The Asian Star August 25 2018

www.theasianstar.com Vol 17 - Issue 30

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Tel:604-591-5423

Vancouver city hall spending 84% per resident more than Surrey The City of Vancouver spends significantly more per resident—and collects much higher revenues per resident, too—than Surrey, the next largest municipality by population in the region, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, nonpartisan Canadian public policy think-tank. “With municipal elections slated for October, our study helps residents in the

Canadians opposed to taking in more immigrants, pollster says Canadians have been dubious for decades about the merits of increasing levels of immigration, but a new report also suggests growing opposition to immigration over the past few years. The report from the Angus Reid Institute analyzes polling data going back to 1975 to show that, throughout that period, a relatively constant number of Canadians — around one in four — have always said they think immigration levels should be decreased, while support for keeping levels the same has tended to be slightly higher. Only about 10 per cent of Canadians have supported increasing the levels during that Continued on page 6

Some realtors believe major price correction underway in Metro Vancouver A number of Vancouver realtors believe a significant decline is happening in Metro Vancouver house prices, though official statistics are so far providing more muted signals. The number of detached homes selling in Metro has been dropping for more than six months, but only recently have there been signs of easing of the city’s stratospheric prices. Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board figures for all residential properties still show modest price gains over last year, but prices stopped rising in June. Then, in July, prices slipped 0.6 per cent from the Continued on page 16

greater Vancouver area better understand the state of their municipality’s finances and how they compare to other cities,� said Josef Filipowicz, senior policy analyst with the Fraser Institute

and co-author of Comparing Municipal Government Finances in Metro Vancouver, 2018. The study compares 17 of the Metro Vancouver Regional District’s 21 municipalities on several measures—including government spending, revenue and debt—from 2007 to 2016, the most

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Andrew Scheer heading to India to ‘repair’ relationship that Trudeau ‘damaged’ Six months after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s foreign policy prowess was pummelled by a disorganized state visit to India, his chief opponent is heading to New Delhi to try to “repair and strengthen� CanadaIndia relations.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer will take his team to India for nine days in October.

He has plans to meet with senior government officials, business leaders and civil society and faith leaders. “Standing with a united India is Canada’s gateway to unprecedented human and economic development, and an essential alliance for Canada to strengthen in the face of shared threats,� Scheer said in a statement.

He also praised India for being the world’s

largest democracy and having one of the fastest-growing economies, saying the country “in recent years is transforming into a rising power in the vast IndoPacific region and beyond.� “A Conservative government will dramatically expand the strategic relationship between our countries and our peoples and advance our shared security, prosperity and values.

Unfortunately, Justin Trudeau’s disastrous trip to India damaged this key relationship and we must now work to repair it.� Indeed, Trudeau’s nineday sojourn to India last February is likely one the Liberals Continued on page 6

Bomb blast victims sue Bombay Bhel restaurant for $6M Six victims of bomb blast in a South Asian restaurant in Toronto are suing the restaurant for damages totalling $6 million, alleging the establishment failed to provide proper security amid a “turf war between rival business associates.� Their lawyers outlined details of the civil lawsuit during a news conference at Diamond & Diamond, a Toronto-based personal injury

law firm on Tuesday. “The owners of the Bombay Bhel restaurant knew or ought to have known there was an issue with security and that they were targeted,� lawyer Darryl Singer told reporters.

We believe we were carnage in a turf war between individuals we did not even know.

Continued on page 7

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Why India is refusing foreign aid for flooded Kerala India doesn’t want any help with the flood of the century in Kerala, but it “deeply appreciates” the offers from foreign nations.

That’s what officials said this week in refusing all foreign aid, including a reported US$100 million from the United Arab Emirates, to help with disaster relief in the floodstricken southern state.

The UAE has since said the $100 million number was never finalized.

More than 370 people have died and 1.8 million have been forced from their homes in Kerala since the rains started August 8, but the central government insists it can handle things on its own. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered a “big thanks” in declining finacial help from the UAE’s leader.

“His concern reflects the special ties between governments and people of India and UAE,” Modi wrote on Twitter.

India has a long-standing policy of refusing foreign aid with disasters, although this will be an expensive one to pay for. Kerala state officials say the flooding has caused at least $3 billion in damage – a far cry from the $85 million the central government promised for relief this week. The state’s international airport is under water, and thousands of kilometres of highway have been destroyed.

“The government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts,” Ravesh Kumar, a spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry, said in a statement late Wednesday.

He added that the government “appreciates” the offers it’s received from several countries.

But state officials in Kerala say they’d rather accept the money.

Thomas Isaac, the state’s finance minister, blasted the central government on Twitter, saying that if it doesn’t want to accept the UAE’s offer, it should compensate Kerala with more of

its own money.

We asked Union Gov for financial support of ₹2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious ₹600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer ₹700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is

a dog in the manger policy.

India has refused to accept foreign aid for disasters since 2004, when a tsunami killed more than 10,000 people on its southeast coast. The government founded the Federal Emergency Management Agency in response to the incident, and vowed to clean things up on its own.

India has remained steadfast in refusing foreign aid ever since — even after disastrous flooding killed more than 5,000 people in the northern state of Uttarakhand in 2013.

India’s National Disaster Management Plan, which was published in 2016 under Modi’s government, states that the government “does not issue any appeal for foreign assistance in the wake of a disaster.”

However, the policy doesn’t prohibit India from accepting offers from other nations.

The plan says the central government can accept a voluntary offer of aid, so long as it is a “goodwill gesture in solidarity with the victims.”

The central government said Friday that the $85 million it pledged in aid is just an advance, and that it will provide more as the disaster

Air freshens in parts of BC while other regions still face air quality Environment Canada is offering some hope to residents of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley after nearly a week of stagnant, smokefilled air — but the forecast is not as positive for people closer to the wildfires burning in Interior British Columbia.

Air-quality advisories remain for most of the province due to high levels of ultra-fine particles released by the fires.

The weather office does say the level of those fine particulates should continue to decline across the Lower Mainland and a smog advisory has been dropped.

Cooler temperatures and fresh Pacific air blowing onto the coast are credited for the reprieve, but forecasters say winds over the Interior will pin the smoke there and communities downwind of wildfires will stay shrouded for the foreseeable future.

The ‘transition’ to cleaner air in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley started even though the air quality in those areas remained to be “quite poor” due to wildfire smoke, according to reports August 23. “After a very murky day

yesterday, probably the smokiest of the stretch here on the Lower Mainland, things will slowly thin out [on Thursday],”.

But despite this, widespread smoke is expected to remain, and that British Columbia (B.C.) Interior will still be “very smoky” on the weekend due to the wildfires. “We’ll look for more clearing of the smoke [Friday] and

recovery unfolds.

The UAE offer isn’t the only one on the table.

Qatar has offered $5 million, and Maldives and Thailand have also offered financial support, according to Indian media reports.

“It is only natural for nations to help each other,” said Pinyari Vijayan, Kerala’s top elected official.

Kerala has received approximately $35 million in aid from other Indian states.

Although the Indian government is not accepting help from foreign nations, it’s still welcoming contributions from non-resident Indians, people of Indian origin and nongovernment organizations.

Contributions can be made to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund and the Kerala Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, the government said. Kerala is also free to accept private contributions, and the Indian diaspora has already jumped in to help.

Indo-Canadian communities have raised more than C$47,000 through GoFundMe campaigns in Mission, B.C, Calgary, Alta., Toronto, Ont., and Pierrefonds, Que. Tens of thousands of U.S. dollars, Euros, British pounds and Swedish kronor have also been pledged to help.

Several Bollywood celebrities have joined the relief effort, including Canadian-born actress Sunny Leone.

Continued on page 8

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certainly into the weekend as cooler air floods in, a westerly flow,” the meteorologist noted.

“That’s good news. It’ll be accompanied by a chance of showers on the weekend, though,” he added.

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OPINION

By Lee Harding

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Pouring money down the corporate welfare drainBillions of Canadian taxpayers’ dollars go into ventures that don’t need or waste the money

What do the federal government, responsibility and transparency have in common?

When it comes to handing money to corporations, not much.

Working-class Canadians watch helplessly as their hard-earned money is taxed away to be put into the laps of large businesses - often the same ones that receive it year after year.

These dollar amounts are too large, the disclosure too small and the criteria for receiving this money too obscure.

And things are getting worse.

Bombardier, the Quebec aerospace company that has received $4 billion in government help since 1996, exemplifies many of the problems.

In 2015, the Quebec government “invested” $1 billion to get a 49.5 per cent stake in production of the Cseries passenger jet. Later, the federal government added another $372.5 million.

So generous was the government’s help that the United States took a preliminary step to put a large tariff against the jet. As a result,

Bombardier turned half of the program over to Airbus, a European company, for very little.

If anyone needed proof that these handouts to corporations don’t help Canada, it was right here.

Bombardier hates to admit how much money it has received from governments or repaid. The company has gone to court10 times in the past nine years to suppress the release of such information. These legal efforts have swung the pendulum away from the taxpayer’s right to know and towards corporate confidentiality. In 2002, an information request to Technology Partnerships Canada on the recipient corporations and the status of their loan repayments was disclosed in full. By 2011, the response to a similar request withheld roughly three-quarters of this information.

A similar story of past disclosure/present denial just occurred with the auto industry ... we think. In 2009, Export Development Canada (EDC) ‘loaned’ more than $1 billion dollars to Chrysler just as it was going under. The Canadian

governmentnever expected to be repaid but gave the money anyway. It was the equivalent of loading cargo onto a sinking ship. Earlier in 2018, the CBC requested documents on the matter, but the response washighly censored.

Documents showed that the finance minister, at the request of the EDC, forgave a loan to get it off the books. However, both the loan recipient and the amount forgiven were blanked out.

Context and publicly available documents suggested this was the $1.15 billion still on the books for pre-bailout Chrysler. However, none of the four spokespeople contacted by the CBC would confirm this. Dan Lauzon of Finance Canada admitted, “write-offs are a last resort and are rare. We are unable to speak to the specifics of any particular writeoff given commercial confidentiality.” Another spokesperson said the public will have to wait for the annual report coming up this fall.

Although the Canadian and Ontario governments lost $3.7 billion in the 2010 auto bailout, sequels have followed. Prior to her election defeat, Premier Kathleen Wynne stood beside the prime minister at a Toyota plant to announce $220 million towards a new $1.4-billion assembly line.

This meant a $488,888 subsidy for each of the 450 jobs created. Five days later, Toyotaannounced a record global profit of $29 billion. Honda also received a combined $83.6 million from these governments.

In December of 2017, The Walrus took aclose look at the EDC. It suggested that the EDC not only combined big money with little disclosure, it added a third problematic element: government help for corrupt companies. Two days after the damning article, the EDC “terminated its $41 million loan to South Africa’s notorious Gupta family intended for the purpose of a luxury Bombardier jet.”

The article also noted that Bombardier had been involved in corruption scandals in Sweden, Azerbaijan, Russia and South Korea.

Lee Harding, Research Associate, Frontier Centre for Public Policy

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Andrew Scheer heading to India to ‘repair’ relationship that Trudeau ‘damaged’ wish they could erase after numerous missteps damaged Trudeau’s reputation both at home and abroad.

The choice to wear high-end Indian fashions while touring Indian landmarks with his family made for some uncomfortable optics, widely distributed via social media, that are sure to resurface as the 2019 election season rolls around, if not sooner.

But the real body blow came when a Canadian man convicted in 1986 of trying to murder an Indian politician on Vancouver Island found his way onto the guest list of two different receptions with the prime minister in Mumbai and India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – whose silence on the first five days of Trudeau’s trip was perceived by many as a purposeful snub – salvaged the trip near the end, greeting Trudeau warmly with his signature bear hug at the presidential palace.

The two signed a number of agreements about environmental policies and trade, including a joint commitment to battle extremism that named two Sikh extremist groups, riling up the Sikh Canadian community, said Balpreet Singh, legal counsel for the World Sikh Organization of Canada.

India’s successful effort to reinvigorate fear of Sikh extremists in Canada, despite absolutely no evidence of their existence, set the community back decades in terms of their position in Canada, said Singh.

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Canadians opposed to taking in more immigrants, pollster says

As proof, he cited two violent attacks last March on Sikhs in Canada, and the security agreement was seen among many Sikhs in Canada as a capitulation to the Indian government.

“We feel this could be a threat to our community and we made sure that message was passed on loud and clear,” he said.

There’s no itinerary yet available for what Conservative officials say will be a business-oriented trip

by Scheer, with no Taj Mahal photo ops. It’s not yet known whether he will meet with Modi.

Brock Harrison, a spokesman for Scheer, said India is “an important strategic partner for Canada for a number of reasons,” adding that Scheer believes there is “work to do” to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, displacing France for sixth place among the world’s nations last year, yet trade with Canada remains sluggish. In 2012, the former Conservative government set a goal of increasing two-way trade to $15 billion by 2015. In 2017, it was about $8.4 billion.

For eight years, Canadian and Indian officials have been in talks to work towards a free trade agreement. The Conservative government said in 2011 it hoped to conclude an economic partnership agreement with India in 2013. Five years later, there is still no agreement in place.

A survey conducted in late July by the Angus Reid Institute, however, does show a spike in opposition to immigration, which the organization says coincides with “more frequent and increasingly fraught conversations about policy regarding immigration and migration to Canada.”

The report puts the 2018 survey in context with previous polling on immigration done by Gallup and Harris/Decima over the past few decades, including a 2014 survey by Harris/ Decima. The 2018 survey shows 49 per cent of respondents think immigration levels should be decreased (compared to 36 per cent in 2014), 31 per cent think levels should stay the same (compared to 48 per cent in 2014), and 6 per cent think levels should be increased (compared to nine per cent in 2014).

Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute, said they chose those past surveys as comparisons because they asked the same questions about immigration. But she also said the 2018 numbers have to be taken as cautionary until they do more study.

“We’re seeing a notable change in the trendline, but it’s one data point, so what we can’t know yet is: are we seeing a country that’s now trending in a particular direction, or are we experiencing a moment in time?”

She also said it’s hard to tell yet whether the heated political discussion around immigration is driving public opinion, or vice versa.

“One data point doesn’t make a trend. We have to wait and see where sentiment goes over the next couple of years.”

The 49 per cent who think immigration should be lower is the highest number in the historical data; the second-highest was in 1995,

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when 45 per cent wanted lower immigration.

The 2018 survey was conducted among 1,500 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey doesn’t have a margin of error, but a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The report notes that immigration targets have risen steadily since the 2014 survey, from 260,000 then to 310,000 now. However, immigration as a proportion of the Canadian population has stayed roughly the same since 1975, at between 0.5 per cent and 1 per cent annually. An exception is the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the percentage of immigrants was well below 0.5 per cent annually.

Broken down by province, the 2018 survey shows fairly even numbers across Canada, with Manitoba and British Columbia showing the least opposition.

“In Ontario, the province where most immigrants settle by a wide margin, one-third are satisfied with national levels, while half say they should be reduced,” the report notes.

Overall, past Conservative voters were most likely to want reduced immigration levels, with 67 per cent wanting them lowered compared to 39 per cent for both Liberal and NDP voters.

Only one in ten of both Liberal and NDP voters supported increasing immigration levels, while just two per cent of Conservatives supported that.

Kurl said the left-wing parties shouldn’t underestimate their own numbers. “There is a significant segment of that left-of-centre base that is also of the view that we’re accepting too many immigrants,” she said.

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Bomb blast victims sue Bombay Bhel restaurant for $6M Peel Police said they have seen no indication of a turf war. “We have interviewed everyone identified in this investigation,” spokesperson Sgt. Matt Bertram said in an email, noting they have never received any reports of threats targeting the restaurant, its owner and staff.

Court documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday lay out the suit on behalf of Sonia Sheth, Porshia Mehta, Surjit Luthra, Parmeshvar Luthra, Arjun Luthra and Neelamjit Luthra.

Each is seeking $1 million in damages from Bombay Bhel and the corporation that owns it for the “severe and permanent injuries” they suffered, the statement of claim reads. None of these allegations have been proven in court.

Peel police alleged two disguised suspects entered Bombay Bhel on the evening of May 24, planted an improvised explosive device that

Vancouver city hall spending 84% per resident more than Surrey From page 1 most recent year of available data.

It finds West Vancouver had the highest level of government spending in 2016 at $2,583 per person, followed by New Westminster ($2,225) and Vancouver ($1,944). Surrey, by contrast, was the lowest spender at $1,057 per person, well below the regional average of $1,549.

In other words, Vancouver, the most populated municipality in the region, spent 84 per cent more per person than Surrey, the region’s second most populated city.

Crucially, Vancouver also collected the third highest amount of revenue—$2,693 per person—compared to Surrey, which collected the second lowest ($1,673). Put another way, Vancouver collected 61 per cent more revenue per person than Surrey. And once again, West Vancouver topped the list, collecting $3,253 in revenue per person.

Most of this revenue comes from property taxes on homes and businesses, user fees for services such as water and civic facilities, parking fees and levy fees on homebuilders and property developers.

“Ultimately, it’s up to the residents across the region to decide if they’re getting good value for their municipal tax dollars, but they need comparable information with other municipalities to help make that call,” said study co-author Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies with the Fraser Institute.

contained nails, then fled. Moments later, the device detonated.

The explosion wounded 15 people, three of whom suffered “critical blast injuries,” according to paramedics. All have since been released from hospital.

The six victims, named in the civil lawsuit, suffered ‘severe and permanent injuries’ that has prevented them from returning to work, court documents said. Groups of families and friends were celebrating birthdays at the restaurant, nestled in a small plaza near the intersection of Hurontario Street and Eglinton Avenue East.

Bombay Bhel is a staple for many in the Greater To r o nt o A r e a ’ s South Asian c om mu n it y who dine there for a taste of home.

About 40 people were inside the restaurant at the time, many of whom were children under 10.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene of broken glass and bloodied diners. One of the victims named in the lawsuit issued a statement Tuesday about the bombing calling it “unfathomable.”

Sheth’s family believes it could have been prevented and that Bombay Bhel failed to

7

protect her safety. “We are victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the statement said. “We believe we were carnage in a turf war between individuals we did not even know.”

Despite investigators claim that their probe hasn’t uncovered any threats, lawyers maintained the rivalry was “common knowledge” in the community. Sandra Zisckind explained her firm obtained this information from several sources they spoke to who had reached out to the victims. “Usually things don’t start with a bombing,” said Zisckind. “Usually things start with threats or with juxtapositions and people are starting to flex their muscles.” Bombay Bhel needed to have more security guards and surveillance cameras on site, or closed for a period of time, she added. Peel Police Chief Jennifer Evans has previously said there is no indication the bombing was a terrorist act or hate crime. Investigators have not released a motive nearly three months after the bombing and no group has taken responsibility for it.

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

There is no amount of liquor, beer or wine that is safe for your overall health, according to a new study.

The study, published in the Lancet on Friday, said alcohol was the leading risk factor for disease and premature death in men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 across the world in 2016, accounting for nearly one in 10 deaths. That same year, alcohol was associated with 2.8 million deaths.— The deaths included alcohol-related cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, intentional injuries such as violence and selfharm, traffic collisions and unintentional injuries like drowning and fires.

Although previous studies have found that light-to-moderate drinking can reduce

effects for heart disease in our study.”

For people over the age of 50, cancers were the leading cause of alcohol-related deaths. They were responsible for 27.1 per cent of alcohol-related deaths of women and 18.9 per cent of men in 2016.

Griswold said that although the health risks associated with alcohol start off being small with one drink a day, they rise rapidly as people drink more.

For example, having one “standard drink” (10 grams of alcohol, equivalent to a small

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beer or glass of wine) per day can increase your risk of developing at least one of two dozen health problems but about 0.5 per cent, the study found. The health risk increased to seven per cent for people who consumed two drinks a day and soared to 37 per cent for those who drank five drinks. The study suggested that governments should think of advising people to abstain from alcohol. The Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction recommends people drink no more than two drinks a day, 10 per week for women and 15 per week for men.

How many people are drinking?

One in three, or 2.4 billion people around the world, drink alcohol, the study shows.

Among men, drinking alcohol in 2016 was the most widespread in Denmark, along with Norway, Argentina, Germany and Poland.

Pakistan had the fewest male drinkers.

Among women, Denmark also ranked first, followed by Norway, Germany, Argentina and New Zealand. Bangladesh had the fewest women drinking. Men in Romania and women in Ukraine drank the most — 8.2 and 4.2 drinks per day respectively. The Lancet study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, used data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease report, which looked at levels of alcohol use and its health effects in 195 countries, between 1990 and 2016. Researchers looked at data from 15to 95-year-olds and compared people who did not drink at all with those who had one alcoholic drink a day.

No amount of alcohol, not even 1 glass of wine is safe, study says heart disease, the researchers said alcohol is still likely to do more harm and the safest level of drinking is none.

“Previous studies have found a protective effect of alcohol on some conditions, but we found that the combined health risks associated with alcohol increases with any amount of alcohol,” lead author of the study Dr. Max Griswold, at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington said.

“The strong association between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer, injuries, and infectious diseases offset the protective

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A Surrey woman has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years probation after being found guilty of defrauding K.B. Woodward Elementary’s Parent Advisory Council. Tuyet Ngo, who was sentenced in Surrey Provincial Court on Thursday (Aug. 23), has also been ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $20,314.36. Ngo, who is in her early 30s, was found guilty of using a forged document, and fraud over $5,000.

The Whalley elementary school contacted police in September, 2016 to report its PAC had been defrauded of more than $35,000. “The victims in this incident were the students of K.B. Woodward and the surrounding neighbourhood,” Surrey RCMP Corporal Scotty Schumann said in July of 2017 when charges were laid. “It was heartening to see businesses, individuals and the K.B. Woodward school community come together afterwards to raise funds to cover the losses.” K.B. Woodward had set up a gofundme account in response, aiming to raise $34,000 to build a playground the missing money had been earmarked for, through three years of bottle drives, book and chocolate sales and other fundraising efforts.

Why India is refusing foreign aid for flooded Kerala region From page 3 Many Canadians with ties to the area have been anxiously watching the developments.

“No one was prepared for this,” said Prasad Nair, president of the Mississauga Kerala Association, which is located west of Toronto.

“The house that I lived in during my childhood has been fully submerged in water for five days,” Nair, 47, told the Associated Press this week.

“Most people have lost everything they have.”

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Bernier ‘seeks only to divide Conservatives‘ - Harper Former leadership candidate quits party to start his own Canada’s dairy supply management system has been a consistent sticking point for Bernier, but in his takedown of the party, he also attacked Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer for supporting retaliatory tariffs against the United States.

“I’m the only one in the House who is against a trade war and the only one in the House who is for Canadian consumers,” he said.

Bernier has caused waves on the national scene — and within his own party — for recent tweets regarding Canada’s diversity. They have been labelled xenophobic by some commentators, while others view them as the start of a much-needed debate over Canadian identity and the role of immigration.

Bernier said he spoke to Scheer nine days ago and made his decision to leave the party, adding the leader is consumed with “polls and focus groups.”

Scheer, who narrowly beat Bernier at last year’s leadership convention, said the former cabinet minister was more occupied with advancing his own profile than the needs of the party.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says Bernier decided to serve himself rather than the Conservative Party’s efforts to unseat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 0:49 “Today Maxime made a choice,” he told reporters in Halifax. “He decided today to help Justin Trudeau.”

“I always challenged him to put personal ambition aside and to concentrate on common ground that all Conservatives can rally around.… Not once did he come to me or my team with ideas for the issues he’s raising.”Harper: Bernier ‘seeks only to divide Leading up to Bernier’s announcement, some

prominent Conservatives rallied around Scheer.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper, who helped secure the historic merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives that formed the modern-day Conservative Party, says the party needs to move forward.

“It is clear that Max never accepted the result of the leadership vote and seeks only to divide Conservatives.

His decision today allows the Conservative Party of Canada to move forward united behind our leader,” he tweeted.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeted support for Scheer, while Kory Teneycke, the former director of communications for Harper and a Bernier supporter in the leadership race, penned an op-ed for the Toronto Sun backing Scheer for prime minister.

“I hope Justin Trudeau and his cabinet colleagues are breaking out the champagne in Nanaimo this morning,” she tweeted, saying that the Prime Minister’s Office has “secured an easy win in 2019 despite a mostly terrible summer.”

Speaking in Nanaimo, B.C., after the conclusion of his federal cabinet retreat, Trudeau refused to be drawn into the Conservative infighting.

“Our government is focused on giving answers to the questions that Canadians have, and on demonstrating that we’re entirely focused on them,” Trudeau told reporters.

“I’m going to let Conservatives focus on themselves, as they are right now. We’re going to remain focused on Canadians.”

Earlier this summer, Bernier was banished from the Tories’ front bench and stripped of his role as innovation critic.

Man arrested following foot pursuit in South Surrey Surrey RCMP say one man was taken into custody Thursday night following a foot pursuit assisted by the Mounties’ Air 1 unit.

Cpl. Elenore Sturko said officers were called to a residence in the 15900-block of 16 Avenue around 9:15 p.m., for a report of a disturbance.

On police arrival, “a male suspect fled the residence and was pursued on foot with the

assistance of Air one,” Sturko said.

Just over an hour later, a man was arrested near King George Boulevard for breaching court-ordered conditions, Sturko said.

Sturko said she could not disclose further details of the arrested man, including if he was a resident of the home where the disturbance occurred.

The man was to appear in Surrey Provincial Court today (Friday), Sturko noted.

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Toronto ISIS member killed in Syria, says pro-ISIS group A pro-ISIS group’s claim that a member of the so-called Islamic State from Toronto had been killed in Syria was the latest suggestion that Canadian foreign fighters are dying before they can return home.

In an Arabic-language social media post, the Al-Muhajireen Foundation, an online ISIS supporter’s group, identified the dead Canadian only by the alias Abu Al-Zubayr AlKanadi.

It said he was a former business student of Pakistani descent who held several positions in the ISIS bureaucracy due to “his proficiency in several languages and broad education.”

According to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute, he worked in the

ISIS education and propaganda wings, and the hisbah police that enforces the terrorist group’s cruel code of conduct.

The RCMP declined to comment.

“The notice of this particular Canadian’s death was posted on a fairly well known Telegram channel run by ISIS supporters,” said a Canadian foreign fighter researcher, Prof. Amarnath Amarasingam. “It’s not from the ISIS media branch directly but was likely written by someone who knew him — perhaps even from somewhere in the West. It can be trusted for the most part, but it should also be noted that this is not coming from ISIS central, and therefore we shouldn’t confuse this Canadian as having some high ranking role in

the group. It was released by fanboys.” While the death could not be confirmed, it would be consistent with an emerging pattern: despite concerns about foreign fighters returning to their home countries, many are instead dying in Syria and Iraq. According to Amarasingam’s research, 21 of those that left Canada to take part in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are confirmed to have been killed. Meanwhile, 16 have returned to Canada, including those turned back in countries like Turkey and Egypt before making it to a warzone. Only two to three returnees actually served in ISIS, including one now living in the Toronto area.

Three more remain in custody abroad, waiting to return to Canada, said Amarasingam, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The fates of the remaining two dozen identified by Amarasingam remain unknown

but many of them are also likely dead, either as a result of coalition and regime airstrikes or combat. Following the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, thousands of foreigners made their way to the region to join al-Qaida factions, ISIS and other armed extremist groups, including about 100 from Canada.

Missing man with dementia could try to take ferry: police A man with dementia visiting Vancouver is still missing after getting separated from his family on Tuesday.

Police believe Allan Graham, 65, could try to head to Vancouver Island, and they’re asking anyone travelling on BC Ferries to keep an eye out for him.

Investigators are also asking

for residents in the area to check their yards, buildings or garages.

Graham originally became separated from his family near Dunlevy Avenue and Jackson Avenue just after 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday. He was spotted just after 8 p.m.

Wednesday, police said, walking in the area of East Hastings Street and Slocan.

Speed a factor in fatal crash involving co-op car in Vancouver

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Vancouver police say speed is believed to be a factor in the city’s eighth traffic fatality of 2018.

A 30-year-old Burnaby man died and his 32-year-old male passenger from Langley was taken to hospital with minor injuries after the crash of their co-op vehicle early Friday morning.

Sgt. Jason Robillard says in a news

release that the Nissan Versa was travelling along a curving section of a road on Vancouver’s west side.

Police say the driver lost control and slammed into a retaining wall.

The crash closed the road for hours.

The driver’s name has not been released.

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

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PM Trudeau visits first responders, evacuees in BC forest fire zone Visiting the region hard hit by fires for the first time since wildfire season started, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government is there to support the B.C. government and First Nations in the region.

“What Canadians do is stick up for each other in times of difficulty,” said Trudeau. “I know the outpouring of support last year and again this year and we are all heartbroken at the extraordinarily difficult situation people are going through. People have lived in these communities for generations and there is a deep attachment.”

Trudeau met with Grand Chief Ed John from the Tl’azt’en Nation and BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee in Prince George. The prime minister promised

to strengthen communications with First Nations and close the gap of support.

John presented a report last year to the federal and provincial governments proposing $200 million of funding a year for First Nations in B.C. to deal with emergencies. Trudeau told John and Teegee on Thursday that the federal government will ensure that First Nation communities affected by this year’s fires will get what they need.

Man charged with 2nd-degree murder in East Vancouver homicide A man has been charged with seconddegree murder in connection with an East Vancouver homicide earlier this year.

Minh Huu Dam, 55, was badly injured around 1:30 in the morning near Kingsway and Nanaimo on April 22. He was rushed to hospital, but later died. Police arrested a 48-year-old man at the scene. Investigators believe the two men knew each other, and had gotten into an altercation on the street

a few blocks away from where Dam was found.

That altercation escalated into a fight outside of a restaurant, police said, in which Dam was fatally injured. Police said Crown approved the murder charge against Vancouver resident Ngoc Chau Nguyen, who remains in custody.

Dam’s death was Vancouver’s 7th homicide of 2018.

Tom Gill stands fast on push to ban handguns in Surrey A Surrey mayoral candidate is standing firm on his support of a ban on handguns, despite the resignation of one city councillor from the Surrey First party over the issue.

Tom Gill first revealed his support of a handgun ban to local Vancouver media last week, and his party, Surrey First, adopted the policy as part of its official platform at a meeting on Aug. 21. The move comes after city councils in Toronto and Montreal adopted motions to ask Ottawa to ban handguns.

Dave Woods, a city councillor and former police officer, was not at that meeting because, he said, he was unhappy that Gill had gone public with his support of a handgun ban before discussing the policy with other candidates. On Aug. 22, Woods announced he would leave Surrey First. He still hasn’t decided whether he will run as an independent or with another civic party.

Fraser Health turns to education, social media to fight fentanyl crisis In the latest step to end the province’s fentanyl crisis, Fraser Health is offering free, online courses to teach the public how to use nalaxone kits. The kits, which are used to stop drug overdoses, have been offered through pharmacies for the past two years.

Dr. Aaamir Bharmal with Fraser Health says over 100,000 naloxone kits have been given out and they want to make sure people know how to use them.

“It is more than just having a naloxone kit on hand, it is about knowing how to recognize an overdose, as well as knowing how to respond to it quickly.”

According to a media release, the Overdose Response Practice Drills will go from August 27 to 31 and will be offered through both

Fraser Health’s website and their Facebook page. They will promote being prepared to recognize and respond to a drug overdose.

An interactive Facebook Live event will happen August 27th at 1 p.m. Pacific time on Fraser Health’s Facebook page. The online demonstration and live chat session will offer experts to answer questions and show how to respond to an overdose, including how to use naloxone. “Our staff will actually be responding to a mock overdose and going through the steps,” Bharmal said. He says in the middle of a fentanyl crisis, naloxone kits save lives. “We want to encourage people to get a kit,” Bharmal added, “and those are readily available through pharmacies.”

Residents home when Coquitlam house struck by gunfire Multiple people were home when a house in a quiet Coquitlam neighbourhood was struck by gunfire early Friday morning.

Coquiltam RCMP said it happened in the 1200-block of Thomas Avenue, about a block from Rochester Park, at 1:15 a.m.

The house has multiple residents, including children living in a basement suite.

At least one bullet hole was visible through a second floor window, something a downstairs resident told Global News was too close for comfort.

“What if it went through our window?

That’s our window there, we sleep downstairs,” he said. “We keep our window open, what if one of the bullets went through a window into us? Or if they went [around the side], through the kids window. You know? What then?”

Mounties believe the shooting was targeted.

RCMP say no one was hurt.

“You fight fires with equipment, you fight fires with personnel. That is the work that we are doing right now,” said Trudeau. “I have had lots of conversations to understand the gaps. The municipalities get resources from the provinces but when the neighbouring

Indigenous community turns to the province, ‘well we need resources, well you are a federal responsibility’ we have to clear up those lines of flowing resources. Ensuring people get what they need.” The Nadleh Whut’en first nation is under evacuation order because of the ongoing Shovel Lake fire. The largest fire in British Columbia has grown to nearly 87,000 hectares. Members of the Nadleh Whut-en have been concerned about a lack of support and many have stayed in their community to protect their own homes in case the fire shifts towards their homes. “We expect things like this, so we totally prepared ourselves,” said Louie. “I kind of figured we were going to be on our own on this thing,” said Nadleh Whut’en member Martin Louie last week.

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Abbotsford man gets 4-yrs jail for raping 3 women

Concern grows for detained UBC grad after Saudi Arabia seeks death penalty for another activist A human rights group is concerned for According to groups including Human the well-being of a University of British Rights Watch (HRW), Saudi Arabia’s Columbia graduate who has been detained public prosecutor is now seeking the death in Saudi Arabia for more than 100 days, penalty against five other human rights after the kingdom sought the death activists, from the kingdom’s Eastern sentence for another women’s rights activist. Province, who are currently on trial in UBC alumnus a terrorism court.

Loujain al-Hathloul, 28, Among those was arrested May 15, detainees is Israa alalong with nine other Ghomgham who, prominent Saudi activists. according to HRW, They were allegedly has been charged with arrested for trying to incitement to protest destabilize Saudi Arabia and providing moral with foreign funding, but support to rioters. have not been charged Loujain al-Hathloul has been She could be the first or given access to legal detained for more than 100 days woman to face the counsel. Some of the with no access to legal counsel death penalty for rightswomen have, recently, related work. “Any been allowed to contact their families. execution is appalling, but seeking the Al-Hathloul attended the University death penalty for activists like Israa alof British Columbia between 2009 and Ghomgham, who are not even accused 2013, graduating with a degree in French. of violent behaviour, is monstrous,” said “To be honest, with every day that Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director goes by our concern for the well-being of at HRW, in a statement on Wednesday.

Loujain increases,” said Jackie Hansen, Hansen said the timing of the activists’ with Amnesty International Canada. arrest was of particular concern.

Al-Hathloul has been described as “It was at a time when Saudi Arabia one of the most outspoken women’s was preparing to lift its ban on women rights activists in the kingdom. In 2014, driving, and yet here Saudi Arabia was she was detained for more than 70 detaining the very women who peacefully days after she attempted to live stream advocated for this right to drive,” she said. herself driving from neighbouring At the time, Global Affairs Canada United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia. denounced the arrests, calling She attended the University of British them “inconsistent with the Saudi Columbia between 2009 and 2013, government’s stated commitment to graduating with a degree in French. create a more tolerant and open society.”

‘Incredibly fierce’ UBC graduate 1st Saudi women receive among activists detained in Saudi Arabia driver’s licences amid crackdown

An Abbotsford delivery driver has been sentenced to four years jail for sexually assaulting three separate women during dates.

Klifford James Kenyon met two of his victims online. All three women said they consented to some sexual activity before being forced into non-consensual sex after repeatedly telling the 28-year-old to stop.

“It is clear to me that these women will have long-lasting, emotional scars as a result of these sexual assaults,” said Abbotsford Provincial Court Judge Gregory Brown.

“I was impressed by both their courage to write [victim impact] statements and their strength to try to carry on with their lives.”

Kenyon was sentenced in June but the reasons were only recently posted on the provincial court’s website. The charges were not previously publicized.

Two of the sexual assaults occurred in 2015 and the third happened in March of 2017.

Klifford James Kenyon met two of his victims

online. He sexually assaulted them after they asked him to stop engaging in sexual activity.

Although all three files closed with Kenyon’s guilty pleas and sentencing, Abbotsford police Sgt. Judy Bird said potential victims should still take note.

“He’s not an outstanding person that we would put some sort of public notification on, but we are saying that if you’re a victim of this person, please contact your local police agency,” she said.

“This is a pretty good warning for people when they are meeting people that they don’t know, that there are precautions that we need to take.”

According to the judgment, Kenyon met the first woman online and invited her to his house on their third date.

She told him to stop after experiencing pain during consensual intercourse, but he used his weight to pin her down.

Ridge Meadows RCMP officer facing sex, breach of trust charges A BC Mountie accused of inappropriately touching a youth is facing criminal charges.

The conduct of Const. Gregory Scott Bakker with the Ridge Meadows RCMP is alleged to have taken place between July and November of 2016, at or near Abbotsford, Langley, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and Surrey. He’s now facing two charges: one count of touching a person under the age of 16 for a sexual

purpose and one count of breach of trust.

The BC Prosecution Service said Bakker was released on bail on Thursday, u n d e r conditions.

He’s due back in Surrey Provincial Court on Oct. 5, 2018.

The BCPS said it will not be releasing further details, as the matter is before the court.

LOCAL

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Fatal overdoses hits 2nd-highest level in 2018 In BC 134 people have died of illicitdrug overdoses in July, a 25 per cent increase from June. The BC Coroners Service says 134 people died of illicit-drug overdoses in July, a 25 per cent increase from June.

The latest fatalities are the second-highest figures of any month so far this year, after an all-time monthly high of 162 deaths in March.

Record week of overdose deaths sparks demand for new prevention methods The service says about four people fatally

overdose every day in the province, which leads the country in illicit-drug deaths.

Va n c o u v e r, Surrey, and Victoria experienced the highest number of overdoses last month.

Figures from the coroners service show that compared with the latest monthly deaths, 24 fatalities were recorded in July 2008, the highest of any month that year.

The coroner service says most of the victims so far this year were men between the ages of 30 and 59.

Two charged in PoCo home invasion Two men have been charged in connection with a home invasion that occurred in Port Coquitlam on Aug. 16.

The incident happened just after 1:30 p.m. at a house in the 4000 block of Liverpool Street.

Two people were inside the home at the time and police say one of the victims is still recovering from minor injuries suffered during the invasion.

An investigation led Coquitlam RCMP to a

home on Slatford Place in Maple Ridge where seven people were arrested and placed in custody. In the 24 hours following the home invasion, a total of 11 people were arrested at the house with no injuries to the suspects or police.

Charges of forcible confinement, break and enter, and assault have been laid against Jerome Jerald Buckner, 33, of Maple Ridge, and Robert Callender, 36, of Surrey.

BC gov’t struggles to get grips on Surrey portable issue It was a big part of the B.C. NDP’s 2017 election platform: “We will get students out of portables and into classrooms by building new schools in Surrey, Coquitlam and other fast-growing communities.” But when students go back to the classroom next month, there will be more portables in Surrey than last year.

Last year, Surrey had 314 portable classrooms. This year, that number could climb to 320 or more.

The Surrey School District is the fastest growing in the province with 71,000 students currently enrolled.

Surrey School District goes on hiring spree as student numbers continue to grow Number of portables at Surrey schools set to climb once again “Our growth is contained mainly in three areas: Grandview Heights in south Surrey, the south Newton area, and the Clayton Heights area,” said Surrey School District spokesperson Doug Strachan The city is getting a new high school, the Salish Secondary School in Clayton Heights. The school will take the pressure

off Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary, which had up to 18 portables last year.

“We’ll be using those portables at other locations. There may be some left there, but that’s only because of the practicality of not moving them twice.”

Woodward Hill Elementary is also getting a 200-seat classroom addition.

The provincial government is trying to keep up with the growth, but are struggling to get the land needed to build enough schools to meet Surrey’s growth.

Education minister Rob Fleming says there are 15 projects in design phase and the construction of four new schools approved..

“The previous government didn’t even buy land and we have had to assemble lots and approve multiple projects started from scratch because nothing was left for us in that regard,” said Fleming.

The B.C. NDP has committed $2 billion over the next three years in capital spending for schools across the province. One of the challenges the B.C. government is getting the permits in place to build more schools.

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Supreme Court dismisses Burnaby’s case against Trans Mountain pipeline The leader of an Indigenous group that hopes to someday own a stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline is encouraged that the Supreme Court of Canada’s dismissal of an appeal by the antiproject City of Burnaby inches the expansion closer to construction.

“I have the feeling, at the end of the day, it’s going to clear all the hurdles that remain of a legal nature and so I’m happy at this ruling,” said Cheam First Nation Chief Ernie Crey.

Canada’s top court announced Thursday it has dismissed the application from the City of Burnaby, which had asked the country’s highest court last spring to consider overturning a lower court decision that denied the port city leave to appeal a ruling by the National Energy Board.

That clears a significant hurdle for the pipeline, which still faces a legal challenge from First Nations groups.

Trans Mountain pipeline construction has been delayed, resource minister says, but project moving forward Supreme Court to decide on hearing Burnaby’s case against Trans Mountain pipeline As costs rise and pipe arrives, Ottawa insists Trans Mountain project is on track When the federal government agreed in May to buy the pipeline from Alberta to the

B.C. coast and related infrastructure for $4.5 billion from Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd., it signalled that it didn’t intend to own it for the long term and would sell it as soon as possible.

Although many B.C. First Nations oppose the pipeline — and several are parties to a Federal Court of Appeal challenge of Ottawa’s project approval in 2016 — 43 First Nations have signed benefit agreements, Crey pointed out.

“There is growing interest on the part of Indigenous people to take out a stake in the pipeline,” he said.

“They (may) have the option of buying shares, of course, but my impression from the leadership I’ve talked to in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C., is they want a substantial interest in the pipeline.”

The Supreme Court’s rejection of the Burnaby appeal was welcomed

by Alberta and federal governments but mourned by the City of Burnaby

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Smoke ridden BC residents will get some rain relief over the weekend “Even if we do see a little bit of precipitation over the next week, that should at least bring some relief in terms of taming the behaviour on some of the large wildfires we’re responding to,” he said Thursday.

“Of course, weather models are constantly changing their minds on precipitation, but the general expectation between Thursday and Tuesday: most areas of BC can expect at least some precipitation.”

Turcot said the forecast comes as the province moves from dry, clear weather into a cooler, more unstable weather pattern “The caveat is always, when we do see these more unstable conditions, it can often mean increased potential for lightning activity and gusty winds,” he added.

The central-northern corridor between Smithers and Prince George is still the biggest area of concern for the wildfire service given the size and intensity of fires burning there.

In particular, the officer said the Verdun and Nadina Lake fires are showing “exceptionally extreme fire behaviour” and will likely continue to be a challenge for firefighters.

Several smaller fires merged with the larger Alkali Lake wildfire on Wednesday, creating a single 100,000-hectare blaze. (Though, Turcot said, smoky skies means perimeter mapping may not be 100 per cent accurate.)

The Muddy Lake, Lovell Creek South and Tahltan River fires merged with the Alkali Lake fire near B.C.’s Stikine River on Wednesday. The resulting blaze is estimated to be 100,000 hectares in size.

Other fires around the province prompted evacuation orders that afternoon, including for homes and cottages threatened by

an aggressive blaze east of Pemberton.

Smoke from raging BC fires seen from space also.

On Wednesday, leaders in the tiny community of Lower Post — near the Yukon border — confirmed three structures were lost as a 50-square-kilometre wildfire ran through the middle of the village.

More than two dozen homes have also been burned in Telegraph Creek, B.C., this year.

Nearly 5,000 people are under evacuation orders with more than 22,000 on evacuation alert across the province. Around 13,000 livestock are under those orders and alerts as well.

Dense smoke from the fires continued to prompt air quality alerts across most of B.C., though Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley had begun to clear as ocean air moved onshore Thursday morning.

BC remains in a provincewide state of emergency. There are more than 560 wildfires burning across the province.

Sixteen new fires started Wednesday. Of all the fires in the province, 56 are fires of note.

The B.C. Wildfire Service has spent more than $282 million fighting this year’s wildfires.

Wildfire smoke over Western Canada is visible from NASA’s DSCOVR satellite — which is about 1.6 million kilometres away.

Municipalities ask for changes to controversial speculation tax Municipalities and regional districts across BC are asking the provincial government to leave it up to them to decide whether to opt in or out of the controversial speculation tax, or come up with their own levy on vacant properties.

“This is a critical issue for British Columbians — it’s not just a housing issue, it’s directly tied to our economy,” said Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen, whose council has put forward a resolution on the topic that will be considered at this year’s Union of B.C. Municipalities conference.

The speculation tax was announced in February’s provincial budget and would apply to homeowners in six regional districts or municipalities who don’t live in a property or rent it out long-term.

Starting next year, property owners would be taxed 0.5 per cent of assessed value for 2018, increasing to two per cent of assessed value in 2019 for foreign investors and satellite families, one per cent for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who don’t live in B.C., and 0.5 per cent for B.C. residents who are citizens or permanent residents. There are some exemptions.

The areas affected are Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Capital and Nanaimo regional districts, along with the municipalities of Kelowna and West Kelowna.

The legislation to enable the tax will be up for a vote in the legislature this fall.

“There is certainly some pushback in certain areas of the province on that front,” said Wendy Booth, president of the UBCM and a Regional District of East Kootenay Area F director.

In its resolution, Oak Bay is asking for a modification to the speculation tax that would allow local governments to collect a levy on vacant properties and require that those that do use the revenues for non-market housing.

“We recognize the government’s goals in the speculation tax, making sure that there is housing availability by reducing the number of empty or vacant homes, and also the need to deal with the affordability issue,” Jensen said. “We felt that should be done by allowing local governments who know their own communities to determine how best to achieve these goals.”

Jensen described such a change to the existing speculation tax as “a course alteration” and said it could be done in a short amount of time so that the legislation could still be considered this fall.

He said he hopes the resolution — which the UBCM resolutions committee has recommended be endorsed — receives widespread support at the conference.

Speeding vehicle crashes into a house catches fire Around 6:15 pm on Monday, a Surrey RCMP officer spotted a driver in a black Mercedes speeding in the 6000-block 128th Street.

When the office tried to pull the vehicle over, the driver sped away.

One man has been arrested and another is still being sought after a speeding vehicle crashed into a Surrey home on Monday and briefly caught fire.

Around 6:15 p.m. Monday, a Surrey RCMP officer spotted a driver in a black Mercedes speeding in the 6000-block

This black luxury car goes up in flames after crashing into a Surrey garage

128th Street. When the officer tried to pull the vehicle over, the driver sped away.

The driver continued down the block before losing control and crashing into a home in the 12700-block of 67A Avenue.

The vehicle caught fire, which quickly spread to the home. First responders were able to knock down the fire and prevent any injuries.

Witnesses told police two men were spotted running away from the car. One was arrested nearby with the help of a police dog while the other remains on the run.

Police have not yet recommended any charges.

Investigators are asking witnesses who have not yet spoken to police to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers, 1-800-222-8477.

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

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Two years jail for serial bank robber Eranga De Silva who committed seven bank robberies in the span of three weeks in Vancouver and Burnaby has been sentenced to two years in jail.

The serial bank robber was 24 at the time of the robberies in January and February 2016, typically handed the bank teller a note that said he had a gun. In one

case the note said he also had a grenade.

He never showed a weapon of any kind and when he was apprehended in a taxi soon after the last robbery, he was unarmed.

Most of the notes demanded a specified amount of money, ranging from $1,200 to $3,000. The seven tellers in the robberies

Delta councillor Sylvia Bishop proposes City of Delta scholarships Sylvia Bishop has announced a suite of scholarships, bursaries and grants for locals pursuing careers in health care that she will create if elected Delta mayor come October.

Bishop’s “Pathway to HealthCare Careers” initiative is the second component of her slate’s five-part action plan on health care, which she debuted as part of Team Delta’s campaign “kick-off ” on Aug. 20 at Ladner Fisherman’s Hall.

According to a press release issued Thursday afternoon, up to $95,000 per year would be made available to young Delta residents or high school graduates

seeking health-related careers in medicine, science or care-giving.

The initiative would be funded by the city using revenue generated from Gateway Casinos & Entertainment’s new gaming facility, to be built at the site of the Delta Town & Country Inn. The new casino is expected to bring the City of Delta between $1.5 to $3.0 million annually.

“At the same time, Delta’s population is growing and aging, so it is increasingly evident that our city has an urgent need for additional physicians, nurses and

UBC researchers have found a way to convert any blood type to the universal O UBC biochemist Stephen Withers announced that he and his team had found a way to convert different types of blood into the universally useful O-negative.

The research was presented at this week’s meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The hope is that this could one day help alleviate chronic shortages of O-negative blood. Earlier this month, Canadian Blood Services made its regular latesummer call for blood donors across the country. With many donors away on vacation, this is one of the times of year when blood can be in short supply.

Finding the tool to convert blood types Human blood comes in four types: A, B, AB and O. What distinguishes them are tiny sugar molecules on the surface of the red blood cells. A, B and AB blood have distinctive sugar molecules that are

Six arrested in Williams Lake after seizure of weapons, fentanyl RCMP say six people have been arrested following the seizure of drugs, firearms and a large amount of cash at a home in Williams Lake. Police say they seized drugs include fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and testosterone as well as miscellaneous pills and drug paraphernalia.

Insp. Jeff Pelley says in a news release that offences involving weapons and drugs, especially those alleged to include trafficking of fentanyl, are a high priority for the force.

The arrests and seizures came after an investigation that began during the July long weekend. The investigation is ongoing, and court proceedings are set to begin in December.

recognized by the immune system, so if a patient receives blood of an incompatible type, a dangerous immune reaction against the blood cells can occur.

O-negative blood, however, does not have these sugar molecules, and so is essentially invisible to the immune system, which is why its universally compatible with all recipients.

Your blood type determines who you can donate to, or receive blood from.

all gave him smaller amounts than he demanded. He made off with a total of $2,360.

Only one bank teller provided information about the impact of the crime on his life, saying he had suffered no long-lasting effects.

In January, after BC Supreme Court Justice George Macintosh rejected De Silva’s argument that his rights were violated

after he was bitten by a police dog during his arrest, the accused raised no further defence and was convicted of the offences.

In imposing sentence on De Silva, the judge noted that in a bank robbery, even more important than the risk to the property of a bank and its customers is the risk of injury or worse to those present.

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Charges under BC’s public health act are the first in the history of region’s medical health office Authorities have taken the unprecedented step of charging a Vancouver man under the province’s Public Health Act for allegedly refusing to comply with a medical health officer’s orders for HIV treatment.

Vancouver’s medical director of communicable disease control said that the issuing of an order is rare enough in itself. But the case is the first time her office has resorted to the courts for enforcement.

“I cannot impress upon you to what extent this is an unusual step for us to take. This is not the norm,” said Dr. Reka Gustafson.

“One of the worst outcomes of taking this step is that the public mistakenly gets the impression that something like this can happen to them either easily or that there isn’t due process or fairness or ethics.”

‘Criminal prosecution is not appropriate’ CBC News has decided not to publish the 34-year-old man’s name.

His lawyer sought a publication ban Wednesday on details of a hearing held

last month resulting in the man’s release on $500 bail and four conditions that include complying with Gustafson’s orders.

According to a court document sworn in June, the four Public Health Act charges concern a nine-month period from August 2017 until this April.

Vancouver Coastal Health medical officer Dr. Reka Gustafson said the case is the first time her office has ever gone to the courts under the Public Health Act to force someone to comply with an order. (CBC) The man is accused of failing to collect medication and failing to attend clinic appointments, the document says.

The court document says the order was tied to the level of human immunodeficiency genetic material in his blood: once it exceeded a level that would make him infectious he was supposed to attend daily appointments.

Gustafson would not comment on the specifics of the case itself, but stressed that the charges were sworn under legislation designed to protect public

Buddhist devotees visit Gurdwara Nanak Niwas in Richmond

On Sunday, August 19, a number of Buddhist devotees who practise meditation at International Buddhist Temple on Richmond’s Steveston Highway visited India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas (8600 # 5 Road) in Richmond . They were keen to learn about Sikhism and the Indo-Canadian community in Canada.

Some realtors believe major price correction underway in Metro Vancouver From page 1 The Metro real estate board uses its own home price index to show price changes. It calls the statistic a “composite benchmark price” that comes from looking at “typical” homes that are picked for being “in the middle of the pack” when it comes to attributes such as number of bedrooms or square footage.

Other agencies and market watchers prefer using average or median prices and drill further into prices for specific housing types and neighbourhoods.

These statistics suggest prices have been dropping for longer and more dramatically than the real estate board’s index.

Realtor Ian Watt uses the independent figures from SnapStats Publishing Company, which reports median prices. For July, it shows that prices for detached homes on

Vancouver’s west side have fallen 26 per cent in a year, dropping by just under $1 million, from $3.8 million to $2.8 million. In West Vancouver, detached home prices have fallen over 30 per cent or $1.1 million, from $3.6 million in December 2017 to $2.5 million in July.

By comparison, the real estate board’s index shows a year-over-year decrease in July of 8.4 per cent for the west side and 8.3 per cent for West Vancouver.

Realtor Stuart Bonner watches detached homes on Vancouver’s west side and says the drop in sales and prices that he is seeing feel like a “canary in the coal mine” — a warning of what is to come in other parts of the Metro market because the west side is where the “chain reaction” starts.

If sales and prices drop in this segment, sellers have less wealth to use for buying in other segments — including other areas and other kinds of homes such as condos and townhomes — spreading out the downward pressure on sales and prices of these.

“If you don’t have someone selling a home for $10 million, with $3 million or $4 million to buy another home and then another $1 million or $2 million to give each of their children (or make an investment property purchase), there is a ripple effect when the volume of sales drops dramatically.”

Watt agrees, adding that each transaction of a detached home on the west side leads to several others elsewhere.

The downward trend would come off some intense price gains in the last few years. Watt says, in January 2015, the median sale price for downtown condos was for $493,000, according to SnapStats. In January 2018, it was $950,000 for an increase of 93 per cent.

“My thoughts are if they went up that fast, they can certainly go down that fast. That was a one-time Chinese money infusion and a spectacular frenzy, which are both over.

Vancouver will never be affordable, but it will drop 25 per cent or more,” says Watt.

Prices tend to be cut as properties sit unsold on the market. So another way to look at things is to count how many months it would take for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell, given the current pace of home sales, a measure called months of supply.

Bonner says as this statistic increased in July, the average detached home price dropped 11.6 per cent to $3.323 million from $3.757 million last year. The median detached home price dropped more slightly from $3.009 million to $2.984 million.

There has been a drop of 25 per cent in average home price and 22 per cent drop in median home price since the highs of 2017, according to Bonner.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

DREAM CARPET

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NATIONAL

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Man wanted on sexual assault charge may be in Saskatoon, say RCMP Police are searching for a 23-year-old man from Kawacatoose First Nation who has been charged with sexual assault.

According to a news release from Punnichy RCMP, Delmont Asapace Jr. has an outstanding warrant for his arrest regarding an incident that happened on Delmont Asapace Jr. Nov. 18, 2017. He has been charged with sexual assault.

Asapace is described as Indigenous,

Fort McMurray celebrates India’s Independence Day

approximately 5-foot-8 and weighing 205 pounds, with short black hair, brown eyes and a medium complexion. Police believe Asapace may be in Kawacatoose First Nation or Saskatoon.

Anyone with information on Asapace’s whereabouts can contact Punnichy RCMP at 306835-5200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

India’s Independence Day was celebrated at Syncrude Athletic Park in Fort McMurray on Sunday, August 19. It was a day full of celebrations, afternoon cricket and lunch marked the highlights of the day. The Independence Day is officially celebrated on August 15, but Sunday, August 19 was when the most people gathered to attend the celebrations. The event was organized by Fort McMurray Gujarati Cultural Society.

Mother charged with 2nddegree murder in death of 7-yrs-old daughter The mother of a seven-year-old girl who died at her home in Langley almost a month ago has been charged with seconddegree murder.

Integrated Homicide Investigation Team Aaliyah Rosa (IHIT) said Kerryann Lewis, 36, was charged on August 17 in death of her daughter, Aaliyah Rosa.

The cause of the girl’s death has not been released.

“This was a tragic case that shocked the community,” said Cpl. Frank Jang of IHIT. “Our deepest condolences go out to the family of Aaliyah Rosa and we hope that we were able to Kerryann Lewis, 36 provide some answers to her family.”

Lewis is scheduled to appear in provincial court on Monday.

Police found 7-yrs-old Aaliyah Rosa dead at her home in an apartment complex near 200 Street and 68 Avenue , Langley on July 22.

At the time, investigators said a 36-year-old woman related to the investigation was also there when they arrived. She was taken to hospital.

At Aaliyah’s memorial service in August, people remembered the girl as a lively, lovable seven-year-old who was confident and headstrong.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to call the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-4448 or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc. gc.ca. Should they wish to remain anonymous, they can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, August 25, 2018

South Asian man faces racist abuse over parking A South Asian man in Toronto has been racially abused allegedly over a parking dispute by a woman, who yelled “go back to your country” and called him a “Paki”, according to a media report.

Rahul Kumar (pictured), who moved from India to Canada seven years ago, was also called a “loser” with “shit-coloured skin”, media reported. Rahul Kumar filmed

the encounter outside his home by his cellphone last week.

In the video, a woman yells at Kumar over a parking dispute. “You can film all you want Paki. Yes Paki, that’s you with the shit-coloured skin,” the report said, citing the video. Unapologetic, she later said she was “not a racist”. “I have no problem with what happened,” she said.

Burned-down house in Vancouver listed for nearly $4M It may not look like much. More than two thirds of the home has collapsed and the charred debris from a onceraging fire remains undisturbed. The creeping grass surrounding the abandoned building has grown long and unruly.

Despite its seemingly uninviting appearance, the property located in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood has been listed for a whopping $3.9 million.

Burned-down house in Vancouver listed for nearly $4M Vancouver home gutted by fire selling for $4M Residents in a West Vancouver neighbourhood are fed

up with the piles of rubble from a home for sale that burned down last December.

Multimillion-dollar price tag for pile of rubble Talk about a fixer upper. A lot containing the charred remains of a home that burned down in December is for sale – rubble and all.

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Canadian homebuyers will finally get to see homes’ previous sold prices, after Supreme decision news Court to numerous real estate websites Canadian homebuyers could soon see much more detailed data on homes listed for sale, thanks to a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The country’s top court on Thursday declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling, which had ordered the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) to allow listings sites to offer detailed information on houses for sale, such as a home’s previous selling price. The ruling is expected to have repercussions throughout the country’s residential real estate market.

Although this sort of information is commonly available on home listings sites in other countries such as the U.S. and U.K., Canadian real estate boards have resisted making it available here, arguing it is a violation of homeowners’ privacy.

The legal battle over sold listings data has been going on since 2011, when the federal Competition Bureau challenged TREB’s practice of withholding certain information about homes. The bureau has argued TREB’s policy — which is also held by real estate boards across the country — impedes competition and digital innovation.

The Supreme Court’s decision was welcome

that have wanted to offer more detailed information on home listings, but were blocked from doing so by real estate boards.

This is “a step forward for Canada’s real estate industry,” said Lauren Haw, CEO of Zoocasa Realty.

“Not only will open access to market data empower home buyers to make informed purchase decisions, but agents now have the opportunity to act in a truly advisory capacity as they help clients navigate what is possibly the most important financial decision of their lives.”

The Toronto Real Estate Board said in a statement that it respects the Supreme Court’s decision. A Competition Tribunal order to release more housing data to the public will come into effect in two months’ time.

“TREB believes personal financial information of home buyers and sellers must continue to be safely used and disclosed in a manner that respects privacy interests,” the board’s CEO John DiMichele said.

He added the board “will be studying the required next steps to ensure such information will be protected in compliance with the Tribunal Order once that comes into effect.”

NRI gets $1.2 million in compensation for fake news article in Canada An Indo-Canadian businessman, who is originally from Bhuj, Gujarat, has been awarded $1.2 million in damages after he was defamed in a series of fake news articles instigated by a prominent American blockchain investor.

It is one of the biggest compensations of its kind in Canada.

Vancouver-based Altaf Nazerali had sued Patrick Byrne, CEO of online retailer Overstock.com, for a campaign of lies aimed to tarnish the reputation of the NRI businessman.

Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Patrick Byrne’s appeal against $1.2 million granted to the NRI businessman by the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2016.

The huge compensation for Altaf Nazerali comes after a seven-year legal battle to clear his name after a series of articles published in 2011, on an American website DeepCapture.com tried to depict the NRI businessman as a drug trafficker, arms dealer

and gangster and a financial supporter of al-Qaida. The articles tried to show that he had links to Russian and Italian mafias.

The articles were written by Mark Mitchell and published on the website owned and published by Byrne- which reports on criminal financial conspiracies.

In its 2016 judgment in favour of the NRI business, Justice Kenneth Affleck of Va n c o u v e r - b a s e d British Columbia Supreme Court had said: “Mitchell, Byrne and Deep Capture LLC engaged in a calculated and ruthless campaign to inflict as much damage on Nazerali’’s reputation as they could achieve.

“It is clear on the evidence that their intention was to conduct a vendetta in which the truth about Nazerali himself was of no consequence.”

The American blockchain investor challenged the judgment in the Supreme Court of Canada which last week threw it out.

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NATIONAL

Saturday, August 25, 2018

BC auditor general & government wrestling with ‘tough issues’ on finances The B.C. government is late delivering its year-end financial statement because of what the independent auditor general says are “tough issues” the two sides are debating over how the province accounts for its finances.

“I don’t want to say we’re holding things up, because I don’t see it that way,” Auditor General Carol Bellringer said Monday.

“Are we having conversations about some tough issues? Yes we are. I can’t tell you what they are until you see the (audit) opinion.”

Bellringer said her office is likely to provide its final audit opinion to the government on Aug. 20 or 21. Then it will be up to the NDP government when to release the figures publicly.

Typically, year-end public accounts are released in July. By law they must be complete by Aug. 31.

Public accounts will cover the financial year ending March 31, 2018, and show the accuracy of the NDP government’s first budget update delivered in September 2017. At the time, Finance Minister Carole James projected a $246-million surplus, but that has subsequently shrunk to $151 million in the most recent quarterly update.

One area of contention is the financial picture at B.C. Hydro, the governmentowned Crown power corporation.

Bellringer expressed reservations about Hydro’s use of deferral accounts in last year’s 2016-17 public accounts, qualifying her audit by calling them an “inappropriate use of rate-regulated accounting.”

Chinese ambassador hopes to speed up trade talks with Canada China’s ambassador to Canada said he hopes to make progress on a free-trade agreement with Canada and others amid his country’s rising trade tensions with the United States.

“On the background of unilateralism and trade protectionism, China sincerely hopes we can speed up the relevant negotiations process of bilateral…trade agreements,” Lu Shaye said, speaking through a translator, in an interview at the Apparel Textile Sourcing Canada trade show in Toronto.

U.S. President Donald Trump slapped 25 per cent tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese imports in July.

Taxes on an additional $16 billion are set to kick in this week and China is counterpunching with tariffs of its own.

The U.S. government is holding six days of hearings starting Monday in Washington on Trump’s next round of proposed tariffs of 10 per cent to 25 per cent on $200 billion in Chinese

goods that could kick in as early as next month.

Meanwhile, free trade talks between China and Canada have slowed as Canada has insisted on a progressive trade deal that would also cover some labour, environment, gender and governance issues.

The ambassador said there was little progress on issues that aren’t directly related to trade and he hopes they don’t disrupt future discussions.

“China and Canada still remains some differences on specific issues, but I think that it is not related to trade, and I don’t hope such kind of issues will influence the future talks and negotiations between China and Canada.” Trade relations between the two countries deteriorated after Canada blocked the $1.5-billion takeover of Aecon Group Inc. construction firm by a Chinese company in May, citing reasons of national security.

Liberals scrap controversial family reunification lottery, accepting more applications Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is dropping its controversial lottery system for reuniting immigrant families and moving to a first-come, firstserved online system following backlash from frustrated sponsors.

On Monday, the federal government announced it will admit up to 20,500 parents and grandparents under its reunification program in 2019, and 21,000 in 2020.

To reach those targets, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada will accept 20,000 parent and grandparent reunification applications next year, up from 17,000 this year and 10,000 in 2016.

Interested applicants will still have to fill out an interest to sponsor form online in the new year, but “instead of randomly selecting the

sponsors to apply, we will invite them to submit an application to sponsor their parents and grandparents based on the order in which we receive their interest to sponsor forms,” reads a press release.

The lottery system was in itself an attempt to make the system more fair and transparent after complaints the process was skewed by geography and an applicant’s ability to pay a lawyer or other representative to get to the head of the queues.

Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Minister Ahmed Hussen said the random selection process was a “dramatic” improvement compared to the previous system.

“It was not the wrong move. We improved on the really unfair system that we inherited,” he said.

Exodus of Saudi doctors a flashpoint in Canadian medical training About 44 Saudi Arabian doctors doing advanced postgraduate medical and surgical specialty training in B.C. have a month to pack up and go home, on orders of their government.

They were supposed to leave Aug. 31 but on Wednesday, the Saudi government relented a wee bit by giving its doctors an extension to Sept. 22 (or a few days later if they have to write Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons exams), according to the University of B.C. and a national agency representing Canada’s academic hospitals and others affected by the approaching departure of about 1,000 Saudi doctors across Canada.

The decision to recall its citizens studying and training across Canada was ostensibly prompted by a Canadian Global Affairs tweet

expressing concern about the fate of female dissidents facing punishments as severe as beheadings in Saudi Arabia. Besides the revocation of Saudi visa trainees, the Saudi government has demanded an apology from Canada for “meddling” in that kingdom’s human rights issues and has taken various retaliatory actions including curtailing trade.

The University of B.C. and most of the other medical schools across Canada have long had an arrangement with Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Middle Eastern nations to offer specialized training and clinical experience to these doctors who essentially pay their own way while learning, providing patient care and even teaching undergraduates.

Canadians on track to spend almost $6B on pot this year — most of it the illegal variety On an annualized basis Canadians spent $5.7 billion on marijuana between April and June, Statistics Canada says, as consumption of both legal and illegal varieties is growing steadily.

The data agency reported Friday that spending increased by 1.2 per cent over the three-month period, with almost 85 per cent or $4.8 billion of the spending going to illegal versions of the drug. The remainder was spent by medical marijuana users with legal prescriptions for the drug.

The federal government plans to legalize the drug for recreational use on Oct. 17,

a development which is likely to see even more spending. But even as the economy prepares for an influx of recreational users, medical use is also exploding.

Cannabis consumption for medical use has more than tripled since the middle of 2016, StatsCan says.

Prices for the drug appears to be falling, too. Across the country, users spent an average of $6.74 per gram on pot in the second quarter. That figure has declined by more than 10 per cent in the past two years, according to its calculations.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Bernier’s exit will split the vote — and help Liberals, says veteran Conservative A veteran politician argues that Maxime Bernier’s dramatic break from the Conservatives will help one party in particular — the Liberals.

“There’s an impact because another choice is offered at election time,” said Stockwell Day, a former leader of the Canadian Alliance who has held senior cabinet posts under Stephen Harper.After several clashes with party leader Andrew Scheer, Bernier announced Thursday that he would leave the Conservatives to form his own party. He said that Scheer was too consumed with focus groups, and the party was “too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed.” Bernier ‘never could get over’

losing leadership race Maxime Bernier has put himself before his team, MP Erin O’Toole tells Ioanna Roumeliotis. 1:24 But Conservative MPs are unlikely to follow Bernier in large numbers, Day told The Current’s guest host Ioanna Roumeliotis. “The problem is you don’t need half [to leave with him] to see the continuation of the Liberal regime,” he added. “In many ridings you only need a few percentages.”

“Justin Trudeau won the election in 2015 with about 39 per cent of the vote,” Day said.

“You get now to a place where your opposition ... is running at about the same. Polling numbers are good, their fundraising is extremely high.

John Horgan discusses ocean protection in meeting with federal officials The federal government is willing to consider strengthening its Oceans Protection Plan to address B.C. government concerns – but says it is under no illusion that doing so will win the province’s support for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Premier John Horgan brought up the subject with reporters Wednesday after a closed-door presentation on various issues to the federal cabinet, which is meeting in Nanaimo, B.C. When he emerged, he said he had pressed for changes to the coastline protection plan but offered no specifics.

In response, federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he would meet with a pair of provincial cabinet ministers – George Heyman of Environment and Lana Popham of Agriculture – on Friday in Victoria.

“If there are specific issues the province would like to see addressed, we are very open to that conversation,” Mr. Wilkinson said in an interview.

The $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan, announced in 2016, is aimed at improving marine safety and preventing oil spills through various measures.

The federal government has often cited its commitment to the plan to counter criticism of its support for the expansion of the pipeline between Alberta and B.C. “If they have ideas about what we can do to give comfort to the provincial government with the Oceans Protection Plan, we’re certainly open to engaging with them,” Mr. Wilkinson said.

PM Trudeau sends congratulatory message to PM Imran Khan from Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulates Imran Khan on assuming the office of Prime Minister of of Pakistan.

During the telephone conversation, the Canadian premier appreciated his Pakistani counterpart’s illustrious career in cricket and politics while wishing him well Imran Khan for implementing his party’s agenda for the welfare of the nation.

Both the leaders discussed bilateral relations and stressed the need for further strengthening of ties particularly in areas of trade, commerce, and investment. PM Imran also underscored the contributions of over 400,000 PakistaniCanadians to the North American country.

Both the leaders reaffirmed commitment to work together to strengthen bilateral relations in diverse fields.

Pakistan’s new premier has also received congratulator y messages from other global leaders including prime ministers of China, Malaysia, and PM Trudeau India.

Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf, swept to power in the July 25 polls surprising the political commentators and rivals alike.

He was sworn in as the 22nd Chief Executive of the country on Saturday, amid hopes of progress and the change which his party

Canadian senator says Trudeau Liberals knew group they honored had extremist views Canadian Sen. Linda Frum (Con-Ont.) isn’t buying Liberal Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid’s apology for honoring an accused antiSemitic group with a government certificate of merit. Frum said Khalid has had a longtime friendship with the the communications director of Palestine House, Amin El-Maoued, who she once called a “rock” and “brother” in previous references. Khalid apologized after the Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith slammed the Muslim MP for “rewarding” a group that has equated Israel to Adolf Hitler.

Frum tweeted her contention that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party of Canada and Khalid knew of El-Maoued’s

positions: The idea that El-Maoued and his extremist views are not well known to @ iamIqraKhalid @JustinTrudeau and @liberal_ party is laughable. pic.twitter.com/tNipny3y6t — Senator Linda Frum (@LindaFrum) August 17, 2018 Khalid has presented at least one other award to El-Maoued, which the Toronto-area MP did not apologize for, arguing that she met with “a diverse range of individuals.” Khalid is the author of a notorious motion, M-103, that seeks to condemn alleged “Islamophobia” in Canada. The motion is now before a Parliamentary committee that could recommend that “Islamophobic” language be included in Canada’s hate speech laws.

NATIONAL

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INDIA

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Ambani sends notice to 11 Congress leaders over Rafale allegations As the Reliance Group slapped legal notices on 11 Congress leaders for “vilifying” the company with their Rafale deal narrative against Reliance Defence Ltd, the Congress hit back on Wednesday saying PM Narendra Modi was “nervous” and getting back at the Opposition through his corporate friends.

“We speak on the basis of facts and as a responsible political party. Because Rafale is a monumental scam, PM Narendra Modi is anguished and using his friends to send us legal notices. We are speaking on facts and will not

be deterred by such moves. Our fight against the BJP’s corruption will continue. We won’t be afraid to take on those perpetrating scams and for this we are ready to go to jail also,” Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said.

Gohil has been slapped with Rs 5,000 crore damages in a defamation notice sent to him by the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. Gohil has received two notices. Ambani had earlier written personally to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi saying he was “misled and misinformed on Rafale”. Gandhi is yet to respond to the letter.

Pakistani smugglers now sending drugs via Gujarat The Unjha market yard in Gujarat is known for being one of the largest markets for spices in Asia, but now it seems to be coming handy for smuggling drugs from Pakistan to Punjab and other states via Gujarat. Clearly the modus operandi of drug trafficking has changed, from land across borders with Pakistan, drugs are seemed to be smuggled into the country though the sea route.

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, after the arrests of two alleged drug traffickers, have adopted a cautious attitude and are refusing to spill the beans, but sources claim that at least 300 kg of heroin in two consignments had been sent to Punjab and possibly other northern states in the last fortnight or so hidden in trucks loaded with cumin seeds from the Unjha market. The heroin was smuggled into Gujarat from the Mandvi port in Kutch district from where it was sent to Unjha in small quantities to be packed with cumin seeds for onward journey in trucks for north via Rajasthan.

“Two kingpins of the drugs smuggling racket — Raju, known by the nickname Raju Dubai, and Shahid Sumra, both of Mandvi, are still absconding and the Gujarat ATS is in touch with their counterparts in Punjab and other states to trace their whereabouts,” the sources said.

The Gujarat ATS believed that one of the consignment destined to Punjab was received by one Simranjeet Sandhu in Amritsar, but it was refusing to share further details. But the Gujarat police only echoed the Centre’s stand that the money collected through drugs trafficking was being used by Pakistan for funding terror activities across the border in J&K. It was the chance arrest of one Abdul Aziz Bhagad from Jam Salaya with 5 kg of heroin about a fortnight ago that helped bust the racket. Bhagad told the police that the drugs were part of a 100-kg consignment sent from Pakistan and received at the Mandvi port by Shahid Sumra. On his information, Rafiq Sumra, a transporter of Mandvi, was arrested

Shatrughan Sinha supports Navjot Singh Sidhu Under attack for hugging Pakistan’s army chief General Bajwa, Navjot Singh Sidhu received a moral support from BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha who said Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi hugged their Pakistani counterparts during their visits to Pakistan. BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha also said that Navjot Sidhu had already made clear

on the issue and “I don’t think there is any scope for any controversy”. “I have already said our ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his visit to Pakistan had hugged his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif. Our present PM Narendra Modi had also hugged Nawaz Sharif during his visit. I think the whole thing has been blown out of proportion,” Sinha said. —

Kerala wants Central gov’t to allow foreign aid India’s refusal to accept foreign aid Wading into the issue, Kerala Chief for relief work in flood-battered Kerala Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media has touched a raw nerve, with leaders of that if needed, he would talk to Prime political parties in the state pressing the Minister Narendra Modi who, he said, had Centre to review the decision. tweeted his welcome to the UAE’s gesture.

The state’s ruling CPI-M He said according to the and the opposition Congress National Disaster Policy of expressed unhappiness over 2016, foreign funds can be the Centre’s stand, with former accepted and so it should Defence Minister AK Antony not be a problem. saying that the rules should “As I understand, the be changed to accept foreign UAE on its own has donations. proposed this aid. The The issue snowballed UAE cannot be considered following reports that the as any other nation as their Centre was averse to taking rulers have underlined,” help from foreign governments Vijayan said in an Chief Minister following a stand taken by UPA interview to the Indian Pinarayi Vijayan government on not accepting Express. such donations because the country “Indians, especially Keralites, have had the capacity to cope up with natural contributed immensely in their nation disasters. building,” he said.

On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates State Finance Minister Thomas Issac (UAE), where most of expatriates are from said he was surprised the Centre was Kerala, had offered $100 million or Rs 700 blocking the UAE’s financial aid to the crore as aid to the state to overcome the flood victims when it had extended only devastation caused by the worst floods in Rs 600 crore so far.“We asked for Rs 2,000 nearly a century. crore, they (Centre) could give us only Rs Thailand’s Ambassador to New Delhi 600 crore. I don’t know why they should tweeted about India not accepting overseas deny some other government’s help”, donations for flood relief in Kerala. he told NDTV news channel. Former “Informally informed with regret that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy also the government of India is not accepting expressed unhappiness that the Centre overseas donations for Kerala flood relief. had reportedly refused to accept monetary Our hearts are with you, the people of help offered by the United Arab Emirates Bharat,” Chutintorn Sam Gongsakdi said.

(UAE).

The Maldives and Qatar also reportedly “I am sorry that the financial assistance offered donations for the state where the announced by the government of India is death toll stands at around 370 and where quite disappointing as far as the magnitude over one million people have taken refuge of the crisis is concerned,” Chandy said in in more than 3,000 camps. a letter to Modi.

Man gets 7-yrs jail for kidnapping & raping teen A court awarded seven years jail to a man for kidnapping and raping a teenager, observing that a minor victim’s consent “is no consent in the eyes of law”.

The victim, aged 16 at the time of the incident, went missing from her aunt’s house at Belapur in Navi Mumbai, where she was residing since childhood, after she stepped out to go to a public washroom on June 18, 2016, the prosecution said.

Unable to trace the girl, her family lodged a complaint of kidnapping the next day.

The prosecution said when the victim went out of her house, the accused, Rohit Ramesh Kadam, a labourer, kidnapped her and took her to Alibaug in the neighbouring Raigad district, where he raped her in a lodge.

Later he took her to Pune and Karnataka and the both returned to Navi Mumbai on June 25. Police recorded the victim’s statement on June 26, 2016 and referred her to a hospital for medical examination.

The man was subsequently arrested and booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 363

(kidnapping) and 366 (abducting or inducing woman to compel her for marriage), and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. However, the accused told the court that the girl herself wanted to run away with him as her family members wanted to get her married to another person whom she did not like. After hearing both the sides, District Judge P P Jadhav observed that the prosecution proved offences against the accused under the above mentioned IPC and POCSO sections.

The accused had taken the victim to the lodge at Alibaug and had sexual intercourse with her, he said, observing that “considering the victim’s age, her consent is no consent in the eyes of law”. “While taking her to the lodge, the accused was well aware or rather had the intention to have sexual intercourse with the victim,” the judge said while pronouncing the judgement last week.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on the accused.

PUNJAB

Saturday, August 25, 2018

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Punjab to amend Police Act for DGP’s appointment

Sidhu’s trip to Pakistan remains controversial BJP is firm on raising the issue in the Assembly during its upcoming session as Navjot Singh Sidhu’s controversial trip to Pakistan is not cooling down.

As Punjab Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s hug Pakistan’s army chief Qamar Bajwa made headlines all Navjot Singh Sidhu had a meeting with new prime minister of Pakistan over the world.

Imran Khan, while Imran’s old friend Vikram Mehta looks on (left).

State BJP president Shwait Malik, who was here to Sidhu. He said the Congress was a divided collect the urn of ashes of former Prime house on the issue with the Chief Minister Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said the issue disapproving of Sidhu’s behaviour and party would be also raised in the Parliament. “BJP leaders taking a contrarian position backing and the SAD will seek an explanation from him. “I congratulate Capt Amarinder for Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on publicly disapproving the irresponsible act of the conduct of his minister,” Malik said, the minister, but he will need to take action adding the CM would be asked about the against him,” Malik said. action taken by him against Navjot Singh

Mother & her lover arrested for killing young kabaddi player Two days after 17-year-old kabaddi player Sukhbir Singh was found dead, his mother Narinder Kaur and her paramour Simarjit Singh Dogar were booked under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC on Wednesday.

The case was registered after residents of Chhintanwala blocked the Naba-SangrurMalerkotla state highway near Bouran Gate here, alleging police inaction in the case.

Former sarpanch Surjit Singh alleged that instead of taking action against the accused, the Sadar police station SHO misbehaved with them and asked them to provide proof of murder. He alleged that Sukhbir’s mother had illicit relations with some persons of the village.

Sukhbir Singh was found dead in front of the gate of his house on Monday morning by neighbours, who had informed his mother and the police. Sukhbir was to attend a training programme to be held at Bhadson.

Sukhbir’s maternal uncle Bhupinder Singh from Dhuri said the police were “shielding” the accused. He alleged that his sister Narinder Kaur along with some persons, with whom she had illicit relations, had murdered his nephew.

Narinder, who was also present at the dharna site, said baseless allegations were being levelled against her. She said the police should take action against the accused if they find anyone guilty.

Sadar SHO Bikar Singh claimed that he did not misbehave with anyone. He said the police were investigating the case and would arrest the Narinder Kaur if any substantial evidence comes forth against her. The protesters lifted the dharna after DSP Devinder Atri and naib tehsildar Kulbhushan Sharma assured them of cracking the case in the next three days.

5 Sikh migrants released from US jail Five illegal Sikh migrants are among eight other asylum seekers who have been released on bond from a prison in the US state of Oregon, where they were locked up for three months after getting caught in the Trump administration’s controversial “zero-tolerance” policy, immigration lawyers have said. A group of 52 Indians, mostly Sikhs, has been held at a detention centre in Oregon since May for being part of a large contingent of illegal immigrants seeking asylum. The Indians form the largest group of detainees in the total 124 illegal immigrants being held at the facility in Sheridan.

The Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government is set to approve an amendment to the Punjab Police Act 2007, in the Cabinet meeting on Thursday to enable the government to appoint the Director General of Police (DGP). The amended Bill will be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha in its upcoming session. On the basis of the advice of the Advocate General, various amendments are being made to the Punjab Police Act, 2007, to pave the way for setting up the state police commission. Since others states have started

amending the Act to enable them to appoint their DGP, Punjab is following the suit.

A senior government functionary said after amending the relevant provisions of the Act to enable the constitution of a state police commission to appoint the DGP, the state will file an application in the Supreme Court for modifications of the latter’s directions (dated July 3) wherein states have been asked to appoint DGP from a panel to be constituted by the UPSC based on the concerned state government’s proposals.

Shortage of teachers worsening Teacher deficiency in government schools is a chronic problem, but what the Punjab Education Department also seems unable to overcome is extreme cases of uneven distribution of staff. Even as a recent attempt has been made to post teachers to deficient schools in border districts, neglect has led to a situation where schools with a large number of students have zero or only one teacher, while many close to prized stations have a gross excess of teachers.

A stark example is Government Primary School,

Wasawa Singh Wali (Amritsar), which has no teacher for 226 students. Villagers are making do with a temporary teacher appointed by them. Even that teacher only manages the students, and holds no regular class. Similarly, a middle school at Sheikh Basti (Amritsar); primary schools in Gidderbaha (Muktsar) and Wara Kali (Ferozepur); a high school at Latianwala (Kapurthala), all have more than 100 students but not a single teacher.

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INDIA

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Rahul Gandhi blames joblessness, demonetisation, GST for lynching innocents Congress president Rahul Gandhi has attributed incidents of lynchings to “anger” emanating from joblessness and “destruction” of small businesses due to demonetization and the “poorly implemented” GST by the ruling BJP. In his address in Hamburg, Germany, the Congress chief alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “demonetised the Indian economy and destroyed the cash flow” of all small and medium businesses rendering millions jobless. “They imposed a badly conceptualised GST which complicated lives further,” Gandhi said.

“Large numbers of people who worked in small businesses were forced back to the villages and these three things that the government has done has made India angry. And that’s what you get to read in

the newspapers. When you hear about lynchings, when you hear about attacks on Dalits in India, when you hear about attacks on minorities in India, that’s the reason for it,” he stated. Gandhi also accused the BJP government of excluding tribals, Dalits and minorities from the development process.

“It is very dangerous in the 21st century to exclude people. If you don’t give people a vision in the 21st century somebody else will give them one. And that’s the real risk of excluding large number of people from our development processes,” he said.

“They (the BJP government) feel that tribal communities, poor farmers, lower caste people, minorities shouldn’t get the same benefits as the elite,” the Congress president alleged.

4 dead 16 injured in Mumbai high-rise building fire Four people including a woman killed while to smoke-inhalation. Later in the afternoon, 16 were injured including four fire-fighters after two persons were burnt to death in one of the 17-storeyed building caught on fire in Central building’s elevators. Their identities were yet Mumbai. to be established, the police added. Residents The fire at Crystal Tower, near Parel’s had forced the building’s watchman to re-start Hindmata Cinema was reported elevators. However, soon the at 8.32 am. Ten fire engines lifts got stuck due to power were rushed to the spot after failure. it was classified as type-2 fire.

The other two deceased With flames spreading, the were identified as Bablu classification was revised to type Shaikh (36) and Shubhada 3 and more fire engines and Shelke (62). Later in the water tankers were rushed to the afternoon, the fire brigade spot, said Mumbai’s Fire Chief termed the building unsafe PS Rahangdale. for habitation and asked the According to Rahangadale, Mumbai civic body to cut off the fire started from a flat on power and water supply to the the 12th floor where some premises. renovation work was going on.

Officials from the “We suspect it may have been Brihanmumbai Municipal caused by a short-circuit,” he Corporation said the building Flames spreading through the said. The blaze quickly spread Crystal Towers in Mumbai constructed around three via electrical ducts and the years ago was denied an elevator shaft, trapping residents on higher occupation certificate (OC) as it had not floors. By 10 am, the fire brigade deployed complied with various safety norms. Among the cranes to bring down people stuck on the upper violations noted by the civic body were absence floors of the building. Sixteen persons, including of adequate fire-safety equipment, a refuge area four fire brigade personnel, were taken to the for residents to assemble in case of a fire and KEM hospital after their health deteriorated due illegal enclosing of open spaces, officials said.

Curfew imposed in Rajasthan town after communal tension over Kanwariya procession An indefinite curfew was on Friday clamped in Malpura town of Tonk district reeling under a communal tension since yesterday over Kanwariyas’ procession passing through a minority area when both sides clashed and indulged in violence, arson, and damage of public property.

Law and order situation deteriorated when a group of Hindu organisations trying to hold a Tiranga Yatra (Tricolour procession) amidst the prevailing prohibitory orders which were promulgated under Section 144 of CrPC after the violence on Thursday afternoon in Malpura, the Special Director General of Police (Law & Order) N R K Reddy told The

Tribune. Local elected representatives of the saffron party were seen leading the Tricolour yatra by breaching the prohibitory orders and other community reportedly got agitated by provoking slogans. The tension impelled the police and administration to impose curfew, he added. Fresh incidents of arson and brickbatting between the two communities were reported in which four kiosks and one Musafir Khana set on flames by agitators since morning today, Reddy said.

About 20 people including some cops were injured in stone pelting incidents since yesterday, and ten miscreants were arrested so far,

Working on the philosophy of Guru Nanak: Rahul Gandhi tells NRIs in Germany Congress leader Rahul Gandhi thanked the NRIs of Germany for helping form the party government in Punjab and said the Congress was working on the philosophy of Guru Nanak. Addressing a cheering crowd in Berlin on Thursday night, Gandhi said, “Its said a friend in need is a friend indeed.

You all helped form a Congress government in Punjab for which I thank you. The Punjab Government is your Government. If you ever find any difficulty there, let me know. My doors are open for you 24 hours.”

Present also at the event was former MP Preneet Kaur, who earlier addressed the gathering of Indian Overseas Congress and spoke of the steps Punjab Government had

taken for the benefit of NRIs. Rahul Gandhi referred to Preneet Kaur in his speech and said she was also always available to redress diaspora grievances. In his speech on Friday, Gandhi spoke of his thought being influenced cent per cent by Guru Nanak and hailed the concept of langar in the Sikh religion equating it with the Congress outlook of reaching the last man in the line. “You said my thoughts appear influenced by Guru Nanaks teachings.

Yes they are cent per cent inspired by Guru Nanaks teachings. The Guru spoke of unity in diversity and thats what Congress party believes and fosters. What is langar? Langar means no one should go back hungry no matter how small or weak.”

Al Jazeera may have to shut down broadcast in India Al Jazeera, English television channel, may have to shut down its broadcast in India as the government has withdrawn its security clearance. As per the Economic Times, no explanation was given, however, the decision seems to have been triggered from a documentary aired by the channel on militancy in Jammu and Kashmir that the government said was “biased”.

A security clearance from the Home Ministry is required for any channel to broadcast in India, while the licence is attained from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The security clearance was given to the channel by the Home Ministry on December 3, 2010,

and withdrawn on May 29, 2018, as per documents. And now it all depends on the Home Ministry.

Al Jazeera English is run by AJI International Pvt Ltd. Al Jazeera English executives declined to comment, as per ET. As per ET, the channel told the government in its representation that the documentary on militant networks in Kashmir devoted a substantial 10 minutes to the central government’s efforts and the views of its officials.

In 2015, the channel was suspended for five days because it showed an incorrect map of India with respect to Jammu and Kashmir.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

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26

SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, August 25, 2018

New prime minister in Pakistan wants dialogue with India Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan in his latest tweet once again invites India to the dialogue table and pursue peace, terming it the “best way to alleviate poverty and uplift the people of the subcontinent”.

The tweets, which included a note of gratitude to longtime friend Navjot Singh Sidhu for attending PM Khan’s inauguration on a special invitation, reiterated the new prime minister’s belief that “without peace our people cannot progress.”

Addressing sections of the Indian media, politicians and civil society who have been criticising Sidhu for visiting Pakistan, PM Khan said: “Those in India who targeted him [Sidhu] are doing a great disservice to peace in the subcontinent.”

“He was an ambassador of peace and was given amazing love and affection by people of Pakistan,” the prime minister wrote.

“To move forward, Pakistan and India must dialogue and resolve their conflicts, including

Kashmir,” the premier was quoted as saying.

“The best way to alleviate poverty and uplift the people of the subcontinent is to resolve our differences through dialogue and start trading.”

The incumbent regime had also extended an olive branch to India a day earlier, when newly-appointed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had made clear that he would pursue dialogue with the neighbouring rival as a way forward.

“Us coming to the table and talking peace is our only option. We need to stop the adventurism and come together. We know the issues are tough and will not be solved overnight, but we have to engage,” Qureshi had said. “We cannot turn our cheek. Yes we have outstanding issues. Kashmir is a reality; it is an issue that both our nations acknowledge.”

“We need a continued and uninterrupted dialogue. This is our only way forward,” he had stressed.

Rajapaksa hopes to return as Lanka president for third term President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka signed an official proclamation on Thursday confirming that he will seek re-election for an unprecedented third term two years ahead of schedule.

The proclamation came after Mr. Rajapaksa’s governing Sri Lanka Freedom Party unanimously endorsed such a move Wednesday night, said Keheliya Rambukwella, the Sri Lankan information minister.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s government removed a twoterm limit on the country’s powerful presidency in 2010 through a constitutional amendment.

Last week, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court dismissed legal concerns about Mr. Rajapaksa’s eligibility to seek a third term. Mr. Rajapaksa removed the previous chief justice from office in January 2013 in a move that was widely seen as solidifying his control over the court.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s second term officially ends in November 2016, but he can legally seek re-election after completing four years in office, a marker his office said he passed on Nov. 19. Already, huge banners and posters of him have been appearing in Colombo, the capital, and other major towns around the island nation.

Mahinda Deshapriya, the elections commissioner, confirmed that he had received the presidential proclamation instructing him to prepare for an election.

The president’s party suffered a setback on Tuesday after a key ally in the governing alliance, the Jathika Hela Urumaya, or National Heritage Party, quit its ministries and announced that it would not support Mr. Rajapaksa’s re-election bid.

Sri Lanka to end execution moratorium soon: President Sri Lanka will soon resume executions after a 42-year moratorium but will send home five Pakistanis sentenced to death for drug smuggling for execution in their home country, President Maithripala Sirisena said on Wednesday.

The five are among 18 people, including a woman, on death row for drug offences whose execution will go ahead, according to Sirisena.

He did not give a date for the first hanging.

“I am determined to carry out the death penalty for serious drug offenders and I will start with a list (of 18) given to me by the prisons,” he

told a public meeting in the north of the country.

Sirisena said he would hold talks with new Prime Minister Imran Khan on repatriating the condemned Pakistanis and having them executed there. He gave no further details on the feasibility of such a move.

International rights groups and the European Union have asked Sri Lanka to reconsider since Sirisena announced last month that he wanted to end the moratorium on hanging.

Police believe the Indian Ocean island is being used as a transit point by drug traffickers.

Man arrested for putting Nepal PM Oli’s face on monkey’s body Man Arrested Over Facebook Post Depicting Nepal Prime Minister As Monkey The arrest comes days after Nepal introduced a new criminal code that includes draconian laws that activists have warned could be used to silence critics of the government.

The Communist-led government headed by KP Sharma has shown increasing intolerance of dissent. A man in Nepal was arrested for sharing a doctored image on Facebook showing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s head superimposed on a monkey’s body, police said Wednesday.

Homnath Sigdel, 44, was taken into custody on Tuesday for “sharing indecent photos that targeted the prime minister”, senior police officer Narendra Prasad Uprety told AFP.

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The offending image appeared on a Facebook group earlier this month and has been shared more than 2,500 times.

Police said Sigdel had also posted a second photo of Oli’s head on a naked human body.

Sigdel could face up to five years in jail and a 100,000 rupee ($900) fine if found guilty under a provision in the Electronic Transactions Act. The arrest comes days after Nepal introduced a new criminal code that includes draconian laws that activists have warned could be used to silence critics of the government.

The Communist-led government headed by Oli has shown increasing intolerance of dissent since it took power at the beginning of the year.

Sri Lanka to repatriate 5 Pakistanis on death row for drug offences Sri Lanka will soon resume executions after a 42-year moratorium but will send home five Pakistanis sentenced to death for drug smuggling for execution in their home country, President Maithripala Sirisena said on Wednesday.

The five are among 18 people, including a woman, on death row for drug offences whose

execution will go ahead, according to Sirisena.

He did not give a date for the first hanging.

“I am determined to carry out the death penalty for serious drug offenders and I will start with a list (of 18) given to me by the prisons,” he told a public meeting in the north of the country.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

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28

FIJI

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Australian Government hands over $40k worth of emergency response kits to MSP Australian government yesterday donated necessary kits to Medical Services Pacific (MSP) to provide emergency services during times of crisis. Handing over the $40, 000 donation was the Australian Government’s Counsellor for Development Cooperation for Fiji and Tuvalu, Christina Munzer.

Ms Munzer said the assistance would now enable MSP to respond quickly within 48 hours to those affected by a natural disaster.

“Mothers and babies will be able to receive quality supplies, clothes, blankets, soaps, lotions and baby napkins to meet

immediate needs,” she said.

“Health personnel will have access to safe birthing materials.”

MSP executive director, Jennifer Poole said they were grateful to the Australian government for financial assistance during times of crisis. “We are extremely grateful to the Australian government for financial assistance during times of crisis and helping us to build the capacity of our medical teams and to provide emergency services,” she said.

Students critical about current education system ‘‘Current education system only trains us to pass and does not leave room for anything else’’ said a 13-yrs old Rova, a student of Adi Cakobau School stated that the current education system is one that is training them to pass exams and does not leave much room for anything else.

Lomani Rova who was a panelist at the Arts and Education Policy Dialogue Program at the Grand Pacific Hotel today also put the question as to why art is only being taught till Year 10. Rova who is a former student of Natabua High School and Swami

Vivekananda College adds that it is at these ages that students need an artistic outlet.

Rova believes that there are many creative individuals out there who really should be encouraged to major in art and could be roped into the Ministry of Education to work with the students.

Rova says she enjoys seeing friends create amazing art at their back of their exercise books but gets sad when they close them and say they are wasting time and have to get back to the subjects that can give them real job.

Scott Morrison becomes new Australian PM after party coup forces Turnbull to resign Scott Morrison today became Australia’s new prime minister after emerging victorious in a leadership contest for the Liberal Party following a political coup against Malcolm Turnbull, ending days of political chaos in the country. Morrison, 50, who has been serving as the country’s treasurer, defeated former home affairs minister Peter Dutton by 45 votes to 40 at the closed- door leadership vote.

The vote was the second challenge this week

to the leadership of Turnbull — who himself assumed office by leading a party revolt in 2015. Morrison is the sixth prime minister of Australia in just over ten years. Turnbull stepped down after receiving a petition from a majority of Liberal lawmakers demanding a ballot to select a new leader. Morrison will lead the conservative party, which is known as the Liberal Party, in a general election expected in the coming months.

Police charge sisters with trafficking in person The 31-year-old woman and her sister who are alleged to have been involved in a human trafficking case in New Zealand have been charged with 17 counts for trafficking in person.

The woman who was arrested at Nasole in Nasinu has also been charged with 11 counts of obtaining property by deception and one count of money laundering.

Her sister has been charged in absentia, also with five counts of obtaining property by deception and one count of money laundering. The duo was the subject of a joint

investigation between the Fiji Police Force and New Zealand Police, and New Zealand Immigration. Police allege the two facilitated the travel of 17 Fijian citizens who were exploited through slavery and became victims of Human Trafficking in Auckland New Zealand between April and August 2014. The 31-year-old will be produced at the Suva Magistrates Court tomorrow whereby an arrest warrant will be filed for her sister who currently resides in Australia.

Jessica Fong is crowned Fiji Hibiscus Queen The 23-year-old Suva beauty (pictured) with maternal links to Tonga was crowned the Queen of the Mother of all Festivals at the final night of the festival at Valelevu in Nasinu.

“I hope these 12 contestants up here have inspire all you young women out there to take a stand, be confident and to always represent

yourselves the best way possible,” Fong said in her maiden speech.

Fong, who represented the Fiji Society for the Blind sponsored

by Autocare, used the festival as a platform to advocate on health and environment.

She will now represent Suva to the Miss Fiji pageant later this year.

Cane producers association suspended The Rarawai Penang Cane Producers Association has been suspended by FloCERT – the Fairtrade certifying organisation that helped farmers earn millions for community development projects through the sale of sugar to Fairtrade markets. RPCPA president Jinend Singh was, however, optimistic the association should be re-certified soon.

“There were a number of non-compliances and that had resulted in the association being suspended,” he said. “However, FloCERT has conducted an audit and we have successfully managed non-compliances and should be

re-certified soon.” Mr Singh said issues left behind by the previous administrator had been rectified. The FloCERT suspension brings to three the number of times the Rarawai Penang Cane Producers Association has been de-certified in the past four years.

Internal bickering within the growers organisation resulted in the association being suspended in 2015 and 2016. Cane producers associations were formed post2006 to allow canefarmers access to funds through the sale of Fairtrade sugar to niche markets in Europe.

New Vatuwaqa bridge opens The Fiji Roads Authority has confirmed the new Vatuwaqa Bridge will be opened next Wednesday.

One lane of the new Vatuwaqa Bridge was temporarily opened this morning as there were some issues with the lights at the bailey bridge.

FRA Chief Executive Officer Jonathan

Moore says one lane of the new bridge was o p e n e d to avoid causing disruptions in traffic.

FRA had previously stated that work on the bridge would be completed by the middle of this year.

Decompression Chamber to be installed in CWM Hospital The Ministry of Health has confirmed that it is in the process of installing and commissioning a new Decompression Chamber at the CWM Hospital by early next year. When responding to questions from Fijivillage, the Ministry said that the Decompression Chamber is expected to cost the Ministry USD $310,000. Minister for Health Rosy Akbar confirms that the replacement and installation of the chamber is well on track. The Ministry says in the meantime, all the severe infection cases are adequately treated medically and surgically at the CWM Hospital.

We had also asked the question about

having Decompression Chambers in the Northern and Western divisions as Fiji has a lot of recreational and commercial diving.

The Ministry says installation of a Decompression Chamber in the Northern and Western Division is secondary for the Ministry at this stage. When asked on how are cases of those that really need the Decompression Chamber treatment are being handled as there is no operational chamber in the country, the Health Ministry says that the cases are addressed medically and surgically and where necessary referrals are also made abroad.

PAKISTAN

Saturday, August 25, 2018 In his first Prime Minister ditches more than 50 luxury vehicles speech to the countries,” nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan urges rich other people to pay taxes and help wean country off said Khan, speaking under a portrait of the foreign loans.

Imran Khan called on Sunday for the rich his hero and Pakistan to start paying taxes and said the country founder Muhammad will begin an austerity drive to reduce debt, Ali Jinnah. “No a campaign he will kickstart by selling Prime country can prosper Minster office’s luxury fleet of bulletproof like this. A country must stand on its own feet.” 65-year-old cars and many servants.

In his first address to the nation as premier, sports legend sworn in as prime minister of Imran Khan set out his vision for a “new the country on Saturday , August 18 after his Pakistan” and spoke at length about the party came into power in last July’s elections.

Imran Khan’s appeal soared in recent years need to reshape the country by introducing a welfare system, reducing poverty and on the back of his anti-corruption drive, slashing high debt levels. “We have formed which has resonated with young voters and a bad habit of living on loans and aid from the expanding middle class in Pakistan.

Temple school in Karachi where Muslim woman teaches Hindu students Inside a Hindu temple in shanty town area in Karachi Anum Agha wearing traditional hijab greets her students with ‘Salam’ (Peace) and gets a loud ‘Jai Shri Ram Ji’ in response.

Anum Agha runs a school inside the temple in the Basti Guru area of metropolitan Karachi.

The school is situated in the middle of an informal Hindu settlement which is facing constant threats from land grabbers.

But teacher Anum Agha is determined to impart knowledge about education, health and basic rights to the children of the minority community. In the settlement, 80 to 90 Hindu families live in a close cluster of wooden huts and some semi-constructed houses. One can see Anum holding discussions with children of the settlement after her classes are over.

PM Imran Khan lifts censorship of state run tv & radio Information Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry says in his tweet that ‘Pakistan Television (PTV) and Radio Pakistan will now enjoy complete editorial independence over the content they produce.’’

Information Minister announced that the Imran Khan-led PTI government has lifted all political censorship in state-run media outlets.

“As per vision of Imran Khan, PTI ended political censorship on PTV. Clear instructions issued for a complete editorial independence

on PTV and Radio Pakistan. Drastic changes will be visible in the Information Department in coming 3 months,” he wrote. As per vision of @ImranKhanPTI Ended political censorship on PTV, clear instructions issued for a complete editorial independence on PTV and Radio Pakistan, drastic changes ll be visible in Information Dept in coming 3 months Inshallah — Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 21, 2018

& hundreds of servants as part of austerity measures Also Khan has inherited a lots of problems at home and abroad, including brewing currency crisis and fraying foreign relations with USA. I will live a simple life, I will save your money. said Imran Khan while addressing to the nation.

Khan did not shed any light on policy plans to deal with the currency woes that analysts expect will force Pakistan to seek another International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. Instead, Khan focused on debt and

said former G ove r nor State Bank of Pakistan, Ishrat Husain would lead a taskforce to eradicate austerity.

Criticising what he called the colonial-era mindset and lavish lifestyles of the ruling elites, Imran Khan announced he would live in a small three-bedroom house next to the prime house instead of the palatial prime minister’s residence. Khan plans to have only two servants instead of 524 reserved for a sitting Prime Minister. He also announced a plans to sell a fleet of luxury vehicles to help financial shortfalls, a bold move in a poverty ridden country. “I want to tell my fellow people, I will live a simple life, I will save your money,” said Khan.

PPP & PML (N) agree to field joint Presidential candidate against Prime Minister’s nominee Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz group agreed to bring forward a joint candidate for forth coming Presidential elections against ruling PTI party’s nominee. Forthcoming Presidential elections to be held on September 4.

A decision was taken after PML-N rejected PPP’s nominee Aitzaz Ahsan, a lawyer from Punjab for presidential candidate, latter announced its decision without consulting other Opposition parties. PML-N has expressed reservations over the nomination of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who had spoken against former disqualified PM Nawaz Sharif

and his family. PPP, also did not vote for PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif in the race for prime minister’s office held on August 18. The PPP’s move also did not go down well with the PML-N, Dawn newspaper reported.

Incumbent President Mamnoon Hussain’s five-year term is due to expire on September 9.

Sources, reported that it was decided that All Parties Conference of entire Opposition would be convened in Murree on August 25 to decide the name of a joint presidential candidate of the Opposition. The report said the PML-N chief and Opposition leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif will host the conference.

Ensure terrorists don’t get haven, US tells Pakistan The US wants Pakistan to ensure that terror groups do not enjoy “safe haven” in the country.

Alice Wells, assistant secretary in charge of South Asia in the US State Department, told reporters, “We are urging the government to do more to bring pressure to bear against these organizations’ externally-oriented terrorist groups.” Wells, who arrives in New Delhi on

Thursday, said Washington wants Pakistan to “reinforce” the message to the Taliban that they should get to the negotiating table. “We’ve encouraged Pakistan to take stronger steps to ensure that the Taliban either come to the negotiating table or are expelled back into Afghanistan rather than enjoy safe haven outside of the country

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NRI

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Sikh man stabbed to death in his store in USA A Sikh man has been stabbed to death at his store in New Jersey,USA. This is the third incident targeting minority Sikh community in the country in three weeks.

Terlok Singh (pictured) found dead by his cousin in the store with an apparent stab wound in his chest.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s office is calling the incident a homicide, according to a report in ABC7NY. The motive behind the killing was not known immediately.

Singh, described as a very kind man, is survived by his wife and children who live in India. He owned the store to support his family. His family closed the store as a deeply-saddened community watched in horror. The news report said Singh ran his store for at least six years and a neighbour said he should not have had to worry about being attacked in his workplace.

Civil rights organisation the Sikh Coalition, in a Facebook post, expressed condolences to Singh’s family, friends and local community.

Simran Jeet Singh, a visiting scholar at New York University’s Centre for Religion and

Media and a Senior Religion Fellow for the Sikh Coalition, tweeted about Singh’s tragic death, saying, “This is the third attack on a Sikh in the last three weeks. So tired of all this sadness.” On August 6 in Manteca, California, 71-year-old Sahib Singh was brutally attacked

by Tyrone McAllister and a juvenile when the elderly man went on a morning walk.

McAllister, who is this son of a local police chief, and the juvenile were charged with attempted robbery, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. On July 31, 50-yearold Surjit Malhi was attacked while putting up campaign signs in support of incumbent Republican Congressman Jeff Denham and other local Republican candidates. While beating Malhi, the attackers yelled ‘Go back to your country!’ and spray-painted the same message, along with hate symbols, on his truck. Following the two incidents, the Sikh Coalition had urged members of the community to know their rights, remain vigilant and report cases of bias, bigotry and backlash in the wake of the attacks.

Outrage after NRI posts image showing Singapore flag ripped apart A Facebook post by a Indian-origin man showing the Singapore flag on a T-shirt being ripped up to reveal the Indian flag underneath has caused outrage in the citystate, a media report said today. The image, which is believed to have first surfaced on August 14, on the eve of Independence Day, was widely shared online when it was posted on the Singapore Indians & Expats page by Avijit Das Patnaik. The page has over 11,000 members, according to a report by Tabla!, a Friday weekly for the Indian community in

Singapore. V The man, who has been living in Singapore for a decade, posted it alongside a caption in Hindi that said, ‘Phir bhi dil hai...’

(Still my heart is...) and alludes to a popular Bollywood song, the report said.

Many netizens have deemed it offensive, saying the image was disrespectful to Singapore as it showed the graphic Singapore flag being ripped by a pair of hands to shreds. The image has since been taken down. Police has confirmed they are looking into the matter, it added.

China declines visa renewal for NRI journalist Chinese government declined to renew visa of a reporter for USA. Megha Rajagopalan (pictured) said in a Tweet on Wednesday that the foreign ministry declined in May to issue her a new journalist visa, after working in China as a journalist for “six wonderful and eye-opening years”.

“China’s Foreign Ministry declined to issue me a new journalist visa. They say this is a process thing, we are not totally clear why,” she wrote in a post.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about Rajagopalan, said the government handled visas for foreign reporters in accordance with its laws and

rules. He did not elaborate. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said in a statement the government’s decision was regrettable.

“We find this extremely regrettable and unacceptable for a government that repeatedly insists it welcomes foreign media to cover the country,” it said.

“We are attempting to get clarity from the Foreign Ministry on its reasoning for effectively ejecting a credentialled foreign journalist from China and will relay any information they provide.”

Resident foreign reporters are generally issued visas that must be renewed every year.

The government has occasionally in the past declined to renew or grant new visas for foreign reporters whose stories it has not liked.

NRI convicted of sexually assaulting sleepping woman on flight A man accused of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman during flight has been convicted and is facing life in prison, according to a report from the US Department of Justice.

The incident occurred in January on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Detroit, according to the report.

Prabhu Ramamoorthy was found guilty of sexual abuse on an aircraft after digitally penetrating a 22-year-old woman who was sitting in a window seat next to him during the flight, according to the report. The jury took 3 1/2 hours before coming to the guilty verdict. His wife was apparently on the other side of him, according to NPR. The victim told investigators that she woke up and her pants were unzipped and unbuttoned and Ramamoorthy’s hand was inside of her pants so she went to the back of the plane to tell a flight attendant, according to the criminal complaint.

After the Spirit Airlines plane landed in Michigan, the man was arrested.

Ramamoorthy and his wife initially produced written testimony saying he was unaware of his surroundings due to a sleeping pill he took, but later testimony revealed he’d taken Tylenol, according to media. He was charged with aggravated sexual abuse, according to The Washington Post. Amanda Jawad, the federal prosecutor, persuaded the judge to keep Ramamoorthy in custody until the trial, arguing he was a danger to others.“What makes this offense particularly egregious and the defendant even more of a danger to the community is the fact that it took place on an airplane. He was brazen enough to do this basically in public, next to his wife where anyone could have seen him,” Jawad said. , according to the Washington Post.

Ramamoorthy is an Indian national and is in the US on a work visa. He could be sentenced to life in jail at his sentencing on December 12 later this year. If he gets out early, he’ll be deported to India.

NRI surgeon finds contact lens stuck in eye for 28 years in UK An Indian-origin surgeon and his colleagues have found a contact lens lodged in a woman’s eye for 28 years.

Dr Sirjhun Patel and his eye specialist colleagues, Lai-Ling Tan and Helen Murgatroyd, recounted the discovery in the ‘British Medical Journal’ (BMJ) this week, explaining how the 42-year-old patient had presumed the lens had fallen out but had instead moved behind her eye without causing any obvious symptoms for many years.

It was discovered by Patel and his team in Dundee, Scotland, after she complained of swelling recently.

“The patient assumed the lens fell out and was lost; however, it can be inferred that the lens migrated into the eyelid and resided there,” Patel writes in the journal.

“During surgery, an encapsulated cyst was found. On removal, the cyst ruptured and a hard contact lens was extracted,” he said.

It emerged that the patient had been hit in the face by a shuttlecock during a game of badminton as a teenager, when she presumed the lens in her left eye had fallen out.

Patel and his fellow surgeons write: “On further questioning, the patient’s mother

recalled that the patient had a history of blunt trauma to the upper left eyelid as a child.

“The patient was hit in the left eye with a shuttlecock while playing badminton at the age of 14. The patient was wearing an RGP (Rigid Gas Permeable) contact lens at the time, which was never found.

“It was assumed that the contact lens dislodged out of the eye and was lost.”

Experts from Ninewells hospital, carried out an MRI scan after the woman was referred to the Department of Ophthalmology by her general practitioner (GP). She presented with left upper eyelid swelling and ptosis, or a droopy eyelid. Images revealed an ovoidshaped cyst about 8mm long but there was no evidence of anything inside it. When surgeons removed the lump, the cyst ruptured revealing the lens.

The ‘BMJ’ paper explains the woman, whose identity is being withheld, suffered swelling to her eye after the incident but that inflammation was successfully treated by her GP. The patient had never worn RGP lenses again following the accident.

The researchers said: “We can infer that the RGP lens migrated into the patient’s left upper eyelid at the time of trauma and had been in situ for the last 28 years.

31

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Neha Dhupia announces her pragnancy After months of speculations and denying the news of her pregnancy, actress Neha Dhupia has finally announced her pregnancy through an adorable photoshoot with husband Angad Bedi.

In the photos, both Neha and Angad look extremely excited as they pose together.

S e e m i n g l y, the actress is in her third trimester stage of pregnancy.

Taking to Instagram, Neha Dhupia wrote, “Here’s to new beginnings ... #3ofUs .... #satnamwaheguru [sic].”

Talking about Neha’s pregnancy two months ago, when Angad was

asked about it, he refuted the news saying that there was no truth to it and that when it happens, they will tell the world. Off late, Neha was mostly spotted wearing ill-fitting clothes, which let everyone speculate more.

In the same manner, the couple surprised their followers about their marriage, the actress took to her Instagram account to confirm the news. The newlywed couple were married in an Anand Karaj ceremony attended by close family and friends in a Gurudwara in South Delhi. She shared a photo of hers with Angad from the wedding ‘mandap’ and had written, “Best decision of my life.. today, I married my best friend.

Hello there, husband! @angadbedi (sic).”

Salman, Akshay top 10 highest paid actors A k s h a y Kumar has emerged as the seventh highestpaid actor in the world by earning USD 40.5 million in 2018, according to Forbes magazine.

The Gold actor is closely followed by his contemporar y Salman Khan in the ninth place, raking in USD 38.5 million. Kumar and Khan are the only two Bollywood actors to make it to the top 10 highest-paid actors list, compiled by the publication.

Kumar, who came in 10th last year, upped his game by USD 3 million.

Khan stayed at his ninth rank, but with an increase of USD 1.5 million this year. Shah Rukh Khan, who was at the eighth spot on the 2017 list,

did not find a place in 2018.

The list has been topped

by Hollywood star George C lo one y, who scored a careerhigh pre-tax paycheque of USD 239 million between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018. Clooney was followed by Dwayne Johnson, who banked USD 124 million pretax to rank. Avengers: Infinity War star Robert Downey Jr, earned USD 81 million to book the third place. His costar, Chris Hemsworth came in at number four with USD 64.5 million earnings.

The combined earnings of world’s 10 highest-paid actors come at a total USD 748.5 million between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018, before fees and taxes - USD.

2

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Sunny’s life choices for you to analyse Day after release of trailer of her biopic, Leone says two-part series will justify what motivated her decisions

Khan and Khurana in Karwaan; (below) Screwvala, Salmaan, Palkar

‘Irrfan’s improvisations on set left us in splits’

MOHAR BASU mohar.basu@mid-day.com WHETHER or not one might harbour an interest in her life, an over two-minute long trailer of Sunny Leone’s upcoming biopic has turned out to be riveting enough to pique the curiosity of a diverse group of cinephiles. And even though biographies that are endorsed by the protagonist are inclined to portray them in favourable light, Leone hopes Karenjit Kaur: The Untold Story Of Sunny Leone will help shed light

Revealing that he has been in touch with the ailing actor, Karwaan director Akarsh recounts working with him on his upcoming comedy SONIA LULLA sonia.lulla@mid-day.com EVEN as cinephiles continue to pray for actor Irrfan Khan’s speedy recovery, another of his films is set to hit screens next month. Karwaan will be the second movie starring Khan to release after he announced that he had been diagnosed with a ‘rare condition’. Director Akarsh Khurana says he has been “sporadically” in touch with Khan, even as producer Ronnie Screwvala is “speaking to him regularly, and updating us.”

As he continues to heal on foreign turf, Khan is keeping a watch on his ventures in India. “[He had seen] the first cut [of the film] before he took ill, and the final cut, recently. He spoke with me after that, and seems pleased with the way it has shaped up,” says the actordirector, adding that any scope of participation in the film’s promotions will depend on Khan’s health. “His recovery is of utmost importance.”

For the debutant director, working with Khan implied that he, and the unit, were rendered “mostly in awe” of his work. “[During] the first couple of days [of working together], we were a bit intimidated. [But] he put us all at ease, and was extremely comfortable to work with. He enjoyed being [on location] in Kerala, and was quite taken by

it. As for his role, he had done thorough homework, and built a persona, with a dialect, for Shaukat. He had loved [the] dialogues from the first narration itself, so, he was happy to be spouting the lines. His occasional improvisations had us in splits,” says the director, quick to add the there were no signs of illness when they were on set. “In fact, he was in very good shape. Hence, our shock was even more compounded [when we heard of his illness].”

His road trip comedy marks the Bollywood debut of South superstar Dulquer Salmaan, apart from also featuring web sensation Mithila Palkar. Khurana understands that the camaraderie between the three lead actors plays a crucial role in defining the film’s success.

Interestingly, he didn’t conduct any particular workshop to enable them to build the equation. “Dulquer, Irrfan, and Mithila met on the sets for the first time. We shot more or less chronologically, so their relationship formed as it was supposed to evolve in the film.”

‘Irrfan was in very good shape while working on the film. Hence, our shock was even more compounded when we heard of his illness’

‘We highlight what motivated my choices. I hope we break the perception of who I am, and understand the person I am’

on the controversial choices she made.

“This is a story about a family, the struggles of its members, and my struggle to pick a path that, I felt, was right at that moment,” she says, of her decision to make a career as an adult movie star. “We highlight what motivated my choices. I hope we break the perception of who I am, and understand the person that I really am,” she says, revealing that the two-season show will highlight her career in Bollywood in the second edition.

“The story starts prior to my birth, and highlights the events that transpired till I came to India as Sunny Leone.

The prerogative was to create something interesting for the viewer.”

As is evident in the trailer, Leone reveals that a fair chunk will chronicle her equation with her brother, mother and father.

Rysa Saujani, 14, plays the younger version of Leone in the web show, which will release on July 16.

Director considers making Kapil’s biopic, suggests Krushna as lead Riteish caves in, apologises RITEISH DESHMUKH left followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj upset by posting a photograph of himself in front of the Maratha warrior’s statue at the Raigad Fort on Friday.

He later apologised for hurting people’s sentiments.

The actor apologised with a note in Marathi, and said that like other “Shiv bhakts”, he too was in awe of the atmosphere at the fort.

Agencies

VINOD Tiwari, who will make his debut as a director with the forthcoming film Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle, is keen on making a biopic on actorcomedian Kapil Sharma after watching Sanju, based on the life of actor Sanjay Dutt.

He said in a statement, “After watching Sanju, I am inspired to make a biopic and I feel [a] biopic on Kapil Sharma will be worth it.

It’s a story that needs to be out. In 2010, we wanted to make a film with Kapil ji, but pro-

ducers Surendra Puri and Nostrum couldn’t do it then. Now, they are also keen on a biopic.”

While Tiwari would want the man to play himself on screen, he has an alternate name in mind, should the comedian disagree. “I feel, Krushna Abhishek will be perfect for the role as they are known for their comic timing.

He will do justice to Kapil ji’s character.” Having been pitted against each other since the onset of their careers in the industry, Abhishek and Sharma have shared a rather strained relationship.

Sharma has been in the news for controversies surrounding his professional life.

In April, he drew bad press when an audio call, in which he is heard hurling abuses at a journalist, surfaced.

Bollywood

Saturday, August 25, 2018

3

Ninth Annual BC Culture Days to launch in Nelson on September 19 Ninth Annual BC Culture Days to launch in Nelson on Wednesday, September 19 For nine years, BC Culture Days has showcased community-driven arts and cultural engagement in British Columbia as part of the national Culture Days across Canada.

The BC Culture Days will start on Wednesday, September 19, from 4pm to 6pm, beginning at Hall Street Plaza and ending at City Hall courtyard with speeches by local and provincial dignitaries and performances by groups including but not limited to, the Rythem Roppers, In the Sticks, the Community Band, Orkastar, John Galm, Front Street Dance, Dance Umbrella, & Dance Fusion. Presented

by Nelson & District Arts Council, The Civic Theatre and Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism.

4PM Live performances by In the Sticks, Blayne the Juggler, John Galm (steel pan drums), Rhythm Ropers, and Moving Mosaic Band 4:40PM Participant and performers’

Aug

16

Satyameva Jayate

*ing: JohN Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee, Aisha Sharma

Aug

10

Vishwaroopam II

*ing: Kamal Haasan Rahul Bose, Pooja Kumar

parade from Hall Street Plaza to City Hall courtyard, including a flashmob composed of amateur and professional dancers 5PM Mayor Kozac and proclamations 5:40PM Dance party at City Hall courtyard IN BRIEF: BC Culture Days 2018 Launch When: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 Where: Hall Street Plaza and City Hall courtyard in NELSON, BC What Time: 4pm to 6pm Also BC Culture Days will take place from September 28-30 across British Columbia as part of the national Culture Days. A searchable list of hundreds of free events in Nelson, the Kootenays, as well as across BC is now available online at bc.culturedays.ca.

The list is updated regularly to reflect new additions. Updates and highlighted events can also be found via Social Media: ABOUT CULTURE DAYS

A grassroots, registered charitable organization and national celebration of arts, culture and heritage, Culture Days has allowed millions of Canadians to take part in tens of

New Released Bollywood Films Aug

03

MULK

*ing: Rishi, Raj & Prateik Babbar

July

thousands of free activities and performances, sharing inspiration, artistry, creativity and expression reflective of the Canadian mosaic in every province and territory across the country.

27

NAWABZAADE

*ing: Dharmesh Yelande, Raghav Juyal

July

27

SAHEB BIWI AUR GANGSTER 3

*ing: Sanjay Dutt, Mahie Gill

4

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Bollywood

Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se sings ‘Rafta Rafta’

HOROSCOPE Aries

March 21 - April 20 You might be ready to knuckle down and get to work this week as the sun eases into Virgo and your lifestyle and wellness zone. After a more relaxed and playful approach to life, you might want to get the results you’ve been dreaming of for some time, and this can only be done by getting on with the job. This can also be a good opportunity to tweak your wellness routines and get back on track, especially if you’ve fallen by the wayside lately.

Taurus

April 21 - May 20 The coming four weeks mark the start of a dynamic time when much can be accomplished. As the sun enters your sector of creativity, romance, and self-expression, this is your chance to be noticed. The sun moves into stylish Virgo, so dressing with a little more thought for your image can help you get noticed, too.

Whether you want someone to recognize your skills or fall in love with you, this can help. In addition, allowing yourself to enjoy new experiences can broaden your horizons

Gemini

May 20 - June 21 Your home and family sector comes into its own from midweek as the radiant sun moves in for a four-week visit. Its presence here can bring domestic matters to your attention, as well as issues with family and relatives.

However, this can also be a chance to step back and take a respite when you can. Eat good food, get some sleep, and generally look after yourself.

Cancer

June 22 - July 23

Communication becomes more important from midweek and over the coming four weeks as the sun eases into your sector

handling administrative tasks, catching up on paperwork, and perhaps doing more errands than usual. At the same time, this can be a great time for networking, studying, or teaching a subject that you’re experienced in. Opportunities could come your way that enable you to make progress with your plans.

Leo

June 24 - August 23 The movement of the sun, your guide planet, into your personal money zone midweek could

making your money work harder for you. This can be a good time to go over your accounts

Cutting back on items you don’t really need could leave you much more to spend on more exciting things.

Libra

Sept. 24 - Oct 22 As the sun swings into a more secluded sector of your chart, the coming four weeks are a time of rest and recuperation for you.

You’ll still be busy, but making time for yourself can be so important. The cosmos is urging you to relax and recharge. This can be a great opportunity to release certain situations, deep-seated emotions, and perhaps relationships that no longer serve you.

Scorpio

Oct 23 - Nov 22 Your social life looks set to sparkle over the coming four weeks as the illuminating sun moves into this sector midweek. After a busy time attending to goals, ambitions, and responsibilities, the cosmos is now encouraging you to get out and mingle. If you’re looking for romance, this can be a great time to start. And you might want to take stock of your present friends and groups you belong to and consider how you can improve on what you have.

Sagitarius Nov 23 - Dec 22

If you want to be in the limelight, the coming four weeks could be your chance as the glowing sun moves into conscientious Virgo and a more ambitious sector of your chart. This is the time to embrace bigger responsibilities and put your energy behind your main goals and ambitions. It’s also a chance to showcase your skills and abilities and impress people in all the right places.

Capricorn Dec 23 - Jan 20

After an intense few weeks, the movement of the sun into your sector of travel and adventure can leave you feeling much more upbeat. And while chatty Mercury continues in your sector of emotional bonds, business, and shared

in your sector of far horizons is your chance to seek new opportunities that excite you and give you something to look forward to.

Aquarius

Jan 21 - Feb 19 The coming four weeks could take you into deeper emotional waters, but this might not be such a bad thing. As the sun moves into Virgo and a more intense sector of your chart, this can be a good time to purge those deep-seated feelings and experiences that may have been holding you back for too long.

You might not be able to do this overnight, but perhaps connecting with a life coach, counselor, or therapist during this time can start you on a very rewarding journey.

Pisces Virgo The glowing sun moves into your sign midweek for a four-week stay, so you’ll likely be in your element. And you might feel an urgency to do something about the many dreams and ideas that have bubbled up from your creative well in recent weeks. This is a great time to put energy into projects that have deep personal meaning for you. Some of these ideas could be linked to your creative abilities or a desire to travel.

At the same time, your sector of creativity seems very active.

Feb 20 - March 20 Your interactions could increase as the sun moves into your sector of relating for a fourweek stay. You might be more inclined to work as part of a team rather than strike out on your own during this time. If you do, you’ll likely accomplish much more. Your focus might be on maintaining positive connections, and you could be more willing to compromise rather than stick with your own perspective. Your love

Ever since the trailer of Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se dropped, movie buffs were excited to listen to the Rafta Rafta Medley from the movie. Now that the more than five-minute long video is out, we wish it was easy Salman & Dharmendra share a moment in the song ‘Rafta Rafta’ on the eyes as it from Y’amla Pagla Deewana Phir Se’ was on the ears.

Teesri Manzil. to enjoy this rendition by Vishal Mishra.

The ever so graceful Rekha joins the rendition on So, if you wish to enjoy this recreated mix her chartbuster “Salaam-E-Ishq� but we of iconic chartbusters, I would recommend miss her effervescent charm this time. playing the audio and give the video a miss.

Comic caper Yamla Pagla Deewana We get star struck as Dharmendra, Rekha, Sunny Deol, Salman, Bobby Deol Phir Se starring the Deols -Dharmendra, and Sonakshi come in the same frame on Sunny and Bobby and Kriti Kharbanda is “Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana�. With scheduled to hit the screens on August 31. so much chaos on screen, it gets difficult

I want to keep pushing myself with every role What attracts her about such roles? “I want Alia Bhatt, who is currently making news not just for her Bollywood projects to keep pushing myself with every role that I but also for her link-up rumours with actor play. To strike a balance between commercial Ranbir Kapoor, says coming from a family and brave films has always been a priority. I of popular names, she has seen media make it a point to not let pressure influence attention right from childhood — and my choice of roles. An inhibition is always such attention doesn’t affect her anymore. present in every actor’s mind when they take “I grew up in a family of popular talent who have always been in the news.

I’ve seen recognition and media attention right from childhood. With time, I’ve pretty much got used to it and now it doesn’t really affect me as much. My only focus is to embody characters that can have a strong, positive impact on the When Alia shares a moment with Kareena Kapoor audience,� Alia told IANS. The 25-year-old, who made her Bollywood debut with Karan up a challenging role, but the focus is always Johar’s Student of The Year, has proved to give it our best shot and that is what we her versatility in Bollywood with films always strive for,� said Alia, who has also like Raazi, Highway, Udta Punjab done films like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, and Dear Zindagi — films in which Kapoor & Sons and Badrinath Ki Dulhania.

Her kitty is currently full with films like she was seen in the most challenging, sometimes deglamourised avatars. Brahmastra opposite Ranbir, multi-starrer Kalank and Ranveer Singh-starrer Gully Boys.

Priyanka & Janhvi Kapoor eating outing in Bandra Priyanka Chopra was spotted with friends for a dinner outing at a famous restaurant in Bandra,

Mumbai. PC kept it casual in a white tee, shrug and denims.

Bollywood Stars’ Birthdays

NEHA DUPIA AUGUST 27

VIJAYAKANTH AUGUST 25

PREETI JHANGIANI AUGUST 18

KAJOL AUGUST 5

5

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Is Salman ‘Ma Ki Aankhon Ka Tara’

Salman Khan is in Malta for the shoot of Ali Abbas Zafar directorial Bharat. Going by all the updates coming in from the foreign land, it seems the 52-year-old actor is making the most out of his work trip. Apart from the film’s crew, the actor is accompanied by his family including his mother Salma Khan.

On Friday, Salman’s brother-in-law and Bharat’s producer Atul Agnihotri shared a candid click of the actor while he was engrossed in a conversation with his mother. The caption of the photo read, “Ma Ma ki aankhon ka tara @

Salman Khan’ beingsalmankhan @bharat_thefilm.” Later, Salman too posted a photo of himself where he is seen enjoying a bath in the waters of Malta. Keeping the caption simple, he only wrote, “#Paani” along with the photo.

Earlier, the Bhaijaan of Bollywood shared videos with mother Salma as he went strolling in the picturesque locales of Malta. The caption of one his videos read, “Yeh bandhan toh .. pyaar ka bandhan hai #Bharat.” He also turned photographer for co-actor Sunil Grover.

604-566-3111

7233 - Fraser St., Vancouver, BC

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Doug McCallum welcomes Dr. Allison Patton to Safe Surrey Coalition D o u g Mc C a l l u m is proud to welcome Dr. Allison P a t t o n (pictured) to the Safe S u r r e y Coalition.

“Dr Allison P a t t o n is a very

accomplished individual who will make a genuine difference for the people of Surrey.

I’m looking forward to working with her.

Dr. Patton will bring a valuable perspective to the discussions at the council table.

She is already role model for the youth in Surrey and her influence will continue to grow in her role as councilor” commented Doug McCallum.

Dr. Allison Patton on why she’s running for council. “As a community physician for over 17 years, I see the symptoms my patients suffer with and I understand what the root causes are. I’m running for council so I can address these root causes and help the citizens of Surrey can live better, longer lives. I have a unique perspective that should be part of smart development guidelines. In 2010, I completed my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Leadership from Royal Roads University. Upon graduation I was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal for the most outstanding thesis in the University. My father was an educator and my mother was a nurse; I grew up in an environment where helping people was the norm. Over the years I’ve taken the

time to listen to and understand thousands of patients. I’ve learned a lot and I’d like to bring a powerful voice to Surrey council promoting a healthy community for all.

This became possible when Doug McCallum offered his experience and expertise to lead the Safe Surrey Coalition in 2018. With the guidance and leadership of Doug, we will take the high road and leave a legacy of healthier communities in Surrey that future generations can be proud of.”

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Vol. 9 No. 30

Saturday - August 25, 2018

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E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

Fewer buyers, more choice push home sales to lowest ?

Home sales across Metro Vancouver tumbled to their lowest level in 18 years recently in statistics compiled by the real estate board, but prices remained steady since last month. The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board says 2,070 properties changed hands in July, a 30 per cent plunge when compared with July of last year and about 29 per cent below the 10-year sales average for the month.

The number of condos, townhomes and detached houses listed for sale were up 32 per cent year-over-year, and 1.6 per cent since June.

The real estate board says the benchmark price for all residential properties was just under $1.1 million, a 6.7 per cent hike over July 2017 but a slip of 0.6 per cent since June.

Board president Phil Moore says the number of sales to active listings across Metro Vancouver last month was pegged at almost 10 per cent for detached homes, 20 per cent for townhomes and about 27 per cent for condos.

Analysts expect downward pressure on prices when the ratio dips below 12 per cent, while property prices tend to climb when it is over 20 per cent.

Moore said thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s less upward pressure on home prices across the region. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is most pronounced in the detached home market, but demand in the townhome and apartment markets is also relenting from the more frenetic pace experienced over the last few years,â&#x20AC;? Moore said.

Real estate board data shows July sales of single detached homes plunged nearly 33 per cent compared with July of last year, while the almost $1.6 million benchmark price slipped 1.5 per cent over the same period and is down 0.6 per cent since June.

Sales of condos decreased 26.5 per cent year-over-year while sales of townhomes fell by almost 35 per cent, but both property types have seen price hikes above 12 per cent since last July.

The benchmark price is $700,500, for a condo and $856,000 for a townhome, but the board says prices for condos and townhomes have slipped about 0.5 per cent since June.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;With increased mortgage rates and stricter lending requirements, buyers and sellers are opting to take a wait-and-see approach for the time being,â&#x20AC;? Moore said.

Metro Vancouver housing sales projected to fall by 26% this year Changes to mortgage policies are anticipated to be one of the leading contributors to the deflation of Metro Vancouverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s housing sale volumes, according to a new market update by the BC Real Estate Association.

It is expected sales within the Vancouver region will fall by -25.7% in 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from about 36,600 units last year to 27,200 units this year. But there will be an upswing recovery of -13% to 30,800 units in 2019.

The average MLS price in 2018 will change by +1.9% to $1.05 million, an increase from $1.03 million last year. The rate of price growth will accelerate in 2019, increasing by +3.3% to $1.085 million.

Similar conditions are being forecast for the Fraser Valley, with sales falling by -26.3% this year to 15,800 and then rebounding

slightly by -13.9% next year to 18,000. But the average price will rise more steeply in the Fraser Valley: $755,000 (+7.6%) in 2018 and $792,000 (+4.9%) in 2019.

The report states the B20 stress test on conventional mortgages and higher mortgage interest rates are reducing affordability and purchasing power. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The impact of stringent mortgage qualification rules on conventional mortgage borrowers introduced this year has severely eroded affordability and the purchasing power of many potential home buyers,â&#x20AC;? reads the report. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The resulting shock to housing demand is expected to temper home sales through the rest of the year.â&#x20AC;?

There is strong ownership interest from the large population of millennials who are now entering their household-forming years, coupled with low unemployment leading to a significant upward swing on incomes, thereby heightening consumer confidence.

Active listings in BC were up by almost 20% in July, and within the strained Vancouver market the number of active listings has gone up by 30% over the past year.

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

BC real estate market and affordability

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s is searly to say if it will allow more people to enter the local housing market, but a new public registry identifying property owners has support from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Board President Phil Moore, who represents more than 14,000 realtors and brokers, says itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s difficult to predict how this will impact sales, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no reason for investors to hide behind numbered companies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Any time that the government places in measures that make people accountable to pay the taxes that are due, when 99 per cent of the citizens are paying their taxes, we certainly endorse those changes.â&#x20AC;? Moore adds the

board spent two years consulting with the provincial government on this and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not clear if proposed changes will make prices come down. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really going to be difficult to understand if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to really create more affordable housing. It really depends on how the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

going to structure this.

We really support the government collecting the tax that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re owed.â&#x20AC;? Moore, who has been a realtor since 1989, is expecting the registry to make property transfers more transparent and help the provincial government crackdown on money laundering. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one step in the right direction and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proactive, instead of

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reactive. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve also seen it implemented with pre-sales on new construction and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a positive measure as well.â&#x20AC;? He feels investors started hiding behind numbered companies about two years ago when the 15 per cent foreign buyersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tax was introduced to keep speculators from leaving homes vacant, so this legislation also gives the province more accurate information to better analyze the market. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Better measures to know who really owns the house when the house transfers to another partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be more of an accountability of a paper trail.â&#x20AC;?

The governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collecting feedback on draft legislation until August 19.

10

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

NOW HIRING

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Community news South Asian Seniors - Antakshari Hindi Songs Competition August 26th 2018 (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 August 26th 2018 (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.

11

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