder (Anushka Sharma) and Bauua falls for her. He woos her despite starting off on a wrong note. Soon, they fall in love, and a marriage is fixed, though her father (Jaipreet Singh) is not too keen on the “boy.”

Aafia is a brilliant scientist despite suffering from cerebral palsy. Bauua is also a fan of film star Babita Kumari (Katrina Kaif). Emotionally challenged as a series of men have ditched her, including the latest (Abhay Deol), and during

a show in Meerut, she is inebriated and meets Bauua by chance on the road and kisses him.

That is enough for Bauua to ditch Aafia on the day of the wedding and go to Mumbai. What happens next? Now here is where words fail me, though I have to find them to write this review! From the beginning when Bauua squanders his father’s hard-earned money on Eid to how he arranges to woo Aafia in a hotel to his being told to get out of her life by Babita to his expedition to the US where Aafia is talking about her space research feast in Hindi (!!!) and then heading a team that will send (from the US) a manned rocket to Mars, everything in the film seems to created to above all try and con the audience into believing that the worst script is logical, even when stretched literally and metaphorically all the way to outer space!

Unleashing an addlepated concept executed pathetically, the film’s makers have indeed contributed lethally to making one of our biggest superstars’ worst cinematic liabilities. And even more than at the time of “Fan” and “Jab Harry…,” we must insist that Shah Rukh Khan really get some upfront, solid advisors on scripts and choice of projects.

Here is an actor improving by the film, with a mission, passion, and means to deliver innovative, technology-heavy (if necessary) movies that are attempts to take commercial

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Five best Bollyood films of 2018

S

hah Rukh Khan’s film ‘Zero’ and Ranveer Singh’s Simmba, so far the middle-ofthe-road cinema and not the tentpoles, that have dominated 2018, a year that has seen a seismic shift in Bollywood as an industry.

And this year, it’s safe to declare that the corridors of Bollywood have, temporarily as it may seem, relieved the Khans of their blockbuster duties and instead, recruited, the Kaushals, the Khurranas, and the Raos to infuse young energy into the tried-and-tested paradigm of the conventional Hindi film.

Appropriately mirroring an ongoing dialogue on abuse and exploitation, Hindi cinema this year gave us empowering narratives for women,

with some strikingly memorable characters that called out patriarchy in households and outside while simultaneously breaking archaic stereotypes that Bollywood has cashed on since ages. List of 5 of absolute favourites of the year, films that subverted the idea of commerciality and set new rules.

5. BADHAAI HO It’s like Ayushmann Khuranna can do no wrong. After de-stigmatising sperm donation and erectile dysfunction, Khuranna found himself dealing with his parents getting pregnant again in this film. Amit Sharma’s Badhai Ho, at once, dismantled several subjects considered fiercely taboo in Indian society sex and more specifically, old people having sex.

Creating an authentic Delhi universe, Sharma told a heartfelt story about an ageing couple coping with the prejudices of a conservative society. Badhai Ho, with its outrageously eccentric humour and an ensemble cast, managed to rip apart staid notions and shared a decidedly progressive worldview.

4. STREE Bollywood has rarely confronted patriarchy as boisterously as it did in Amar Kaushik’s Stree, a film that ingeniously used tropes of horror and comedy to critique social oppression of women. The Rajkummar Rao-

Shraddha Kapoor starrer imagined a world where the men were locked up in their houses in a sleepy Madhya Pradesh town.

Stree presented a dystopia which mirrored the actual lives of women in India, a country where women have to live with the constant threat of sexual violence and domestic abuse. Given the current conversation around predatory behaviour, Stree turned out to be an unexpected feminist masterpiece.

3. MANMARZIYAAN Though he has a reputation for helming violent gangster films, there’s nobody who handles romance as deftly as Anurag Kashyap. The Wasseypur director submitted himself to Kanika Dhillon’s sparkling screenplay and the product of this wonderful collaboration was Manmarziyaan.

In an industry notorious for churning out hyperunrealistic love stories that bear no semblance to a real life romance, Manmarizyaan ripped apart the idea of romantic idealism and looked at love in all its unflattering reality the bitterness, the jealousy, the insecurities, the hate. In Rumi, Kashyap and Dhillon gave us a flawed protagonist unapologetic about her selfishness, confusion, and her indecisiveness, while Vicky Kaushal owned the screen as the raging romantic, in every frame that he appeared in.

The film also encapsulated the dilemma the Tinder generation faces today to settle for certain stability guided by the mind or to keep exploring the unknown terrains the beating heart takes us to.

2. OCTOBER An achingly poetic reflection on love, loss, and longing, Shoojit Sircar’s October is a difficult movie to watch as it sucks the viewer into a world of uncertainty and grief, making us confront our biggest vulnerabilities: sudden death of a loved one.

In October, celebrated writer Juhi Chaturvedi created memorable characters in Dan and Shiuli, two could-be lovers who live a lifetime in a brief window between life and death.

Aided by a melancholic background score, October gently wove in themes of remorse and mortality and spoke the loudest in its silences, quietly meditating on the healing powers of unconditional love. It remains Varun Dhawan’s most endearing performance.

1. ANDHADHUN Sriram Raghavan’s mind-boggling thriller takes the top slot of 2018 for its terrific performances (Tabu is outstanding), a nerve-wracking plot that culminated with a hefty payoff, and Raghavan’s inventive directorial vision a vision so boldly adventurous it challenged the accepted notions of commercially-acceptable cinema and went about setting its own rules. Raghavan, a trueblue cinephile, also weaved in several homages in the film’s narrative. From doffing his hat to Louis Malle to Chazelle’s La La Land to the kitsch of 80s Bollywood.

19

Bollywood HOROSCOPE Aries March 21 - April 20 The focus on your sector of responsibility looks quite intense this week, and it could see

start. If reaching a certain goal was one of your New Year’s resolutions, you might be in the frame of mind to make a start and build momentum.

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20

Bollywood

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Rajinikanth’s ‘2.0’ grosses Rs 400 crore in opening weekend

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21

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22

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Bollywood

‘Baazigar’ queen Shilpa Shetty When I told her that she looks just a week older than in her debut film “Baazigar,” 25 years ago, she was mock-angry. “I am going to take this VERY personally,” she looked daggers at me and addressed me by name. “That’s NO way to talk to a lady. I look better and younger than in that film!” A hearty, tinkling laugh followed.

Shilpa Shetty Kundra is one of those bubbly girls who are always extroverted, friendly, full of warmth and make you feel like some old acquaintance within minutes. We met after almost 13 years, and she did not remember me;

I do not blame her, but given her nature, it matters little.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge.

Shilpa – I cannot possibly refer to her with her surname(s)! – has done a lot of films, won the Britsih television show “Celebrity Big Brother” (the original of “Bigg Boss”), married a tycoon (Raj Kundra), became a mother, been a judge on television reality shows in India, turned film producer and is now making her web debut with the

Reality Dating show, “Hear Me. Love Me’ on Amazon. Another recent debut was on radio, wherein she plays the title role in the play “Draupadi.”

And we cannot forget her other laurels: she owns the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team Rajasthan Royals with her hubby. She is endorsing noble causes like PETA, has written fitness books and made DVDs on health, nutrition and Yoga. And she was also honored with a documentary, “The Real Shilpa Shetty,” after her reality show win.

We met up at her palatial Juhu mansion for a chat.

Interview: Q: Why do you think you were chosen for the show? And why did you choose it too?

A: Look, the digital medium is powerful, especially because the youth appreciates the wide variety they get, and which they can watch at their convenience.

That is why someone who enjoys reality television will love a reality dating show. And that is why I chose that for my first foray into this world, rather than doing a web series. The show is produced by Fremantle, with whom I have worked in the past. They wanted me to do this.

And let me tell you that though being a host is not easy, for me, it is easier to play myself than do characters! But you have to be real, think on the spur of the moment and keep saying interesting things.

Q: And how do you look younger now than 25 years back? A: Ah…see! That’s the correct way to talk! I think that age is just a mental thing. You start to age only when you begin to lack enthusiasm. I enjoy, give my 100 percent and live for every moment, even now as I talk to you. That keeps me alive, keeps me young and going and wanting to do better. I am very proud of my age today and will be even prouder as time goes on. I want to feel younger and keep enjoying even when I am 60!

Q: A dating show, but no films despite the fact that you have looked after yourself.

Why is that?

A: Frankly, the roles I got were neither interesting nor very different from what I did in the past. An artiste wants to entertain, and someone like me loves doing different things like “Jhalak Dikkhlaa Jaa,” “Super Dancer” or this web show. For many years, also, my priority was my son. My thinking is purely middle-class, and I am always very clear about what I should be doing at every point in life.

I was not prepared to spend 30 days shooting and missing my child (Viaan Raj). Whatever I was doing was almost always when he was away in school. But now that he is six, I am reading a few interesting scripts.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Press release

23

Eliminating MSP fees and helping people afford the prescription drugs they need

By Premier John Horgan

Our government welcomed 2019 by announcing that 240,000 lower-income families will get the help they need with prescription drug costs. It’s part of our work to make life more affordable, and make health care more accessible for people in B.C. We also cut Medical Service Plan (MSP) fees by half in January of 2018, and by January 2020 MSP fees will be eliminated entirely for every person in B.C. This is one of the biggest middle-class tax cuts in B.C. history and will put up to $1,800 a year back into families’ pockets. For over a decade, B.C. was the only province to make people pay MSP fees.

The previous government increased these premiums and downloaded costs onto you and your family. Our government is putting an end to unfair and regressive fees and taxes and cancelling MSP premiums once and for all. To make sure people have the help they need with prescription drugs, we’ve made a three-year $105-million investment to reduce or eliminate Fair PharmaCare deductibles and co-payments for lower-income households.

No one should have to make the difficult

decision between putting food on the table and their family’s health. We know that for many working households, needed prescriptions were going unfilled too often because deductibles were too high. This is a long overdue step forward that will improve the health and lives of thousands of British Columbians.

We’re working hard to reduce fees and improve services for people across the board.

One of the first fees we tackled when we formed government in 2017 was to eliminate bridge tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges. We have also frozen BC Ferries fares on major routes, reduced fares on smaller routes and fully restored the seniors’ passenger fare discount. To help families with their monthly child care costs, we introduced the Affordable Child Care Benefit earlier this year.

This benefit is available to families with a yearly income of up to $111,000, and can save families up to $15,000 per year, per child. To support renters, we are cutting the annual allowable rent increase by 2%, so people can feel more relief at the beginning of every month.

Our government is also taking strong steps to tackle the housing crisis and deliver affordable housing for people around the province. We

Press release

Shuswap MLA says Minister’s protest appearance was out of line Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo says British and First Nations who will benefit from this Columbians should be alarmed by the project by standing with the protestors who are continued activism being displayed by BC blocking it,” says Kyllo. “In my view, this kind of NDP cabinet ministers. move compromises the minister’s ability to do Forests Minister Doug Donaldson publicly his job in a fair and unbiased manner. What’s declared his support for the Unist’ot’en even more unfortunate is that the Minister blockade this week, ignoring the local First swore an oath to serve all British Columbians, Nations that have signed benefits agreements not his activist friends.” with the province for the pipeline project.

As the BC Liberal Jobs Critic, Kyllo also feels Despite the fact Donaldson is responsible for British Columbians, especially in resourceapproving provincial resource development based communities, deserve a minister who permits, he chose to show up to the protestor doesn’t let his activism cloud his decisioncamp in northern B.C. to side with pipeline making to the detriment of B.C.’s economy– protestors. “This blockade has been deemed and supports the call from BC Liberal Leader illegal by the courts, and the minister made Andrew Wilkinson that Donaldson should the decision to disrespect the communities resign.

Press release

NDP wasting time and money on another study The NDP should immediately consign the ‘multi-modal transportation plan’ to the dustbin and instead support South Island Prosperity’s transportation plan. “This is so typical of the NDP— delay and study and avoid making any decisions. We saw it with ridesharing, we see it with the Massey Tunnel replacement and now we see it on the south island,” says BC Liberal MLA Michelle Stilwell. “The work has already been done.

The Smart City plan put together by the South Island Prosperity Project addresses all the issues the province wants to study. This plan is so far ahead of what the NDP is doing, the smart thing is simply to get on board and

not try and reinvent the wheel.” Stilwell notes the South Island Prosperity Project is supported by all 13 municipalities in the Capital Regional District, local First Nations and the business community. In fact, the Smart City plan is a finalist in a competition conducted by the federal government. “It’s a bit surprising the NDP wants to go over the same ground that has already been

covered, considering communities represented

by John Horgan, Carole James, Lana Popham and Rob Fleming are already on board,” says Stilwell.

“The answer to improving transportation on the South Island is not paying consultants to do work that’s already been done. The answer is for the NDP to get on board and work with the South Island Prosperity Project.”

have made the largest investment in housing affordability in B.C. history – more than $7 billion over 10 years.

And we’re working to moderate the market while increasing supply, curbing demand and tackling fraud in B.C.’s real estate market.

For too long, too many people in B.C were left struggling to make ends meet and access the services they need. Our government is making different choices to make life better and more affordable for you and your family– in 2019 and beyond.

We’re going to keep working for you,

to build a strong economy, deliver the services people count on and make life more affordable for everyone in B.C. This is only the beginning, and I look forward to building a better future, together.

24

Vol. 9 No. 50

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Saturday - January 12, 2019

Calgaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s housing market continues to contend with more supply than demand and in 2018 saw the lowest sales numbers in over 20 years, according to a local real estate agent.

Figures provided by Jim Sparrow with Royal LePage Solutions show the last time home sales dipped below the 16,144 units sold last year was in 1996 when the population was significantly lower and there were fewer dwellings.

Tel: 604-591-5423

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

Calgary home sales hit lows not seen in over 20 That year saw 15,689 units sold, a jump from 1995, when 11,257 were sold.

According to a report form the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), December sales in Calgary dropped 21 per cent from the same month in 2017 with only 794 units resold.

There was a 14 per cent decline in yearly sales from 2017 and a nearly 20 per cent decline from long-term averages.

More than 4,900 units were listed for sale, 30 per cent higher than typical levels for the month, CREB said.

Calgary home sales slide 14% compared with a year ago. Realtor Emma May said those holding out for a so-called spring market likely wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the results theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re hoping for. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I actually foresee that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to get a lot more inventory coming onto the market here in the spring. But Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got

Housing market expected to remain slow The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported a nearly 43 per cent decrease in sales of condos, townhouse and detached homes in November, compared to the same month a year before.

As housing market watchers say 2019 could be the year to buy a house or condo for less in BC, thanks to increased supply and regulatory measures that have combined to suppress home sales.

BC housing market entering â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;mild recession,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; forecast says It says the benchmark price â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the average price for a typical home â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is $1.5 million for a detached house, $818,500 for a townhouse and $667,800 for a condo.

Those prices are between four and seven per cent lower than they were six months ago, according to the board. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My guess is 2019 will not be a banner year for sales in Greater Vancouver and I expect further price declines,â&#x20AC;? said Tom Davidoff, an associate professor at UBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sauder School of Business. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But I also have a lot of uncertainty

around that because a lot can happen in the market.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Homebuyers have been taking a wait-and-see approach for most of 2018,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; said Phil Moore, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This has allowed the number of homes available for sale in the region to return to more typical historical levels.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Some economists point to more stringent mortgage qualifying requirements and higher interest rates as some of the

the buyers to pick that up. So while inventory levels are high I think theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to just get higher here for a little for a period of time,â&#x20AC;? she said. CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie said the job market and lending rates have both had an impact. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We just didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the economic growth that was expected in the second half of 2018,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Demand hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t improved enough to absorb additional supply.â&#x20AC;?

driving forces behind the downward turn.

Canadian home sales will fall to 9-year low next year, CREA forecasts Four regulatory taxes, meant to make housing more affordable, are also having an impact, he said.

First of all the province increased its foreign buyers tax, which was introduced in 2016, from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. It also expanded the tax to include Nanaimo, Victoria, the Fraser Valley and the Central Okanagan.

After its first year in place, an empty homes tax has created $38 million in total revenue for the City of Vancouver. The program is meant to return empty or underutilized properties to the rental market while revenue generated by the tax is required to be used for affordable housing projects.

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25

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Detached home values likely to drop in next property assessment

The real estate market in most parts of Metro Vancouver has softened over the last year and homeowners will see those changes reflected in their property assessments next spring. Outside Metro Vancouver, it’s a different picture. Home owners in the rest of the province can expect increases of five to 15 per cent for assessed values of single-family homes.

And in parts of central and northern Vancouver Island, and Kitimat, home values are at least 20 per cent higher than last year.

B.C. Assessment has released a preview of its figures for 2019, which will be sent to property owners in early January.

Metro Vancouver home sales and prices down to more ‘historical’ levels, says real estate board

“It’s a real mix in property value changes, but the market can best be summed up as showing signs of stability across most areas of the province,” said property assessor Tina Ireland. “Changes in property assessments

really depend on where you live. For example, assessed values for detached single family homes in many areas of Metro Vancouver may see a softening in value, while other

markets and areas of the province will see modest increases over last year’s values.”

Of note this year, B.C. Assessment says it observed a five to 10 per cent drop in prices of single-family detached homes in Vancouver, the North Shore, South Surrey, White Rock, South Delta and Richmond.

Other Metro Vancouver municipalities showed stable values or modest increases, according to the independent assessment authority. In general, the rest of the province could expect increases of five to 15 per cent for assessed values of single-family homes.

The exceptions were in parts of central and northern Vancouver Island, and Kitimat, which were valued at least 20 per cent higher this year. Climbing property assessments trigger warning letters to 90,000 B.C. homeowners

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.

Real estate market expected to mederate over next 2 years

From smartphone apps like Loom, which 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

#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

you see these technologies prove out, you’ll see more and more adoption.”

26

Classifieds / Jobs Matrimonial

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Family Presently In Canada. Leave Message At 604 377 2890

Saturday, January 12, 2019

27

Saturday, January 12, 2019 South Asian Seniors Carpet Bowling Game January 13th 2019 (Sunday) 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm.

Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members & even nonmembers to come & enjoy the fun of Carpet Bowling Game, a great exercise free of cost and make some new friends, on January 13th 2019 (Sunday) from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan hall of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple 8321 - 140th street Surrey B.C. Even if you have never played, Baldev Raj Kohli, who is well trained, will teach you how to play Carpet Bowling & have great fun. All are welcome, tea & snacks will be served after the game is over.Project funded

by Government of Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Horizons for Seniors Program for Hindi speaking Seniors.

Please call Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 for further details.

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 Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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

Contact Brent or Wayne

604-377-5429 Email: fraservalleygolf@shaw.ca Video link: www.cotala.com/28804

www.theasianstar.com

28

Saturday, January 12, 2019

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DREAM CARPET

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Bank teller charged after clients stripped of $320,000 A part-time, Bank of Montreal bank teller has been charged with fraud after a monthslong investigation that uncovered clients were stripped of hundreds of thousands of dollars, CTV Ottawa has learned.

Ottawa police allege a bank teller used his position to access the private information of nine Ottawa clients and then pass it along to criminals in Edmonton and Toronto.

“In this case, fraudsters would go into the bank and say they lost their debit card, so they’d ask for new card and get a new PIN,” said Sgt. Steven Desjourdy, the lead investigator on the case with the Organized Fraud Unit of the Ottawa Police.

The alleged fraudsters then impersonated the victims and moved their money to accounts the thieves controlled.

Osman Wisse, 24, was charged in mid-

December and now faces nine counts of fraud over $5,000; along with conspiracy to commit, possession of property obtained by crime and unauthorized use of a computer.

“At this point, the bank lost over $320,000,” said Desjourdy.

All of the clients have since been reimbursed though the bank has not reclaimed its money.

Desjourdy said the fraudsters were actually in the bank at the counter with their fake IDs, and about to conduct transactions from one account to another totalling $360,000 when bank investigators intervened.

“Because of good employee training and detecting, another $360,000 [in theft] was prevented,” he said.

A statement from the Bank of Montreal said it’s stepping up its security measures and that protecting its clients is a top priority.

Vancouver’s first two licensed marijuana retailers open for business As Mike Babins opened one of Vancouver’s first two legal pot shops on Saturday, he showed little concern about the many illegal retailers still competing with him for customers.

The quicker that others can transition to the legal market the way he did, the better, he said -- the remainder will be dealt with in time.

“I’m sure there was this issue when alcohol prohibition ended, but today do you go to the liquor store or some guy making bathroom hooch?” Babins said. His store, Evergreen Cannabis Society, opened its doors in the city’s Kitsilano neighbourhood on Saturday,

more than two months after recreational marijuana was legalized in Canada -- and after jumping through numerous regulatory hoops.

British Columbia has lagged behind some other provinces in issuing non-medical cannabis retail licences, which must first be approved by the province, then referred to local governments or Indigenous communities.

The province says it has referred 232 applications, but only six licences have been issued, including Evergreen and two City Cannabis locations in Vancouver.

City Cannabis opened its location on Fraser Street on Saturday and said it plans to open its Robson location soon.

Woman passenger was found passed out, mostly naked in Halifax taxi A Halifax police constable has described finding a young woman passed out and mostly naked in the back seat of a taxi, the driver between her legs.

Const. Monia Thibault told Bassam Al-Rawi’s retrial on Tuesday that she was searching for a robbery suspect on May 23, 2015, when she came upon a cab parked on a dark street in the city’s south end, with the rear window fogged up.

Const. Monia Thibault said she saw a young woman naked in the back seat

Bassam Al-Rawi except for a tank top that was pushed up, partially exposing her breasts, and her legs were propped up on the front seats.

The constable said the woman appeared unconscious. “She wasn’t moving. She wasn’t talking. Her eyes were closed,” Thibault testified in Halifax provincial court, adding that she eventually had to shake the woman to wake her up. “She was very confused and upset. She was crying .... She didn’t really know where she was.” Const. Monia Thibault said the taxi driver initially had his body turned towards the back seat and between the woman’s legs, and started fumbling with a pair of pants and panties, attempting to stuff them in the console area of the vehicle.

She asked him what he was doing and told him to step out of the vehicle. He was then arrested.

Al-Rawi faces a charge of sexual assault, after an acquittal was overturned last January by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

The appeal court concluded the judge that presided over Al-Rawi’s first trial in March 2017, Judge Gregory Lenehan, erred in law by finding there was no evidence of lack of consent.

Thibault said the complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, had a soft voice that sounded like a “little girl,” and she could smell alcohol on her breath.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Two charged, another wanted in human trafficking investigation Toronto police say they began investigating motels and was allegedly forced to provide in November 2018 after a girl escaped from her sexual services for money against her will.

They say that on Dec. 10, two men were alleged traffickers with the help of her family.

Police say the girl had been lured into sex arrested west of the city on unrelated trade by a man who reached out to her and then charges. Ten days later, one of those picked her up from school accompanied by a men was also charged in this case.

Patrick Agpoon, woman and another 22, and Atrooba unidentified man.

Mughal, 19, both of Both man and woman Toronto, each face 16 have been charged with charges that include human trafficking after trafficking in persons 17-year-old girl was under the age of 18 allegedly forced into the years by recruiting sex trade late last year. and material benefit Officers say the from sexual services girl was forced provided by a to take photos of person under 18. herself in various Patrick Agpoon Atrooba Mughal Police are still degrees of undress, which were then posted on a website looking for a second man, and have asked advertising her sexual services. anyone with information to come forward.

They say the girl was taken to various

Canada can’t do much to help British Columbia’s Kristian Lee Baxter, detained in Syria for more than 1 month A man from Nanaimo went to Syria seeking adventure has been detained in war-ravaged country, and Canada’s foreign ministry says there is little it can do to help him.

The mother of Kristian Lee Baxter (pictured) said he has not been in touch for more than a month and is pleading for help getting him home.

Andrea Leclair said that her 44-year-old son Kristian Lee Baxter messaged her daily because she was worried after he arrived in Syria on November 26, but he went silent after his last message on December 1.

Asked about Baxter, Global Affairs Canada confirmed it is aware of a

Canadian who has been detained in Syria.

But the department offered no other details and would not confirm his identity, citing the Privacy Act. Last October, John Letts called for the release of his son Jack Letts from detention in Syria. Story continues after video.

The government has been warning Canadians to avoid travelling to Syria since 2011 after the outbreak of a civil war that has attracted foreign powers and spawned a multitude of militias, including a new Islamist terror group, while leaving an estimated 500,000 people dead.

Woman in car crash shot at paramedics who tried to help her in New Brunswick Blood stains the snow where an exchange of gunfire took place near the Moncton airport on the weekend.

According to the RCMP, a 25-yearold woman allegedly crashed her car into a stand of trees and then fired at first responders called to the scene.

“It’s a changing environment and a changing world and this just highlights the potential dangers that are out there,” said Chris Hood, the executive director of the New Brunswick Paramedics Association.

“Paramedics and other first responders don’t expect, when they go to work in the morning, that people are going to react when they arrive to provide care to them,” said Chris Hood, the executive director of the New Brunswick Paramedics Association.

“The director of SIRT received a request by the RCMP in New Brunswick to conduct an independent investigation related to the injuries sustained to a 25-year-oldfemale that occurred during an incident with police,” said investigator Ron Legere.

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Two Saskatchewan men claim $1 million each in lottery winnings That’s according to a press release from Saskatchewan Lotteries, which reported that two men have claimed $1 million each in lottery winnings from December draws.

Brady, who lives in Regina, bought his ticket from the Sherwood Co-op Prince of Wales C-Store. But he left it in his truck along with five other tickets, and only checked it when he pulled into the same store a month later to fill up his tank.

“I saw all the zeroes, and I didn’t know what to do,” Saskatchewan Lotteries quoted him as saying. “I went out to the truck and told my wife I needed her to come in and help me check it.”

He reportedly suffered a moment of dejection when the pair mixed up the tickets.

The clerk told them they’d won a free play.

“She gave me a look like, ‘You called me in here for this?’” he said. “My stomach sank, but then I realized I’d given him the wrong ticket.”

The correct ticket was indeed worth $1 million. Brady said he’ll use the money to pay off his mortgage, according to the

information provided by Saskatchewan Lotteries.

Some Saskatchewan people apparently hold onto their winning tickets for even longer than Brady.

According to the press release, there is an unclaimed ticket for the Guaranteed Prize Draw from February 14, 2018.

The organization also announced that a Herschel man won $1 million from the December 22 Lotto 6/49 draw. It appears that Jeffrey Wiens has some financially responsible plans for his winnings.

Jeffrey Wiens of Herschel won $1 million in the Dec. 22 LOTTO 6/49 draw.

“We’ll probably start by paying some bills,” he is quoted as saying. “I’d like to pay some bills for my dad, too. We’re both farmers, so there are always bills to pay.”

But there will surely be some left over, and Wiens isn’t above treating himself to “something special.”

“I’ve always had a pipe-dream of buying a Corvette.”

Teacher fired after sexual offences involving children A teacher in Red Deer was fired after he was charged with a number of sexual offences that involved children.

The teacher, 60-year-old Norman Howes, was dismissed from West Park Middle School after he was charged on Dec. 31.

He faces five charges, including child luring, sexual exploitation and interference, making child pornography and invitation to sexual touching.

Court documents show there are three complainants protected by a publication ban, with whom Howes

has been ordered to avoid contact.

He was released on $3,000 bail of his own recognizance. Under his bail conditions, Howes is not allowed to be alone, work or volunteer with children under the age of 16 years unless there is written permission or an adult present who is aware of his charges.

He is also forbidden from owning or possessing a device that can connect to the internet, and must notify authorities of any name or address change, report to a probation officer, and live at an approved address.

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NATIONAL

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Husky looks to get out of the fuel business after 80 years Husky Energy Inc. says it is looking at getting out of retailing fuels to consumers after 80 years in the business.

The Calgary-based oilsands producer says it is launching a strategic review that could result in it selling its Canadian retail and commercial fuels business and its small Prince George, B.C., refinery.

It says it prefers to focus on its core upstream assets in northeastern Alberta, Atlantic Canada and the Asia Pacific region, adding the decision is not related to its offer that expires next week to buy oilsands rival MEG Energy Corp.

Husky has more than 500 service stations, travel centres, cardlock operations and bulk distribution facilities from British Columbia to New Brunswick. Its myHusky

Rewards loyalty program has about 1.6 million members.

The 12,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Prince George processes light oil into gasoline, diesel and other products for nearby regions of B.C. It owns two refineries and is halfowner of a third in the United States.

Husky trims capital spending plan for 2019 to $3.4B Spokesman Mel Duvall says Husky started selling fuel to consumers in 1938 shortly after the original owner built a small refinery in Cody, Wyo. The refinery was moved to Lloydminster on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border in 1946.

CEO Rob Peabody says in a news release the businesses are “highly marketable” and will attract strong interest and valuations.

Loonie shoots up after Bank of Canada rate decision Gains in the key financial, industrial and material sectors helped Canada’s main stock index push higher, while the loonie gained ground following the Bank of Canada’s latest rate announcement.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 85.59 points at 14,690.74.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 97.87 points at 23,885.32.

The S&P 500 index was up 6.09 points at 2,580.50, while the Nasdaq composite was up 33.83 points at 6,930.83.

The Canadian dollar traded for 75.58 cents

US compared with an average of 75.23 cents US on Tuesday after the Bank of Canada kept its key rate on hold at 1.75 per cent, but said higher rates will be necessary over time.

The February crude contract was up US$1.09 at US$50.87 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down 2.5 cents at US$2.94 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was up US$5.30 at US$1,291.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 0.25 of a cent at US$2.65 a pound.

Bank of Canada to keep interest rate unchanged at 1.75% The Bank of Canada kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent Wednesday, despite a few dark clouds appearing on Canada’s economic horizon.

The bank has raised its key rate five times since the summer of 2017, attempting to keep inflation in an acceptable range, typically between one and three per cent annually. The bank last raised its rate in October, before deciding to do nothing in December and then again today.

Hike, cut or stand pat? Bank of Canada decides on interest rates today The bank’s rate affects consumers by raising or lowering the rates that Canadian borrowers and savers get for lines of credit, savings accounts, and variable-rate mortgages.

The bank also downgraded its expectations for Canada’s economy this year. A 25 per cent plunge in the price of oil since October has had a “material impact” on the economy, to the point where the bank is now forecasting just 1.7 per cent growth this year. Three months ago, it was expecting 2.1 per cent growth.

But despite that slowdown, the bank still indicated it plans to raise the rate again sooner rather than later. “The policy interest rate will need to rise over time into a neutral range to achieve the inflation target,” the bank said.

At a press conference following the announcement, Poloz said the slowdown in the oil sector is acute, but so far the impact is being offset by strength elsewhere in the economy.

“By all of our readings, something like 90 per cent of the economy is operating at capacity, having trouble finding workers, struggling to invest and to grow, and so on.

So we have to pay a lot of attention to that, while at the same time acknowledging that the economy will always have the stresses of some form of something declining,” he said.

“There are a whole lot of other things … going on out there that are actually doing very well,” he said, adding that he expects the impact on overall GDP to be less than the oil slowdown in 2014 was, because the energy sector isn’t as big a part of the Canadian economy any more.

That sentiment buoyed the loonie, which gained about a third of a cent to 75.73 cents US after the decision came out.

Like just about every economist covering the bank, CIBC’s Avery Shenfeld wasn’t expecting the central bank to announce a hike on Wednesday, but he found the bank’s rationale for its decision interesting nonetheless.

“Its message today suggests that it isn’t quite as sure about when it will come off the sidelines and hike again,” he said.

Takeaways from the 2019 BC property assessments The 2018 B.C. property assessments made headlines recently, mostly because residential estates in Vancouver fell after years of big gains. Observers attribute much of that change to new restrictions on real estate from the NDP government. But throughout the rest of the province, downturns in value weren’t really the story. And the devaluations didn’t extend to commercial or industrial properties: non-residential estates enjoyed another year of gains across the board. Overall, assessments across B.C. rose by 1.07 percent. Here’s what else we learned from the province’s real estate breakdown.

Keep in mind that the assessments reflect market value as of July 1, 2018.

The community with the highest uptick in single-family residential properties?

The village of Sayward. According to the 2016 census, Sayward has a population of 311. It’s located on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, about an hour north of Campbell River. Sometimes statistics in a smaller community can be thrown off by an outlier or two, but the 44-percent increase seems to have affected the area somewhat equally. Other small Vancouver Island communities like Tahsis (30 percent) and Cumberland (27 percent) saw massive surges in single-family assessments, too.

The lowest increase in single-family assessments on Vancouver Island came from Saanich, which was separated into two jurisdictions measuring 4 and 6 percent.

It’s not the same story in Greater Vancouver, where six regions saw a loss for single-family properties.

Among them, Va n c o u v e r, Burnaby and North Va n c o u v e r each took 4-percent hits, while West Va n c o u v e r saw a 12-percent decline.

However, all regions in Greater Vancouver saw a rise in the assessed value of strata residential properties, with the lowest gain coming from Vancouver (6 percent). Whistler saw the highest such rise, with 23 percent. Other than singlefamily residences in Richmond and White Rock (both down 2 percent), Fraser Valley property owners mostly got good news.

Strata holders in Abbotsford (a 28-percent gain), Langley (27 percent) and Chilliwack (23 percent) did particularly well for themselves. The lowest percentage uptick for strata owners in the Fraser Valley came from Delta’s 7 percent. Not bad.

Northern B.C. mostly saw single-family residential gains between 8 and 11 percent, with a few exceptions, notably increases in Kitimat (31 percent), 100 Mile House (20 percent) and Kitimat (20 percent).

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Facebook begins removing comments from Yellow Vests Canada group following talk of killing Trudeau Facebook began removing content from the Yellow Vests Canada Facebook group on Wednesday after Global News reported the page contained numerous comments about killing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The social media company said the action was taken because the content violated its community standards. Facebook said it was continuing to review the group, which has more than 100,000 members.

Administrators of the page cautioned commenters to watch their language, and one said in a statement to Global News that they “do not tolerate this kind of talk, and it will be dealt with.”

But comments wishing for and advocating the death of the prime minister remained on the page, which launched a month ago following the so-called “yellow vests” protests in France. “Trudeau needs to be shot,” read one of the comments. “Why hasn’t anyone shot him yet,” another read. “Shoot the mother already,” read yet another. The Prime Minister’s Office said it did not comment on matters related to Trudeau’s security. “I’m surprised that they’re sounding off like that in a public forum,” said Doug Kirkland, a private security consultant and former Ottawa police officer. “The RCMP

can’t afford to say it’s just nothing. All it takes is one of these to actually act out on what they’re talking about.” The RCMP said it was aware of the Facebook comments. “We take all threats made against the prime minister very seriously,” said Staff Sgt. Tania Vaughan, an RCMP spokesperson. While some users urged members not to use violent rhetoric, the group was rife with comments about the prime minister’s death, raising concerns that an extremist might take action.

A Twitter account called Yellow Vests Canada Exposed has been tracking the comments and tagging the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The Facebook group describes itself as a protest against the carbon tax and politicians who it claims are selling “our country’s sovereignty over to the globalist UN and their tyrannical policies.”

NDP MP Charlie Angus took to Facebook to admonish what he called the “rising tide of extremism that demonizes the Prime Minister and immigrant families.”

“I am fed up with the crazy-assed messages I’m receiving from those who say they will take up arms to defeat ‘Justin’ or who claim he is a ‘Jihadist’ who has robbed their rights,” he wrote.

Canadian senator’s personal data leaked online in apparent Twitter hack Conservative Senator Linda Frum’s Twitter account was hacked Sunday night, with those responsible sharing personal information including her drivers licence and using racial slurs in their Tweets. “hi linda, can u drive us to the mall please?” read one Tweet. The Tweet then shared an image of both the front and back of her drivers licence, showing personal information including her address.

No motive for the hack was made readily apparent, but the perpetrators tweeted that they “don’t appreciate corrupt politicians” and included an emoji of the Palestinian flag.

The group of hackers linked accounts and referred to themselves as the “spank gang,” claiming to “run twitter.”

The hacking comes just days after a high profile cyberattack in Germany, where several politicians and officials - including German Chancellor Angela Merkel - had

their personal details leaked online. Frum isn’t the first Canadian Senator to be hacked.

Conservative Senator Don Plett had his Twitter account hacked in late October, although the hackers took a more lighthearted approach. Rather than sharing personal details, they shared their thoughts on the feud between popular female rap artists Nicki Minaj and Cardi B and changed his photo to that of a muscular, heavily tattooed young man. Plett’s account was quickly restored and his public damage control took the form of a lighthearted Tweet.

Such high profile hacking incidents have prompted concerns among experts about furthering targeting of politicians and elections. The government introduced the omnibus Bill C-76 that included measures to modernize election laws to tackle such concerns.

Conservatives call on Trudeau to reach out to China’s President over detained Canadians The Conservative Party wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to immediately telephone China’s President to seek the release of two imprisoned Canadians, and to inform the people of Canada whether it is safe to travel to China. The party’s foreign affairs critic, Erin O’Toole, said it is baffling that Mr. Trudeau called U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to discuss the jailed Canadians, but has been reluctant to speak directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“The Prime Minister’s refusal to call the Chinese President to begin to de-escalate the situation has many Canadian families deeply concerned,” Mr. O’Toole said at a news conference on Tuesday. “They are questioning travel to China and are concerned about the well-being of their family members working there.” Mr. O’Toole said it is important for Mr. Trudeau to call China’s leader to demonstrate that he is “seized with the situation and has a personal interest in its resolution.”

The Conservatives also want Ottawa to clearly state whether it is safe to visit China since former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor were detained last month in what appears to be reprisal for Canada’s arrest of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. executive

Meng Wanzhou. Canada has not issued a travel update for China, even though the United States renewed its advisory last week, cautioning U.S. citizens they could face arbitrary arrest amid heightened diplomatic tensions over the U.S. request that Canada extradite Ms. Meng on allegations of possible fraud relating to U.S. sanctions against Iran.

On Monday, former Liberal foreign affairs minister John Manley, who recently retired as chief executive of the Business Council of Canada, said he would not travel to China and is advising businesses associates to do the same. “The government needs to either update the travel advisory for China or provide Canadians with the assurances that there are no risks as a result of the current diplomatic dispute,” Mr. O’Toole said. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment on the demands, but the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland accused the Official Opposition of playing partisan politics. “In recent weeks, the Prime Minister, the foreign minister and Canada’s ambassador to China have been closely engaged on this important matter,” said Ms. Freeland’s communications director, Alex Lawrence.

NATIONAL

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INDIA

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Why is Modi in a hurry to sack CBI chief, asks Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a “tearing hurry” to “sack” CBI chief Alok Verma because of the Rafale deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the selection committee headed by Modi met to decide agency director Alok Verma’s fate.

Gandhi’s attack came two days after the Supreme Court quashed the government’s unprecedented “overnight” order issued in October last, stripping Verma of his powers and sending him on leave after a bitter feud with his deputy Rakesh Asthana with both charging the other with corruption.

“1. Why is the PM in such a tearing hurry to sack the CBI Chief?

“2. Why will he not allow the CBI Chief to present his case in front of the selection committee? Answer: RAFALE,” Gandhi said on Twitter. The court, while reinstating Verma

on Tuesday, however, made it clear that he will desist from taking any major policy decision till a high-powered committee considers the issue of “divestment of power and authority”.

The outcome of the meeting, which took place at the prime minister’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg, was not known.

Following the apex court verdict on Tuesday, Gandhi said no one can save the prime minister from the Rafale investigation and the entire nation would know “without a shadow of doubt” that he took Rs 30,000 crore of people’s money and gave it to his “friend” Anil Ambani. The Congress party has been targeting Modi on the Rafale deal alleging the price of each aircraft has sharply increased from Rs 526 crore, negotiated by the previous UPA government, to Rs 1,600 crore and that the contract will help Anil Ambani get Rs 30,000 crore benefit through offset contract.

Crop insurance as big a scam as Rafale: Uddhav Quoting a book, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today said the Centre’s crop insurance scheme was “as big a scam” as the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi’s frequent foreign tours, he said mere speeches and announcements will not help the public, and demanded that the BJPled government solve farmers’ problems before looking at electoral alliance talks.

Modi had launched the scheme in 2015

with the objective of providing insurance cover in the event of failure of the notified crops.

During his tour of drought-hit Marathwada, Thackeray asked how many received benefits after paying instalments to insurance firms. “People have got cheques for Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 50, Rs 100.

Allegations are being made of a scam of thousands of crores,” he said.

“BJP always open to alliances, cherishes old friends”: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday said the BJP was open to alliances and cherished its old friends, in a hint that it was looking to strengthen the NDA in Tamil Nadu ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

While interacting with BJP’s boothlevel workers from five districts in Tamil Nadu through video-conferencing, PM Modi recalled the “successful coalition politics” ushered in by former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the 1990s and said the BJP’’s doors were “always open”. PM Modi was asked by one BJP worker if the party will ally with AIADMK, DMK or Rajinikanth, yet to form his political party.

“Twenty years ago, visionary leader Atalji brought in a new culture in Indian politics, that

of successful coalition politics. He gave utmost importance to regional aspirations...BJP has followed the way Atalji has shown us,” he said.

PM Modi also took an opportunity to hit out at the Congress for “ill-treating” regional parties. “What Atalji did was in direct contrast to the Congress which has never cared for regional aspirations. Congress ill-treated regional political parties, aspirations and people because they felt they alone have the right to be in power,” he said.

The BJP had fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu leading a rainbow alliance comprising smaller parties including PMK, MDMK of Vaiko and won two of the 39 seats -- one each by the party and PMK.

BJP leader shot dead in Bihar A local BJP leader was shot dead in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Wednesday by an unidentified man, police said The incident occurred while the man, Baiju Prasad Gupta, was at his medical facility.

An unidentified person asked him about some medicine before shooting him.

Police reached the spot and found empty shell of bullets from the place. The injured

BJP leader was shifted to a hospital but died later. Sharing details of the incident, police said, “We have received the information that some criminal has shot one person. We are trying to ascertain the reason behind the incident based on which we can have some identification of the culprit. We are also planning to conduct raids for the arrest of the accused.”

Maharashtra minister orders ‘arrest’ of student over uncomfortable question, sparks controversy Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde has sparked off a row after he reportedly asked a student to delete a recording of a question-answer session with him as well as asked the police to “arrest” the youth.

The students of a college in Amravati said they asked Tawde if the government would provide free higher education to the poor as the cost of the same was mounting by the day. The minister reportedly said in response that the students should “start working if you can’t study”. Tawde allegedly asked a student recording the interaction to delete the clip as

well as told the police to take him away. The issue snowballed into a political controversy, with Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray tweeting about the same.

Thackeray accused the minister of trying to evade tough questions on issues such as education and jobs.

Every student must read this. “The education minister of Maharashtra directs cops to arrest student”. Why? Because he was shooting an interaction! No tough questions please!

They want Youth only to man their electoral booths, not answer questions about education & jobs.

Armed robbers target Delhi-Bhagalpur Express in West Bengal, loot valuables Armed robbers attacked the DelhiBhagalpur Express in a Naxal-affected area in West Bengal’s Malda division and looted valuables worth around Rs 3 lakh, the railways said on Thursday.

The robbers used an alarm chain to stop the train near Dhanauri station in between Kiul and Jamalpur sections and looted the passengers on Wednesday night, it said.

A case was registered in this connection after 10 passengers lodged their complaints with the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Jamalpur, the railways said.

“The value of stolen valuables is

approximately Rs 2.75 lakh. The criminals had country-made pistols; however, no firing incident was reported,” it said.

The railways said no passenger reported any major injury or stabbing. The incident occurred in a Naxal-affected area and the RPF is coordinating with local police and the GRP in this regard, it said. “The RPF is increasing vigil in inter-zonal areas where these incidents have happened. Special squad formed to catch the gang may include plain-clothes policemen,” the railways said.

Court acquits police constable accused of opium smuggling A local court acquitted a police constable from Rajasthan Ghanaihaya Lal (53), whom the Sangrur police had accused of smuggling opium and shown a recovery of 5 kg opium from him last year. The police have also filed chargesheet against two ASIs, who had allegedly taken Rs 2.50 lakh from Lal’s family to hush up the case.

“Since the police failed to prove its allegations against Lal, a local court has acquitted him. The Sangrur city police have also filed chargesheet against ASIs Baljinder Singh Chatha and Balkar Singh for taking Rs 2.50 lakh from his family,” said Gurbinder Singh Cheema, Lal’s counsel.

On March 6, 2017, ASI Baljinder had claimed

that he arrested Rajasthan resident Ghanaihaya Lal near link road of Ubhawal village and confiscated 5 kg opium from him.

But on March 17, the Sangrur city police had registered a case against ASI Baljinder Singh and ASI Balkar Singh for allegedly extorting Rs 2.50 lakh from the family members of Lal on March 7. Sunita Gujjar, Lal’s daughter, had alleged that Baljinder called her fatherin-law and other family members to Sangrur on March 6 and allegedly took Rs 2.50 lakh from them to hush up the matter. She alleged that even after taking money, her father was allegedly implicated in a false case.

PUNJAB

Saturday, January 12, 2019

“CM Amrinder Singh trying to mislead Punjabis over Kartarpur border” says minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal & Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal targeted Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh over various issues, including Kartarpur Sahib border corridor.

Talking to media on the sidelines of a party workers’ meeting, Harsimrat hit out at the CM for his remark that Punjab gov’t had not received any funds from Centre for the construction of Kartarpur border corridor.

Alleging that Capt Amarinder was trying to mislead Punjabis, she said Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had already made it clear that funds would be released once the Punjab government acquired land for the project.

GK’s revision petition rejected by the court The police are likely to register an FIR against former president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Manjit Singh GK as Sessions Court dismissed the revision petition filed by the former general manager of the gurdwara committee, Harjeet Singh Subedar, who was also one of the accused in the financial irregularities case.

The issue of Rs 51 lakh embezzlement of gurdwara funds was raised by independent DSGMC member Gurmeet Singh Shanty.

The court also rejected Harjeet’s plea seeking time for challenging the order.

9 childern injured in auto-rikshaw collision Nine children were injured, some of them seriously, when an auto-rickshaw they were travelling in collided with a recovery van near Manawala here today.

The injured, including auto-rickshaw driver Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, were rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

According to information, the recovery van driver overtook the auto-rickshaw and then suddenly applied brakes due to which the auto-rickshaw collided with it, leading to the mishap. The recovery van driver, identified as Amritpal Singh of Bohru village, fled the spot. The injured were identified as Navraj Singh (5), Gurpreet Singh (3), Simranjit Kaur (11), Jashanpreet Kaur (14), Manpreet (5), Amanpreet Singh (4), Onkar Singh (9), Armaan (4) and Manpreet (6). They are all students of Golden City School at Manawala. Parampal Singh, SSP, said preliminary probe revealed that the recovery van driver stopped in the middle of the road to purchase guavas from a roadside vendor, leading to the accident.

Cold wave continues in Punjab, Haryana An unabated cold wave continued in most parts of Punjab and Haryana with Adampur being the coldest place at 1.4 degrees Celsius.

Dense fog was witnessed at several places in both the states, including Hisar and Ludhiana. Among other places in Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala braved cold weather conditions at 3, 5.5 and 6.5 degrees Celsius respectively, an official of the Met department said.

Minimum temperatures in Pathankot,

“If the Punjab government hasn’t acquired land, it can’t blame the Centre for its failure,” she said, alleging that the CM had been speaking against the project instead of supporting the Sikh community over the issue.

Sukhbir flayed Capt Amarinder for his “silence” on the appointment of Kamal Nath as the Madhya Pradesh CM despite his alleged role in the 1984 riots. “I would like to ask the CM whether his loyalty lies with Punjab and the Sikh community or the Gandhi family?” he said.

On issues related to farmers and youth, he accused Capt Amarinder of defrauding both these sections of society.

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Police did not properly investigate the role of Granthi & six others over Guru Granth Sahib case: Justice Jora Singh Justice Jora Singh, who was the chairman of the one-man commission that probed incidents of sacrilege in Punjab, said the police did not investigate the matter under political pressure earlier during the SAD-BJP regime. He claimed similar force was being exerted by the present Congress government to hide the truth.

Addressing his first media conference after he joined the Aam Aadmi Party, Jora Singh said the SIT formed by the Congress government was not working properly as a senior member was not taking part in the investigation.

On the police investigation covered by his commission, Jora Singh said he had a limited mandate but he noted that the police had found six suspects for the sacrilege and he had even got their sketches prepared but those were never made public.

He said like the erstwhile SAD-BJP government, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who had publicly taken a vow to bring those responsible for the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and firing at Bargari to justice, failed to act swiftly even 665 days after the announcement.

Justice Jora Singh said on the basis of the evidence collected after intensive investigation, six suspects were identified, including Rajwinder Singh, Subedar Gurjant Singh, Hardev Singh, Gora Singh and a tailor. He alleged that the names of the suspects were already in the police domain but it did not seem to be in a hurry to investigate the case.

The commission’s findings submitted to the government had found them guilty of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.

36

INDIA

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Indian refiners pay for Iranian oil in rupees India has begun paying Iran for oil in rupees, a senior bank official said on Tuesday, the first such payments since the United States imposed new sanctions against Tehran in November.

Washington gave a six-month waiver to eight countries, including India, allowing them to import some Iranian oil.

India, the world’s third biggest oil importer, wants to continue buying oil from Iran as it offers free shipping and an extended credit period, while Iran will use the rupee funds to mostly pay for imports from India.

“Today we received a good amount from some oil companies,” Charan Singh, executive director at state-owned UCO Bank (UCBK. NS) told Reuters. He did not disclose the names of refiners or how much had been deposited.

New Delhi recently issued a notification exempting payments to the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) for crude oil imports from steep withholding taxes, enabling refiners to clear an estimated $1.5 billion in dues. An industry source said India’s top refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL.NS) have made payments for Iranian oil imports. Neither was immediately available for comment.

Iran is devising payment mechanisms including barter with trading partners like India, China and Russia following a delay in the setting up of a European Union-led special purpose vehicle to facilitate trade with Tehran, its foreign minister Javad Zarif said earlier on Tuesday.

Talks in J&K not possible as long as there is violence: Gen Rawat Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said talks with various groups in Jammu and Kashmir could not be possible if there is violence.

He said the suggestion of talks with the Taliban did not fit into the J&K scenario.

Gen Rawat was addressing a press conference here ahead of the Army Day on January 15.

Talking about Kashmir, he said, “Come to the negotiating table, we can talk. But you have to shun the gun. Also, the number of conditions laid down make it difficult to hold talks.”

He was answering a question if talks in Kashmir should be held with Hurriyat since he (Gen Rawat) had suggested that India should look at the talks with the Taliban.

On Wednesday, speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, Gen Rawat had suggested that India should be part of the talks with the Taliban.

He clarified that some nations were in favour of speaking to the Taliban. “If India thinks it has stake in Afghanistan then we must step in.

I am not saying we should take the lead. But at least, go and listen to what is being discussed in Afghanistan.”

The same did not apply to J&K as it’s a bilateral issue with our western neighbor, he added. On the situation in J&K, he said, “I am not saying it’s totally under control”, adding

that there was no change in the situation at the LoC since Imran Khan had taken over.

“There is always the endeavour to bring peace. We are only facilitators of peace for the Valley. People say let’s tone down operations; can anyone give the guarantee that no convoy would be attacked in Kashmir.”

He said the situation is fine on the western and northern fronts and there was no cause for concern.

Answering a question on changes in tackling China after the Wuhan summit, Gen Rawat said, “We are maintaining peace and tranquillity of the kind that we wish.”

On the proposed restructuring of the Army, he said that in mid-2019 the restructuring of the Army headquarters would begin. The setting up of the Integrated Battle Group (IBG) would be tested on ground in May then the Army would move to implement it; The IBG would not be a ‘Mini Strike Corps’, he said.

On being asked if the recent Supreme Court verdict on decriminalisation of extra-marital affairs and homosexual relations, Gen Rawat was categorical, “We will continue to charge people under the Army Act for both. Sorry, the Army is conservative and intends not to change on these issues.” “Some of the rights and privileges do not exist for us,” he said.

On his tenure, he said the time had come to consolidate on issues now under progress.

Quota bill passed in Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, to grant 10% reservation for economically weaker sections of general category with the opposition divided over its stance on the legislation.

The quota bill will now become a law as the president’s nod is expected soon. The Lok Sabha had passed the quota bill on Tuesday.

In one of the swiftest movement, the quota bill got approved by the union cabinet and passed by the parliament in under 60 hours. The passage of the quota bill—and all the major opposition parties supporting it—is crucial as

it comes ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections due by May. The immediate trigger for the bill is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) facing a backlash of the upper castes in the recently concluded assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The quota bill in Rajya Sabha was passed by 165 votes, more than two-thirds majority of the house. Seven members voted against it. While Thaawar Chand Gehlot, union minister of social justice and empowerment, tabled the quota bill in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. It drew support of major opposition parties,

India to retain status as fastest growing economy with 7.5% expected growth in 2019-20: World Bank =Fuelled by policy reforms and rebound in credit, India’s economy is forecast to expand by 7.5 per cent during the 2019-20 fiscal year and retain its position as the fastest growing major economy in a world of slowing growth, according to the World Bank.

The Bank’s Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report released on Tuesday kept the forecasts made for India in its June report for the next fiscal year and the 7.3 per cent estimate for the current fiscal year, up from 6.7 per cent recorded in 2017-18.

However, it warned that in South Asia, the upcoming election cycle “elevates political uncertainty in the region”.

“The challenging political environment could adversely affect the ongoing reform agenda and economic activity in some countries,” it added.

The GEP presented a gloomy outlook for the world as a whole: Growth was projected to slow to 2.9 per cent for the current year, down from the estimated 3 per cent for the last year and to grow only by 2.8 per cent in the next two years. It blamed trade tensions and slowdown in manufacturing for the pessimism. The report said: “India is forecast to accelerate to 7.5 per cent in fiscal year 2019-20 as consumption remains robust

and investment growth continues, and as (economic) activity benefits from recent policy reforms and a rebound in credit.”

For the 2020-21 and 2021-22 fiscal years, the GEP has projected a growth rate of 7.5 per cent. BThe World Bank’s 7.5 per cent growth projection for the next fiscal year is slightly higher than the 7.4 per cent made by the International Monetary Fund last October.

But the GEP’s estimate of 7.3 per cent for the current fiscal year falls between India’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) figure of 7.2 per cent and the Reserve Bank of India’s 7.4 per cent. China’s growth rate was estimated to be 6.5 per cent last year and forecast to be 6.2 per cent this year and the next, and going down further to 6 per cent in 2021.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

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SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, January 12, 2019 Nepal wants RBI to declare banned new Indian currency notes legal

Amazon & Walmart team up to fight new Indian e-commerce rules The bitter rivals have come together in India to lobby the government on regulations that threaten to dampen their expansion ambitions. Among other things, the giant retailers are asking for an extension on a Feb. 1 deadline for implementing those rules, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The newly tightened regulations threaten to pinch Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart in one of the world’s fastest growing online commerce arenas, where both have invested billions of dollars. They require online marketplaces to treat all vendors equally, effectively barring foreign companies from featuring exclusive products on their

Nepal has asked the RBI to declare newly circulated Indian currency notes of denominations higher than Rs. 100 legal tender in the country, according to media report on Sunday. Representational Image The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country’s central monetary authority, wrote a letter on Friday to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), asking it to make Indian bank bills Rs. 200, Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 legal tender in Nepal, The Himalayan Times reported. The NRB has asked the India’s central bank to issue a notification under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), which will make Indian bank notes of denomination more than Rs. 100 legal tender in Nepal and to provide the exchange facilities to get bills of such denominations, it said.

Also Read Will the Rs 2,000 note be banned or phased out? The RBI has only allowed the circulation of Indian currency notes of Rs.

platforms, owning inventory, and thus being able to influence pricing and offer huge discounts.

In addition, Amazon and Flipkart get a lot of their Indian inventory through companies they own or back, goods that’re then sold directly or through favored merchants. One such seller is Cloudtail, owned by a joint venture between Amazon and a company run by Infosys Ltd. billionaire cofounder Narayana Murthy. As rules stand, the two American companies must sell any stakes they hold in such companies. “They are campaigning together against the new rules because these companies have over $20 billion at stake in the Indian market,” said Satish

Asian Football Confederation to file lawsuit in Saudi Arabia over piracy The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Wednesday it was taking legal action in Saudi Arabia against television channel beoutQ for illegally broadcasting its Asian Cup, the region’s biggest football tournament.

BeoutQ has been accused by soccer’s governing body FIFA, tennis governing bodies and other sports bodies of illegally airing content whose exclusive Middle East television rights belong to Qatar-based broadcaster beIN. BeoutQ emerged in 2017 after Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar and accused the tiny Gulf state of supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.

BeoutQ is widely available in Saudi Arabia.

But Riyadh says it is not based there and that the authorities are committed to fighting piracy, including announcing the confiscation of 12,000 pirating devices last June.

It is unclear who owns or operates the

PIA gives cabin crew 6 months time to lose weight or quit

channel. In a statement, the AFC said its Asian Cup, which kicked off in Abu Dhabi last week, had been appearing illegally on beoutQ. “The AFC has already instructed counsel to take legal action in Saudi Arabia and is working alongside other sports rights owners that have also been affected to protect its interest,” the statement said. AFC did not provide further detail on the parties involved in the case or damages being sought. The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the AFC action. Qatar-based beIN Sports holds exclusive television rights to a wide range of events for the Middle East including World Cup soccer, the Premier League, and AFC matches. Last month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said it would investigate Qatari allegations of intellectual property breaches by Saudi Arabia.

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100 and less in Nepal and provides exchange facilities for bills of these denomination. Before the ban on notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 in November 2016, the RBI had issued a FEMA notification allowing Nepali citizens to carry Rs. 25,000 worth of such bank notes. After the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 Indian currency notes, circulation of new bank notes of denominations Rs. 200, Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 was started by the Indian government.

The RBI did not issue the notification for the newly circulated bank notes, making their use illegal in Nepal. “As the RBI was not allowing the circulation of the higher denomination Indian notes, we had to ban their use in Nepal to protect our citizens,” Chief of Foreign Exchange Management Department at the NRB. “However, after we received complaints from people in various sectors, especially those who have to visit India frequently.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) told its cabin crew members with “excess weight” to shed some kilos within 6 months or risk being grounded, in a bid to make the staff “slim, smart and fit”, a media report said.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also issued a suggested weight chart for differing heights and body type.

Those already “on weight check” need to report monthly to a “grooming cell” to receive clearance to fly, it said. The carrier’s general manager of flight services Aamir Bashir issued an order on the first day of 2019, saying official excess weight limits would be cut back by five pounds (2.26 kgs) a month, the report said.

In a memo distributed to approximately 1,800 cabin crew, PIA said they must trim down or face being grounded, the report said.

The airline said it is cracking down on what it terms the “excess weight” of some of its cabin crew. Currently, flight attendants, who are 30 pounds (13.6 kgs) over are still eligible for flight duty, the report said.

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SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Nepal’s ‘Buddha boy’ under investigation A Nepali spiritual leader believed by his followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha is under investigation over the disappearance of several devotees, police in Kathmandu said on Monday.

Ram Bahadur Bomjan, dubbed “Buddha Boy”, became famous in 2005 after followers said he could meditate motionless for months without water, food or sleep in Nepal’s jungles.

The 28-year-old guru has a devout following but has been accused of physically and sexually assaulting some of his flock. Special police investigators have begun inquiries after the families of four of Bomjan’s devotees allegedly vanished from his ashrams. Nepali spiritual leader Ram Bahadur Bomjan, dubbed &quot;Buddha Boy&quot;, is believed by his followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha.

Nepali spiritual leader Ram Bahadur Bomjan, dubbed “Buddha Boy”, is believed by his followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha.

“The police have started investigating these complaints against Bomjan,” Uma Prasad Chaturbedi, a spokesman for Nepal’s Central Investigation Bureau, said. “The investigation is in preliminary stage and we cannot share many details.” Bomjan has long been dogged by accusations of abuse in deeply spiritual Nepal, even as thousands of worshippers queued for days to witness his so-called miracles of meditation deep in the jungle. In September last year, an 18-year-old nun accused the guru of raping her at one of his ashrams. Dozens more have filed complaints against him alleging assault. The self-styled godman said he beat them for disturbing his meditation. The Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangha, an organisation associated with the guru, recently slammed as baseless a series of fresh allegations made by a local website, Setopati.com, which published reports detailing cases of disappearances, sexual assault and violence in his ashrams.

Sri Lanka court refuses to test President’s sanity A Sri Lanka court Monday rejected calls to subject the president to a mental health examination after he sacked a former ally, dissolved parliament and plunged the country into crisis. The Court of Appeal rejected a petition to force Maithripala Sirisena before a panel of psychiatrists to scrutinise his mental state in the wake of the political upheaval in the Indian Ocean island. The instability ended peacefully when Sirisena’s controversial appointee Mahinda Rajapakse stood down, and the deposed prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe returned to power with the support of parliament. Mental infirmity

is grounds for removing a president if twothirds of parliament agree, but no party or coalition in the legislature commands such a majority. The two-judge bench of the appeals court said it did not have the jurisdiction to force Sirisena to be examined, and ordered the petitioner pay the state 100,000 rupees ($540) in legal costs.

The crisis dragged on for weeks until the Supreme Court denied Rajapakse the right to rule and he bowed out in December. Some factions within Sri Lanka’s parliament have pushed for Sirisena to be investigated for orchestrating an alleged coup.

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FIJI

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Asian Development Bank expects to invest approximately $280M in Fiji in 2019-2020 The Asian Development Bank expects to invest approximately $280 million in Fiji in 2019-2020. This was revealed today after the ADB President Takehiko Nakao and Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama met to discuss ways ADB will expand and strengthen its partnership with Fiji.

It was also revealed that this money will be used for major planned projects which include a loan to expand sewerage infrastructure in Suva and policy-based loans to improve the business environment and public sector management. Nakao says that ADB has already started preparation of a Nadi River flood protection project, which is expected to be co-financed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Nakao says that ADB will also continue to mobilize co-financing from development partners, such as the European Investment Bank and the World Bank. During his visit to Fiji as ADB President, Nakao visited facilities in Denarau and Natadola which will be the

sites of ADB’s 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors from the 1st to the 5th May, this year. He says that Fiji will be the first Pacific developing member country to host ADB’s Annual Meeting. Nakao says that the meeting is the largest gathering of the Bank and a unique opportunity for ADB Governors, government officials, private sector, development partners and experts to discuss critical issues and challenges facing Asia and the Pacific. The President of ADB says that he is impressed by the beautiful venues and high-quality facilities selected for the Annual Meeting and this is an excellent opportunity to highlight the strength of the Fijian economy and progress across the wider Pacific region. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says with Fiji’s economy charting record growth and with an educated, talented, and ambitious workforce at their disposal, there is ample room to strengthen longstanding partnership with ADB.

Planned water shutdown at Waila Water Treatment Plant this Sunday to affect 50,000 people The planned water shutdown at the Waila Water Treatment Plant tomorrow will affect 50,000 people. Water Authority of FIji says that customers living along the Nausori, Dilkusha, Tailevu South and the Rewa Delta areas will experience water disruption from 6am this Sunday to 6am Monday. They say they will be providing

100 water tanks which will be placed at strategic locations and also 30 water carting trucks will be servicing the affected areas.

They are urging customers living in these areas to store up water to cater for drinking and cooking purposes during the shutdown period.

People can also call 1507 for any clarifications.

Streets of Suva need to be freed up for commercial activity The Streets of Suva need to be freed up for commercial activity. This was highlighted by the newly appointed CEO of the Land Transport Authority Samuel Simpson when asked about priority areas he will be focusing on. LTA Board Chairman Vijay Maharaj [left] with LTA new CEO Samuel Simpson [middle] He has highlighted about a number of initiatives that he will start with the LTA. Simpson says that he is concerned about the traffic congestion in the Capital City.

The new CEO of LTA also says that they will step up the drivers and vehicle enforcement.

Simpson who has years of experience in overseas bus industry says that local bus operators need to be encouraged to invest in their fleet to improve service delivery.

He also commended the e-ticketing initiative as a positive step forward and is looking forward to meeting with the bus operators.

Simpson says currently, the LTA publishes bus timetables on its website but he wants the bus timetables to be better publicized.

Simpson says that he looks forward to bringing experience, skills, determination and visionary leadership to improve the lives of Fijians through the activity of the LTA. He has over 32 years of transport industry experience, including nearly 25 years experience at General Manager and Director Level. Prior to joining LTA, he was managing large bus operations in London, Manchester, Birmingham, West Yorkshire including being responsible for regulatory functions, safety and operational standards. He also worked for Bus Eireann in Ireland and in the Middle East responsible for Serco’s Bus operations in Asia, Middle East and USA. Listen to the latest news on our 5 radio stations Legend FM, Viti FM, Radio Sargam, FM96 and Navtarang.

Fiji Water Girl would be a great meme if bottled water were something to celebrate For many social media users, the highlight of the 2019 Golden Globes was the woman dubbed “Fiji Girl” on Twitter, for drawing attention while handing out Fiji brand bottled water on the red carpet. At Sunday’s Golden Globes, Fiji Water seems to have hired model Kelleth Cuthbert — identified later through Instagram sleuthing — to distribute its product on the red carpet. When asked by a friend if she knew the photos of her were going viral, she replied, “It’s calculated.” Indeed, the viral photos of her were taken by a professional working for Fiji Water. Wearing a glamorous blue dress, Cuthbert stood directly behind celebrities, bearing a tray of bottled water and often staring cannily into the camera. Fiji Water has not responded to a request from Vox for comment.

Though Cuthbert further told the LA Times that her pose was “strategic,” the magic of social media did much of the work for her, serving up instant virality for her photobombs — and her trays of water.

The UN General Assembly has declared access to free drinking water to be a universal human right. Many social media users were quick to embrace Cuthbert, a.k.a. Fiji Girl, as a new style icon, implacable expression and all. But what’s really behind the Fiji Girl meme isn’t something we should be grateful for at all. In fact, her stone-faced presence on the red carpet really was ominous — but not because she looked creepy in many of her photos. It’s because she’s the current face of an industry that is wasteful and hurts the environment. Fiji Water is owned by the Wonderful company, which also makes and distributes Pom pomegranate juice and other food products. Founded in 1995, the brand gained its foothold over the economy in its namesake country and over the international global bottled water industry in part due to spending the first 13 years of its existence enjoying what was essentially a tax-exempt status among businesses in Fiji. In the process, it built a facility for extracting water from an underground aquifer that, according to Fast Company, was entirely run on dieselfueled generators, creating the crystalline imagery that defines its marketing amid a cloud of real-world pollution. Despite this, the company enjoyed positive relationships with local Fiji citizens, and many praised the company for bringing higher wages and economic growth and investment to the country. It has anecdotally been known to distribute free water and provide financial

support during past local emergencies, and to invest in local infrastructure, education, and other benefits to the island nation. Many of these anecdotes come from the scholarship of sociology professor Jessica Schad, who traveled to the country to interview Fijian residents about their relationship to the town while pursuing her masters degree.

“I conducted my research in FIJI just over 10 years ago on how the extraction and bottling of water by an American owned multinational corporation was shaping the lives of people living nearby the plant

economically, culturally, and socially,” Schad told Vox in an email. “While some Fijians were benefiting from jobs at the plant, and some nearby communities were receiving support from the company, I found many of the financial effects to be quite superficial and not long-lasting, that it was creating a dependency relationship on the industry, and that the extraction of the water was changing local views on the commodification of water and natural resources.” Fiji Water’s tax-exempt status started to change in 2006, when Fijian military leader Frank Bainimarama staged a coup and installed himself as leader of the country. The new government then turned its sights on increasing the amount of tax revenue from Fiji Water, which had become the nation’s top exporter. In 2008, Fiji Water laid off employees in response to a threat of a tax increase on its bottled water exports by Fiji’s military government under Bainimarama.

Two years later, when the government tried to raise the tax again in 2010, Fiji Water protested by briefly firing all its employees and shutting down. “As usual, Fiji Water has adopted tactics that demonstrate that Fiji Water does not care about Fiji or Fijians,” Bainimarama stated at the time. The company ultimately accepted the tax hike, but the tension between its interests and those of Fiji have remained. The company again laid off employees in 2011, and one Fiji resident, writing to New Zealand researcher Catherine Jones in 2012, noted that “FIJI Water have lost a lot [of] their creditability, they have

PAKISTAN

Saturday, January 12, 2019 Pakistan and United UAE (United Arab Emirates) finalised terms and conditions of a support package oft $6.2 billion announced by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his visit to Pakistan on January 6 to address its balance of payments challenges. The package involves $3.2bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payment, besides a $3bn cash deposit, a cabinet member told Dawn.

He said the UAE’s package was exactly of the same size and terms and conditions as given by Saudi Arabia. The UAE package was finalised

UAE gives Pakistan $6.2 billion bail-out package on Thursday evening, he said.

With this, Pakistan would get a total saving of about $7.9bn on oil and gas imports from the two friendly countries — accounting for more than 60 per cent of annual oil import bill of about $12-13bn, he said. This includes about $3.2bn each of oil supplies on deferred payments from the UAE and Saudi Arabia and about $1.5bn trade finance from

PM Khan welcomes UAE crown prince Sheikh Mohammed in Islamabad.

Hearing date set for Nawaz Sharif’s appeal seeking release from his jail term in corruption case Islamabad High Court sets up date of January 21 for the hearing of notorious Al-Azizia corruption case involving former PM Nawaz Sharif as prime beneficiary in steel corruption case.

The date for hearing of petition filed by former PM Nawaz Sharif seeking suspension of his sentence in Al-Azizia corruption case.

Islamabad High Court also set up a twomember bench comprising Justices Amir Farooq and Mohsin Akhtar Kiani to hear the appeal. The bench will also hear Sharif ’s petition for suspension of his sentence.

On December 24, 2018, an accountability

court sentenced 69-year-old Sharif to seven years in prison along with a fine of Rs 1.5 billion and USD 25 million in the Al-Azizia corruption case, concluding a series of three court cases against the Sharif family in the high-profile Panama Papers scandal. Former disqualified prime minister is serving jail term in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. Sharif filed an appeal against his conviction in Islamabad High Court and also filed a separate petition seeking suspension of the sentence until adjudication of his appeal.

Court reserves verdict on constitutional status of province of Gilgit Baltistan India has termed as “entirely unacceptable” any possible attempt by Pakistan to declare the Gilgit-Baltistan region as the fifth province.

India has also protested to China over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which goes through Gilgit-Baltistan region. Supreme Court has reserved its verdict in a case regarding the constitutional status of GilgitBaltistan (GB) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

and the grant of fundamental rights to its residents. A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Monday took up a set of petitions challenging the ‘Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018’, ‘Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order, 2009, as well as the right of the citizens of the area to be governed through their chosen representatives.

the International Islamic Trade F i n a n c e Corporation (ITFC).

Article continues after ad The total financing support from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including the

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ITFC’s trade finance, would be around $13.9-14bn when cash deposits of $3bn each from the two countries were also included, he said. This is in addition to a deep-conversion oil refinery to be set up by Parco — a joint venture of Pakistan and Abdu Dhabi — worth $5-6bn at Khalifa Point and an expected petrochemical complex by Saudi Arabia at Gwadar Oil City. On top of that, the government has also started backchannel discussions with Qatar for some relief in terms of reduction in LNG prices or a relaxed payment schedule, but that is now at an early stage.

PM begging for funds worldwide, claims Sindh CM Sindh Chief Minister accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of begging for financial support from multiple countries across the globe. Shah, while addressing a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rally in Matli on Sunday,

had said: “Imran Khan is going from country to country to beg [for financial aid]” Samaa TV reported. Continuing his tirade against Khan, Shah opined that those without any experience in politics were given a seat in the government.

PM Khan accuses India of rejecting his peace efforts Prime Minister Imran Khan accuses India of not responding to his peace efforts and said that any war between two nuclear-armed nations would be suicidal for them.

In an interview with Turkish news TRT Khan again expressed his desire for talks with India to resolve issue of border security and peace in the region. He said that even a cold war was not in the interests of the two countries.

“Two nuclear armed countries should not even think of a war; not even a Cold War because it could worsen any time. The only way is bilateral talks. Two nuclear armed countries at war is like a suicide,” the party quoted him as saying. He said India did not respond to his peace overtures. India has been maintaining that terror and talks cannot go together.

262 terror attacks killed 595 people in Pakistan in 2018: Report At least 595 people, including Pakistani security officials, have been killed and 1,030 others injured in 262 terror attacks in the country during 2018, according to a report.

Most of the attacks were targeted at security and law enforcement agencies. Among these attacks, the most menacing were carried out on political leaders and workers.

The deadliest attacks took place in the run-up to the July 25 general elections, the Pak Institute for Peace Studies’ (PIPS), an Islamabad-based

think tank, said in its annual Pakistan Security Report 2018. In July, a suicide bomber killed 128 people at an election rally in southwestern Pakistan in the second election-related attack.

The bombing was the most deadly attack in Pakistan in over three years.

It stated that there was a “29 per cent decline in terrorist attacks and 27 per cent in consequent fatalities in 2018, compared to previous year”.

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NRI

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

NRI workers face 10-year wait for US green card

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Only six per cent of the total available green cards in 2016 went to employment-based categories, according to a report of the ruling Republican Party which notes that Indian skilled workers have more than 10 years of waitlist. The report said as of November 2017, around 112,000 people were on waitlists for all employment-based green cards combined.

It said that only six per cent of the green cards were issued by employment-based categories in 2016. Amidst a heated immigration debate, the party’s report said that in 2016, the US granted around 140,000 employment- based green cards, which was approximately 12 per cent of total green cards issued that year.

It said about five times as many people were awarded temporary employment-based visas like H-1B that expire after a period of time.

In 2016, the report said the US issued almost 1.2 million green cards, granting immigrants legal permanent residence and the opportunity to apply for citizenship in the future. Around 800,000 green cards close to 70 per cent of the total went to people immigrating to the US based on having relatives here. In contrast, about 140,000 green cards less than 12 per cent were issued to immigrants for employment reasons, based on their skills, experience, education and on the needs of US employers.

Donald Trump promises to reform H-1B visa programme

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President Trump had a surprising message for highly skilled foreign-born workers in the country early Friday morning: Stay a while.

In a tweet, the president promised changes to the H-1B visa program that could make it easier for them to access “a potential path to citizenship.” He wrote, “We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the U.S.” Although he didn’t offer specifics, immigration attorneys point to a rule change proposed in November that would help large Bay Area tech companies bring highly skilled foreigners to their headquarters, at the expense of Indian

outsourcing firms’ ability to hire workers.

The rule change fiddles with the lottery that determines who gets the 85,000 H-1B visas granted to for-profit companies every year.

The Department of Homeland Security wants to improve the odds for people who earned an advanced degree at an American university.

H1-B holders in the United States can rest assured that changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay, including a potential path to citizenship.

We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the U.S.

NRI senator Kamala Harris says she will decide on 2020 US presidential bid Kamala Harris, the first Indianorigin US Senator, has said she will soon decide on her 2020 presidential bid and she believes that the American people are ready for a woman of colour to hold the highest office in the country.

Ms Harris, who published a new memoir this week ahead of likely 2020 presidential run, demurred on whether she will challenge President Donald Trump for the White House. The 54-year-old is being seen as a potential strong contender

to get Democratic presidential nomination to challenge Trump in the 2020 elections. “I will make my decision soon, not at this very moment,” she said. The Senator from California is currently on her book tour. Her book ‘The Truths We Hold: An American Journey’ hit the book stores on Wednesday.

In her book, she says that she thinks that the country is ready for a president who is a woman of colour.

NRI policewoman jailed for forging statement of molestation victim

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An Indian-origin policewoman in Singapore has been jailed for five months for forging statement of an alleged molestation survivor in a serious dereliction of duty which almost saw the woman being charged for giving false information, a media report said today. Senior Staff Sergeant Kalaivani Kalimuthu, 38, was an investigation officer in the Violence Against Persons Squad when she committed the offence. Kalaivani handled a case of a woman who was not named in court documents. The woman lodged a police complaint in March 2016, alleging that she was molested by a person who also tried to rape her. Kalaivani was assigned to conduct an investigation into the case and had to interview the woman and record a further statement. She called the woman but could not arrange an interview with her. As she wanted to complete the investigation quickly, Kalaivani forged the further statement, deputy public prosecutor

Stephanie Chew told the court. She did so on her police-issued laptop in November 2016, without the woman present, adding details to the statement that the woman had never provided, Channel News Asia reported.

The details include a claim that the woman touched her alleged molester during the incident, and she did not mind her attacker touching her.

Kalaivani signed the statement with the woman’s name by tracing her signature from the previous statement and sent the investigation papers to her officer-in-charge, recommending that no further action be taken regarding the woman’s police report.

The police sent the investigation papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), recommending that a warning be given to the woman for giving false information to the police.

Sikh appointed as PRO to Pak Punjab governor In a first, a Sikh has been appointed as the public relations officer (PRO) to the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, it was announced on Friday.

The announcement of the appointment of Pawan Singh Arora was made by Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar.

“For the first in history of Governor House,

Lahore, first Sikh Public Relations Officer, Pawan Singh Arora, has assumed charge as PRO to Governor, Punjab,” Sarwar tweeted.

He also said that Arora was previously working as District Information Officer of Nankana Sahab district.

Sikhs are a small minority in Pakistan and most of them live in Punjab province.

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Saturday, January 12, 2019