The Asian Star December 2 2017

Vol 16 - Issue 44

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Former Surrey Sikh temple president pleads guilty to manslaughter

Narinder Kaur Kalsi

Baldev Singh Kalsi

The former leader of a Sikh temple in Surrey has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife.\ Baldev Singh Kalsi appeared in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster on Monday afternoon dressed in a beige coat. The only words he spoke came after the clerk asked him to enter a plea. “Yes, your honour. I am guilty,” he said as he looked up at the judge. Baldev Singh Kalsi, former president of the Brookside Sikh Temple was originally charged with aggravated assault in July of 2014. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for February 22, 2018 His wife, Narinder Kaur Kalsi, was found in severe medical distress at the couple’s south Surrey home. Narinder Kalsi was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died days later after she was taken off life support. The charge against Baldev Kalsi was upgraded to second degree murder after Narinder’s death.

Vancouver may ban foreign home buyers as Federal & Provincial leaders refuse to act

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he city of Vancouver is considering restricting ownership of housing to local residents, among other strategies, as it looks to cool a hot real estate market that it says is fuelled by foreign and local speculation. A foreign buyer ban is just one of numerous supply and demand measures outlined in Vancouver’s new 10-year housing strategy, which was announced late last week and presented to city council on Tuesday. Even if passed, as expected, many of the measures being considered will need the support of

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federal and provincial governments, particularly those around taxation.

“There is a perfect storm in Vancouver,” Gil Kelley, Vancouver’s General Manager of Planning, told council on Tuesday, pointing to the “excessive supply of global capital” flowing into the city, along with builders targeting investors, low interest rates, and favourable tax policies. Vancouver, long Canada’s most expensive housing market, has already made numerous Continued on page 7

University of the Fraser Valley wrestling team pins hopes on India trip

ix studentand plenty of time on the wrestling athletes from the University of the mat. “We had this vision when we first Fraser Valley’s wrestling started this program team are set to embark on the trip of a lifetime, five years ago,” said Virdi, who wrestled turning the dream that at Simon Fraser inspired coaches Raj Virdi and Arjan Bhullar University before a seven-year stint with to launch the program Arjan Bhullar of Richmond, seen in action the Canadian team. into reality. This week the group has head out on a 10-day trip to “We knew UFV had a satellite campus in the school’s campus in Chandigarh, India, India and (Arjan) thought UFV would be for a one-of-a-kind exchange experience a great opportunity to start something like that will include sightseeing, charity work this. He and I being such good friends — Continued on page 6

Modi tells Ivanka Trump ‘women continue to lead in India’

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vanka Trump, daughter and adviser to US President Donald Trump attended the the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad co-hosted by India and the US. For the first time, the GES is being held in South Asia. The three-day summit, from November 28-30, was held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) and Hyderabad International Trade Expositions (Hitex). Ms Trump led a delegation of senior White House officials as well as American entrepreneurs. The

PM Modi welcomes Ivanka Trump

theme of this year’s summit was ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’ and included 1,200 young entrepreneurs, and most of them are women. While Ms Trump has been to India before, this was her first visit as a senior White House adviser. She was invited for the summit earlier this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the US. In her speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Continued on page 6

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OPINION

Saturday, December 2, 2017 ‘Just spend more’ is not sound fiscal policy

The federal govt is digging a perilously deep debt hole

By By Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis, The Fraser Institute As we pass the midway mark in the federal government’s mandate, it’s clear that the only guiding principle for fiscal policy is ‘just spend more.’ Spending more, regardless of economic conditions, is not sound policy. It seriously risks the country’s finances and is all too reminiscent of the 1960s and ‘70s, which took Canada almost three decades to recover from. There are generally two approaches to government finances.

The first is rooted in Keynesian economics, named after one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, John Maynard Keynes. The basic idea is to manage the demand side of the economy to smooth out economic fluctuations. In bad times, the government stimulates demand, particularly by consumers, by spending more, lowering tax rates and/or lowering interest rates, and thus (at least theoretically) improves the economy.

Conversely, in good times the government reduces spending, increases tax rates, and/or

increases interest rates to temper the economy so it doesn’t overheat.

The other approach, often called supplyside economics, argues that government lacks the information and incentives to manage the economy along Keynesian lines. This approach focuses on improving incentives in the economy for savings, investment, entrepreneurship, business development and work effort. The underlying idea is to get the rules of the game and incentives right so individuals, families, entrepreneurs and businesses make better, more productive decisions, which leads to a stronger economy. The reality of politics is that neither approach is ever implemented or maintained in its pure form. Government policy tends to ebb and flow between these two sets of policies.

For instance, the Liberal government led by Jean Chretien tended more towards improving incentives and the rules of the game by balancing budgets, reducing tax rates and reforming government spending.

The Conservative government led by Stephen Harper had a more mixed record, favouring Keynesian-type policies during the 2009 recession

and its immediate aftermath while promoting better rules of the game outside this period.

Neither of these approaches seems to be operative in the current federal government.

Instead, there seems to be a drive to simply spend more money. If the economy is weak, Ottawa should spend money. If the economy is strong, Ottawa should spend money. That’s not a guiding principle for fiscal policy - it’s a path to fiscal calamity. The Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office in late 2015 and immediately boosted spending by roughly $7.7 billion from the budget plan of the previous government. Less than six months later, in its first full budget (2016), the government proposed to increase spending by $66.3 billion over the fouryear period (2016-17 to 2019-20) compared to the 2015 budget. A year later, in its 2017 budget, the government proposed to increase spending by another $10.9 billion over this same four-year period.

Per-person spending (adjusted for inflation) is now at the second highest level in Canadian history, behind only Harper’s spending in 2009 in the depth of a global recession.

Perhaps more telling is the economic update released in October, which introduced more new spending of $17.5 billion between 2017-18 and 2022-23 despite the government’s pronouncement that the economy was improving.

Remember, these spending increases and ensuing deficits are occurring outside a recession.

Any economic slowdown, or perhaps even a recession, will place the government’s finances into deeper deficits. That would likely take a decade or more to work out of, meaning the country will accumulate substantial additional debts, further burdening future generations.

As Canadians take stock of the Liberals’ two years in office, consider the lack of a functioning guiding fiscal principle - other than what appears to be a proclivity for evermore spending. And that just puts federal finances in serious peril.

Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis are economists with the Fraser Institute.

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LOCAL

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Ivanka Trump in India

From page 1 ummit, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India appreciated the efforts of the US to promote entrepreneurship globally. She said she had no doubts that on PM Modi’s and President Trump’s leadership, entrepreneurship would reach new heights.

“Indian women continue to lead in different walks of life,” PM Modi said at GES 2017.

He mentioned that the government scheme, Startup India, “is a comprehensive action plan to provide support to startups. More than 70 million loans have been transferred to women entrepreneurs.” The theme, ‘Women First, Prosperity For All’ makes this edition of GES stand out. In Indian mythology, women are an incarnation of Shakti- the Goddess of power.

We believe women empowerment is vital to our development: PM Ivanka Trump, a woman

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entrepreneur herself, said she was excited to see so many women entrepreneurs under one roof. “I am proud to see that for the first time a majority of 1500 women entrepreneurs are participating in such an event.” “Only when women are empowered to thrive; will our families, our economies, and our societies reach their fullest potential,” Ms Trump asserted. “After my father’s election, I saw the opportunity to leave my businesses to serve my country. Our policies aimed at helping women and removing barriers for them.”

“Today, more than 11 million women in the US own businesses Many woman become entrepreneurs out of necessity. Fueling the growth of women-ledbusiness is not only good for the society but also the economy.”

University of the Fraser Valley wrestling team pins hopes on India trip

From page 1

in India and (Arjan) thought UFV would be a great opportunity to start something like this. He and I being such good friends — we wrestled together for a very long time — he asked me if I wanted to do something like this and I jumped on-board right away.” “It wasn’t, ‘Let’s get a program going,’ and it grew into this, it was, ‘We want to get to India, so let’s start a program,’ ” laughed Bhullar, who has transitioned into mixed martial arts and now competes in the UFC following his career on the mat. “We kind of worked backwards, so it’s great to finally be at that point now.”

Exchanges and trips abroad are nothing new for colleges and universities, but according to UFV athletic director Steve Tuckwood, this a unique opportunity few other institutions can

provide and one believes will help the young, but successful, program continue to attract top recruits in years to come. “Many universities have been doing exchanges for lots of years in athletics, but not in wrestling,” said Tuckwood.

“I think it is a unique situation for us because we do offer wrestling, we have a campus in Chandigarh, we have a strong South Asian community in the Fraser Valley. “It helps us to level the playing field with the big-budget schools,” added Tuckwood, who likened the Abbotsford institution with an enrolment of just over 15,000 students to the Moneyball-era Oakland Athletics when it comes to recruiting.

“If you look at the programs that are able to recruit, they either have to find big money or a niche, and I think the international piece and that we are a unique program in British Columbia are two things that bode really well for wrestling.” Bhullar agrees with his athletic director, but also sees the trip to Chandigarh as a chance to give the six athletes making the journey to India a little taste of what it’s like to represent your country and community abroad.

“This is something no institution in Canada can offer,” said the former Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist. “No other institution has a campus in India, in a country where wrestling is so big. It is a huge benefit that we have not overlooked, and we are going to leverage this as much as we can in terms of recruiting. “We selected our top kids with potential to have success not just at the university level, but at the national level — to represent their country beyond university,” he said of the group of eight initially tabbed to make the trip, which has since been reduced to six. “We wanted them to get a taste of what it’s like to be a full-time athlete and to potentially represent your country by travelling internationally.” One of the athletes making the trip is 18-year-old freshman Jacob Torres from Brampton, Ont., who not only sees this as a tremendous team-bonding opportunity, but also a chance to see the Cascades’ wrestling team achieve greater success at home when the second half of their season gets underway after the Christmas break. “I think everybody is excited,” said Torres, one of four members of the team who hail from outside B.C. “This trip, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together — 10 days, night and day — it’s going to be a real, big, team-bonding experience.

“It’s good to get-away from school a little bit and just focus on wrestling, so I think we’re going to have a big head start on the competition going into U Sports and CanWest,” he added. “When we go there, we’re going to be training twice a day for three hours a day, while most schools here are only getting two, maybe one, maximum three, so we’re going to have a big jump on them. “We’re going to come back in shape; ready to go and kick some ass.” They will also come back with memories that will last a lifetime and maybe even a little place in the school’s history books as the first

Continued on next page

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Vancouver may ban foreign home buyers as Federal & Provincial leaders refuse to act From page 1 market, has already made numerous moves to try to curb the crisis, including imposing an empty home tax and restricting short-term rentals.

Home prices on Vancouver’s upscale Westside jumped 57 per cent in the last three years, sending the typical price — including condos, townhouses and detached homes — to $1.4 million (US$1.1 million), according to the local real estate board. In the Greater Vancouver region, the typical home now costs $1 million, 12.5 times the region’s median household income of $79,930, putting home ownership out of reach of many residents.

The lack of affordable housing is putting strain on local businesses, with restaurants, retailers, and even the city itself struggling to find enough workers.

To address the crunch, Vancouver is considering new strategies including imposing a speculation tax, an increase to the luxury tax, and the possibility of “restricting property ownership by nonpermanent residents.” It is also planning to rezone neighbourhoods across the city to allow for denser housing, including more townhomes and low-rise condos, in areas traditionally dominated by detached homes. It is the latest jurisdiction to consider restricting foreign investment in housing, following in the footsteps of Australia and New Zealand. British Columbia last year imposed a 15-per cent tax on foreign buyers in the Vancouver area, which has helped cool the market for expensive detached homes, though demand for condos has exploded.

Wrestling team pins hopes on India trip From previous page of many teams from UFV to make the trip to Chandigarh or elsewhere in the future.

“I see the tremendous upside of studentathletes getting exposed to sport in places far away and what they bring back, so this is a start to that for UFV,” said Tuckwood. “It’s an enormous opportunity for the program, the institution and the students. “They’re going to have experiences in which they’re tested, but also have a lot of fun with it,” he added.

“I think what this shows is that if there is a willingness and a reasonable fit, why don’t we try it and see if it works?”

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NATIONAL

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Feds under pressure for not charging terrorists returning to Canada As the government faces pressure over why it isn’t prosecuting more suspected terrorists who have returned from fighting overseas, Canada’s public safety minister says its new security legislation will at least make it easier to charge someone for

Nov 30,

promoting acts of terrorism. On Thursday, MPs started their study of Bill C-59, a massive bill that scales back some of the controversial national security legislation, known as Bill C-51, passed by the previous Conservative government in 2015.

One notable change is around the definition of criminal terrorism speech, which C-51 defined as: “knowingly advocates or promotes the commission of terrorism offences in general.” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told the Commons national security committee that this wording is so vague that it’s unenforceable in court, which is why no charges have ever been laid under it.

We’ve made it more precise without affecting its efficacy, and I think made it more likely that charges can be laid and successfully prosecuted He pointed out some had even speculated a 2015 Conservative election ad that used ISIL propaganda footage to raise doubts about Justin Trudeau’s toughness could have been captured under this definition. C-59

changes the Criminal Code wording to: “counsels another person to commit a terrorism offence,” which Goodale says will be much more likely to stand up in court because there is plenty of existing caselaw around what qualifies as “counselling.”

“We’ve made it more precise without affecting its efficacy, and I think made it more likely that charges can be laid and successfully prosecuted,” he said. But it is unclear whether C-59 will do anything to make it easier to prosecute people who have returned from fighting overseas with terrorist groups such as ISIL. Goodale said there have been charges laid against two returned fighters over the past two years (and none laid before that), despite the government’s public estimate that 60 people have returned from places where terrorist Continued on next page

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Bulk of illegal guns seized in BC from domestic sources British Columbia is creating a police squad to pursue gun trafficking after a task force report found more than half of the illegal firearms seized in the province over three years originated from inside Canada.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Monday police data indicates almost 60 per cent of the guns seized in B.C. were purchased, traded or stolen in Canada.

He said most people might think illegal weapons come from the United States or other countries, but it is common for weapons purchased legally in the country to end up in the hands of criminal gangs.

“Domestically sourced illegal firearms in Canada are now a significant factor in illegal firearms trade,” said Farnworth at a news conference. “Individuals with no criminal record and with a firearms licence could legally acquire firearms and divert them to the criminal market.” Farnworth said the criminal use of firearms was linked to 2,000 incidents in B.C.

From page 8

in 2015 that ranged from break and enters to homicides. Police seized 3,000 illegal weapons during investigations of those incidents, he said.

“All British Columbians deserve to live in safe communities free of violence and gang activities,” the minister said. “Unfortunately, B.C. continues to experience highly dangerous incidents of firearms violence that have resulted in numerous deaths and injuries and place innocent members of the public at risk.”

The 138-page task force report cites BC Coroners Service statistics which lists 132 firearms deaths in the province in 2015, the highest total since 2008, when 134 died in firearms incidents. The report makes 37 recommendations that focus on four areas: strategy, legal, education and data.

The report calls on Farnworth, B.C.’s Solicitor General, to support legislation that cracks down on illegal weapons in vehicles and prohibits the sale of imitation weapons to residents under 18 years.

Terrorists returning to Canada

groups are operating. The main obstacle to pursuing charges is that intelligence gathered about a suspect often can’t be used in a courtroom without jeopardizing sensitive security operations, and Goodale said the government didn’t address it in C-59 because it’s still figuring out what to do. “It will require further examination and legal analysis to figure out what is the right way to get over this problem,” he said. “It’s not just our problem; every other democratic country in the world has the same challenge and we’re all sharing ideas about how to do it properly.” C-59 goes much further than just adjusting aspects of C-51. It also completely changes how oversight is conducted on national

security agencies, creating one “superwatchdog” agency with a mandate to oversee all national security operations across multiple agencies. There has been controversy over the fact the bill still allows for widespread sharing of personal information between security agencies, and Goodale specifically mentioned that as one area the government is willing to hear advice on about amendments. The bill also expands the mandate of Canada’s electronic spy agency, the Communications Security Establishment, to conduct active cyber operations against terrorist groups and other governments, and to partner with the military on foreign operations.

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Saturday, December 2, 2017

November ties record for most days of rain in Metro Vancouver, but sunshine forecast next week Metro Vancouver hit a weather record this month, with only three days of dry weather.

It rained 27 out of 30 days in November, which according to Environment Canada, ties a record set in 1953 for rainiest month.

Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald said as of Thursday the rainfall amount at YVR was 192.2 millimetres, not much higher than the average of 188.9 millimetres.

However, it was the number of days of rain that made the record. MacDonald noted that only three consecutive days at the beginning of the month were dry. Normally, the region only see about 20 days of rain.

MacDonald said November is typically the rainiest month of the year in the region, followed by January and December.

He had some good news though for Vancouverites sick of the rain. It’s cooling down but drying out next week.

“It looks like from Tuesday to Saturday we will get a nice, long stretch of dry weather,” he said.

He said temperatures are expected to dip on Monday with overnight lows of minus two degrees C. But he didn’t think there would be snow because of the lack of precipitation.

“We’ll see some cold, crisp nights so watch out for that frost,” he said. “You’ll need your car scraper but your sunglasses too.”

Sun is forecast for Sunday in Metro Vancouver, finally, after 20 consecutive days of rain and counting.

The run of wet ties Vancouver for the fourth wettest November since weather records were kept.

The month has been defined by a series of rainfall warnings for many parts of the province.

The City of Vancouver launched a contest to encourage people to keep catch basins clear.

And when the rain has stopped, some people have stopped to take notice.

Meanwhile the forecast is for a couple of more days of rain before the sun is expected to appear on Sunday.

But before that, up to 20 millimetres of rain is expected in Vancouver on Thursday along with more rain on Friday and Saturday.

“The final system will make for a soggy Saturday and then it is good riddance to the Pacific storm chain,” said CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe.

She says on Sunday skies will clear and the weather will stay cool and clear into the first week of December.

Surrey businessman frustrated after RCMP unable to stop thieves from homeless camp A business owner in Whalley is frustrated after his shop was once again broken into on Wednesday morning.

Paul Chen is the owner of Centreline Auto in Whalley. The shop sits on 13550, 106th Street, adjacent to the notorious ‘tent city’ in Whalley.

It was the third time that Chen witnessed a break-in since the end of July.

Video from Wednesday shows that two individuals tried to break into his property.

That was before an RCMP cars rolled by, forcing the individuals to flee.

“The video shows that they live on the strip committing this petty crime,” said Chen. “It’s out of control.”

The individuals only fled temporarily, returning to the shop to steal Chen’s key box.

Chen said that the other time he had his key box broken into, the thieves took the box back to their tent. He said that police were unable to retrieve the box because they didn’t have the right to intrude in other people’s tents.

While Chen is frustrated, he sympathizes with the police.

“Police can’t do anything about it,” he said.

“They are powerless.”

“It’s the system that doesn’t allow them to do it, said Chen. “They are doing their job in protecting us and in dealing with these issues.”

“Unfortunately they don’t have the authority to do it.”

It leaves Chen in a frustrating situation, leaving him unsure of where to turn to.

“Who is the authority here? Can someone with authority step up?”

Chen also wonders what the city can do to help him out.

“The city should have the authority to clean up that stuff,” he said.

“If you live in Surrey, you are affected by this,” said Chen. “Somebody needs to step up.”

Hepner recently vented her frustration yesterday, pushing for the province to deliver on their promise for 150 modular housing units in the area. That, in theory, should take some of the tents off 135A Street.

In the meantime, business owners like Chen are left wondering what they can do to protect themselves and their business.

“When I walk off of my property line I have no authority,” he said. “How can people breaking in have more rights than me when they come onto my property? It doesn’t make sense.”

Chen previously witnessed break-ins on July 28th and on September 23rd earlier this year.

During the break-in on July 28th, an apparent homeless man was smashing his neighbour’s car before Chen was forced to run out and make a citizen arrest.

He also watched a woman suffer an apparent overdose on his property before she eventually got up and walked off.

Despite the challenges, he is optimistic that the fortunes of the area will change in time.

“There are some great people down here helping out the homeless,” he said. “It will get better of course, but when, five or ten years?”

In the meantime, Chen is still searching for answers on how to protect himself and his business. “For now, I’m here suffering,” he said. “This is my business and I have no choice but to accept it.”

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Farm in Richmond sold for more than 100 times its assessed value A Richmond farm property has sold for more than 100 times its assessed value, opening up a new potential development site in the booming suburb where home prices continue to skyrocket. The eight-hectare Richmond property on Blundell Road was asssessed at $84,264 for 2017, a slight dip from the previous year.

But, it sold for $9.2 million with the mortgage officially changing hands on October 30, 2017.

The city of Richmond has some of the highest housing prices in the region, and land for

potential development is so valuable that locals complain that attempts to stop development from devouring farmland are not enough.

“People are going to be angry,” says Richmond Coun. Harold Steves, who explained that farmland is assessed at a lower rate to benefit farmers. “Nobody is buying that land to farm it. If you pay that kind of money you are not a farmer.” Sale of farmland to build so-called “mega-mansions” has become a contentious issue, even reaching B.C.’s Legislature. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver tabled a private

member’s bill in October aimed at amending the Property Law Act to restrict the sale of farm parcels in the Agricultural Land Reserve of more than five acres to foreign entities without cabinet permission.

Earlier in the spring, Richmond city council passed a law limiting the size of homes that can be built on a half-acre of farmland to 10,764 square feet. The law came after months of heated public hearings over use of the Agricultural Land Reserve. But Steves said that’s not enough.

“It’s simply not encouraging farming at all because anybody who is building a 10,000-square-foot house is not in it to make money on five acres or 20 acres of blueberries,” said Steves. He said in one case the city had to reject a bid to build a 40,000-square-foot home — big enough for 21 bedrooms.

Weaver, an outspoken advocate for food security and similar agricultural issues, said he agrees with a lobby effort to limit further sale of farm land.

NDP and Greens exclude taxi industry from all-party discussions - claim BC Liberals The BC Liberals are claiming that NDP and Green Party voted to exclude the taxi industry from a discussion taking place at an all-party MLA committee on ride sharing.

The government and third party joined forces to defeat an amendment introduced by BC Liberal House Leader Mike de Jong that specifically would have included existing taxi licensees and taxi industry employees in the consultations.

Twenty years after the murder of 14-yearold Reena Virk, Kelly Ellard has been granted six months of day parole.

Ellard, now 35 and a mother, will be released directly from the Fraser Valley Institution for Women to a residential treatment substance-abuse program. After successfully completing the treatment program, she will be able to live at a halfway house with her young son for the remainder of the six months. It’s not known how long Ellard will remain at the treatment centre or whether the baby can live with her there.

After six months, the parole board will review the decision. “It goes without saying you committed a heinous crime and you were largely responsible for the death of Reena Virk,” parole board member Colleen Zuk said Thursday. “What’s very problematic is your years of deception and lying about the facts.” Ellard continues to “somewhat minimize” her involvement in killing Reena, although she is more transparent now than in the past, Zuk noted. At Thursday’s hearing, Ellard, wearing a grey sweater and gold hoop earrings, her blond hair in a ponytail, admitted she helped to plan a confrontation near the Craigflower Bridge on the night of Nov. 14, 1997, that she was willing to use violence that night and she “intended to get rid of Reena” when the situation became

“It simply doesn’t make sense for an all-party committee to look at ridesharing and not hear from the group most directly impacted,” said Opposition Leader Rich Coleman.

“Having an opportunity to speak to an all-party

Premier John Horgan

committee ensures all perspectives are heard and we are disappointed that the NDP and Greens have taken that away from the taxi industry.” “ E v o l v i n g technologies can

Reena Virk’s killer gets day parole critical. “You agreed you were callous and that’s the most you’ve accepted in terms of accountability and responsibility,” Zuk said.

Zuk said she was concerned about Ellard’s relationship with the father of her child. The man has served a lengthy prison sentence.

“That is potentially a high-risk situation,” Zuk said. Ellard’s parole officer told the hearing that Ellard is an attentive and caring mother and has successfully completed 40 escorted temporary absences, taking the child to parenting classes. The officer, whose name was not given to the media, said that there is also a release plan underway for the father. “We will be working with the other parole officers on a plan to allow them to coparent in the community.”

Sitting with her back to the media, Ellard said her priority was her child and her release plan, not the relationship. She said she wants to support the man emotionally and help him make the right decisions, but she needs to keep herself safe to be a good parent. “As much as I love him, if I have to let him go to be a good parent to my child, I have to.”Ellard told the board members that she has made good progress with her ongoing trauma counselling and dialectical behavioural therapy. Her son is very healthy,

Repeat bad drivers can expect longer bans RoadSafetyBC, Street racers and the lead provincial stunt drivers in agency responsible British Columbia for road safety in could lose their the province, will vehicles for up to set the length of 36 months as part each prohibition of new penalties the on a case-by-case province is imposing basis, relying on the on bad drivers. The driver’s record and Ministry of Public details provided by Safety says starting police.

Dec. 1 prohibitions Officers will ranging from three still be able to to 36 months will This Lamborghini was destroyed after an alleged street race immediately replace existing 15day penalties for those drivers and other repeat impound vehicles for a minimum of seven days if drivers are caught racing or stunt driving, offenders.

The ministry says the same penalties could the ministry says in a news release. Public also be applied to a broader range of offences, Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says drivers including excessive speeding, driving without posing the greatest risk to peoples’ lives are due care and attention and other high-risk often caught repeatedly, suggesting they are not behaviours. Canada’s worst drivers are in B.C., taking consequences seriously. says nationwide survey

she said, and she has been better able to cope with her anxiety. If someone looked at her in the past, Ellard said, she would assume they were judging her. “There’s a sign flashing above my head saying I’m a monster.” She started to cry, but said she knows how to distract herself from those troubling thoughts The two members of the parole board repeatedly grilled Ellard on her involvement in Reena’s murder. Ellard, who was 15 at the time of the killing, still disputes the version of events given by her

lead to changes and it is important to get it right,” said transportation critic Jordan Sturdy.

“I don’t understand how the government can make good decisions on this while refusing to ensure perspectives of both taxis and ridesharing companies are heard.”

The BC Liberals will continue to stand up for jobs across our province, including the thousands working in the taxi industry.

co-accused, Warren Glowatski, who said she held Reena’s arms back and held her head under the water.Ellard said she had been told by a friend that Reena had stolen her phonebook and was calling people, trying to get them to beat up the friend. When Reena showed up under the bridge, Ellard started the fight by punching Reena. Several people jumped on her within a minutes, Ellard said.

One girl told them to stop. “Reena was on the ground and seriously, seriously hurt,” Ellard said. “I recall Reena was trying to get up, still sitting on the ground. Others were going through her bag.”

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Government considers cap on minor injury claims to ‘fix’ ICBC finances BC government is considering capping British Columbia is the last province in Canada insurance claims on minor automobile accidents, as well as boosting eligible amounts for physiotherapy and other medical benefits, as it tries to stem rising financial losses at the Insurance Corporation of BC. Attorney-General David Eby, who oversees ICBC, said a cap on the amount paid out by ICBC on minor injuries could be a key part of a suite of reforms he’s drafting to help prevent massive vehicle rate hikes from the monopoly Crown auto insurer. “We’re looking at caps on minor pain and suffering awards, because there’s been an explosion in the size of awards people receive for minor whiplash and minor injuries,” Eby said in an interview. “It’s a very significant piece of the portfolio of reforms we’re looking at.”

ICBC also hopes to find efficiencies with trial lawyers in court cases over claims, said Eby.

with a purely litigation-based insurance model, where drivers not at fault in a crash sue the atfault driver for economic loss and suffering.

ICBC board chair Joy MacPhail said a cap has worked in other provinces and states.

Alberta, for example, has a minor-injury claims cap of almost $5,000. “We’ve also made it clear if one is involved in a catastrophic crash where there’s huge injuries suffered, that the tort system will still apply and one will be able to litigate those kinds of claims,” she said. A recent outside report into ICBC said it could freeze rates for the next five years by putting a $4,000 to $6,000 cap on pain and suffering for minor injuries, quadrupling medical accident benefits and paying out rehab costs as accident benefits rather than cash lump sums. That includes a boost to medical benefits even if you are at fault in the crash.

ICBC to ditch computerized assesments for drivers with medical concerns ICBC will soon ditch computerized assessments that help determine whether drivers with health conditions can safely continue to drive.

Instead, the Crown corporation will opt for an enhanced on-road assessment, allowing drivers to use their own cars, upping the re-examination length from 75 minutes to 90, and allowing for a break and feedback partway through.

The changes, announced Thursday, follow years of pressure from advocacy and seniors groups that say the computerized assessments add a level of technology that can cause senior test takers to fumble and affect what might otherwise be competent cognitive abilities.

“The enhanced road assessment puts the focus more sharply on whether someone’s

still safe to drive their vehicle, and it’s conducted in a way that’s more accessible and will improve safety,” said Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.

“The new process is the result of consulting experts and looking at many options, including what other jurisdictions are doing, so drivers can be confident that others around them are qualified to be at the wheel.”

Currently, drivers with medical conditions that may affect their ability to drive safely or a collision report with possible medical concerns are referred for a road assessment test. The test is part of a medical fitness determination conducted by ICBC and includes both an on-road assessment and an in-office, computer-based screening.

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Swedish man gets 10 years in prison for raping Canadian girls — over the internet At home in Ontario and Alberta, the two young Canadian girls felt they had no choice: perform sexual acts on camera — in one case involving a pet dog — or face terrible consequences. They were convinced a man they met online would hurt them or their families or humiliate them over the internet if they failed to do his bidding. What they didn’t know is their tormentor was on another continent. But on Thursday that Swedish man was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting the girls in Canada and two other foreign countries entirely over the internet, a unique prosecution that involved no physical contact between the assailant and his victims.

Bjorn Samstrom, 41, was sentenced in Upsalla Thursday to 10 years in prison — Sweden’s stiffest sex-crime penalty — after forcing 27 teenagers here, in Scotland and the United States to perform sex acts on camera.

The prosecution in Uppsala City Court challenged the traditional definition of rape and sexual assault in an age where the internet has become a powerful tool for predators. It was unprecedented in Sweden and, experts here say, has never been tried in Canada.

“It sends a message, a clear message that this is possible, and you can get 10 years for it,” said Annika Wennerstrom, one of the prosecutors overseeing the case. “It sends a signal to … the children, as well, who are out there and now realize, ‘I’ve been raped. I had no idea. I thought I did this to myself.’ This is a crime that society takes very seriously.”

In unprecedented case, Swedish man on trial for ‘raping’ Canadian girls — over the internet Still, she said the prosecution would have preferred a stronger decision and will likely appeal the verdict — contained in a 150-page ruling by Judge Carin Westerlund and three lay adjudicators. The court convicted Samstrom of aggravated rape in four cases that involved animals or other children, rape in one of the other cases, and aggravated sexual assault or sexual coercion in the remainder. Rape in Swedish law can include intercourse, or a violation of sexual integrity considered equally severe.

Samstrom met his victims through online social networks, then made them take off their clothes and penetrate themselves with fingers or objects, threatening either to kill them and their families, or post their profile photos on pornography websites.

“These girls are performing penetrations for a very long time and it hurts and they’re sad and they are very young and it still doesn’t count as a rape,” she said. “From their perspective, the perpetrator is present in the room with them, because they can hear his voice and he’s writing to them and instructing them…. They are traumatized in the same way.” The victims included one girl each from Ontario and Alberta, aged between 13 and 15 and targeted in 2015. They were identified and interviewed by the RCMP on behalf of Swedish authorities, with video recordings of their testimony played in court.

Surplus projection shrinks after NDP spending B.C. Finance Minster Carole James says she’s still optimistic her NDP government can afford to implement big-ticket election

promises like $10-a-day child care, even though she’s had to dip into the province’s forecast allowance to keep the budget from sinking into the red. James unveiled the government’s second quarter financial results Tuesday, which project a $190 million surplus, down from $246 million in the NDP’s September budget update. Lower than expected federal income tax revenue,

continued losses at the Insurance Corp. of B.C. and higher forest firefighting costs (now at $658 million for the year) drove up expenses.

That was offset by $175 million in unexpected additional property transfer tax revenue from the hot housing market, which continues to be a primary economic driver of the provincial budget to the tune of almost $2 billion a year.

The government also emptied $200 million from its $300-million forecast allowance, to help to keep the budget from sliding into deficit. The last time a B.C. government had to use its forecast allowance was in 2013-14, when the Liberal administration tabled its first balanced budget since the 2008 global recession. “Even with those changes you continue to see a very strong fiscal plan,” James said of the $52-billion budget. “We are in a good position.” The government still has a $600 million contingency cushion if the financial situation worsens. But James said most economic indicators — retail sales, exports, employment and housing starts — continue to show positive trends for the B.C. economy.

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Grieving mother sues city, TransLink for tragic crash The mother of a nine-year-old girl killed with her three-year-old cousin in a Coquitlam crash last April is suing the city, the transit authority and the province to demand road safety improvements.

Ella, 9, and Tyler Mollie Wong Hernandez, 3, died in a Lougheed Highway crash along with a 30-year-old woman who was in another vehicle on April 28.

Michelle Hernandez has filed a civil lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court that names two drivers, the City of Coquitlam, the South Coast B.C. Transportation Authority and the province as defendants.

It says a failed attempt by one driver to pass on the highway near Pitt River Road sent two vehicles in to oncoming traffic.

The impact killed the two girls, who were

passengers in a Nissan, and the other woman. by allegedly negligent drivers and other parties The lawsuit alleges that two drivers involved whom the civil filing claims at least contributed in the fatal crash failed to take proper care to the tragedy. Court documents claim that while driving. The other focus in “Coquitlam, TransLink the statement of claim is road safety, and the province knew which has been a campaign of Ella’s that the section of the parents, Michelle and Gary, since Lougheed Highway where her death. The couple has requested the collision occurred was meetings with city staff trying to poorly designed, dangerous and in need of safety force officials to fix a section of road feared too narrow. barriers, re-engineering and Ella Hernandez, 9, died on April “Michelle and Gary [Hernandez] 28, 2017 in a crash on the Lougheed construction,” the notice of civil claim says. are really focused on trying to make Highway. sure this doesn’t happen again,” said After the accident, Stephen Bruyneel, the family spokesperson.

Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart told CBC “It would be a safety legacy for Ella if changes there are engineering challenges to making that could be made,” he told CBC on Wednesday. section of highway safer.

The lawsuit says the three deaths were caused CP Rail tracks on one side and a huge

retaining wall along the Riverview Hospital lands restrict the city’s ability to widen the road.

“We’ve asked our engineers to contemplate how we could do it ... put a barrier down the middle — but there’s simply not enough roadway to accommodate a barrier,” Stewart told media earlier this year.

None of the allegations in Hernandez’s civil suit have been proven in court, and the defendants have not yet filed a response.

Coquitlam RCMP continue to investigate the causes of the accident, but have no final report yet. Since the accident there’s been strong community support for the family, with $78,000 raised on a crowdfunding site for Ella’s parents, both of whom are teachers.

Early works begin on Surrey light-rail project As city of Surrey is planning to introduce light rail system in Surrey, an unassuming bridge, underground water main, storm sewer, and several overhead transmission lines are expected to be among the earliest casualties or displacements of this planned light rail system.

The existing assets along King George Boulevard and along or near 104th Avenue are due to be dug up, replaced, moved or raised next year in advance of the main thrust of work on a light rail line from Guildford to Newton that could begin as early as mid-2019.

Scott Neuman, an LRT project director with the City of Surrey, said the preparatory work is being done, in part, to save time, and despite the work taking months to complete, it should not inconvenience most commuters.

“These are projects that would be required to support LRT. If we can get on them sooner and have them built first then it expedites the schedule,” Neuman said.

Construction along King George Boulevard is expected to take about 10 months, but travel lanes should remain open through the work, Neuman said.

“At night time during construction there may be lane constraints. It might be one lane each way. But during peak hour traffic we’re trying to maintain two lanes each way,” he said.

The projects come in advance of Phase 1 of the light rail project, a 10.5-kilometre, 11stop Surrey — Newton — Guildford line that will run west from 152nd Street in Guildford along 104 Avenue to City Parkway, south to 102 Avenue, east to King George Boulevard, and south to a terminus near 71 Avenue and 136b Street, according to the city.

Bear Creek Bridge — a piece of 1930s infrastructure on King George Blvd. so small that it may go unnoticed by even the most mindful daily commuter — is simply too narrow and weak to take on the size and weight of the planned line, according to the city, that last week issued a tender for its replacement.

The project will include “detours, demolition and disposal off-site of the existing bridge, installation of piles and ground improvements, new abutments and girders, concrete decking, road widening, sanitary sewer and water relocations, erosion and sediment control, fish salvage, channel improvements in Bear Creek, topsoil, hydroseeding, (and) planting,” according to the tender.

Pair claims they didn’t know mansion was being used as illegal gambling den The alleged owners of a Richmond mansion used as an illegal gambling den are denying all claims and point out that, despite police investigations, they are not charged with any crimes.

A Richmond man and an Ontario woman named in a civil forfeiture case deny they knew anything about a luxurious $4.9-million mansion being used for illegal gambling den.

Earlier this year provincial authorities launched a civil forfeiture action claiming at least one person was beaten and forcibly confined at the sprawling mansion that served as an illegal casino.

The case, filed in B.C. Supreme Court on June 29, outlines evidence found during police searches of the property after anonymous tips, and includes reports of two people showing up injured at Richmond Hospital.

B.C. using $500,000 from civil forfeiture grants to fund antigang programming for youth B.C. civil forfeiture grants aim to turn ill-gotten gains into good The director of civil forfeiture alleged that the two defendants named were a brother and sister who co-owned the 13,000-square-foot property together.

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Cash found in Coquitlam, handed over to RCMP Coquitlam RCMP are in possession of three envelopes full of cash that were found in public places on three separate days in separate locations. The latest incident was on Nov. 22 when an envelope was found at a supermarket at 2929 Barnet Highway, Coquitlam. Other envelopes of cash were turned in on Nov. 18 and Sept. 21. In two of those cases, police say the owners of the money are described as Asian.

Coquitlam RCMP say they want to return the cash to the rightful owners.

Did you lose an envelope full of cash in Coquitlam?

“We want people to know that anyone who makes a police report, including lost money, has a right to privacy,” said Cpl. Michael McLaughlin.

“We want to assure everyone, but especially people who are new to Canada, that their names will never be

released when they call police.” Police aren’t revealing the exact amount of money found.

McLaughlin says those who have lost cash should call the police and be prepared to give the following: Details including amount, denominations and type of currency; Exact time and place you noticed the money was missing; Any identifying marks on the envelope; A description of yourself; Your name and contact information. “You might be surprised how often people turn money and other valuables in to police,” said McLaughlin.

“That’s the kind of community we live in.”

Anyone with information about the three envelopes can contact Coquitlam RCMP at 604-945-

Suspect charged in Abbotsford police officer’s death The man accused of killing a police officer released. B.C.’s civilian police watchdog, the in Abbotsford earlier this month made a brief Independent Investigations Office, said it’s believed he was shot. The Canadian Criminal court appearance on Tuesday morning.

Oscar Arfmann, 65, charged with first- Code states that the killing of a peace officer degree murder in the death of Const. John is automatically a first-degree murder charge.

The Integrated Homicide Davidson. The officer, a 24-year Investigation Team (IHIT) veteran, died after a shootout on said that Arfmann has no Mt. Lehman Road on November 6. criminal record. He also Arfmann made a brief appearance didn’t have a valid driver’s at Abbotsford Provincial Court just licence. IHIT Cpl. Frank after 9:30 am and didn’t enter a plea.

Jang said Arfmann used to Security outside the courthouse was have a firearms licence, but heavy. Police said Davidson, 53, had it expired in 2015. been responding to a report of shots fired in the parking lot of a nearby The suspect’s ex-wife, shopping area.

Hope Arfmann, said he Const. John Davidson was a struggled with mental Oscar Arfmann, 65 24-year veteran. He joined the health issues after his wife, Abbotsford Police Department in 2006, Patricia, died five years ago. High security at having worked with the Northumbria Police Abbotsford court.Oscar Arfmann, charged Department in England before that. Davidson with 1st degree murder in death of Const. left behind his wife and three children.

John Davidson, scheduled to make appearance Arfmann, who’s from Alberta, was Arfmann was admitted to a hospital northeast charged on Nov. 7. He was hospitalized after of Edmonton in July of 2015 for a mental being injured in the incident, but was soon evaluation, but was released after three days.

Vancouver’s rental costs surge, while vacancy drops Metro Vancouver has the highest rental housing prices in Canada and other cities in B.C. are catching up, according to a new Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report, produced in a year that saw rental vacancy rates plummet around the country. But some experts say Vancouver’s actual rental market conditions may be even worse for prospective tenants than the 2017 Rental Market Survey makes out, and online listings seem to support such a take. The survey, released Tuesday, found rental rates in Vancouver surged 6.2 per cent over the last year. In Kelowna, rates jumped a whopping 8.6 per cent — the highest increase in the country — and Victoria was not far behind with an 8.1-per-cent hike. In the City of Vancouver alone, the average monthly rent paid for a purpose-built, two-bedroom apartment is now $1,860, according to the report, and asking prices for similar empty units are around $2,100. One-bedroom places rent for $1,325, and similar vacant units are listed for an average of nearly $1,450, it found.

Andrew Sakamoto at the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre believed those numbers seemed a little low compared to what is being seen on the broader rental market in the city.

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Woman asked to leave shopping mall stabs security guard Abbotsford police say they are searching for a woman who allegedly stabbed a mall security guard last night then ran away. On Monday night a 25-year-old security guard at Seven Oaks Mall in Abbotsford, B.C., was dealing with a complaint of a disturbance when he was stabbed, police say. At 7:55 p.m. PT police got a 911 call reporting a stabbing after a woman allegedly turned on the security guard after

what witnesses described as “yelling and screaming.” “The guard was dealing with a female who had been asked repeatedly to leave the property for causing a disturbance. She stabbed him in the abdomen and ran away,” said Const. Ian MacDonald of the Abbotsford Police. The guard was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police say he is recovering and expected to be discharged later

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BC South Asians buzzing over harassment complaints on flights to India South Asians in BC are buzzing about complaints of harassment, drunkenness and lewd behaviour on a regular direct flight from Vancouver to India. Indian media outlets, callers to Punjabi-language talk shows, social media commentators and airline passengers are reporting some older men are swearing and behaving boorishly toward flight attendants on the 13-hour flight to Delhi.

The males’ behaviour is described as “lewd,” “brusque,” “horseplay” and “discourteous”

by the Punjabi-language news outlet, Fateh Media, which is based in the Punjab region of India, the ancestral home of Canada’s almost 500,000 Sikhs, more than half of whom live in BC. Fateh Media’s report uses the Punjabi word that means “inappropriate touching” or “intentionally touching with a sexual overtone” to describe the men’s behaviour towards flight attendants. The word is often used to describe “grabbing” and “groping.”

Some passengers on the Air Canada flight

have talked about the males’ rowdy inflight behaviour on the popular radio talk show of Surrey’s Harjinder Thind, a local radio host.

“It’s the longest flight to India. So some people are drinking too much beer and getting unruly, bothering the hostesses,” Thind said in an interview. “The flight attendants are saying they dread going on the flights,” Thind said, adding that some Surrey-based Air Canada attendants are declining offers to go public about it on his show, fearing for their jobs. Air Canada media relations officer Angela Mah said the company

has not received reports of harassment on its direct flights to Delhi from Vancouver and Toronto.

“Our crews are professionals who are well trained to handle any situation which may occur on board our flights. … We have zero tolerance for sexual harassment and harassment of any sort or disruptions on board,” Mah said.

Representatives of the union for Air Canada employees in BC did not return messages.

Two pedestrians hit before vehicle crashed into Cloverdale home Police say two pedestrians were hit before a vehicle crashed into a home in Cloverdale Thursday evening.

Surrey RCMP say a car coming out of an alley struck a southbound vehicle on 172nd Street approaching 64th Avenue.

The southbound vehicle then hit a parked car which hit a garage, according to police.

It happened around 7 p.m.

Police say one of the drivers “bumped

into” the pedestrians.

While they were taken to hospital, police say their injuries were not life threatening.

A witness

at the scene said there were three vehicles off the road, with another embedded into the side of the garage of the home.

While the witness said two people in the basement suite were briefly trapped inside

the stairwell entrance, police say no one was trapped.

“It appears that perhaps they were standing there at the time of the collision and narrowly escaped injury,” the witness told the Now-Leader.

Police have not released any details about the drivers, and have not yet commented on a possible cause.

Patients’ rights violated in BC mental health detention system, report says British Columbia needs to overhaul a mental health system that allows psychiatric facilities to detain people with little justification, to deny them access to

a lawyer and to take away their personal clothing as a form of punishment, a legal advocacy group says. The Community Legal Assistance Society published a

report titled “Operating in Darkness” on Wednesday, which describes B.C.’s mental health detention regime as one of the most regressive in Canada. The report says the province’s Mental Health Act allows people in care to be put in solitary confinement, strapped to a bed or given involuntary treatments like drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. Report author Laura Johnston said it is “extremely unusual” for a provincial mental health act in Canada not to prohibit the discipline of patients who are being held without consent. “Not only does our act not prohibit it, but it actively authorizes it,” Johnston said, adding that disciplinary measures include the use of restraints, solitary confinement and withholding personal clothing. “You can ‘earn your way’ back up to your clothing access by good behaviour. But bad behaviour, you can lose your rights to clothing,” she said, describing the practice as disturbing.

Spike in involuntary detentions The society, a non-profit group that provides legal services to people in mental

health detention, has launched a charter rights court challenge against the provincial government over the same issue.

The group started the court action in September 2016 on behalf of two people being treated against their will, arguing that B.C.’s laws deprive involuntary patients of their rights to equality and life, liberty

Woman dies in fatal crash in Burnaby

Police confirmed a 47-year-old woman was killed in a serious car crash in Burnaby on Sunday night.

The vehicle was heading down Kensington Avenue, between Lougheed Highway and Joe Sakic Way, just after 6:00pm Police say the driver went off the road and struck a post and the vehicle ended up wrapped around a tree.

Two people were in the car, the 47-year-old who died and a 28-year-old man who was taken to hospital in critical condition.

There is no word on what caused the crash.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

DREAM CARPET

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Global money hit Vancouver real estate ‘like a ton of bricks, says Robertson On the eve of a comprehensive, 10-year housing strategy going before Vancouver city council, Gregor Robertson reflected on the impact of offshore money in local real estate over his three terms as mayor of Canada’s most-expensive city. “In my travels this year in Sydney (Australia) and New York, my sense is that Vancouver’s seen the most rapid impact of global capital of any big city globally,” Robertson told Postmedia News on Monday.

“We’re among a group of big cities that have attracted hundreds of billions of dollars each in investment, but Vancouver has seen that hit in less than a decade, where it took several decades in many of those other cities, so they had more time to adjust. “But it’s hit us like a ton of bricks.”

During the last nine years while Robertson has been mayor and his Vision Vancouver party

has had a majority on council, Vancouver’s affordability crisis has deepened and the gap has widened between local incomes and home prices. But, Robertson stressed Monday as he’s said in the past, it’s not a problem that city hall can solve on its own. Now, with less than a year until Vancouver’s next general municipal election in which housing is expected to be, by far, the dominant issue, city staff will present the Housing Vancouver strategy to council Tuesday. The strategy, more than a year in the making, touches on several different facets of housing, with proposed measures intended to address both the supply and demand sides of the current crisis. The strategy, particularly on the “demand” side, calls for collaboration with the provincial and federal governments.

The 248-page strategy package includes

proposals for working with senior governments to explore measures such as reforming regulations for capital-gains taxes and closing “loopholes,” introducing a “speculation and flipping tax,” and increasing the provincial luxury tax. And in a city where the topic of foreign real estate investment has been perhaps the most hotly debated issue in recent years, one particularly eyebrow-raising proposal seeks to explore “restricting property ownership by non-permanent residents.” The city, provincial, and federal governments have all drawn criticism in recent years for their handling of the foreign ownership of property, especially in red-hot housing markets like Vancouver and Toronto.

But, Robertson said Monday, “there’s no question that capital from beyond Vancouver’s

borders has dramatically affected our real estate market. “Where in the world it comes from is not the issue, and what nationality an offshore investor is doesn’t matter,” he said.

“This is all about regulating the flow of capital and ensuring that it’s taxed appropriately, and taking care of Vancouver’s housing and ensuring it’s available to people who live and work here. “It’s not about race or nationality,” he said. “We can’t have a real estate market that is completely disconnected from local incomes, and that’s what we’re trying to rectify.”

Vancouver has already taken some steps aimed at reducing the “commodification” of housing, including the country’s first Empty Homes Tax and a proposal requiring condo presales to be offered to locals first before being sold overseas.

Bell to launch low-cost Lucky Mobile — offering $20 plans BCE Inc. is launching a new low-cost wireless carrier called Lucky Mobile.

Bell revealed its new prepaid brand on Friday, a move that lets it compete against its top rivals for what it says is “fast-growing demand” for cheaper mobile options from customers such as new Canadians, seniors and students. In a release, Bell said Lucky Mobile will offer talk and text plans starting at $20 per month in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. starting next week. The plans are contract-free and available with no credit check for customers that bring their own devices or buy devices starting at $60. Lucky Mobile marks Bell’s splashy re-entrance into the low-cost market, a space where Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. already compete under the brands Chatr and Public Mobile. Both offer prepaid wireless service without contracts at similar price points to Lucky. Bell used to run a low-cost prepaid carrier called Solo Mobile, but it slowly discontinued the brand after it acquired Virgin Mobile in 2009. Virgin competes with Rogers’ and Telus’ second-tier brands Fido and Koodo, all of which offer postpaid services.

Postpaid plans earn far more revenue from customers with premium smartphones on two-year contracts with higher data allotments. Prepaid plans made up only 13 per cent of Canada’s wireless market in 2016, a proportion that has steadily decreased over the past five years, according to the latest data from the telecom regulator. Still, the wireless market grew to more than 30 million subscriptions last year, with all carriers celebrating a growing user base they credited in part to immigration.

Even though the prepaid market makes less money, Bell CEO George Cope indicated Bell wanted to get its share of customers in the space on a conference call with analysts in early November. “There’s clearly some growth in the prepaid segment that is in the midst of going on. We are looking at that segment… to investors, stay tuned,” Cope said. Each of the Big Three have carved out roughly 30 per cent of Canada’s entire wireless market. While their market dominance remains strong, they’re facing increased competition from Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron in Quebec and Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta.

Both new entrants offer better deals.

Bell hasn’t been operating a brand in the prepaid market because it’s priorities were elsewhere, namely on improving its network and promoting its Virgin brand.

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Karim Baratov, Canadian man accused in massive Yahoo hack, pleads guilty in US court A Canadian man pleaded guilty in an American court Tuesday to nine charges stemming from a massive breach at Yahoo that authorities said was directed by Russian intelligence agents and affected about 500 million user accounts.Karim Baratov appeared in a jail jumpsuit before a U.S. federal judge and entered the pleas to one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and eight counts of aggravated identity theft. He gave “yes” and “no” answers to questions from the judge about his pleas, but said nothing more.

US law enforcement officials have called Baratov, 22, a “hacker-for-hire” and said he was paid by members of the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, to access more than 80 accounts. The US Department of Justice said Baratov used spearphishing schemes that would trick victims into entering their account credentials into webpages he built to appear to be from their webmail providers. Once he obtained their log-in information, he would send it to his clients, the statement said.

“Cybercrime is not only a grave threat to personal privacy and security, but causes great harm to individuals who are hacked and costs the world economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year,” district attorney Brian Stretch said in a statement.

“These threats are even more insidious when cyber criminals such as Baratov are employed by foreign government agencies acting outside the rule of law.” Baratov’s lawyers told reporters outside court that their client hacked only eight accounts and did not know that he was working for Russian agents connected to the Yahoo breach. “He’s been transparent and forthright with the government since he got here,” said lawyer

Andrew Mancilla. Baratov, a Canadian citizen born in Kazakhstan, was arrested in Hamilton in March under the Extradition Act after American authorities indicted him for computer hacking, economic espionage and other crimes. In August, Baratov decided to forgo his extradition hearing to face the charges in California. His Canadian lawyer at the time said the move was to speed up the legal process.

A photo from Karim Baratov’s Facebook page. Facebook Before going to the U.S., he was held without bail because an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that he was too much of a flight risk to be released prior to the extradition hearing.

The judge also found that Baratov’s parents would not make appropriate sureties since they had not been suspicious of their son’s alleged activities while he lived under their roof.

Also facing charges are Russian agents Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, who prosecutors say used the information they stole from Yahoo to spy on Russian journalists, U.S. and Russian government officials and employees of financial services and other private businesses. Dokuchaev, Sushchin and a third Russian national, Alexsey Belan, were also named in the indictment filed in February, though it’s not clear whether they will ever step foot in an American courtroom since there’s no extradition treaty with Russia. Though the U.S. government had previously charged individual Russian hackers with cybercrime, this was the first criminal case to name as defendants sitting members of the Russian Federal Security Service for hacking charges.

Ontario and B.C. lead employment growth in Canada Canada’s unemployment rate in November fell to its lowest in nearly a decade, as Ontario and B.C. lead in employment growth, says Statistics Canada.

The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 5.9 per cent, the lowest rate since February 2008.

The agency says 18,200 more people were employed in B.C. last month, up 3.8 per cent year over year.

The province’s unemployment rate was little changed from the previous month at 4.8 per cent, the lowest in Canada.

Statistics Canada analyst Gordon Song says B.C.’s employment growth was mainly in construction (7,000 jobs) and other services (8,000 jobs.) Other services include repair and maintenance, as well as personal and laundry services.

Funeral announcement Taro Kaur Johal’s funeral on December 2, 2017 at 12 pm at Hamilton Harron Funeral Home on Fraser Street, Vancouver, BC Taro Kaur Johal was born on 21 August, 1932, in Village Bara Pind, Punjab.

Taro Kaur Johal daughter of Sham Singh Sihota (father), Jagir Kaur Sihota (mother).

Taro Kaur Johal’s husband, Janak Singh Johal (deceased in September 1972), arrived in Canada on December 1952 Children: Kashmir Singh Lakbir Singh (deceased) Gurdev Singh (deceased), Balbir Singh. Taro Kaur Johal’ lived in Vancouver all her life.

22-year-old Montreal woman with infants escapes Daesh 3 years after travelling to Syria A 22-year-old Canadian woman from Montreal is in the custody of Kurdish forces in Syria, along with her two-year-old daughter and newborn baby girl, after having fled a Daeshcontrolled region of Syria.

She is being held by members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a predominantly Kurdish and Arab force allied with Western governments fighting Daesh in the areas the group once held as part of its self-declared Islamic State. Officials with Global Affairs Canada are in contact with senior members of the coalition group. The woman, a Canadian citizen who surrendered to coalition forces last month, left Montreal for Syria with another teenage girl in November 2014, without telling her family or closest friends.

It is believed the two took a common route for the thousands of Westerners who joined Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, flying first to Istanbul, Turkey, and then travelling south into Syria.

The woman’s mother, who has tried for three years to get her daughter home, said her daughter called crying soon after arriving, saying the situation was not what she expected and that

she was being closely monitored. “Everything is under surveillance. Everything is dangerous here,” the woman’s mother said about the panicked call. “We are watched. It’s not safe.

I’m so sorry, mama. I’m so sorry.” Her mother, whom the Star agreed not to identify, has been in sporadic contact with her daughter throughout the three years she has been gone and speaks regularly with both the RCMP and Canada’s spy service, CSIS. Toronto lawyer Nader Hasan has also been in contact with the security services on the mother’s behalf. “We have been working with Canadian authorities for months to find a way to get her out of Daesh territory and into Canadian custody,” Hasan said in an interview with the Star.

“She was able to escape from Daesh territory — despite being eight and a half months pregnant — with the help of coalition allies. We understand she’s in Kurdish custody as she awaits transfer to Canadian authorities.” Erika Hennebury, mother of 6-year-old twins, says “kids were just pouring and pouring out of the house” after the shooting.

Shooting at suspected ‘ghost hotel’ leaves Toronto neighbourhood shaken

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NATIONAL

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Rehabilitation, not arrest, the answer for terrorist travellers, expert says A leading researcher on terrorist travellers says returnees to Canada can be rehabilitated, since those who come back to their home countriesareoftendisillusionedortraumatized.

Others feel they have done their duty to defend Muslim lands and want to lead a more normal life, says Lorne Dawson, a sociology professor at the University of Waterloo and project director for the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society.

As forces of Daesh scatter, the Liberal government is under pressure to explain what

it’s doing to contain any threat from foreign fighters returning to Canada.

The Conservatives have peppered the government with questions in the House of Commons about ensuring the safety of Canadians — accusing the Liberals of welcoming returnees with open arms.

Dawson says simply locking up extremist travellers is not the answer.

“No credible expert in the world thinks you

arrest your way out of jihadist radicalization — it’s a social movement,” he said Sunday in

an interview. “You can’t possibly arrest all the people who are engaged with this ideology.”

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has said it is aware of 180 individuals with a nexus to Canada who are suspected of terrorist activity abroad.

This could involve front-line fighting, training, logistical support, fundraising or studying at extremist-influenced schools.

Half of these individuals are believed to have travelled to Syria or Iraq.

Bank of Canada sees risks easing but the real cure is higher mortgage rates and stricter rules The Bank of Canada is optimistic higher interest rates and regulatory efforts to rein in risky borrowing will make the country’s

financial system more resilient, though the process could take time to unfold and the outcome remains uncertain. In its semi-annual

financial stability report, Canada’s central bank painted a picture of a housing market where key steps have been taken to improve the quality of lending, particularly in the most expensive cities such as Toronto. At the same time, it warned risks remain elevated, particularly high household debt levels, and measures to rein in loans to the most highly indebted households will take time to work. 2018 could be a ‘scary year’ as housing correction puts some debtridden Canadians under water “Our financial system continues to be resilient, and is being bolstered by stronger growth and job creation, but we need to continue to watch financial vulnerabilities closely,” Governor Stephen Poloz said in a statement.

The language in the report parallels the main message in the central bank’s last Financial System Review in June — that of strengthening resiliency of the financial system on the back of an improving economy — that provided the backdrop for two rate increases in July and September. The Canadian dollar pared some of its intraday losses after the report. The currency was down 0.2 per cent to C$1.2798 per U.S.

dollar at 10:48 a.m. in Toronto trading.

The central bank cited three main reasons why it expects risks to mitigate over time: income growth, new mortgage finance policy measures and higher mortgage rates.

New regulations — the federal government’s in 2016 and the banking regulator last month — limit the creation of new highly indebted households, and should reduce demand in cities like Toronto where speculative demand has been a factor, the central bank said.

“The effects of tighter mortgage rules implemented last year have already improved the quality of new insured lending,” the Bank of Canada said. “Income growth, new mortgage finance policy measures and higher mortgage rates are expected to mitigate this vulnerability over time.” Uninsured Mortgages One area that remains a major concern for the central bank is the growing share of uninsured mortgages, those with loan to value ratios at or below 80 per cent, which is being fuelled by higher Toronto and Vancouver home prices and tighter qualification rules for insured mortgages.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Audits on Canadian embassies find fraud, undocumented payments and ballooning overtime costs Audits of five Canadian embassies operating in “higher fraud-risk environments” have found cases of questionable procurement practices, undocumented payments for work, and sky-high levels of overtime for drivers.

The audits were ordered after a 2016 investigation discovered that Canada’s embassy in Haiti was defrauded of $1.7 million over 12 years through inflated supply contracts and diverted materials. The government fired 17 locally recruited employees over the case.

Management audits were conducted on Canadian embassies in Nigeria, Algeria, Russia, India and Kenya, as well as on Canada’s embassy in South Korea as a lowrisk environment for comparison purposes.

The audit results were posted online in November, except for the Kenya embassy; Global Affairs says “new information” was found at the last minute and that audit has been delayed. The other high-risk embassies,

however, were all found to have major problems. The audit on the Nigeria embassy was the most damning, concluding that protocols around “finance, procurement, contracting, revenues, and asset management were not consistently followed and some key controls were not in place or were circumvented.”

Embassy managers were not being consistently provided procurement information, and “the majority of contracts were not entered into the departmental financial and administrative system,” meaning invoices couldn’t be matched up to purchase orders, and contracts over $10,000 were not being proactively disclosed as required. Several dubious payments were found, including one case where the contract was signed after the work had already commenced, another where the overtime was paid at a higher rate than in the contract, and another where the value of the contract was “significantly exceeded

ISIS brides returning home and raising the next generation of jihadist martyrs The woman’s secret flight from the caliphate took place more than six months ago, aided by a smuggler who helped her sneak across the Syrian-Turkish border one spring night.

But in spirit, this red-haired exile from the Islamic State never truly left.

She covered herself in black from head to toe to greet a recent visitor to the small Moroccan house where she stays, and removed her veil only when assured that her guest, also a woman, was alone. Over sips of mint tea, she spoke admiringly of her militant husband and the comrades she met in the Islamic State’s all-female brigade.

Calling herself Zarah – she declined to give her family name because she had traveled to Syria in secret – she vowed that her children would someday reclaim the Islamist paradise she believes was stolen from her family.

“We will bring up strong sons and daughters and tell them about the life in the caliphate,” she said, fingering her teacup through black gloves. “Even if we hadn’t been able to keep it, our children will one day get it back.”

Zarah’s blunt-spoken fealty to the Islamic State was remarkable, given the physical and legal perils facing Islamic State residents who seek to return to former homes. But counterterrorism officials fear that the sentiments expressed by the Moroccan woman may not be so unusual.

A photo posted on Twitter on March 18, 2015, by Zehra Duman, aka Umm Abdullatif, a self-professed Australian female ISIS member. SITE Intelligence Group In recent months, women immigrants to the Islamic State have been fleeing the caliphate by the hundreds, eventually returning to their native countries or finding sanctuary in detention centers or refugee camps along the way. Some are mothers with young children who say they were pressured into traveling to Iraq or Syria to be with their husbands. But a disturbing number appear to have embraced the group’s ideology and remain committed to its goals, according to interviews with former residents of the caliphate as well as intelligence officials and analysts who are closely tracking the returnees.

From North Africa to Western Europe, the new arrivals are presenting an unexpected challenge to law enforcement officials, who were bracing for an influx of male returnees but instead have found themselves deciding the fate of scores of women and children.

Few of the females fought in battle, yet governments are beginning to regard all as potential threats, both in the near term and well into the future. Indeed, as the loss of the caliphate has appeared ever more certain, Islamic State leaders in recent weeks have issued explicit directions to women returnees to prepare for new missions, from carrying out suicide attacks to training offspring to become future terrorists.

“There were definitely cases of women being dragged off to ISIS, but there are others who have been radicalized, including some who went on to assume important roles,” said Anne Speckhard, director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, a nonprofit organization that conducts field research on Islamic State deserters and defectors. One Kosovo native interviewed by the center admitted that she returned home only because she was in the final weeks of pregnancy and wanted better medical care.

“She came out to have her baby but said she wanted to go back,” Speckhard said. “And, she said, she wanted both her kids to grow up to be martyrs.” For months, terrorism officials have been expecting a wave of returnees from the caliphate. But not this one. In Morocco, the North African kingdom whose coastline faces continental Europe from across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, just over 1,600 male fighters have traveled to Iraq or Syria since 2012 to join the Islamic State, along with a nearly equal number of women and children, according to figures compiled by the Soufan Group, a private firm that advises governments and corporations on security matters. The flow of recruits from North Africa and Europe slowed to a trickle last year as U.S.-backed forces cut off the group’s supply lines and closed in on its final strongholds, and relatively few of the male fighters have come home, despite fears of a mass exodus as the caliphate neared collapse. Instead, foreign consulates in Turkey have been besieged by hundreds of women and children – the wives, mothers and offspring of Islamic State fighters – seeking permission to return home.

Scores of Moroccan women have successfully returned – including some, like Zarah, who slipped in and out of the country unnoticed – and dozens more are waiting in detention centers in Turkey while their cases are reviewed.

FINANCE

21

22

SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Pakistan’s weapons programme surest route to nuke-level war: Report In a report ‘Asia in the Second Nuclear Age’, the Atlantic Council said Pakistan does not appear to have operationalised its tactical nuclear-warfare plans yet.

“Pakistan’s tactical nuclearweapons programme is dangerous for safety and security reasons, and also because it is the surest route to escalating conventional war to the nuclear level. The greatest threat in the region comes not from the development of large, sophisticated, and diversified nuclear arsenals, but from the continued stability of the institutions guarding them. “In this regard, the future stability of Pakistan remains a wild card,” said the report.

In the last four decades, the Pakistani deep state’s pursuit of low-intensity conflict in Afghanistan and India, via the vehicles of radical jihadi non-state actors, has produced terrible blow back effects on Pakistan itself.

Noting that both the Pakistani state and civil society have become the targets of terror attacks, it said some of the attacks have occurred, with insider help, on sensitive military bases where nuclear weapons are likely stored.

“The possibility that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could be stolen — or that schisms in Pakistan’s military might cause nuclear command-and-control failures — is not as fantastic as it once seemed,” said the report.

Authored by Gaurav Kampani and Bharath Gopalaswamy, the report concludes that in the nuclear dynamic in the Indo- Pacific region, India and Pakistan are novice developers of nuclear arsenals; the weapons in their inventory are first- generation fission weapons.

Likewise, their delivery systems are the first in the cycle of acquisitions, the

report said, adding that their hardware acquisitions generate outside concern because of the scope of their ambitions.

Observing that both nations plan to deploy a triad capability, the report said nonetheless, this ambitious goal and the selection of technologies underline the central lesson of the nuclear revolution, which is force survival (to enable an assured second-strike capability).

It said force survival through secure second-strike capabilities is also China’s goal.

“It is the only nuclear power among the three that is actually modernizing, i.e., replacing aging delivery systems with newer and better designs,” the report said.

“Thus far, the evidence suggests that Chinese and Indian explorations of multiple re-entry vehicle technologies are aimed at reinforcing deterrence through the fielding of more robust second-strike capabilities,” the report said.

It said that this conclusion is also supported by the fact that neither India nor China has, nor is developing, the ancillary intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems necessary to execute splendid first-strike attacks.

Bangladesh approves controversial Rohingya island Bangladesh approved a controversial $280 million project to transform a desolate island off its southern coast into a temporary camp for 100,000 Rohingya refugees on Tuesday, despite warnings the site is uninhabitable.

The announcement comes just days after Bangladesh signed an agreement to repatriate to Myanmar the Rohingya refugees languishing in overburdened camps along its border.

A government economic council chaired

by Sheikh Hasina gave the greenlight to the planned redevelopment of Bhashan Char island, a project that has attracted fierce criticism since being first proposed in 2015.

Planning Secretary Ziaul Islam said it was hoped the island would be ready from May to accommodate some of the more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims that have crossed the border in the past three months.

Nepal votes in 1st provincial polls amid democracy hopes Residents of mountain villages and foothill towns voted on Sunday in Nepal’s first provincial polls, with the hope of bringing government closer to the Himalayan nation’s rural and remote areas.

Nepal’s chief election commissioner, Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, said turnout was more than 65 percent among the 3.2 million voters who were choosing lawmakers in seven newly formed federal states as well as the national assembly.

The lawmakers who are elected on Sunday, and Dec. 7 in the remaining parts of the country, will be able to name their states, draft provincial laws and choose local leaders.

“The central government is finally moving to our region. We will be closer to the government now with the state assemblies,” said schoolteacher Swasthani

Thapa, who was among the voters lining outside the polling station at Chautara, 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Kathmandu, even before it opened at 7 a.m.

Chautara was one of the areas hardest hit by a devastating 2015 earthquake. People in Nepal’s mountain regions complained they did not get enough help from the central government because their voices were not heard. Two years later, destroyed and damaged houses are still scattered around Chautara and surrounding areas.

“This is a historic day for us,” said businessman Surya Lal Shrestha. “The setting up of states will give final shape to the democracy process, which should finally bring stability and development for our country.”

Blasphemy law hands fringe Islamists dangerous weapon As federal law minister Zahid Hamid resigned on Monday, caving to a key demand from Islamist protesters who virtually paralysed the capital for weeks over an amendment to the oath sworn by election candidates.

An obscure Islamist group in Pakistan has brought down a federal minister and dealt the government a stinging blow with the help of a blasphemy law that authorities have long used as a tool of repression against minorities and dissidents.

Hamid’s surrender marked a disturbing new precedent in the country’s political landscape, after the fringe Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLY) tied the amendment fiasco to blasphemy charges.

Blasphemy is a profoundly sensitive issue in the Islamic republic and can rouse even moderates whose religion emphasises devotion to the Prophet. At its most extreme, even unproven allegations have sparked mob lynchings and vigilante murders.

But it is also enshrined in the country’s legal code, where it carries the death penalty, with analysts warning the charge is unanswerable. “You’re looking at a law that can’t be defined ... anything can be blasphemy, so it’s very broad,” said Pakistani lawyer Yasser Latif Hamdani.

Activists have long called for reform, saying the legislation is too often abused to settle personal scores and target the religious minorities.

In recent months some have cautioned it is also becoming a way to stifle digital

dissent, with authorities rounding up bloggers and sending out nationwide text messages warning against dubious postings on social media. Now analysts fear Hamid’s capitulation has proven the statutes can serve as an all-powerful political weapon, allowing even a marginal group to deliver a humiliating blow to the country’s rulers.

The amendment at the centre of the row altered the oath’s reference to Prophet Mohammed. The government said the change was inadvertent and quickly reversed course but the protesters were not appeased.

“The optimist would argue that this could be a one-off. But it isn’t,” Zeeshan Salahuddin of the Center for Research and Security Studies, a think tank in Islamabad, told AFP. “This is the net result of four decades of slow poisoning with intolerance, political indifference, and the state’s inability to truly understand the public’s concerns.”

The country’s first blasphemy law was originally passed down from Pakistan’s former colonial masters and largely aimed at keeping the peace between different religious communities on the subcontinent.

But the framework was given a shot in the arm during the rule of former hardline Islamist dictator Zia-ul-Haq in the mid-80s.

His regime passed a series of new statutes that included a provision for capital punishment in cases of insulting the Prophet Mohammed. “The true tragedy is that the law never actually takes course, as the accused is often publicly lynched or beaten,” explains Salahuddin.

PUNJAB

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Longowal elected 42nd SGPC chief The Shiromani Gurdwara “political interference” in Parbandhak Committee SGPC affairs and the clergy’s (SGPC) General House “controversial” decisions. elected former Dhuri MLA A former chairman of the Gobind Singh Longowal as Sangrur district planning the 42nd president during board, Longowal defeated its annual meeting at Teja Amrik Singh Shahpur of Singh Samundri Hall here Gobind Singh Longowal, newly- Dera Baba Nanak, securing elected SGPC chief (centre) today. Longowal, whose 154 votes. Shahpur, who in Amritsar. name was proposed by Bibi polled 15 votes, was later Jagir Kaur, replaces Kirpal Singh Badungar. included on the 11-member executive at the insistence of the Panthic Front, constituted Of the 170 members present, Hardeep Singh some weeks prior to the poll by Sukhdev Mohali did not cast his vote in protest against Singh Bhaur, a former general secretary.

Former AAG claims he is the real victim of audio scadal The man in the centre of the “audio tape scandal” today claimed he was the “real victim”.

Talking to The Tribune, former Additional Advocate General Amit Chaudhary denied any knowledge that a judge was paid Rs 35 lakh bribe for dismissing the review petition of Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira against his summoning in an NDPS case by a Fazilka court.

“I never said it. Why would I say such a thing? And even if for a minute it is assumed I said that, how can someone make public claims without checking its veracity?” he said. “Moreover, how is it possible that a judge would take money from a client, as much as Rs 35 lakh, and give relief by cancelling arrest warrants?” he questioned.

Amit was the person talking to former PCS officer TK Goel in the audio tape released by MLA Simarjit Singh Bains to claim a conspiracy against Khaira. Amit

Resolution against LIP MLAs in Punjab House CM Amarinder Singh gov’t pulled a rabbit out of a hat on the last day of the winter session. Taking even his Cabinet colleagues and party MLAs by surprise, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra towards the fag end introduced a resolution against Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) MLAs Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder

Singh Bains, “for their scandalous allegations against an honourable judge” and demanded that the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice take action.

He was referring to the audio-tape released by the Bains brothers to “prove” a plot to implicate Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira (AAP) in a drug smuggling case. On Monday, hours before the session began, the LIP MLAs had released the tape, purportedly a conversation between a dismissed PCS officer and an advocate regarding a deal the latter had struck with a judge to ensure Khaira’s revision petition was dismissed.

The SAD and BJP legislators, who remained mute spectators when the resolution was passed, later claimed it was done unanimously.

“The House unanimously deprecates the casual and irresponsible manner in which Lok Insaaf Party MLAs released the audio-recording, claiming it was a conversation about payment of Rs 35 lakh to an honourable judge.

is heard claiming that judgements are managed and in this case Rs 35 lakh was paid.

Amit said he had met Goel a number of times and this particular meeting took place on November 17 evening.

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Lifts at Golden Temple entrance After beautifying its surroundings with a multi-crore heritage street and entrance plaza, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to revamp the main entrance to the Golden Temple.

Sparing a thought for physically-challenged devotees, the SGPC plans to instal special lifts to allow easier access to the shrine’s “parkarma” (circumambulation). Escalators will also be installed from the way leading to the shrine complex through the Akal Takht side.

SGPC chief secretary Dr Roop Singh says the SGPC executive has allotted the “kar sewa” (volunteer service) to Baba Kashmir Singh Bhurewale and the work will formally commence on November 28.

There are five “deoris” (gateways) — Ghanta Ghar Deori, Langar Deori, Manji Sahib Deori, Atta Mandi Deori and Khazana Deori — around the complex allowing access to the “parkarma”.

The main gateway, Ghanta Ghar Deori,

is the most popular entry point among devotees. However, a flight of steps in the interior facade of the “deori” causes inconvenience to those with movement disability or those in the wheel chair.

Under the plan, two lifts will be installed on either side for easy access. “This will allow a disabled person to access the parkarma while remaining seated in the wheelchair. It will also be a boon for those who have difficulty stepping down or going up the stairs while leaving.

“The lifts will open on both sides and also connect the Central Sikh Museum on the upper floor. The present stairs leading to the museum will be closed and the new staircase will be constructed from the parkarma side,” says Dr Roop Singh. A new ceiling with intricate enamelled work has also been planned. The pillars will be given new uniform shape and the floor will be redesigned, in harmony with the shrine’s ambience.

24

INDIA

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Court rules instant triple talaq is illegal and gives husband 3-year jail term Muslim men pronouncing instant triple talaq can get a three-year jail term, a draft law that declares it “illegal” and “void” has proposed. According to the draft law, which would be applicable to whole of India, except Jammu and Kashmir, pronouncing instant triple talaq would also attract a fine. It would be a non-bailable and cognisable offence.

Under the draft law, triple talaq in any form — spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp — would be illegal and void, a senior government official said on Friday.

The draft ‘Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill’ has been sent to state governments for their views, the official said, adding they have been asked

to respond to it urgently as “The plan is to bring it in the Winter Session of Parliament.”

The official, however, clarified that the proposed law would be applicable only to cases of instant triple talaq or ‘talaq-ebiddat’ and not other forms of talaq that remain legal and valid.

Aimed at curbing the practice which continues despite the Supreme Court’s historic verdict declaring it illegal and unconstitutional, the draft Bill has been prepared by an inter-minister group headed

by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Other members included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State for Law PP Chaudhary.

‘Is Arvind Subramanian stupid,’ Chidambaram asks PM Modi Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram car. They want 28% tax on alcohol and costly on Thursday hit back at Prime Minister cigarettes to be reduced to 18%. Do you Narendra Modi, a day after the latter said that want to sell cheap alcohol and spread cancer by selling cheap cigarettes. the Congress’s demand that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) This is nothing but a be capped at 18 per cent was a Grand Stupid Thought.

There can’t be any bigger ‘Grand Stupid Thought.’ anti-poor and anti-middle Chidambaram wondered if PM Modi+ considered other class thought.” proponents of such a move Chidambaram further - including Chief Economic asked if the PM had read a 2015 report by a CEA-led Adviser (CEA) Arvind committee that suggested Subramanian - “stupid.”

P Chidambaram Yesterday, at a rally in a standard GST rate of 17Gujarat’s Morbi, the PM had said: “Some 18 per cent, based on a revenue-neutral rate intellectuals and economists are misleading (RNR) of 15-15.5 per cent. He demanded to the country. Congress wants the same 18% know why the normal GST rate couldn’t be tax on something as essential as salt and 15 per cent and the RNR plus rate on luxury something as expensive as Rs 5 crore worth goods be 18 per cent.

Empower women with technology: Ivanka Ivanka Trump, adviser to US President including technology support, financial Donald Trump, and Cherie Blair, wife of support and taxation policies,” Ivanka said. former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Stating that technology offers tremendous today made a strong pitch for adoption of opportunity to women entrepreneurs, technology to bridge the gender gap and boost Ivanka said the governments ensure women entrepreneurship across the world. that they get access to the technology.

On Day Two of the Global Entrepreneurship Cherie Blair, who heads the Cherie Blair Summit (GES 2017) here, a plenary session Foundation for Women, explained how she on “innovations in workforce development used to balance her job as an attorney with and skills training” saw the participants the responsibilities of being wife of a prime highlighting the gender gap in workforce minister, thanks to the technology. She said and calling for there was no an ecosystem to need for women provide equal to feel inferior opportunities for to men; in fact, women to hone their they were far entrepreneurial superior to men s k i l l s . in many aspects, “Having diversity if they get access is better business. t e c h n o l o g y.

It is, therefore, a “We have to fiscal responsibility Indian Prime Minister Narendra ModI (left) looks find solutions to of businesses to on as US presidential adviser Ivanka Trump presses enable women their shareholders the button on robot during the opening of the Global do better at what to balance the they do without Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad. gender gap in the giving up on their labour force,” said Ivanka, who is leading a enterprises. Capacity, confidence, capital — 350-member strong American contingent the three things women entrepreneurs need to at the three-day summit. Echoing similar flourish. It’s all about choice and diversity. It’s sentiments, Cherie Blair said, “India about respecting each other’s choices,” she said. has one of the lowest rates of female ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO labour force participation in the world.” Chanda Kochhar said women in India were “Out of every dollar earned by women, 90 making it to the top in the corporate world. cents go back into their family income… it is She pointed out that India that had produced important to support women entrepreneurs women in sports like wrestling and gymnastics through a number of policy initiatives that were considered the male domains.

Rajasthan Hindu girl wants Muslim lover to convert for marriage A girl from Jodhpur, who had eloped with police station where the duo was brought.

The crowd raised slogans alleging that her Muslim boyfriend, has refused to marry him until he changes this was a case of ‘love jihad’ and his religion to even thrashed Hinduism. She also refused to go home Mohsin.

ACP and said till Mohsin Pooja Yadav said Khan converts, she the girl was taken to a magistrate would wait for him for recording her at her cousin’s place.

Pooja Joshi, an statements under undergraduate, had section 164 of eloped with Mohsin the CrPC. In her She also refused to go home and said till Mohsin Khan, a taxi driver, converts, she would wait for him at her cousin’s place. statement, the girl following which her reportedly said family filed a missing complaint. she would marry Mohsin only if he becomes After a tip-off, the police detained the a Hindu. She also refused to go home and couple in Bikaner and brought them to said till Mohsin converts, she would wait Jodhpur on Tuesday. As the word about for him at her cousin’s place. “The girl is not the couple’s elopement spread in the city, a minor. Hence, she can decide where she supporters of some Hindu groups along with wants to live. We let her go after completing the girl’s family members assembled at the the formalities,” said Yadav.

INDIA

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Kerala government backs NIA probe into ‘love jihad’ The CPM-led government in Kerala has backed NIA probe into instances of ‘love jihad’ and has told the Supreme Court that it was “grappling with the problem”.

While the Marxist-led government had earlier opposed the probe by National Investigation Agency, it asked the Supreme Court on Monday to take into account the report prepared by the central agency before taking a

SC to revisit ‘no automatic arrest’ in dowry cases Four months after a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court laid down a set of guidelines to check misuse of the anti-dowry law (Section 498A of the IPC), a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is all set to revisit it.

The CJI-led Bench, which also included Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, on Wednesday clarified that it can’t frame guidelines on how to investigate dowry harassment cases, saying such guidelines will

amount to going beyond statutory provisions.

It hinted at revisiting the July 27 judgment by a Bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit that put an end to the practice of automatic arrests in cruelty and dowry-related under Section 498A of IPC, that has often been misused to harass innocent family members of husbands named in complaints. It had ordered setting up of committees to scrutinise dowry harassment complaints.

“These directions will not apply to the offences involving tangible physical injuries or death,” it had clarified.

On Wednesday, senior advocates V Shekhar and Indu Malhotra — both amicus curiae — requested the CJI Bench to stay the verdict.

“We may accept or overrule it,” the CJI commented.

The CJI’s Bench — which had on October 13 said: “We do not agree with the judgment which laid down the guidelines” — pointed out that the guidelines on how the police should proceed in dowry harassment cases were not required for the implementation of a statutory provision under Section 498A.

view on the allegation Hindu women were being lured into marriages with Muslims as part of a larger plot to organise religious conversions.

“Court should first look into the document.

We have to first look at the broader picture.

The state grapples with this problem,” Kerala

government’s counsel, senior advocate V Giri told the apex court during the hearing in the case about the conversion of Akhila to Islam.

NIA has in its report spoken about a “ well-oiled” machinery active in Kerala to indoctrinate people to embrace Islam. The state

25

government had earlier opposed NIA probe into the marriage of Shafin Jahan and Akhila Asokan+ to examine alleged indoctrination and conversion to Islam of the girl and had told the Supreme Court that state police had thoroughly probed the case and there was no need to hand over the investigation to the central agency.

26

PUNJAB

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Trial court erred in giving bail to Sajjan, says SIT Congress leader Sajjan Kumar should not have been granted anticipatory bail by a trial court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, the Delhi High Court was today told by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the SIT which is probing the charges against him, told Justice Anu Malhotra that witnesses were not coming forward as the Congress leader was not in custody.

Sajjan was granted anticipatory bail by a trial court on December 21 last year in a case of killing of three Sikhs during the riots

which had occurred after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Jain argued that the trial court had erred in granting the relief to the former MP on the ground of lapse of time.

He said the witnesses and their families as well as the kin of the victims of the riots had fled to Punjab fearing for their lives and it was only now that they were coming forward. He said the witnesses would be required to be confronted with Sajjan and if he was out of custody, they would not come forward.

Govt to hand over all targeted killings list to NIA Due to possible national and international ramifications of the conspiracy behind the targeted killings in the state, the Punjab Government has decided to hand over the investigation of seven cases to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Disclosing this here on Thursday, an official spokesperson said it had been decided to transfer the cases to the NIA under Section 6 of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008, since the modus operandi in all cases was the same. It had also been found that the interstate as well as international perpetrators and terrorist angle involved in the criminal conspiracy, to disturb peace and communal harmony in the border state of Punjab by

selectively targeting leaders of certain groups, were the same. The decision to transfer the cases was taken after an NIA team, led by its Director YC Modi, held discussions with officials of the Punjab Police on Monday.

The two teams mutually felt that the Central agency was better equipped to undertake further investigations into the cases. With handlers, conspirators and financers in all these targeted killings operating from foreign soil, the investigations needed to be more broad-based, they both agreed.

Following the decision, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed the Punjab Police to hand over all material in the cases to the NIA for further investigation into

BJP MP trolled for blaming rape victim MP Kirron Kher drew condemnation from various quarters a day after she stated that the 22-year-old gang-rape victim should not have boarded the autorickshaw with three men already sitting in it. While speaking to mediapersons yesterday, Kher had said the girl allegedly raped by three men, including an auto-rickshaw driver, should not have sat in the vehicle when she saw three men in it. “We should make the city so secure that a girl should feel safe even if 10 persons, let alone three, are sitting in a vehicle. The MP should not have said what she did yesterday. Rather efforts should be made to make Chandigarh safe,” said former MP and BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan.

Expressing displeasure over the BJP leader’s statement, former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal said, “One is aghast to hear such a statement from a responsible person like an MP. Gang rape is a very serious matter which deserves serious consideration. Instead of judging the victim’s decision of boarding

an auto occupied by three men, one expected a serious response from her.” “She should have instead informed about what discussions she has had with the authorities over the security of women in Chandigarh and what steps are proposed to make Chandigarh a crime-free city, which might include better lighting of all roads, greater mobility of PCR vehicles and taking steps to instill fear in the minds of potential miscreants,” added the Congress leader. acebook user Varsha Dasgupta posted, “I used to look up to you. But now, I am so damn disappointed with you.”

“Basically, she meant is if I board an autorickshaw alone with three men already in it, I am giving them an excuse to rape me?...,” added Paromita Chatterjee. However, there were some who said her statement was not presented in a right way and she did not mean it. MP Kirron Kher today took to Facebook to clarify her yesterday’s statement.

She posted: “…my statement about the

Govt: Not running any online lottery The Lottery Department, Punjab, has made it absolutely clear that the state government is not running any online lottery. A government spokesman said it had come to the notice of the Lottery Department that some anti-social elements were committing fraud with the people in

the name of the bumper lottery schemes of Punjab by sending fraudulent e-mails implying that they had won the first prize.

The spokesman clarified that no such e-mail was sent by the government as it did not run any such online lottery.

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FIJI

Saturday, December 2, 2017

A 7-year-old girl is the youngest person to commit suicide in Fiji The youngest person to commit suicide in Fiji is a 7-year-old girl, and Police are again asking parents and guardians to know and understand their children and their needs.

Chief of Operations ACP Rusiate Tudravu says the 7-yearold girl committed suicide at her home in Ba. Fijivillage has received confirmation that the girl committed suicide because she was unhappy that she was not being taken somewhere.

A 16-year-old student also took her own life at her Lautoka home last Thursday morning.

This happened after an argument between the

16-year-old girl and a sibling.

Suicide continues to be a major issue for the country and people facing personal issues are advised to seek assistance.

There have been 94 cases of suicides and 102 cases of attempted suicide so far this year compared to 102 suicides and 104 attempted suicide cases last year.

Six people who committed suicide this year were under 16 years old while nine people who were under 16 years old attempted to commit suicide. ACP Tudravu says it is imperative that a safe space is created where children can share their life with us whether it is a positive or negative situation.

Justice Temo raises serious concerns after lawyer in rape trial failed to show up “A lawyer cannot just drop a case and attend to personal matters no matter how serious they are.”

High Court Judge Justice Salesi Temo made these comments in the trial of a former school teacher this morning after his lawyer, Aman Ravindra Singh failed to show up when the matter was called.

The state counsel informed the court that Singh has advised them that his mother suffered a stroke this morning and he had to rush home. However, Justice Temo highlighted that Aman Ravindra Singh could have appointed another counsel on his behalf for the trial to continue today as scheduled.

Justice Salesi Temo then told all present in court

that he was attending cases even when his father had passed away and even when his family had criticised him.

He said that this is very unprofessional conduct from Singh although he is fully sympathizing with him.

Justice Temo then said that he cannot adjourn this rape trial as there are other rape trials queuing up. He has ordered the former school teacher to contact Singh and tell him to be present in court at 2.15 this afternoon or find another counsel for the trial to resume.

The former primary school teacher is charged with four counts of rape and nine counts of sexual assault of students.

Hardware merchants open $5 million outlet One of the country’s leading hardware other businesses and organisations to improve merchants, RC Manubhai and Company Ltd, their infrastructure and facilities.

“We have some buildings within the central opened a brand new $5 million outlet in Tukani St, business district that need Lautoka, yesterday. compete renovation to bring Managing director Dinesh some life to the city.”

Patel said the opening of the Mr Patel said the ongoing company’s second outlet in the expansion of the company was Sugar City marked a milestone for the Patel family. “The $5m in line with the pioneering spirit of two brothers — investment in this project Dahyabhai V Patel and testifies to our commitment Raojibhai V Patel — who and confidence in the Sugar City and nation as a whole,” he Lautoka City Council CEO Jone arrived in Fiji from India in said at the opening ceremony. Uluinakauvadra is flanked by RC Manubhai 1926.

“They established a grocery “People of Lautoka are managing director Dinesh Patel (left) and indeed fortunate that this new operations executive Premal Patel. business called DV Patel and Sons in Korovuto, Ba.” shop will no doubt give more choices for building materials.”

He said the brothers entrepreneurial spirit Mr Patel added that apart from providing resulted in the establishment of RC Manubhai and employment and increased service to customers, Co Ltd in 1960. “And there has been no looking the new outlet had also transformed what was once back for the company since. “They have shops an eyesore into a major trading store. throughout Fiji and have also branched out in the “On the same note, I would like to encourage South Pacific,” said Mr Patel.

Fiji Government driver in court on multiple charges A Fiji Government driver who allegedly assaulted two Police officers after refusing to undergo a breathalyser test in Suva last Saturday morning was produced at the Suva Magistrates Court this afternoon.

Jese Navunicagi Bauli appeared before Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage.

He is charged with one count of serious assault

and one count of resisting arrest.

Mr Bauli, 52, is also charged with one count of refusing to undergo a breath test or breath analysis, one count of failing to stop when required to do so by a Police officer and one count of dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm.

He has been released on a $2000 surety bail.

He will reappear in court on February 27, 2018.

Tonnes of sea food confiscated during fish company raid “But this is the first company we found out Two hump head wrasse (varivoce), a protected fish species, were part of a haul in a that had substantial amount of evidence for us to carry out the raid.” He has warned fishermen raid on a seafood company in Suva yesterday.

Fisheries officer Meli Raicebe said about 10 involved in the illegal trade that they would be tonnes of fresh and semi-produced beche-de- closing down those companies involved in the mer were also seized by Ministry of Fisheries illegal business of selling and exporting bechede-mer. “We are closing these companies and officials during the raid. if they are harvesting, The ministry has there will be no place warned other companies for them to sell their and fishermen involved in harvest. What we like the illegal beche-de-mer to advise them is to trade that they are closely monitoring the situation. bear with us, basically The ministry had released to help sustain the a public notice two resources we have. months ago to ban the Not just for tomorrow sale, harvesting and export but for the future of beche-de-mer. generations as well,” he Fisheries officers, Inoke Vasu, left, and Avenai said.

Mr Raicebe said the Mokubula with a seized varivoce fish ministry extended the “The ban closure period until November 2 usually takes years. for companies to export all remaining stock.

This ban will be until the ministry identifies it He said following the expiry of the notice is sustainable to start harvesting beche-de-mer early this month, the ministry gathered the again in the country.”

Vatuwaqa-based company was still buying the He said the beche-de-mer industry was banned beche-de-mer. worth a lot and there could not be any monetary “The raid today (yesterday) netted quite a value put to it at the moment. substantial amount,” he said.

“Some of the local people selling the beche“There are other companies also we de-mer, when they buy from the fishermen, are gathering information on. We have they sell it for $80 per kilogram. So the mark up notified them of the closure through written price would be substantial. notifications and discussions,” Mr Raicebe said.

14 jailed for sedition All 14 accused persons in the Nadroga/Navosa sedition trial will spend time behind bars. High Court Judge Justice Sunil Sharma sentenced 13 of the 14 accused to two years, three months and 11 days imprisonment in Lautoka yesterday.

Fifth accused and serving prisoner Ulaiyasi Rabua will serve an additional 16 months to his existing prison term.

On September 29 this year, Rabua was sentenced to a two-year prison term of which four months was suspended.

He was convicted of seditious intent in the Ra sedition trial. Justice Sharma sentenced Rabua to two years, seven months and 11 days

and ordered he serve 16 months of the term consecutively to his previous conviction and the balance concurrently. Justice Sharma said the accused were considered people with standing in society and needed to be responsible citizens.

He said they should have known better the consequences their actions would create.

Last week, the defence counsels for all 14 accused had asked for a suspended sentence.

Justice Sharma refused the requests.

“Although there are claims you were duped, you must take responsibility for your actions,” he said. He added that while several of the accused had apologised to the court, it was not genuine.

PAKISTAN

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Gen Bajwa’s role in ending “Dharna” raises concerns of army meddling in politics When hardline Pakistani Islamists signed Islamists’ demands, including the resignation an agreement with the government on of law minister Zahid Hamid, who stood Monday to end a crippling blockade of down. A high court judge issued an order on the nation’s capital, the text of their deal Monday demanding the government explain concluded by thanking the army chief who why the military had helped negotiate the deal. Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui it said had “saved the nation from a said the army appeared to be big catastrophe”. overstepping its constitutional The effusive praise for General role, which requires it to “act in Qamar Javed Bajwa’s role as aid of civilian government when mediator has triggered concern called upon to do so”. Critics among moderate politicians and worry the military may be criticism from a judge in Islamabad, meddling in politics rather than where 36 hours earlier the civilian simply following the orders of government had called in the army the civilian administration.” The to restore order after police clashed military’s role as facilitator has with the entrenched Islamists.

Several people had been killed in an General Bajwa raised many questions,” said political analyst Zahid Hussain. unsuccessful police-led operation to clear the Islamist protesters, who accused a A ruling party spokesman said the army and government minister of blasphemy. Instead of government had acted in consultation and sending in troops, General Bajwa requested said the army did not balk at government a meeting with Prime Minister Shahid orders. No evidence has emerged to contradict Khaqan Abbasi on Sunday. The next day, the that account. The military did not respond to government capitulated and met most of the requests for comment.

Hafiz Saeed’s release ‘flies in the face’ of Pak claim on fighting terrorism: US official Outraged at the release of JuD chief Hafiz Frankly, it flies in the face of that claim,” the Saeed, a UN and US-designated terrorist, the official added.

Trump administration on Wednesday said it It also belies Pakistan’s pledge or “flies in the face” of Pakistan’s claim that the commitment and their indication that they are committed to dialogue with India because country is not a sanctuary for terrorists.

The release of Saeed, the mastermind of it certainly damages the environment for the Mumbai terror attack, from house being able to return to dialogue, the arrest also shows that Pakistan does official said. The official’s remarks gave an insight into the thinking of not want to improve ties with India and the Trump administration and its that Islamabad is not in favour of talks candid conversation with Pakistan with New Delhi, according to a senior in this regard, in particular after Trump administration official.

“Saeed is a declared terrorist by the release of Saeed from the house the UN. He is a specially designated arrest last week. Soon after Saeed’s Hafiz Saeed terrorist by our own Treasury release, the White House had Department, by our own government. We asked Pakistan to immediately re-arrest and have put $10 million in reward money for prosecute the Mumbai attack mastermind. information leading to his prosecution. So, The White House had also warned Pakistan there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that this that it will have an impact on bilateral this is a terrorist leader,” the official told PTI relationship. Saeed continues to roam free on condition of anonymity. “So, it does not after his release. “It’s in Pakistan’s own interest serve Pakistan’s interest to let him go free, let to take steps to counter these groups, whether him give public remarks or be allowed appear it be Lashkar-e-Taiba, or the Haqqani network, before public gatherings. It belies Pakistan’s the Taliban or Jaish-e-Mohammad. claim that it is not a sanctuary for terrorists.

I’m Lashkar’s biggest supporter: Musharraf Calling himself the “biggest supporter” of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and its founder Hafiz Saeed, former President Pervez Musharraf said he backs the terror group’s role in “suppressing” the Indian Army in Kashmir. Musharraf, 74 retired general is now a days in Dubai, said Mumbai attack mastermind Saeed “is involved in Kashmir” and he supports their involvement. Musharraf, who recently announced a “grand alliance” of political parties, also said he was always in favour of “action” in Jammu and Kashmir and “suppressing the Indian

12 killed, 32 injured in terrorist attack

Army in Kashmir”. “They (LeT) are the biggest force. India got them declared as terrorists after partnering with the US. Yes, they (LeT) are involved in Kashmir, but in Kashmir it is between us and India,” he added. He said he knew that he was also liked by the militant group and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the group headed

by Saeed in Pakistan. Britain to recruit nurses from India London: The UK’s staterun National Health Service (NHS) plans to hire over 5,000 nurses from India and the Philippines in a bid to plug acute staff shortages in the country.

Save up to

Three burqa-clad Taliban militants on Friday stormed an agriculture training institute in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar and opened indiscriminate fire, killing at least 12 people, half of them students, before being shot dead by security forces. The heavily-armed militants, who arrived on an auto rickshaw, attacked the students’ hostel of the Directorate of Agriculture Extension on the University Road in the city, the capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The institute was closed for the Eid-eMilad holiday, but about 70 students were present in the hostel.

The militants stormed the building by firing automatic weapons, creating panic, officials said.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack. Police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Salahuddin Mehsud said 12 people including six students, a security guard and five civilians, were killed and 32 others injured in the attack. Aerial surveillance of the operation was carried out by the army aviation division whereas armoured vehicles of security forces were also called on site. He said three terrorists were killed by security forces after a gunfight which lasted for an hour.

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NRI

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Raj Shah becomes first Indian-American to hold press gaggle aboard Air Force One History was in making today when Raj Shah, who holds a key position in the White House, gaggled with reporters on board presidential chopper Air Force OneIndian-American to enjoy the privilege. Shah, 33, did so in the capacity of Principal Deputy Press Secretary, a position to which he was promoted by US President Donald Trump in September as he restructured his press office by making Hope Hicks Director of Communications.

Shah was accompanying Trump as he flew to Missouri to deliver a major speech on middle-class tax relief and business tax relief.

Mid-way to St Louis, Shah, the highest ranking Indian- American ever in the White House press office, gaggled with the travelling press corp. Gaggle is the term used for informal

briefing by the White House Press Secretary, which is on the record but bars reporters from videographing. “We’re looking forward to the President’s remarks later today. It will be in St. Charles, talking about the need for middle-class tax relief and business tax relief,” Shah said in his opening remarks. “The focus of today’s remarks are going to be on small businesses. He’s going to feature two specific small businesses. One is a local small business incubator, and the other is a jewelry business -they’re a retail business that also wholesales to about two and a half dozen different retailers throughout the country,” he said. “So we’re very excited about these remarks, and we’re excited about the developments on pushing tax reform and tax cuts.

Kennedy Center receives $1 million for Indian cultural performances The prestigious Kennedy Center has received $1 million seed money grant to create an ‘Indian Fund’ to facilitate a series of Indian cultural performances over the next several years.

Well known Indian American philanthropist couple -- Ranvir and Adarsh Trehan -- recently made the donation in this regard to establish the India Fund at the Kennedy Center, a top American center for performing arts.

“The India Fund will exclusively be used to create and present at the Kennedy Center performing arts, artistic exhibits and festivals showcasing the history, traditions, literature, music, dance and culture of India,” Ranvir told ethnic India Abroad newspaper in an interview.

The intent of the India Fund is to be

“country focused”, he told the weekly, adding the programming is intended to “utilise” established or emerging artists, singers, musicians or other performers or performance creators who are either citizens of India or whose ancestry is from India.

“There is a need and desire for sustained India programming at the Kennedy Center for many years to come and I see this as a broad based effort by individuals both in the Indian-American community and others interested in Indian culture from foundations and MNCs,” Ranvir said.

He said, “The result maybe several events every year or even a mini-festival or a substantial festival like Maximum India. The Kennedy Center may choose to cooperate with performing arts centres in other cities on this effort.”

MP backs ‘vindaloo visas’ to plug curry chef shortage in UK LONDON: Britain’s Liberal Democrat party leader Sir Vince Cable has called on the government to introduce temporary “vindaloo” visas to address severe staff shortages being faced by curry restaurants in the country.

The temporary visas would be valid for a year and open to chefs from the Indian sub-continent to help address the crisis facing the UK’s curry industry, Cable said.

“We need more urgent measures, including what has been dubbed a ‘vindaloo visa’, to save the nation’s favourite cuisine,” said the Liberal

Democrat MP for Twickenham at the British Curry Awards in London on Monday night.

The estimated 3.6-billion-pound curry industry, comprising restaurants with roots in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, are feared to be closing at a rate of four a week due to a clampdown on visas used by these restaurants to bring in chefs from the Indian sub-continent.

“If there was any doubt beforehand, the shortage of curry chefs is now a crisis... The curry industry is rightly aggrieved by Brexiteer false promises that a vote to Leave the European

UK NRIs commit Rs 500cr for clean Ganga plan NRI billionaire business magnates in London have committed more than Rs 500 crore of investment to the rejuvenation of the polluted Ganga, as the Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga U P Singh said “cremations were not to blame”.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari, whose responsibilities include water resources, said on Wednesday, that in addition to Ravi Mehrotra and Anil Agarwal’s commitments

to the sacred river, the London-based Hinduja brothers have agree to maintain the Haridwar stretch and Prakash Lohia, chairman of Indorama Corporation, has committed to the Kolkata section. Lohia is from Kolkata. In India, Shiv Nadar, chairman of HCL, has taken up the Varanasi part, Gadkari, who is on a trip to London, said.

100cr is already been invested in the same project by BJP with zero outcomes.

21-yr-old Indian man shot dead in USA A 21-year-old youth from Jalandhar was shot dead in front of his house in Jackson city of Mississippi, US, on Monday.

Sandeep Singh had migrated three years ago. His father Balwinder Singh, a Punjab Police head constable, said he was working at a relative’s store.

“He along with two friends closed the store at 8 pm, but his car developed a snag. The owner asked them to stay back. At 11 pm, Sandeep tried to restart the car and was successful. The

three drove to their apartment but as soon as they stepped out of their vehicle, three armed assailants robbed them of cash and valuables,” his father said.

“Just as the assailants were to leave, Sandeep moved towards the car to park it in the garage. One of the assailants, fearing Sandeep was about to pull out a weapon, opened fire, killing him on the spot,” Sandeep’s body is expected to arrive home by Saturday. A police probe is on and CCTV footage procured.

31

Saturday, December 2, 2017

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FRUITICANA

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Priyanka, Salman Khan and 10 other Indian in Varietyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s list of influential people

S

alman Khan and Priyanka Chopra might not have shared the same frame since a long time, but they have managed to be in Varietyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s list of 500 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;influential business leaders shaping the

global $2 trillion entertainment industry.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Salman and Priyanka, along with 10 other Indian faces have featured in this coveted list. Filmmakers Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, producers Ekta Kapoor, Sidharth Roy Kapoor, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Chairman of Essel Group â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Dr Subhash Chandra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zee Entertainment

Enterprises â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Punit Goenka, Kishore Lulla and Uday Shankar are also in this list. A tweet from the official Twitter handle of Variety read, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Salman Khan is one of the unrelated Khan triumvirate comprising Aamir and Shah Rukh that has been ruling the Bollywood box office for decades.â&#x20AC;? Check out the post right here: The same tweet has a link to the article, which lists down Salmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent and upcoming work. It also talks about his charitable organisation, the Being Human foundation and the work he has been doing through it since many years now. As for Priyank Chopra, they have talked about her successful run in Bollywood and in the West, especially her TV series, Quantico, which is all set to come up with its third season.

Priyankaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s philanthropy work also gets a mention in the article. For those of you who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, Priyanka is a global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights.

With her foundation, the Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education, she helps kids, who are in need.

Sushant Singh, Kriti Sanon to make a big annoucement about their relationship?

S

ushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rumoured affair has been a hot topic of discussion in gossip columns for over a year now. Even though the Raabta co-stars have vehemently denied that they are anything more than â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;good friendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, their actions seem to suggest otherwise.

If a report in Deccan Chronicle is anything to go by, Kriti is done being hushhush about their relationship, and wants to shout from the rooftops that they are in love. A big announcement about their relationship status in the near future is quite likely.

Their first film together, Raabta , fizzled out at the box office faster than you could say its name, but the same cannot be said about Sushant and Kritiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship, which is going strong. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The complement each other really well and look good together too. Close friends are convincing them to make the relationship official, as it will reduce the

insecurity in it for both of them, and will also get others to stay away from them.

But Sushant is yet to agree to an idea like this,â&#x20AC;? a source revealed.

On the work front, Sushant has been busy shooting for Kedarnath, which marks Sara Ali Khanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debut in Bollywood. Apart from this, he will be seen in Tarun Mansukhaniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Drive opposite Jacqueline Fernandez. Sushant also has Chanda Mama Door Ke and Sone Chidaiya in the pipeline.

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Bollywood

Saturday, December 2, 2017

HOROSCOPE Aries March 21 - April 20 Try to get things organized at the start of the week, because you could be less inclined to plan by the end of it. Dealing with a deadline? Working at it on Monday can enable you to complete it easily. Things

Sagittarius, encouraging you to go in search of

on Sunday could heighten feelings, so go easy

later regret.

Taurus April 21 - May 20 You might sense that something needs to change, but the start of the week may not be the time to act. There could be a lot of resistance to letting something go and allowing new opportunities or ideas to take its

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Libra Sept. 24 - Oct 22 The start of the week might see you engaged with mental tasks that could be 5

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your guide planet, enters your sector of %

that much can be accomplished with a little charm. You might prefer to adopt a more independent stance in an ongoing

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 22 You could feel a little cash strapped at the start of the week, but this is a temporary phase. If you plan for it, you might 6

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time to remember.

Sagitarius Gemini

Nov 23 - Dec 22

May 20 - June 21 As the sun eases into your sector of relating, it can encourage you to take stock of

them. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also an opportunity to discuss

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Cancer

Tuesday brings a new dawn as the illuminating sun glides into your sign for a '

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begins to perk up and you now can enjoy being completely yourself. The coming weeks can " ' 2

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yourself can feel really good. The weekend

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too good to miss.

Dec 23 - Jan 20

Your lifestyle sector is in focus, particularly as the cheery sun enters Sagittarius on

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you through the holiday season. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

some thought. It can help you stay on track.

On a social note, romance could sizzle.

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emotional baggage. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a sizzle in the

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brings the potential for romance or perhaps an intimate friendship. Your social life continues buoyant, so thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly plenty of fun to be had.

June 24 - August 23 / "

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illuminating sun entering your leisure sector, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to spend time doing things you enjoy. The coming weeks look quite dynamic, encouraging you to showcase your skills in

1

market or making gifts for friends can let others see how talented you are. It will

Virgo August 24 - Sept 24 0

focus this week as the glowing sun enters your

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comforts somewhere else on the globe. With

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and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an easy hop from one destination to the

4

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Firangiâ&#x20AC;? divas never had it so good in Bollywood.

Now in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jackpot The Full Jholâ&#x20AC;?, Sunny Leonne goes a step further. She will speak her own Hindi lines. A full-fledged Hindi-Urdu tutor has been deployed for this purpose.

Director Kaizad Gustad smiles at memories of another firangi actress in his debut film â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boomâ&#x20AC;?. Kaizad had introduced Katrina Kaif in the film. Her Hindi then was nonexistent. And her dialogues had to be dubbed.

Now Kaizad gets Sunny Leonne to be one-up on Katrina in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jackpotâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sunny is the only female character in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jackpotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. And I hope to display her acting chops. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re reading

the script every day. She will do her own Hindi dialogues.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re working on it every day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She is really one of the hardestw o r k i n g actresses Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked with.

Just like Katrina Kaif.

When Katrina came to Mumbai she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know a word of Hindi,â&#x20AC;? Gustad said.

Sunny Leonne, who made her Bollywood debut with the 2012 film â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jism 2â&#x20AC;?, seems mighty charged with the challenge of mastering the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rashtra-bhashaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. She will also be seen in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ragini MMSâ&#x20AC;? sequel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have learned all my Hindi lines for all my movies here. Even though â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jism 2â&#x20AC;&#x2122; was dubbed I still had to learn every single word.

Capricorn

June 22 - July 23

Leo

Sunnyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hindi in progress

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19 Your social life will be enhanced by the presence of the sun in this sector on Tuesday, increasing your options for fun and getting into the holiday spirit. There is also a more focused aspect encouraging

pay attention to signs and coincidences that could help you with your career and " %

Pisces Feb 20 - March 20 / !

sector of goals and ambitions. The coming four weeks could see you aiming high and eager to make progress with your plans. As this is also

this year and enjoy this time with friends and family who are some distance away. This should "

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turns direct midweek, one situation could gain in clarity.

Baatein With Baadshah ( The King ) Deepika breaks down, Shah Rukh Khan wipes tears Superstar of Bollywood SRK knows how to make women around him comfortable. He is also a very protective of his costars and takes care of them as a guardian. He proved this by comforting an emotional Deepika Padukone who broke down during an interaction with him. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what happened: During a special programme & 8 & , Shah Rukh read out a letter penned

by Deepikaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother Ujjala Padukone. In the letter, senior Padukone had congratulated her daughter for her achievements in her professional life. She also wrote how proud she is of her daughter who knows how to manage both her personal and professional endeavours. This made Deepika teary eyed. Soon tears started rolling down her cheeks and that is when SRK

beautiful face.

Bollywood Personalitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Birthdays

BOMAN IRANI DECEMBER 02

KASHMIRA SHAH DECEMBER 02

JIMMY SHERGILL DECEMBER 03

KONKONA SEN DECEMBER 03

Bollywood

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Monika Gill on Firangi

M

onica Gill, Miss India USA 2013 and Miss India Worldwide 2014, kicked off her career in India as a participant on MTV India’s Next Top Model in 2015. She then made her acting debut in Punjabi cinema with Diljit Dosanjh starrer Ambarsariya, and shared the screen space with him again in Sardaarji 2.

Monica is all set to make her debut in Bollywood opposite Kapil Sharma in

Firangi. In this interview, the actor talks about her dreams, aspirations and Kapil Sharma.

Q. How was it working with Kapil Sharma? Is he funny in real lif? Working with Kapil was a lot of fun. He doesn’t treat people differently. Kapil and the whole K9 team treated us so well. They don’t differentiate between any talent, and everybody is so warm. Kapil was going through depression. He has spoken about it extensively during the trailer launch and while promoting the film. I don’t think it is fair for me to comment on it. But yes, his health issues are legitimate.

Q. You chose to act over using your educational qualifications for a job. Since Indian parents don’t really look up to arts and acting, how did your family react?

You are absolutely correct. My extended family had a huge issue as I come from a Punjabi family. So, a girl needs to be married before moving out of the house.

However, thankfully my dad is a welleducated man and he trusted me with my choices. My mom just wanted me to work with good people, people I am safe with.

Q. Now that you are here, what kind of scripts are you reading and what is your dream role?

I think the Mahabharata is so interesting and intriguing. There are so many stories to it, I would love to play Draupadi in a movie, if there is one made on the Mahabharata.

I am reading a few scripts, and you’ll hear about it very soon.

Dec

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SALLU KI SHADI *ing: Zeenat Aman, Kiran Kumar, Asrani

Nov

24

FIRANGI *ing: Kapil Sharma, Ishita Dutta

New Released Bollywood Films Nov

24

Nov

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TERA INTIZAAR *ing: Arbazz Kha, Sunny Leoone

Dec

01

JULIE 2

102 NOT OUT

*ing: Raai Laxmi, Ravi Kishan

*ing: Raai Laxmi, Ravi Kishan

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Saturday, December 2, 2017

In democracy, films shouldn’t be curbed: Rishi Kapoor

T

he release and screening of films should not be curbed in a democratic country, says veteran actor Rishi Kapoor. An actor who minces no words when it comes to expressing himself on socio-political issues on social media or otherwise, Rishi spoke to IANS on it when asked about the silence of some sections of the film fraternity on the political intervention in cinema.

He said: “I don’t want to comment on this, it’s sad whatever h a s happened.”

Rishi didn’t take any names, but amid the ongoing u p r o a r over the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmavati”, it was clear what he was pointing towards.

“I feel that (the release of) films in this democracy should not be curbed. My only relevant point which I totally agree with the filmmakers is that, please see his film and then pass a comment. Without seeing the film, how can you agitate,” he said.

Rishi said that it’s “absolutely wrong” to protest against a film without watching it.

“First watch the film. If you find something wrong in it, then you protest against it or do

whatever you want to. Without watching the film you started disrupting, agitating and started violence. That’s absolutely wrong,” Rishi said.

But doesn’t he think industry people refrain from commenting on others’ issues as their own film is not facing the music?

“I have no answer to that. Each one to its own,” said the actor, who is shooting for

his new film “Rajma Chawal” in old Delhi. v “Padmavati” was scheduled for release on December 1, but it has been deferred since it has not got clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and has been banned for release in various Indian states like Madya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and Punjab.

Meanwhile, “S Durga”, a Malayalam movie, was initially dropped from a jury-suggested shortlist of the Indian Panorama section of the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) along with another film “Nude”.

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Saturday, December 2, 2017

Dia Mirza appointed UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza has been appointed UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for India. Dia, who is also the brand ambassador for the Wildlife Trust of India, will take up the role to add more weight to her work on raising awareness and seeking solutions for environmental issues that the world, and India in particular, faces, read a statement on Thursday.

“I feel honoured and inspired by this opportunity to work with UN Environment to protect the environment and promote sustainable development. “Environmental issues will be the defining challenge of this era, and I am committed to helping the UN as a Goodwill Ambassador to do everything I can to provide a better future,” said Dia. She added:

“Together, we will continue working towards conservation of nature, tackling climate change and inspiring people to live more sustainably.” As a Goodwill Ambassador, Dia will work with the UN to further spread the message on priority areas, including clean air, clean seas, wildlife protection and climate change.

“I am delighted to have Dia join UN Environment as a Goodwill A m b a s s a d o r.

India faces many challenges, in particular the air pollution that is choking many of its cities.

“Dia’s influence can help to turn the situation around and create a healthy future for Indians and their environment,” said Erik Solheim, UN Environment head.

Nana Patekar: ‘Threats to Deepika Padukone and Sanjay Leela Bhansali is unacceptable’ Nana Patekar said threats to actress Deepika and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali regarding the release of their controversial film ‘Padmavati’ are “wrong and unacceptable”. “’Padmavati’ has not released yet. You don’t know what has been shown in the film. I don’t want to get into this, but what I believe is that giving threats to Deepika and Bhansali is wrong and unacceptable,” Patekar said at an event.

‘Padmavati’, which also stars Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, is mired in controversy over conjectures that it “distorts facts” about Rajput queen Padmavati/ Padmini. The film was scheduled for release on December 1, but it has been deferred since it has not got clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Did Ranbir Kapoor ask to reshoot some portions of the Sanjay Dutt biopic?

A

lthough you would never guess from his current demeanour, there was a time when Sanjay Dutt was quite the wild child of Bollywood. It is no surprise that his biopic, to be directed by Rajkumar Hirani, is one of the most awaited films of 2018.

R anbir Kapoor, who is playing Sanjay Dutt in the film, tentatively titled Sanju, is going the extra mile to make sure he does justice to the role.

According to a report in DNA, he has asked Rajkumar Hirani, to reshoot a few portions of the film. Ranbir knows that all eyes are on him and he wants to push himself to do better than his best.

This request comes after looking at a few rushes of the Sanjay Dutt biopic.

While Ranbir is mighty impressed with how things have turned out, he wants nothing less than perfection in each

frame. “Ranbir knows this will be his big ticket film. So he wants everything to be just perfect. Apparently, Ranbir wants to do even better than he already has. That’s about it,” a source said.

A few distributors and exhibitors have also been shown a sneakpeek of the Sanjay Dutt biopic, and they cannot stop gushing about it. “The Sanjay Dutt biopic might change the whole game for Ranbir. They have just shown us a few scenes and a song and Ranbir is unbelievable,” an exhibitor said.

The Sanjay Dutt biopic is slated to release on March 30, 2018. Apart from Ranbir, the film stars Manisha Koirala as Sanjay Dutt’s mother Nargis, Paresh Rawal as his father Sunil Dutt and Dia Mirza as his wife Maanayata Dutt. Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal will also be seen in the film.

Bollywood

5

6

Bollywood

Saturday, December 2, 2017

NOT AGAIN

Shweta Bachchan Nanda doesn’t seem too pleased to spot the paps

hotra’s new and Manish Mal ha be in S hi ks na So . Guess it won’t us by surprise s e ke re ta sa ip on sh iff nd frie el ch e Sona in a past se e w re fo be long

PROUD PARENTS

HERE COMES THE BRIDE

Sachiin Joshi and Urvashi Sharma are all smiles as they take their baby boy home, with daughter Samaira in tow

What’s a bride without multiple trolleys filled with ensembles specially curated for her Dday? Bharti Singh proves it as she heads to Goa for her wedding

Comedy show kicks off with a glitzy premiere THE premiere of SAB TV’s new show, Partners — Trouble Ho Gayi Double, was a glitzy affair.

The cast of the show including Johnny Lever, Kiku Sharda, Vipul Roy, Kishwer Merchant, Shweta Gulati, Ashwini Kalsekar and Jayesh Thakkar made their presence felt. Writer-producer Paritosh Painter and director Amit Damle too graced the event.

Shreyas Talpade, Hussain and Abbas Burmawalla, Indra Kumar and Javed Jaffery congratulated Neeraj Vyas (senior EVP & Head of SAB) on the show. Others present at the premiere included Aamir Ali, Meet Brothers, Deepak Tijori, Manish Goswani, Indraneil Sengupta with wife Barkha, Rajesh Khera, Divyanka Tripathi and Vivek Dahiya, and Romit Raj.The comedy airs every Monday to Friday at 9.30 pm on SAB TV.

Deepak Tijori and Vrajesh Hirjee

Juhi and Anup Soni

Tanaaz & Bakhtiyar Irani

The cast of Partners — Trouble Ho Gayi Double

Ali Asgar and Rithvik Dhanjan

Jayati Bhatia

Meet Bros; (below) Dilip Josh Jaaved Jaaferi Aarti and Paritosh Painter (from left) Priya Malik, Hussain and Abbas Burmawalla, Shreyas Talpade, Rupali Ganguly and Deepshikha

Neeraj Vyas

Madhurima Nigam and Indra Kumar

7

Saturday, December 2, 2017

AI helps Rao’s film bag 100 screens Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana picks up pace in third week after employing intelligence platform for its promotions SONIA LULLA sonia.lulla@mid-day.com

Neha Dhupia and Karan Johar

‘I am nervous about working with Karan’ Neha on her role in KJo’s Bombay Talkies 2, and their newfound friendship UPALA KBR hitlist@mid-day.com THE new addition to Karan Johar’s Bombay Talkies 2 has recently come under the spotlight for her bond with the filmmaker. Neha Dhupia tells mid-day about her “saree-clad role”

WOULD you and I ever be able to decipher that there’s a strong correlation between fans of Rajkummar Rao and those of [American rapper] Jaden Smith,” questions Akash Bhatia, in what appears to be an obvious negation. The man behind artificial intelligence platform Infinite Analytics is responsible for the notable success that Rao-starrer Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana has garnered in its third week of release, with the makers celebrating the recent request for 100 additional screens across India.

MIT tech wizard Bhatia is among the first to use the AI technology for Bollywood. Using a series of personality traits as reference to figure if the audience member will display an interest in watching the film, the platform enabled the makers to ensure that the trailer reached the right eyes.

Director Ratnaa Sinha is only happy with the results. “Receiving a request

‘We were shown the film during the editing, and made notes of the elements that might pique interest — like the anti-dowry plot or the use of fabric’ Akash Bhatia

Still from Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana for hundred additional screenings in the third week is unheard of. In the first week, we were unable to bag any primetime shows, which affected the collections. While in the second week the competition stiffened due to other releases, the positive word of mouth increased interest. As a result,

the third week was even better,” she says. After having struggled to procure screenings during the coveted late-night hours, Sinha says most of her shows have now been slotted for those durations.

The accomplishment, she is certain, can be credited to the use of

‘FB users saw the trailer, watched the film and spoke well. That made us realise it was reaching the right audience due to AI’ Ratnaa Sinha

the AI platform, owing to which the film’s trailer hit five million views on Facebook. “Users saw the trailer, watched the film and spoke well about it. That made us realise that the film was indeed reaching the right audience through to AI.” Highlighting how the system works, Bhatia points towards a platform that analyses multiple facets of human behaviour. “We were shown the film during the editing, and made notes of the elements that might pique interest — like the anti-dowry plot or the use of fabric,” he says, as Sinha adds, “The team even analysed how many people like the colour pink, since, in my film, the female actor wears the shade often at her lover’s behest.”

That the film has an appreciable IMDB score of 8.4, placing it alongside Aamir Khan’s Secret Superstar, is testimony that the trailer reached people who later showcased interest, Bhatia says.

8

y

Saturday, December 2, 2017

ON THE SET

All in a row

Kangana Ranaut-starrer Queen (2014) is currently being simultaneously remade in four southern languages, in France.

Yesterday, the lead female actors came together for an interaction. Kajal Aggarwal (Paris Paris; Tamil), Tamannaah Bhatia (Queen Once Again; Telugu), Parul Yadav (Butterfly; Kannada) and Manjima Mohan (Zam Zam; Malayalam) together made for a royal moment under the sun.

The dead end

Divyanka Tripathi is set to bid adieu to Ye Hai Mohabbatein. In a major twist, her character Ishita will be bumped off. “I will be seen dying on the show.

It’s a great track, so anything for it,” says the actor. Producer Ekta Kapoor is keen to bring in a bunch of new faces on the long-running show. Ishita will be shown succumbing to injuries sustained while trying to rescue kidnapped daughter Pihu from goons.

Rising from the dead is commonplace on the tube.

We can safely assume Ishita will be back after a gap and with a new identity in tow.

SRK keen Aryan deliver TED talk Shah Rukh Khan hopes son Aryan will deliver a TED Talk in the near future. The star is currently gearing up for the launch of his show, TED Talks India Nayi Soch, which airs from December 10. The show’s promo will be unveiled today. SRK had delivered a talk at the TED conference in Vancouver earlier this year. He’s hoping Aryan follows in his footsteps.

Ajay Devgn, who is currently shooting for Raid in Lucknow, celebrated producer Kumar Mangat Pathak’s birthday on the set recently. The actor is known to have cake trauma. He detests singing happy birthday and cutting a cake. Even for his own birthday, it’s either his kids (Nysa and Yug) or a unit hand who cuts his birthday cake. But Devgn seems to have loosened up a bit now as he joined in the celebrations Hottie Esha Gupta keeps along with Pathak’s posting sultry snapshots wife Neelam and on Instagram. She has crew members. received a lot of flak, so when asked about it at a recent event, the actor said, “We live in strange times as people are offended over trivial matters.

People are getting offended by everything — what you eat, wear, who you are sleeping with. They get offended by these things because they have nothing to do in their life.” The Bigg Boss actor believes in giving it back to contestant Hina trolls. “I don’t think they are Khan has put her even important for me to take foot in her mouth any revenge. But then why again. After body not just go for it?” If they shaming housemates, a can, Esha feels she can new viral video being too. PIC/YOGEN SHAH shared on social media has the

Sweet revenge

The bigger the better Buzz is before Shraddha Kapoor was roped in f Prabhas-starrer Saaho, Alia Bhatt was in consideration. The actor apparently refused the part as she felt it was small as compared to the Baahubali star’s role. This, despite the fact that her mentor Karan Johar was keen that she make her regional presence, but Alia stuck to her gun Only meaningful roles for her.

Hina’s shock talk

telly actor taking on several industry colleagues. Hina is seen telling housemates that Gauahar Khan is not as popular as she claims to be.

In another segment, she says Dangal (2016) actor Sakshi Tanwar is cockeyed. She also says that though Sanjeeda Sheikh is good looking on camera, she does not appear as pretty as in real life. Several telly folk like Anita Hassanandani and Kamya Punjabi took to Twitter to slam Hina for her atrocious statements.

Munich on my mind

After spending two weeks at a spa in Austria, which is B-Town’s favourite destination, Anil Kapoor is now in Munich. Yesterday, the actor shared a snapshot and wrote, “I’m not lost, I’m exploring.” Mr Jhakaas was keen on a holiday after going through the strict detox regime. Civic officials recently demolished illegal cabins in his office.

There’s lots waiting for him when he is back in Mumbai apart from the next schedule of Fanney Khan.

9

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Happy Birthday Ma! Delta Resident Somlata Joshi celebrated her 90th birthday with friends and family last week. A grand party was organized at Ultimate Banquet Hall by her children and grand children some of who traveled all the way from England and India to attend the important milestone reached by their mother and grandmother.

Apart from the usual cake cutting, singing and dancing, there were other fun items and even a small skit performed by friends. Somlata Joshi popularly known as Ma was born in Mussoorie, India. She joined her son Jayant Joshi and his family in Canada in 2002 and has been living here since. Happy Birthday Ma!

Jayant Joshi (seventh from left) celebrating his mother’s 90th birthday in Surrey last week.

In picture Joshi family with friends and guests.

‘Thought Katrina was the sweetest girl ever’ Salman opens up on his first meeting with favourite co-star Kaif

Ali’s special tribute to Judi Dench Fazal to give a speech at Santa Barbara Festival in honour of the Hollywood legend MOHAR BASU mohar.basu@mid-day.com THE Santa Barbara International Film Festival organisers had announced in September this year that Dame Judi Dench would receive the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Films. As part of the award presentation ceremony that is scheduled for today, Bollywood’s recent export Ali Fazal will be delivering a speech at the gala in honour of his Victoria & Abdul co-star.

Excited about the event, Fazal says, “It was an enriching experience to work with Judi Dench. She’s a powerhouse of talent and I have learnt so much from her. Now, to be able to be on a platform honouring her is actually an honour for me.”

Fazal will be one of Dench’s three co-stars honouring her with a special tribute. He will be sharing the stage with veteran actor Jeff Bridges and Armie Hammer.

Having worked closely with the celebrated actor, Fazal says that Dench has been a source of inspiration for him. “She’s one of the most humble, hard working, energetic people I have met. It’s a wonder how she has so much appetite to learn. I’m looking forward to seeing her again after two months in Santa Barbara. She’s truly deserving of this award.”

THE HITLIST TEAM hitlist@mid-day.com

Khan, one might assume that Khan always knew he wanted to be a movie star.

HE’s the one person in the However, he admits that it industry Katrina Kaif has wasn’t so.

“I was like, how can I be immense trust in. She is the calm in the chaotic world of an actor? When I walk into Salman Khan. And it is this a place, nobody notices me. deep friendship that re- I remember Sanjay Dutt flects seamlessly on the big and Jackie Shroff; when screen. In an interview for they walked in, you’d the December edition of know someone had Vogue India, Khan opens up come. So I decided on his favourite co-star and that until that happens how he didn’t think he was to me, I’ll never make movie star material. it,” says Khan.

Prod him on his first The superstar adds meeting with the then-18- that he decided early year-old Kaif and he recalls, on in his career that he “It was at a small get-to- won’t play grey characgether. She had come home ters, as he is aware that for a party and I thought she his fans look up to him was one of the sweetest as a role model. “When girls ever. She knew my sis- someone is going through ter and all my friends, but a rough patch, they turn to a film hero to see how he she didn’t know me.”

A friendly chat at the handles it.” party led to the blossoming of a new romance. Khan and Kaif were reportedly in a relationship for four years before they parted ways in 2009. However, the two continue to be the closest of friends, even sharing screen space in Tiger Zinda Hai. The coming year will mark 30 years in the industry for Khan. Considering he is the firstborn of celebrated screenwriter Salim

‘I was like, how can I be an actor? When I walk into a place, nobody notices me’ Salman Khan

PIC COURTESY: SIGNE VILSTRUP

How dare you screen film for media before CBFC? Parliament questions Bhansali over Padmavati in a closed-door meeting, Censor chief summoned as well THE HITLIST TEAM hitlist@mid-day.com IN the latest development to the ongoing controversy around Padmavati, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali appeared before the parliamentary standing committee on Information Technolog

mit a written reply.

Censor board chief Prasoon Joshi too appeared before the panel, headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur and including LK Advani and Raj Babbar.

Joshi had appeared before another parliamentary panel on petitions earlier yesterda here he stated that

10

Classifieds / Jobs

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Saturday, December 2, 2017

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Saturday, December 2, 2017

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BC Real Estate Association predicts further dip in home sales in 2018 The British Columbia Real Estate Association predicts continued cooling of the provincial housing market in 2018, but it cautions would-be home buyers that prices likely won’t soften.

The association has released its 2017 Fourth Quarter Housing Forecast showing an expected 8.8 per cent decrease in residential sales across the province this year and a further 10.4 per cent decline next year. Data shows estimated home sales in 2018 are expected to dip to 91,700 units, down more than 10,000 from the record set

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in 2016, but still well ahead of B.C.’s tenyear sales average.

Association chief economist Cameron Muir says the supply of homes for sale is at or near its lowest point in decades and the imbalance between supply and demand has been largely responsible for rapidly rising house prices. The average price of a home in B.C. is forecast to increase 3.1 per cent to $712,300 this year, and a further 4.6 per cent to $745,300 in 2018. Muir doesn’t see much relief, saying in a news release that higher interest rates and more stringent mortgage qualification rules “will reduce household purchasing power and erode housing affordability.”

The association says interest rates are expected to rise in the next year and new mortgage qualification rules will carve into purchasing power. “Given the rapid rise in home prices over the past few years, the effect of these factors will likely be magnified,” Muir says.

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

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Real Estate

Saturday, December 2, 2017

BC cities have some of the highest rents and lowest vacancy rates in Canada BC has some of the lowest vacancy rates and highest rents in Canada, according to a new report this morning from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The study found that BC is home to four of the five lowest vacancy rates in the country: Kelowna, AbbotsfordMission, Victoria and Vancouver.

All four areas have vacancy rates of less than one per cent.

Kelowna had the b i g g e s t av e r a g e rent increase at 8.6 per cent, followed by Victoria at 8.2 per cent and Vancouver at 6.2 per cent.

At an average of $1,552 per month, Vancouver remained the most expensive area to to rent a two-bedroom apartment, with Toronto following at $1,404 per month.

However the highest average rental condominium rent was in Toronto at $2,301 per month, followed by Vancouver

at $1,874 per month.

The report also found that for the third consecutive year, average rents in Vancouver increased faster than the provincially-capped rate of 3.7 per cent.

The BC Residential Tenancy Branch imposes rent guidelines, but when a unit turns over to a new tenant, the landlord is free to set a new rent amount at the market level.

The report isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t all bad news for renters.

It says the supply of purpose-built rental units being approved is increasing, though many wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be occupied for years to come.

Real Estate

Saturday, December 2, 2017

15

How to sell a home when you have pets While it may be a costly upfront investment to ensure that everything is in top shape, the value that you will get for your house will be well worth paying for the repairs. Clean up in the yard: Make it your mission to clean up all the poop in the yard before every showing and open house (or better yet, at soon as the deed is done!). There arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t very many things that will make a worst first impression than stepping in dog poop as youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re checking out a back yard! Furthermore, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to do this once more right before you handover the keys and move out.

Remove carpet and floor pet stains: If your carpet is really beat up, you may want to consider replacing your flooring. In the case that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve thought of switching over to hardwood flooring

anyways, now may be the time to do it! At the very least, make sure that your carpets are professionally cleaned prior to listing to ensure that the stains are taken out to the best of your ability. A steam-clean can do wonders, and your clean will more than pay for itself in the perceived value of your property. Tuck away dog and pet accoutrements: Just because you have a pet doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean that you need to advertise this fact to the home-buying world. Try and follow these simple steps to putting all the â&#x20AC;&#x153;stuff â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; away to ensure that you have an image of clean throughout your IPNF t 1VU BXBZ GPPE BOE XBUFS CPXMT t )JEF BXBZ BOZ QFU SBHT t 1JDL VQ QFU UPZT BOE QVU UIFN away. t 1BDL VQ DBU USFFT BOE TDSBUDIJOH QPTUT t

1BDL VQ BMM DBHFT DBSSJFST FUD t $MFBO VQ UIFJS GVS BOE WBDVVN UIPSPVHIMZ t 1SP UJQ *G ZPV MJWF in a large home, try restricting your petâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s access to only a portion of the house to reduce the number of rooms you need to thoroughly clean on a regular basis while your home is on the market. Try to mask smells: Ever seen or heard that Febreze commercial where they talk about going â&#x20AC;&#x153;nose blindâ&#x20AC;? to the odours in your house?

As humans, our senses can adapt so well that it is easy to get accustomed to a strong pet smell over time. Before listing your home for sale you should give it a thorough clean from top to bottom and eliminate anything that gives out any pet-related PEPVS 4UBSU XJUI UIJT MJTU t Ä&#x2021; PSPVHIMZ XBTI UIF Ä&#x2DC; PPST t )BWF ZPVS DBSQFUT DMFBOFE t 'FFE ESZ

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