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Volume 14 Issue 358 Jamidi ul Awaal 20 1435 AH / March 21, 2014 - $1
U.S. EXAMINES PILOT SIMULATOR DATA AS MALAYSIA PLANE SEARCH FALTERS
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER at Narita Airport in Narita, near Tokyo. This Jet aircraft carrying 239 people lost contact with air traffic control early Saturday morning, March 8, 2014 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
UN: Syria war crimes proof enough to indict
United Nations human rights investigators have added to their list of suspected war criminals from both sides of the Syrian conflict and the evidence was solid enough to prepare any indictment after a new round of atrocities in recent weeks. The UN inquiry identified military units and security agencies as well as rebel groups suspected of committing abuses, Paulo Pinheiro, the chairman of the inquiry said on Tuesday. Four confidential lists of suspects on both sides have been drawn up to date. “This ‘perpetrators list’, as we call it, contains names of persons criminally responsible for hostage-taking, torture and executions,” Pinheiro told the Human Rights Council. “It also contains names of the heads of intelligence branches and detention facilities where detainees are tortured, names of military commanders who target civilians, airports from which barrel
bomb attacks are planned and executed, and armed groups involved in attacking and displacing civilians.” In its updated report, the UN commission of inquiry on Syria said the period of January 20 to March 10 was marked by escalating infighting within rebel groups throughout northern and northeastern provinces. Syrian government forces dropped barrel bombs on Aleppo and other cities, it said, causing extensive civilian casualties in areas with no clear military target. They also severely tortured detainees, according to the report. Rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad have used car and suicide bombs targeting civilian areas, also violations of international law, the UN said. Fighters from al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) executed detainees, including civilians
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The FBI is helping Malaysian authorities to analyze data from a flight simulator belonging to the captain of a missing Malaysian airliner, a U.S. official said on Wednesday as investigators grasped for clues 12 days after the plane vanished. Malaysia’s police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said an examination of the simulator, taken from the home of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, showed its data log had been cleared on February 3, more than a month before the airliner, carrying 239 people, disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. “The experts are looking at what are the logs that have been cleared,” he told a news conference. No wreckage has been found from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished from air traffic control screens off Malaysia’s east coast at 1:21 a.m. local time on March 8 (1721 GMT March 7), less than an hour after taking off. Malaysia has now made available to the FBI electronic data generated by both pilots of Flight MH370, including data from a hard drive attached to the captain’s flight simulator, and from electronic media used by the co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, a U.S. law enforcement official told Reuters. The official said he could not confirm that some data had been wiped from the simulator and stressed that there was no guarantee the FBI analysis would turn up any fresh clues. U.S. investigators had become increasingly frustrated in recent days that Malaysian authorities had not asked them for more help.
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ISLAMABAD: King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain along with his delegation made an unprecedented visit to the Joint Services Headquarters (JSHQ) in Rawalpindi, said a press release issued by ISPR on Wednesday night.The king is on a three-day official visit to Pakistan, leading a 21-member delegation which includes his top defence and internal security chiefs. Upon his arrival, King Hamad was received by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Rashad Mahmood. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt were also present on the occasion. The ISPR press release said that both sides discussed “brotherly relations between the two countries and vowed to further enhance military cooperation.” “Paying rich tributes to Pakistan’s Military for its valour and sacrifices in defence of the motherland, His Majesty particularly praised professionalism, quality of training and commitment of Pakistan’s Armed Forces,” it added. King Hamad was also presented a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent of tri-services. Pakistan has been looking at the visit as an opportunity for expanding trade and promoting investment links but Bahrain appears more interested in bolstering defence relationship.
A Bahraini official said that in his talks with Pakistani leaders the king would touch upon current “regional and international developments as well as issues of mutual interest.” It is routine for Pakistani services chiefs to pay courtesy calls on foreign heads of state and government while visiting Islamabad, but a trip by a foreign leader to the JSHQ is exceptional. A source told Dawn that the king was expected to discuss reinforcement of defence cooperation between the two countries during his visit to the JSHQ. Pakistan had in 2011 helped Bahrain quell an uprising against the monarchy by sending security personnel recruited through military’s welfare wings – Fauji Foundation and Bahria Foundation. Moreover, Pakistan had previously aided Bahrain in setting up its naval forces and 18 per cent of the Gulf state’s air force comprises Pakistani personnel. It is estimated that over 10,000 Pakistanis are serving in security services of Bahrain. The Bahrain government had in the past expressed interest in procuring defence equipment from Pakistan. The king had begun his visit on Tuesday by meeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House. Sharif said Pakistan and Bahrain enjoy “close and cordial relations based on mutual trust and understanding.” Source Dawn News
Pakistani officials reject claims of ISI handling bin Laden
ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistani intelligence officials on Wednesday rejected claims made by a British journalist that the ISI ran a special desk to handle former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. The journalist, Carlotta Gall, further claims in her upcoming book “The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan,
2001-2014” that then-ISI chief Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha also knew of bin Laden’s presence in the country. An excerpt from the book, which is coming out next month, was published in the New York Times on Wednesday. “There is no truth in New York Times story,” intelligence officials, who wished not to be named told Dawn.com. “The claims are totally baseless.” Nobody in Pakistan knew about presence of Osama bin Laden, the officials said. Gall, who covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for The New York Times from 2001 to 2013, claims inside sources told her that the special desk was “operated independently, led by an officer who made his own decisions and did not report to a superior.” “He handled only one person: Bin Laden,” she writes. There has so far been no official reaction from either the Pakistani Foreign Office or the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan army. Source Dawn News
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4 I N T E R N A T I O N A L Bank of Canada head says slower growth may be new norm Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
The loonie fell sharply Tuesday after Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz delivered a gloomy speech saying slow economic growth is probably the new norm, requiring central bankers to keep interest rates low during a long period of stagnation. “The global economy may not be just suffering through a hangover from the financial crisis,” he said in a speech to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. “There are other, longer-term forces at work as well.” He said some analysts have suggested the country may be facing a long period of weak economic growth. “One specific consequence would be that even extraordinarily low policy interest rates could prove to be less stimulative than in normal circumstances,” Poloz said. Soon after he spoke, the Canadian dollar tumbled two-thirds of a cent against the U.S. dollar, dropping below the 90-cent mark. The loonie ended the day down 0.68 of a cent at 89.79 cents U.S. After his speech, Poloz said the recent weakness in the loonie hasn’t had much of an impact on Canadian exports, which tend to benefit from a slide in the dollar. “To date, I’ve not seen anything that suggests we’ve actually had a reaction to that,” he told a news conference. “It’s early days ... It’s not expected to be the
big thing that causes our trade performance to change. I think the big thing is the U.S. recovery.” As well, the governor said he wouldn’t rule out lowering rates even more if economic performance continued to lag. “No, I cannot,” he told reporters. “Given the risk that we have identified and the way those risks are expected to play out, we think interest rates are at the right place ... If the balance of risks were to shift ... then we would need to reconsider that balance of risks and our position on it.” The Bank of Canada’s policy interest rate has been at one per cent since September 2010. Poloz noted the baby boom generation -- in Canada and around the developed world -- is entering retirement age. What is making the situation worse in terms of growth, says Poloz, is that boomers in the developed world have been putting their money into real estate rather than investments that can stimulate the economy. Real estate assets in Canada accounted for 40 per cent of total wealth in 2012, he pointed out, as opposed to only 32 per cent in 1999. “Now that that (demographic) bulge begins its inevitable exit from the workforce, that upward movement (in the economy) gets reversed,” Poloz told reporters. “It’s just to say that potential
output for the world, and indeed for Canada, is not some mechanical straight line. It is something that gradually moves around because of these fundamental changes.” Poloz said the first months of this year have shown less growth than he expected. “We will not be alone in this, that’s for certain -- nor are the forces really Canadian, they’re global.” he said after his speech. However, Poloz said he still believes growth will be above the socalled two per cent potential and approach 2.5 per cent in both 2014 and 2015 -- as the Bank of Canada said in its January forecast. But he has left some room to trim that forecast in next month’s monetary policy report, noting that some indicators are suggesting the first quarter ending March 31 may be weaker than expected. “Although we continue to expect above-trend growth in Canada this year and next, the recent data suggest that the first quarter will be on the soft side,” Poloz said in his speech. “This mostly seems attributable to unusual weather, but it bears deeper analysis.” Several economists have recently downgraded their forecasts for the year to the low two-per-cent range on the premise that the export sector will take longer to recover and the housing market is slowing. Overall,
The National Security Agency has been recording all of a foreign country’s phone calls, then listening to the conversations up to a month later, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. At the request of U.S. officials, the Post said it would not identify the targeted country or other countries where the program’s use was envisioned by officials. The program is the latest revelation from a trove of classified documents that former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden leaked to certain news organizations last year. Most of those documents have described the U.S. collecting massive amounts of data and text. This program is different in that it records phone calls. This NSA program dates to 2009 and is called MYSTIC, according to documents obtained by the Post. It is used to intercept conversations in one specific country, but documents show the NSA intends to use it in other countries, the Post said. It records all conversations across the unidentified foreign coun-
try and stores billions of them for 30 days. The program wasn’t fully operational until 2011. One of the program’s senior managers told the Post that MYSTIC is comparable to a time machine, meaning voices from any call can be replayed without requiring the NSA to identify a person before the conversations are collected. The conversations swept up likely include those of Americans who make calls to or from the targeted country. Civil libertarians are concerned that this program and others like it will target other countries and that the NSA will eventually hold the data longer than what was defined its original charter and use it for other reasons. “This is a truly chilling revelation, and it’s one that underscores how high the stakes are in the debate we’re now having about bulk surveillance,” Jameel Jaffer, American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director, said in a statement. “The NSA has always wanted to record everything, and now it has the capacity to do so.” The
White House would not comment on the specific program described by the Post. But National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said information sought by the U.S. intelligence community is, in many cases, hidden in the “large and complex system” of global communications. “The United States must consequently collect signals intelligence in bulk in certain circumstances in order to identify these threats,” Hayden said in a statement. She said the presidential directive that authorizes this type of collection “makes clear that signals intelligence collected in bulk may only be used to meet specific security requirements.” The NSA is authorized to collect in bulk signals intelligence -- the type of intelligence that comes from radio signals and communications, for example, as long as the purpose of the collection is to counter threats regarding espionage, terrorism, proliferation, cyber security, safety of U.S. troops and transnational crime. Bulk collection means
Poloz said, while the global outlook remains problematic, it is healing and the long-expected improvement in the U.S. economy will eventually lift the Canadian boat as well. “This will inevitably lead to more growth in Canadian exports and, with the reduction in uncertainty that comes with that, more investment in Canada’s economic capacity, including creating more companies -- and the much-anticipated rotation in growth.” That has been Poloz’s outlook since he took charge of the central bank last summer, but the gist of his Halifax address is that the return to normal, in terms of growth and interest rates, is still a ways off. Source: CTV News
Snowden document reveals NSA records all telephone calls in 1 foreign country
Russia FM tells US sanctions ‘unacceptable’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State John Kerry that Western sanctions over the Crimea dispute were “unacceptable” and threatened consequences, Moscow has said. The two senior diplomats spoke by telephone hours after President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty in the Kremlin making Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula part of Russia, despite an outcry from Kiev and the West. Putin said he did not plan to seize any other part of Ukraine, and Kerry later cautioned that any incursion into other parts of Ukraine would be an “egregious step” and a major challenge for the West, Reuters news agency reported. “(Crimea) republic residents made their democratic choice in line with the international law and the UN charter, which Russia accepts and respects,” a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said, “while the sanctions introduced by the United States and the European Union are unacceptable and will not remain without consequences.” On Monday, the United States and the EU imposed sanctions on a handful of officials from Russia and Ukraine accused of involvement in Moscow’s seizure of the Black Sea peninsula, most of whose 2 million residents are ethnic Russians. Lavrov’s remarks echoed comments earlier on Tuesday by Putin who said Western attempts to frighten Russia with sanctions would be viewed as an act of aggression, and that Moscow would retaliate. Kerry reiterated Washington’s position that the referendum and the takeover of Crimea were “illegal” and “unacceptable,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “We don’t accept them and there
will continue to be costs and consequences,” she told a daily briefing. “We are continuing to prepare additional sanctions and we haven’t taken options off the table.” Kerry told students at the State Department that an incursion by Russia into eastern Ukraine would be “as egregious as any step I can think of that can be taken by a country in today’s world, particularly by a country like Russia where so much is at stake. “Now, I hope we don’t get there,” he added. He likened the Crimea crisis to the lead-up to World War Two. “Today is egregious enough, when you raise this nationalistic fervor which could, in fact, infect in ways that could be very, very dangerous,” he said. “All you have to do is go back and read in history of the lead-up to World War Two and the passions that were released with that kind of nationalistic fervor,” he added. He referred to the Soviet Union’s meddling in Czechoslovakia and Poland. “There’s a tough history of things like Czechoslovakia in 1968 where the alleged rationale for going into the country was to protect the people in it,” he said. “You can ask the Poles how they felt being ‘protected’ for all those years.” Russian forces took control of the Black Sea peninsula in late February following the ouster of Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich by protests, sparked by his decision to spurn a trade deal with the European Union and seek closer ties to Russia. People in Crimea voted overwhelmingly in last weekend’s referendum to join Russia. Source: Al-Jazeera
collecting everything, even if some of what’s collected has nothing to do with national security. Most of the conversations collected under the NSA program would be irrelevant, the Post said. The NSA would not confirm the existence of the MYSTIC program. But a spokeswoman said that the NSA’s collection programs are legal and done for national security purposes. “NSA does not conduct signals intelligence collection in any country, or anywhere in the world, unless it is necessary to advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests and to protect its citizens and the citizens of its allies and partners from harm,” NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said in an email. Vines said it jeopardizes national security when details about classified intelligence programs are made public. Source: CTV News
U.S. EXAMINESS:Continued from pg 1 The FBI has extensive experience investigating airplane crashes, including those of TWA 800 and EgyptAir 990 off the U.S. east coast in the 1990s and Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. In the case of EgyptAir 990, the FBI helped air safety investigators establish that the crash was caused by a suicidal co-pilot, while in the case of Pan Am 103, the agency worked with British and U.S. intelligence to build a case against the government of Libya. In Kuala Lumpur, at the headquarters of a search operation that has so far turned up few leads, Chinese relatives’ anger over sparse information on the fate of their relatives sparked chaotic scenes on Wednesday. Malaysia’s transport minister ordered an inquiry after security guards carried out the distraught mother of a passenger from a briefing room where she had protested about a lack of transparency. “They are just saying wait for information. Wait for information. We don’t know how long we have to wait,” cried the woman before being whisked away from a massive media scrum. Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he regretted the anguish. Malaysia is doing everything in its power to find MH370 and hopefully bring some degree of closure for those whose family members are missing,” he said in a statement. Source :Reuters
5 I N T E R N A T I O N A L US suspends operations of Syrian embassy,missions Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
The United States has officially told the Syrian government to immediately suspend its diplomatic and consular missions in the country, and ordered its diplomats to leave the country if they are not US citizens. “We have determined it is unacceptable for individuals appointed by that regime to conduct diplomatic or consular operations in the United States,” US special envoy for Syria, Daniel Rubinstein, said in a statement issued on Tuesday. The order essentially closes the Syrian embassy in Wash-
ington and its honorary consulates in Troy, Michigan, and Houston, Texas, and forces all personnel who are not legal US residents to leave the country. It comes three years since the start of the bloody civil war in Syria that has killed more than 140,000 people. The Syrian embassy in the US capital had been operating for some time without an ambassador and with only a few low level staff who had been providing limited consular services. Rubenstein said the order responds to a decision by the govern-
ment of Syrian President Bashar Assad to suspend its own consular services. A message on the embassy website Tuesday said: “Please Note that Embassy of Syria would not be able to proceed any consular services starting Tuesday March 18, 2014. Thank you for understanding.” However, Rubenstein said the US wants to continue diplomatic relations with Syria and maintain a relationship if Assad steps down from power. Source: AFP
Drone deaths rise in Afghanistan and Yemen The UN special investigator on counterterrorism has expressed his concern over civilian deaths from drone strikes in Yemen and Afghanistan, but says there has been a “significant de-escalation” in civilian casualties recorded in Pakistan. UN special rapporteur Ben Emmerson presented his report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, highlighting at least 59 civilian casualties in 19 drone strikes in 2013 in Afghanistan, a significant rise on the previous year. In Yemen, he said: “The frequency of armed drone strikes appears to have intensified, particularly during the closing months of 2013, with a sharp escalation in the number of reported civilian casualties.” They included an attack in De-
cember, where at least 12 people believed to be part of a wedding convoy were killed. “But or the first time in nine years there were no reports of civilian casualties during 2013 in the [tribal areas] of Pakistan,” he said. Emmerson said the US military had reduced attacks against armed groups, limiting strikes to high-value targets in response to the country’s growing criticism of the programme. The total number of recorded strikes in 2013 was down to 27 from a peak of 128 in 2010, he said. Pakistan says drone strikes hamper efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban and breach national sovereignty. However, rights group Amnesty International said that Emmerson’s report may not be a definitive study
of all drone strikes, and is based on the information that was available to him. “Last year there were some reports that specific drone strikes resulted in civilian casualties [in Pakistan], but owing to the prevailing secrecy of the US programme and restrictions on access to these remote and lawless areas, it was impossible for us to investigate these claims further,” said Mustafa Qadri, Amnesty’s Pakistan researcher and co-author of the group’s report into civilian casualties in the country. He added that it was “impossible to give absolute answers because of legal issues of who may and may not be a ‘combatant’ or otherwise be lawfully targetable” without the US being fully transparent about their operations.
“How and when strikes happen, who is being targeted and why - this uncertainty will remain, and victims will not be able to get the justice they deserve,” Qadri told Al Jazeera. But Emmerson told Al Jazeera that his team “received no reports from any reliable source alleging civilian casualties during 2013 in Pakistan”. Emmerson recommended the council to adopt a resolution aimed at urging all states to “comply with their obligations under international law” and launching independent fact-finding inquiries into strikes in which civilians are reported to have been injured or killed. Source: Al-Jazeera
British clothes retailer Primark will pay a further $10m in compensation to victims of the collapse of a Bangladeshi factory last year that killed more than 1,100 people. The disaster has galvanised most of the clothing industry’s big names to work together to improve safety standards, but many brands have shunned a fund that is trying to raise $40m for the more than 2,000 people injured and the families of the dead. Campaigners are demanding that 27 brands linked to factories in the Rana Plaza complex should contribute to the fund run by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) by the first anniversary of the April 24 collapse, the Reuters news agency reported. Primark has already paid $2m in short-term financial support and food distribution. It said it would pay out the extra $10m in long-term compensation, which includes $9m directly to the 580 workers of its supplier in Rana Plaza, or their dependants, and another $1m to the fund. The company said cash payments to the workers of its supplier, New Wave Bottoms, would begin this week, with the amount to be paid based on estimates of lost earnings for the dependants of those killed and on the level of disability
for those injured. “With the first anniversary of Rana Plaza fast approaching, we are determined to meet this responsibility to workers in our supply chain,” a spokesman said in a statement. “We are therefore pleased to be in a position to now press ahead with payments.” Rock-bottom wages and trade deals have made Bangladesh’s garments sector a $22bn industry that accounts for four-fifths of exports, with about 60 percent of garment exports going to Europe and 23 percent to the United States. Owned by Associated British Foods, Primark’s low prices have helped it expand to more than 250 stores in Britain and Europe. It urged other retailers to donate to the industry fund so it could pay out in full to all victims. Some of the other brands supplied from Rana Plaza have said they will not contribute, as their production was outsourced to the factory without their knowledge, or ended some time ago, while others say they prefer to pursue their own compensation plans. About 3.6 million of Bangladesh’s 155 million people work in the clothing industry, making it the world’s second-largest garments exporter behind China. Source: Al-Jazeera
UN: Thousands killed and Primark to pay $10m to abused in South Sudan Bangladesh victims
Politically-fueled ethnic violence in South Sudan since mid-December has led to the brutal killing and abuse of thousands of civilians and sparked a government campaign to vilify the United Nations and harass UN personnel, the UN peacekeeping chief has said. Herve Ladsous told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that despite a January 23 ceasefire agreement, forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebel soldiers loyal to dismissed former vice president Riek Machar “continue to prioritise the pursuit of military gains over talks towards a comprehensive political settlement.” Fighting that broke out December 15 among presidential guards in the capital Juba quickly spread across the country and took on ethnic dimensions between the more populous Dinka tribe who support Kiir and the Nuer tribe loyal to Machar. “Political polarisation that has been caused by the conflict now affects the lives of every single person in South Sudan as well the operations of the government and country as a whole,’’ Ladsous said. He said prelimiary inquiry reports indicate that atrocities and very severe human rights violations were committed by both sides in the conflict, and he warned that the longer the fighting goes on
“the more chances for further regional intervention will grow.” Ladsous also warned that there will be no “meaningful progress’’ in talks organised by the regional group IGAD to resolve the crisis until the opposition’s key demand for the release of four remaining political detainees is resolved. The four went on trial for treason on March 11. Ladsous urged the Security Council to condemn what he called a campaign against the UN peacekeeping mission - which is sheltering 75,000 of approximately 800,000 people displaced by the ongoing violence and to demand that Kiir condemn it and instruct government officials and his party to stop it. The anti-UN campaign has brought the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid “almost to a standstill,” which is extremely critical as the rainy season will begin soon, he said. Ladsous said the negative campaign against the UN peacekeeping mission known as UNMISS by some local and national officials has included public demonstrations, media articles, and harassment of UN personnel “including to the point of putting their lives in danger.” In response, Ladsous said, the UN needs to consider reducing its staff and limiting its activities “to the absolute minimum related to protection, human rights monitoring and support to humanitarian assistance.’’ South Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador Francis Deng attributed the ``negative outcry’’ against the U.N. mission known as UNMISS “to the trauma, frustrations, pain and anger caused by the devastating violence that broke out on December 15.| Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recommended that the council increase UNMISS’ strength for a year to the levels in temporarily agreed to in December - 12,500 troops and 1,323 and to re-prioritise its mandate to focus on protecting civilians, delivering aid and monitoring human rights. Lucas said “questions were raised about the appropriateness of a new mandate for UNMISS.” Source: Al-Jazeera
UN: Syria war Continued from pg 1 and captured soldiers, in Aleppo, Idlib and al Raqqa in the hours and days before coming under attack by other armed groups such as the Islamic Front, it said. ISIL used the Children’s Hospital building in Aleppo as its headquarters and as a detention facility. Later, fighters from another group discovered an ‘execution field’ near the hospital. “In the days and hours prior to attack, ISIL fighters conducted mass executions of detainees, thereby perpetrating war crimes. The number killed as well as allegations of mass graves connected to these executions remain under investigation,” it added. The independent team of more than 20 investigators, set up in September 2011, months after the start of the revolt now in its fourth year, includes former UN war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte. It has called repeatedly for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a
call endorsed again by Britain, the European Union (EU), France and Switzerland on Tuesday. “It is this volume of testimony that will be the enduring legacy of the Commission: an archive of Syrian voices and a resource for future prosecutions,” Pinheiro said. Syrian ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui took the floor to denounce the commission. “Referral to the ICC is a politicised and unlawful step as there are national judicial mechanisms available in Syria,” he said. He accused the commission of working for the political agendas of countries that are supporting the rebels - naming the United States, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Iran, which supports Assad, condemned extreme violence committed by “terrorist and extremist groups” in Syria. The Iranian delegation said the move to refer its ally to the ICC constituted a “highly-politicised and illegitimate incitement”. Source: Al-Jazeera
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
E D I T O R I A L
Living in Peace and Tranquility
Every community and nation over this planet yearns to breathe in peace and tranquility. Nevertheless, some elements with the off-putting mindset do not let it come about. Such inauspicious rudiments are found in attendance almost at all the times in most of the social orders and are conspicuous by their fanatic bent of mind. The truth may appear to be very hard and bitter, but unfortunately, the ingredient of fundamentalism is on the go everywhere with its devastating effects in one form or the other. In majority of the cases, the unrestricted adherence of the individuals to the conservative standpoint, coupled with their inability to look beyond the box (particularly in the approach of their religious beliefs) time and again paves the way for the breeding of violence in any social order. The problem is that everyone of bigoted nature coins his/her own definition of the religion and requires all the others to put up with it in that perspective only, as it is customarily observed in relation to the Talibans of Afghanistan and Tharek e Pakistan Taliban who feel smugness in propagating Islam in the world from their viewpoint only. No other perception of Islam is up to their self-designed criterion. It hardly matters to those protagonists as to how many precious lives are sacrificed at the altar of their evil objective. Ostensibly, they articulate to be the one and the only guardians and pro-
tectors of Islamic values, nonetheless, their erroneous conception of Islam and working craze in accordance therewith is nothing but the antithesis of what the Holy Quran and the Blessed Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have in fact ordained for their dedicated followers. Islam stringently censures violence and viciousness (may that be in any of its forms) and accords no endorsement whatsoever to the senseless killings of innocent human beings. On the contrary, the Hallowed Quran specifically ordains that the unwarranted killing of even one innocent human being is equivalent of the massacre of the entire humankind. Likewise, the Blessed Prophet (PBUH) defines a Muslim to be the person from whose tongue and hands the others feel secure. Hence, the overall protection of the humanity and its treasured ethical values is the most distinguishing hallmark of the illustrious Islamic mode of life, which makes this religion the epitome of compassion, accord and tranquility. The historical trans-Canada ‘Walk Against Violence’ from Winnipeg (Manitoba) to the zero Mile, Victoria (British Columbia), charmingly accomplished by the worthy son of Islam Prof. Badiuddin Soharwardhy in year 2008, was, in fact, nothing short of the live demonstration of the affluent Islamic values. In this backdrop, it is not hard to deduce that the majority of the
Muslim community is a peaceloving kinship, which squarely yearns for breathing in the environment of tenderness and cordiality, along with the remainder groups of people around the globe. It hardly needs evidence to establish that the relations of the Muslim Ummah, residing in the province of British Columbia, are exceedingly pleasant with the non-Muslim communities of the Indian and other origins. In some cases, they have set up almost the family relations even with some of the individuals beyond the Islamic fold and fondly share the intimate social relationship with those families. Hence, to live in the environment of peace, harmony and concord with the other communities around is the integral part of the affluent Islamic culture and a realistic Muslim, richly imbued with the teachings of the sanctified Quran and the commandments of the blessed Prophet (PBUH), finds it very hard to deviate from this splendid passageway. Precisely for this rationale, the local Muslim Ummah was second to no other community to condemn in the stringent possible words the terrorist attack on any part of the world. Unfortunately, the people with fundamental mindset, animal instinct and monstrous behavior prop up in every community and in every part of the world, sometimes right under the nose of the
governments. Some nations are forced to adopt these disruptive elements at times under the pressure of the pervasive socioreligious order or some political compulsions of sundry nature. Consequently, these rudiments succeed in getting their hands on their premeditated nefarious activities. The most aching aspect of this story is that the majority of the governments, specifically in the democratic countries at most of the times find themselves spineless in dealing with efficacy with those rudiments. Whereas the self-styled hard-line guardians of the faith in specific, spare no occasion to vitiate the national scenario by their irresponsible provocative statements, the governments, on the other hand, watch their subversive activities as the helpless spectators only and awfully feel shy to take the meaningful action to discipline their activities. The political parties too, especially those in the opposition camps, attempt to push the ruling party towards the dock at the time when the nation itself is in severe dilemma. Their principal objective is to gain political mileage by putting the government into an embarrassing position. The only way to frustrate these religious hypocrites and opportunistic politicians is to pay no heed to their utterances and endeavor hard to live in peace and tranquility by maintaining national integration. It is equally imperative for the
Letters & Opinions Correction in Miracle Feb 21st Edition in Al Ihsan Educational Foundation Report
Note: Miracle Media received some information from one student of Al Ihsan which was printed in last issue. Unfortunately the information was not complete and we apologize for any errors. The errors have been addressed by Mufti Rashid below. By Mufti Aasim Rashid Firstly, the two new scholars did not study online for 2 years. They first studied hifz ul-quran for 3 years, then studied full-time aalim course at the institute (not online) for 7 years. They have studied for 10 years. After this they recived their degrees as ‘aalim’. No one can become an aalim after studying for two years. Secondly, the 2-year part-time online course we offer is not an aalim course. It is a course geared to give average Muslims a thorough education of Quran, hadith and other Islamic subjects. Thirdly, the total number of graduates from the part-time program is 16, not 10 Fourthly, Maulana Tayyib Qasmi was a guest of honor, and only distributed the certificates issued by Al-Ihsan. Your article implies that he gave them certificates from his own institute as well I hope these errors can be ad-
dressed, because many readers were confused after attending the program and reading conflicting information in your paper. Some were asking how we gave aalim degrees to people who only studied 2 years. The graduates themselves also felt dismayed. Wassalam
is in grave danger believing that she will be misguided to the terrorism, which the daughter denies as it is a misconception of Islam and Muslims. She looked most happy and content by praying and prostrating to Creator-GOD. Islam is all about the One Creator-GOD of the Universe. HE saved her from her dangerous lifestyle of drinking and promiscuity and got blessed. But then who can blame the Mother Mr. Suliman Bhamji is not Maula- for her such fear, as such fear is carna , he provides volunteer services ried by many families, which we all have experienced after our converin Masjid Al Noor Surrey. The sion to Islam, but Miracle apologizes him for this all that fear was removed after the word of its Feb 21st edition. discovery of intriguing evidence through the study of the Quran, the Gospel and tradition of Messenger Muhammad (SAWS), realizing the terrorism has nothing to do with IsBy. Gulshan Aalani lam, or Sharia/Divine Law. An interesting interview with The handful of terrorists terrorizing Mother and daughter by Dr. Phil the world, aren’t fighting for Islam (TV show) the most influential, an but just honest helper, with higher ethics for the political situation, like any and moral values, and a Councilor: other communities, and so such An American young lady a former cannot identified as ‘Islamist’. rapper converted to Islam looking In some cases it is the Sectarian true Muslim with full Hijab Uni- fight among the 45 sects of Shia form, but opposed by her Southern and some Sunnis, for the grab of Baptist Mother, dislikes her con- ‘Power’, though they all have acversion, as worried sick about her cepted Allah and the Quran, except daughter’s safety, thinking she some fake Muslims fighting against
Another Error in Miracle edition
‘DAY OF DISCOVERY’.
Islam and the Quran in order to eliminate both by using the fake ID of the trade mark titles of ‘Islam and Muslim’ pretending to be Muslims, seculars, moderates and pluralists, deceiving the whole world. Whoever, has rejected the Quran and Allah cannot be Muslim in any circumstances. However, this proves we are in an era of Dajjal the ‘antiChrist and anti-Islam, when the evil spirit will play all the tricks of misguiding the true Christians and Muslims. (Ref. Bible and the Quran). This is the critical time to be alert and not fall for the mischief of anti-Christ, though he will not be able to misguide the true Believers as it is the promise of Allah-Creator: Who has guided us the converts to HIS path, we are most grateful to HIM and to the Western
Letters Continued on pg 8 IMPORTANT NOTE: Letters to the editor do not reflect the opinion of the Miracle media group. We do not publish anonymous letters or the letters of the people who do not disclose their identity to ‘The Miracle.’ A writer can use a pen name or request ‘The Miracle’ to withhold his / her identity. Please include your daytime telephone number for the confirmation of your letter. We regret the inconvenience.
Muslims living anywhere in Canada, not to be influenced and feel disturbed by what is happening in Middle East, Pakistan and India. This is merely a temporary phase and will pass away peacefully with the passage of the time, as usual. On the contrary, they will surely continue to cultivate communal amity and concord with other communities of any origin for this is the solitary mode to lead the life in true Islamic way. Waan laysa lil insani illa ma’ sa’aa That man can have nothing but what he strives for.
Meralce Media Group Inc.
Contact Info Mailing and Office Address 9160-136A Street Surrey BC. V3V 7Z8 Canada Fax: 604-582-7809 Founder: Nusrat Hussain Managing Editor: M. Naseer Pirzada Sub- Editors: Khadija, Misbah & Sabeeh Hon. Chief Editor & Urdu Editor Mohammad Rafiq Advertising: info@miraclenews.com Ph: 604-690-0400 Email: naseer@telus.net Editorial Board: Mr, Shums Jillani, Mr aslam Hayat, Mr.Azhar Syed, Mr. Shams Siddiqui, M.A.L. Naumani, Mr Tariq Mian Graphic Design: Design Team Copyright: 2001 Miracle Media Group Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in Canada Attention: The opinions express herein contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessary those of “The Miracle”. These are offered as a means for “The Miracle” to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission of “Bringing Harmony To All The Communities.”
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
F A I T H Narated By Abu Huraira : The Prophet said, “Faith (Belief) consists of more than sixty branches (i.e. parts). And Haya (This term “Haya” covers a large number of concepts which are to be taken together; amongst them are self respect, modesty, bashfulness, and scruple, etc.) is a part of faith.” Sahih Bukhari Volume 001, Book 002, Hadith Number 008.
Islam is easy, don’t make it difficult By: Marwa Abdalla WHAT God requires from a Muslim is not overly burdensome. He prescribes moderation in every walk of life. I remember a conversation I recently had with my neighbor and friend who happens to be a non-Muslim. I had just returned from an Islamic conference. When she came to know about it, she looked worried, and asked: “No one advocates extremism at these sorts of things, do they?” I almost laughed, but realizing the seriousness of her concern, I reassured her that advocating any kind of extremism was definitely not on the agenda. I was struck by the unfortunate irony that extremism is often associated with Islam when in fact, moderation is supposed to be one of the most fundamental aspects of the Muslim’s creed. Allah Almighty says: “Thus We made you a “wasat” (moderate) nation, that you might be witness for all of humanity, and the messenger a witness over yourselves.” (Qur’an, 2:143)The word “wasat” in Arabic can be defined in several ways. It means just, balanced, moderate, and the best. This verse clearly explains the view Muslims have that God wants them to be a balanced and moderate nation so that they may serve as a “witness” or model for the rest of humanity. So what, exactly, does moderation in Islam mean? The opposite of moderation It will be appropriate to understand extremism before we value the concept of moderation in Islam. Extremism in any form, of anything,
in brief is an abnormal human behavior, which is far from reasonable, or acceptable in a civilized society. Being too liberal or too harsh in understanding Islam is also an exercise in extremism, which is again not in line with normative Islam. Either of the approaches hence greatly hurts the image of Islam in its own way. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “I fast but not every day, I pray at night but not all night, and I am a married man; whoever does not wish to follow my way, he is not from me.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim,143) The Prophet (peace be upon him) therefore often warned his companions against extremism and always advocated moderation in everything. When given two choices, he always chose the easiest, so long as it did not violate the rules of Islam. Islam advocates a middle course in everything. This includes the way Muslims follow God’s commands, the way they think about God and the way they interact with and invite others to Islam. Often, out of enthusiasm and ignorance, a Muslim may take on much more than he or she can handle in the way of acts of worship. Imagine a person who one fine morning begins enthusiastically all the prayers, including all the sunnah and nafl prayers, waking up in the night for prayers and keeping fasts twice a week and reading Qur’an everyday without fail. He suddenly went to the extreme level in worshipping God, only to later find himself spiritually drained, which in turn made him indifferent and disappointed. Many Muslims will relate, at least in
The Miracle repeats its series of 99 Names of Allah (SWT) &Prophet Mohammad (saw) Names and Meanings. In last edition we printed Al Rehman name of Allah(swt) and Al Nasir Mohammad(saw) name.
part, to what this man has gone through. Enthusiasm coupled with ignorance may cause a man to abruptly change his entire lifestyle overnight. Not only did this wreak havoc on him physically, but it almost destroyed him spiritually. He felt like a failure, and even began to doubt in the mercy of God. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said regarding Islam: “This religion is one of ease and not restrictions; no one tries to make it strict or difficult, but will be overcome [him]; therefore do what is right, and do what you are capable of, and be happy, and seek help by performing prayers.” (Al-Bukhari, 39) A person might make things so difficult for himself/herself that in the end, he/she is “overcome” and almost loses his/her faith. One might compare this to someone who has only just jogged a few miles in his life trying to train himself for a marathon (a race the distance of 26.2 miles, or 40 km) in just one week. This person, regardless of his intentions, would definitely fail, and may even hurt himself so much physically in the process that he would be unable to jog or run again for years. Running a marathon is challenging, sure, but it’s not impossible. However, even serious runners must train for months before successfully completing such a race. Moderation in Islam And thus, Islam is similar. The requirements that God puts upon every Muslim are not overwhelming or overly burdensome. Believing in the Oneness of God, praying to Him and remembering Him, being good to others — these are the basic daily obligations that God has put upon His servants (in addition to other obligations, like fasting in the month of Ramadan, for example). When Muslims want to add to these, they must remember the wisdom of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said: “The good deeds of any person will not make him enter Paradise (i.e., no one enters paradise only through his good deeds).” The Prophet’s companions asked: “Not even you?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “Not even me, unless God bestows His favor and mercy on me.” (Al Bukhari, 6467) And when his wife, Ayesha, asked him what deeds were most beloved to God, he (peace be upon him) said:
“The deeds that are done on a regular and constant basis, even if little.” The spiritual journey a Muslim takes to God requires work at both the physical and spiritual levels. Lastly, he emphasized that moderation is key to achieving our goals when he said: “Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately. Always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course, whereby you will reach your target (of Paradise).” (Al Bukhari) In these three sayings we find the perfect combination of belief in the mercy of God and moderation and consistency in religious deeds as the best way for a Muslim to achieve his or her goals. Abiding by these principles would mean that when a Muslim wants to increase his/her worship, he/she should begin gradually, adding little by little to the obligatory acts of worship, and should strive to remain consistent. Furthermore, he should look what he/she is realistically capable of and not burden himself/herself with more than he/she is ready for. The spiritual journey a Muslim takes to God requires work at both the physical and spiritual levels. Thus, one should couple increases in action with increases in spiritual knowledge. Subsequent acts of worship become much easier because they are now being done out of an increased level of faith and love for God, rather than a sense of obligation and duty alone. We should remember that when we try to draw closer to God, He facilitates things for us. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) states in a Hadith Qudsi (divine Hadith, which is a saying that comes directly from God but is not a part of the Qur’an): “I [God] am as My servant thinks of Me. I am with him when he remembers Me. If he mentions Me within himself, I mention him within Myself. If he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in a better assembly. If he comes near to Me a hand span, I come near to him the distance of a cubit. If he comes near to Me the distance of a cubit, I come near to him the distance of two outspread arms. If he comes to Me walking, I come to him running.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) Courtesy: onislam.net
Prayer Schedule in Greater Vancouver March 21-April 4, 2014 Jamadiul Awaal 20- J.II, 4 1435H Date
Date Day
J.I. 20 Mar 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 J.II 1 Apr 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Fajar
5:22 5:20 5:17 5:15 5:13 5:10 5:08 5:05 5:03 5:00 4:57 4:55 4:52 4:50 4:47
Sunr
7:11 7:09 7:06 7:04 7:02 7:00 6:58 6:56 6:54 6:52 6:50 6:47 6:45 6:43 6:41
Zawal
1:24 1:24 1:23 1:23 1:23 1:22 1:22 1:22 1:21 1:21 1:21 1:20 1:20 1:20 1:20
Dhuhr
1:29 1:29 1:28 1:28 1:28 1:27 1:27 1:27 1:26 1:26 1:26 1:25 1:25 1:25 1:25
Asar
Maghrib
Isha
17:32 17:33 17:34 17:35 17:36 17:37 17:39 17:40 17:41 17:42 17:43 17:44 17:45 17:46 17:47
19:35 19:36 19:38 19:39 19:41 19:42 19:44 19:45 19:47 19:49 19:50 19:52 19:53 19:55 19:56
20:56 20:57 20:59 21:01 21:03 21:04 21:06 21:08 21:10 21:11 21:13 21:15 21:17 21:19 21:21
For such Prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times: Quran ,n 4:103 Source: BCMA
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
F A I T H
TIME: Use It Before It’s Gone By: Nour Habib
A Few Days ago, my mom came home from work and related a conversation she had there. The talk turned to exercise, and her colleague endorsed walking as a good option, since one can also make use of it for other purposes. I pray for others while I walk, she said. That way I don’t waste the time. I thought, subhanallah, she is selfless enough to exercise to stay healthy and still put her time to wise use. And she was not Muslim.
What do we, as Muslims, do with our time? Do we make use of every second? Time, the Sunnah tells us, is the most precious of all worldly commodities, for once it’s gone, it never comes back. We need, then, to ensure we don’t let it pass in vain. We should make certain that when we stand before Allah for Judgment we can justify how we spent His priceless gift. The Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, said: “Take advantage of five, before five! Youth before old age. Good health before sickness. Free time before occupation. Wealth before poverty. And life before death” (Al-Hakim). In the fast-paced societies we live in, people really do come to feel they have no time. They are working, studying, chauffeuring children, doing business on the cell between errands-running a gauntlet of daily obligations.
Time itself seems to be shrinking- a true sign, in fact, of our approaching Hour of Judgment, according to the Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam. Days become weeks. Weeks, months. Months, years. Before you know it, a decade’s got behind you. And you wonder, What have I done with my life? In the course of our talk, my mother pointed out her colleague’s admirable concern with giving time to others. Walking is no waste of it, of course. It is worship, if properly intended to please God and maintain His grant of health. Still it is done for one’s own benefit. What, my mother asked me, have you done for others? I answered honestly. Not as much as I would like, though helping others- as countless ahadeeth attest and the Prophet’s own glowing example ceaselessly shows-can take on many forms. Teaching people a skill you have, making dawah, organizing masjid events, or just taking the time to talk to others about their problems-all are shapes of volunteerism, of help. Giving for the sake of God means more than donating money. Time can be a gift. By offering some of it for a good cause, you diminish none of what you have for yourself. Allah actually puts barakah in your time. He blesses it so you get more done with it when you spend it wisely in His path. Give of your time, and you shall be rewarded. Give of your time, and you shall surely use it more effectively for your own benefit. When I tell others I have no time, I wonder, What am I trying to achieve? Am I making up selfish excuses about why I can’t part with it? Or is it just me trying to persuade myself of this? Sure, I am busy. But I can’t fool myself. There are times when I have nothing to do, or am doing nothing. No doubt, we all “do” some of this. Yet if we reconsider our priorities and refine our attitudes, we will find we have substantial time on our hands. We can choose to put it to some good use, or lose it. Article provided by Al Jumuah Magazine, a monthly Muslim lifestyle publication, which addresses the religious concerns of Muslim families across the world.
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Letters & Opinions
low the Sharia law and tradition Countries for giving us the free- of the Prophet (SAWS) and disdom of religion that gave us an cover the truth most needed to opportunity to learn about Islam, obtain Paradise”. Christianity and Judaism that are all intertwined, and we became familiar with the Torah and the Bible that we didn’t know existed, including we got introduced to the Prophets Adam (AS), Noah (AS), Isaac (AS), Israel-JaBy MP Jinny Sims cob (AS), Abraham (AS), Moses (AS) Jesus (AS) and Muhammad NDP Immigrant Critic nough is enough. The time to act (saws). This is our greatest ‘day of dis- is now. It is absolutely unaccepcovery’ of our Lord the Creator table that, instead of addressing the concerns of truckers and reand all HIS Divine Revelations. So just one message to the ter- solving the labour dispute, the rorists: “Do not kill any, or force Prime Minister and the BC Preconversion, it is made harram mier are playing political football with an important issue. The job and a sin. Our duty is just to introduce the action could have been averted if Creator-GOD to people: so fol- the Federal Government had not ignored all the warning signs for
Letters Continued on pg 6
Strike at Port of Vancouver
so long, and taken timely action to resolve the disputes. The Ports of Metro Vancouver are crucial to our economy. Business interests are suffering and people working at the port and related industries are feeling the consequences of the dispute. If this situation is not resolved, the consequences will continue to be felt by workers, families and communities across BC. In order to create a resolution that gets everyone back to work, I call on Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt to bring all the parties to the table to resolve the long outstanding issues.
Marking the end of our mission in Afghanistan Joyce Murray, MP
Liberal Party of Canada Defence Critic Canada’s604-690-0400 flag was lowered in Kabul this month, drawing Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan to a close as our troops began their final journey home. All Canadians extend our appreciation and thanks to the brave women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RMCP, as well as the public servants and civilians who served valiantly in Afghanistan. We also owe a great debt of gratitude to the families who supported their loved ones during deployments. All those who served have made enormous sacrifices during Canada's largest military deployment since the Second World War. Canadian women and men carried out their duties with the utmost professionalism and dis-
tinction. We are immensely proud and grateful of their service to enhance peace, stability, and hope in a troubled region of the world. Most importantly, we remember those individuals—both military and civilian—who made the ultimate sacrifice during the mission. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the 158 Canadian soldiers, civilian consultants, diplomat, and a journalist who lost their lives in the line of duty. We also remember those who were injured and will forever bear the scars, physical and invisible, of their service. While Canada’s mission may have ended, our responsibilities do not. As a country, we must take the best possible care of all those who have returned from Afghanistan.
9
Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
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10
Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
S P E C I A L
IQRA SCHOOL RANKED NUMBER 1 THIS YEAR IN BC! Alhamdullilah! This year, with the blessing of Allah (SWT), Iqra Islamic School is ranked NUMBER ONE by the Fraser Institute out of 982 elementary schools in BC. Every year, the Fraser Institute ranks all schools in BC based on Foundation Skills Assessments (FSA) undertaken by students in Grade 4 and Grade 7. The Institute ranks schools based on standardized tests in reading, writing,
School History The Port Mann community was originally a post office, a CNR Station, and a ferry dock. There were many small houses of railway workers, and the school was named after the community. The Port Mann school opened in 1922 as a 2-room elementary school. It was typical 1930s style with a peaked roof and two upper classrooms with boys’ and girls’ basements beneath. It serviced the pupils of the growing community built around the CNR rail yard and dock facilities. As the shipping industry changed and the area became more industrial, the school was used as a private school and eventually closed. This picture, taken in 1965, was provided by Ellen Edwards. She began teaching at Port Mann in 1960. She is pointing to the class room (currently the Principal’s Office) that she taught in. Left content and picture provided by Jack Brown – The development of schools in Surrey 1901-1939---In 1998, a group of dedicated brothers purchased the former Port Mann school, that been used as training center, from Canadian National Rail. The brothers had a vision to establish an Islamic School that would uphold the Islamic tradition of great respect for knowledge, and a philosophy that student’s knowledge of the world and practice of their beliefs should be integrated into a cohesive whole to provide quality education and personal excellence.
and numeracy. your relentless support: Jazakumullahu Khair all. The academic success of Iqra Islamic school is due to the Iqra is committed to provide for its students quality eduBlessing of Allah, then the collaborative efforts of the en- cation and personal excellence in a safe and friendly Istire Iqra Community: Special thanks goes to our dedicated lamic environment. teachers, conscientious students, very supportive PAC, Thank you, hardworking parents, competent administration, and our Dr. Faisal Ali, Principal devoted Board of Education. May Allah reward you for all Iqra Islamic School comprehensive educational pack- active and compete in their favorite lamic, and Arabic studies •Promote excellent personal man- age which encompasses all aca- sports. IQRA Islamic School’s speners, high moral values, and strong demic subjects including language cial intramural sports program has arts, math, social studies, and sci- had positive effects throughout the leadership skills •Prepare students to become good ence. As well, the curriculum is school. In addition to the intramucitizens and contributing members rounded out by physical education, ral program, IQRA School is presart, health and career planning, and ently planning to organize comof society •Empower students to seek and information technology programs. petitions and matches in various succeed in post-secondary educa- Students are enriched as well as sports against other schools. challenged by the program offer- Standard & Achievements tion •Guide students to develop life ings. Our grade four students, for the B. Arabic Language skills and interests fourth year in a row; and our grade Goals And Objectives: A primary objective in teaching seven students, for the second The central goal of IQRA Islamic Arabic as a Second language at year in a row, have the results of School is the formation of Mus- IQRA Islamic school is to en- the entire District of Surrey in the lim character as described in the able students to communicate with provincial government’s province following statement: A Muslim verbal and written competence in wide Foundation Skills Assesspursues spiritual goals through all Arabic according to their respec- ment (FSA). Again during the year In September 1998, while renova- his/her worldly endeavors. His/ tive levels. The student is moved 2003-2004, our students exceeded, tion was taking place to welcome her behavior embodies and reflects gradually from kindergarten to by a wide margin, the other school the pioneers of the new and only Islamic morals and values. Pursuit junior high towards this objective districts in the province. Islamic school in Surrey, a one- of knowledge is among a Muslim’s through the four basic language We also exceeded the results of room school was rented in the highest priorities, and a spirit of skills: listening, speaking, reading most of the other independent White Rock–Surrey area with inquiry is the prerequisite. Faith and writing. The curriculum preschools as well, Mashaa Allah! the enrolment of 16 students and and action work together to lead a sents teaching Arabic as a Second The results of all schools province school board started recruiting Muslim toward higher knowledge language in an integrated manner wide are also on the Ministry of highly committed and qualified and progress, sound individual life where all four language skills are Education’s web site:www.bced. faculty and administration to fulfill choices, and service to society. systematically integrated. gov.bc.ca/assessment/fsa/results/ its objectives. The school seeks to develop in our C. Islamic Studies & Qur’an Our commitment is not just to conA few months later, Iqra Islamic students the values which define a Program tinue with the same results in the School was established at the cur- Muslim: honesty, compassion, re- The IQRA Islamic education years to come, but to do even betrent location as a certified full-time spect for self and others, pride in program mainly focuses on two ter, In sha’Allah. Elementary School: work, a commitment to justice, and dimensions: individual and so- Currently, Iqra as an Elementary Currently, Iqra as an Elementary & acceptance of differences cial development. The individual & Junior High School serveing Junior High School (Accredited by Facilities: development dimension, aims to over 400 students from all Metro the Ministry of Education, British Our students love, value and ap- prepare students to lead a positive Vancouver, British Columbia. Columbia) serves over 340 stu- preciate the various facilities and good life as adults in the world •Current enrolment of students: dents from all Metro Vancouver, available, which are conducive to around them, as well as to achieve 410 British Columbia. the development of their growing positive rewards in the hereafter. •Current staff members and adOur Vision: minds and bodies. Our recreational On the social dimension, education IQRA Islamic School upholds the facilities – gymnasium, outdoor could be a tool to preserve a com- min staff: 41 Islamic tradition of great respect fields, basketball court, swings, munity’s cultural heritage and a •School covered area: about for knowledge and an open spirit and senior and junior playgrounds means for social change. IQRA Is- 40,000 sq ft, open area includes of inquiry. The rich vein of excel- –provide our students with a vari- lamic school also provides a com- soccer field, 3 playgrounds and a lence in learning within the Islamic ety of activities for physical edu- prehensive Qur’an curriculum that large courtyard heritage is the foundation of the cation classes, recess, lunch, and includes proper recitation skills, •No of classrooms: over 21 rigorous academic program which before and after school programs. memorization skills, as well as •Gym and other school facilities: is intended to serve the needs of the Visitors to IQRA have been highly meaningful lessons learned from State of the art IT Lab and GYM modern world without sacrificing impressed by the high standard respective chapters of the Qur’an. •School Ranking: moral and spiritual values. Since of indoor facilities, including a The main goal of this program is to 2008 At No 510 the Islamic faith addresses the state-of-the-art computer lab. The help students adapt Islam as a way 2009 At No 234, complete personality, it is IQRA large, nicely decorated clean and of life. 2010 At No 41, Islamic School’s philosophy that bright classrooms provide our stu- D. Athletics at IQRA School knowledge of the world and prac- dents with the right environment In addition to the athletic areas 2011 At No 40, tice of our shared beliefs should be in which to learn and develop their that are covered by the BC Physi- 2012 At No 27, integrated into a cohesive whole. intellect. cal Education curriculum, IQRA 2013 At No. 1 Our Mission: Iqra Islamic school provides ex- Islamic School is proud to offer •Principal: Dr. Faisal Ali Provide quality education & per- cellence in all of the following a wide range of extra-curricular •Chairman: Dr. Ali Mihirig, sonal excellence sports programs. These programs •Acting chairman areas: •Provide quality; educational pro- A. Academics are held at recess and lunch and grams that integrate academic, Is- IQRA Islamic School offers a give students the opportunity to get Br. Sultan Badshah
Iqra Islamic School has expanded rapidly while consistently maintaining a commitment to excellence in teaching and learning since its establishment in 1998 with 16 students – currently 407 students from KG to Grade 8. The school Board has continued its tireless pursuit over the last 16 years to ensure that the strategic plans required to achieve Iqra vision are in place. We have been working diligently with senior administration and staff to ensure access to the best in technology and learning methods. Dr. Faisal
and his entire teaching, administration, and operational teams have consistently been improving the ranking over the years – currently Ranked # 1 out of 982 schools in BC. The academic calibre of our teaching staff – professional educators who are at the fore front of their subject areas and our commitment to the achievement of Iqra vision have raised the standards for students. Our students and graduates have continued to excel with their talent and determination and I look forward to sharing with the BC Muslim
community further accomplishments and success stories. On behalf of the School Board I take this opportunity to thank you all for your contribution in ensuring the ongoing success and expansion of Iqra as a leader in Islamic and academic studies. We all play a crucial role in the Iqra community and look forward to working together towards greater accomplishments and achievements in the future, insha’Allah. Br. Sultan Badshah (Acting Chairperson)
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
P O L I T I C S
Bruce Ralston named new house leader for New Democrat Official Opposition
Bruce Ralston, MLA for Surrey-Whalley and critic for international trade, immigration, and multiculturalism, will serve as the new house leader for the Official Opposition, said New Democrat leader Adrian Dix. “A greatly respected member of our caucus,
Bruce has agreed to take on this new role, replacing John Horgan as he pursues his candidacy in the leadership race,” said Dix. Horgan, who was named the New Democrat house leader in Spring 2011, will continue his role as the opposition’s energy critic. He,
along with finance critic and leadership contender Mike Farnworth, will also continue to serve on the caucus house management committee.
Jasbir Sandhu, MP Surrey North, hosts a Disability Tax Credit Workshop at City Centre Library Jasbir Sandhu, MP Surrey North, successfully hosted a Disability Tax Credit Workshop at City Centre Library on Monday, March 10th. Over 50 community members attended this workshop and gained valuable information on eligibility for the Disability Tax Credit. This was the second annual event hosted by MP Sandhu on this subject, after the first one was very well received last year. “I am extremely happy with the positive feedback I have received from the community regarding these seminars,” remarked Sandhu. “Surrey residents have almost no direct access to Canada Revenue Agency front end services due to service and funding cuts, and my community office has stepped up to fill that vacuum in service and information,” stated the MP.
The Disability Tax Credit (DTC), also known as the disability amount, is a non-refundable tax credit that helps persons with disabilities, or their supporting persons reduce the amount of income tax they may have to pay. To be eligible a person must meet the following three criteria: first, they must have a severe impairment in physical or mental functions; second, the impairment must be prolonged—meaning, it must have lasted, or is expected to last, for a continuous period of at least 12 months; and third, it must be restricted at least 90% of the time. A doctor or medical practitioner needs to sign off on a completed Form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate. Surrey residents can contact MP Sandhu’s community office with more questions on this matter.
Tanoli Travel and Currency Exchange
New Business in Town:
A few days ago, a new business, Tanoli Travel and West Coast Bullion & Currency Exchange opened at 15148 North Bulf Road in White Rock. Mr. Akthar Tanoli who has the experience in business invited Maulana Abul Lateef Naumani and many business community members for Duaa. Mr. Tanoli talked with the Miracle reporter and described his business in White Rock. He said that at this spot there was a travelling agency already. He gave it his name and added the currency exchange business.
“In this Travel agency, we will provide the world wide services include the Ummra Package. Not only people of White Rock can get benefits from this spot. Other city residents can also get the benefit for their vacation trips and send money at best rates to all over the world in bank. We are just one phone call or email away. Inshallah we will provide the best services in both business to our all community members, we need community support to established this new spot”, said Mr. Tanoli.
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
A D V E R T I S E R
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
C R I M E
More South Asian men living on Surrey streets: Urban Mission
By: Anita Bathe Indicates family dynamics could be changing within community Surrey is seeing an increase in middle-aged to senior South Asian men who are living on the streets according to one outreach worker. Jonquil Hallgate with the Surrey Urban Mission says she particularly notices it in North Surrey and that includes the number of people who are using the services offered by her group. She says most of the men are facing addiction issues. “It’s a trend that has sort of been growing over the last few years. Five years ago it wasn’t noticeable,” says Hallgate. She says she’s been told by volunteers that addiction isn’t something that was previously talked about much in the Punjabi community. “Now it’s something that’s emerging because people are starting to
recognize that there’s an issue here and it’s changing how families are doing things.” Family Counsellor Kuldip Gill says in the past, shame and stigma have prevented families from breaking up due to abuse or addiction. “It was a patriarchal society where it was very difficult to get men removed from the home because they had some sort of financial or patriarch power. Whereas now it is shifting. Perhaps the matriarchs are getting the support they needed.” She says people are now more inclined to do what’s better for the whole family and sometimes that’s at the risk of someone being removed. A few generations ago, she says, they would have put up with it. “And also I think people are just wanting to be healthier overall for their children and to have healthier marriages,” says Gill. Source:NEWS1130
Retired B.C. Teacher charged with more Sex Crimes
Another round of criminal charges have been laid against a retired B.C. teacher who previously pled guilty to sexually exploiting two young people more than a decade ago. Russell Lance Read, whose last teaching assignment was at Citadel middle school in Port Coquitlam, was charged last month in connection to five more alleged sex crimes and police believe there may be more victims who have not yet come forward. Read now faces two charges of sexual assault as well as charges of sexual exploitation, sexual interference of a person under 14, and touching a young person for a sexual purpose. Read pleaded guilty in 2012 to sexually exploiting two young people and administering a stupefying drug to one of them. One charge related to offences between July 1998 and February 2000 while the other two were between January 2001 and June 2003. Read was charged with sexual exploitation because he was in a position of trust or authority with the victims, Neil MacKenzie of the Attorney General’s criminal justice branch said in an interview, but he wouldn’t say whether they were his students. The B.C. College of Teachers, previously the profession’s self-regulatory body, cancelled Read’s teaching licence in 2006 for nonpayment of fees and began investigat-
ing him for professional misconduct based on confidential information submitted by a school official. A discipline hearing was held in 2008 and Read admitted to professional misconduct while he was employed as a middle school teacher, including telling inappropriate sexual jokes to Grade 8 students. The hearing also concluded that he had given a recreational drug to a young female between January 1979 and December 1983 while working as a teacher at a band school. It also determined that he had a sexual encounter with the girl, who was not a student of his but whom he knew to be a minor. The college barred him from teaching for at least 10 years. Source: vancouversun.com
IN COMMEMORATION OF COMANDANTE HUGO CHÁVEZ
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15
Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
A D V E R T I S E R
BC MUSLIM ASSOCIATION BURNABY-NEW WESTMINSTER-TRI-CITIES BRANCH & LADIES’ BRANCH PRESENT:
SENIORS’ PROGRAM A SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL EVENT FOR BROTHERS & SISTERS AGED 55+ WHEN
Sunday March 30th, 2014 11:00 AM WHERE
Masjid Al-Salaam & Education Centre
5060 Canada Way, Burnaby BC This is a Free Event! Lunch Provided by the Burnaby Branch & Ladies Chapter Other Items Supported by the Government of British Columbia
Mohammed Azeem (604) 430-5555 Daud Ali (778) 829-7864 Daud Ismail (604) 294-2824 Nisha Zuber (604) 524-5197 Fareeda Ali (604) 522-6755
PRESENTATIONS & DISCUSSIONS: BURIAL & FUNERAL SERVICES A presentation by members of the BCMA Burial Committee about services for your family.
HONOURING OUR ELDERS
Exploring a role for Seniors within the next BCMA constitution and within the future of our organizations
THE FUTURE
Financial protection and planning for Seniors Citizens. Setting the stage for future events where we can honour the contribution of our seniors, and to ensure their dignity.
ALL ARE WELCOME
“He is not one of us who …does not acknowledge the honor due to our elders.”
-At-Tirmidhi
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
Y O U T H
New BCMA Youth Initiative: Annual Umrah For Youth Mohammed Imtiaz Asin, V.P. Youth & Development Services. The BCMA Youth now commonly known as the “Young Ummah Group” is embarking on a historic event by organizing the first ever BCMA Youth Umrah trip. The idea originated from the BCMA youth themselves to create a trip that would be both meaningful as well as enjoyable during the spring break. This trip will not only make their imaan strong but will also give them an experience of a lifetime. This journey will be further enhanced under the guidance of Mufti Aasim Rashid who will be providing more indepth education on our beloved religion and the related history due to his numerous Hajj and Umrah experiences. Almost 40 young Muslim brothers from the lower mainland are on their way to the best two cities of the world: Mecca and Madina, a life changing journey. The BCMA Young Ummah Group plans to
make this a yearly venture so that other youths can also take advantage of this most rewarding trip during their spring breaks. The trip is expected to be scheduled each year from March 15th to 25th. If you are interested to join the group for next year, please send an email to V.P. of Youth Services or BCMA head office. The Young Ummah Group humbly requests all the parents and well wishes for their support and their prayers on behalf of all those who are participating on this trip for a safe journey and to gain the highest form of Ibaadah. The BCMA Executive congratulates the Young Ummah Group for taking this initiative and wish to thank them for their hard work and sacrifice towards this excellent venture. May Allah Subhan wa Taala strengthen your imaan and keep us all on the right path. Ameen youth@thebcma.com
By Fatima Nadeem Grade 6, Surrey
Kids Korner is a fun way for kids to exercise their brain, build up their imagination with lots of other things while having fun.
Moral Story
The Holy Prophet (Pbuh) And The Sour Grapes
One day a poor man brought a bunch of grapes to the holy prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a gift. The holy prophet (pbuh) ate one, two, three and then the whole bunch of grapes by himself. He did not offer grapes to anyone present. The poor man who brought those grapes was very pleased and left. One of the companions asked, “O prophet of Allah (pbuh)! How come you ate all the grapes by yourself and did not offer to any one of us present? The holy Prophet (pbuh) smiled and said, “I ate all the grapes by myself because the grapes were sour. If I would have offered you,
you might have made funny faces and that would have hurt the feelings of that poor man. I thought to myself that it’s better that I eat all of them cheerfully and please the poor man. I did not want to hurt the feelings of that poor man.” Question: What is the moral of the story
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
I M M I G R / T A X
Attracting Skilled Newcomers to Canada Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments Working Together to Meet Canada’s Labour Needs through Active Immigrant Recruitment Federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) immigration ministers today reiterated their commitment to actively recruit economic immigrants that have the skills the Canadian economy needs most. Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and Alberta’s Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour Minister Thomas Lukaszuk co-chaired the meeting of FPT ministers responsible for immigration. Economic immigration was a top priority for all ministers around the table. Ministers agreed to continue collaborating on building the new active recruitment model which is known as the Expression of Interest (or EOI) system. It is intended to transform Canada’s immigration system into one that is more responsive to labour market needs. EOI will provide governments and Canadian employers access to skilled foreign workers and expedite their entry into Cana-
da for jobs that aren’t being filled by people already in Canada. Ministers agreed to engage jointly and intensively with employers on EOI prior to the new system launch in January 2015. Immigration Ministers also endorsed a plan to improve settlement outcomes for newcomers across Canada. It includes improved pre-arrival services, foreign qualification recognition, language learning for newcomers who are not in the workforce and ways to encourage newcomers to become more connected to their communities. The ministers reviewed progress to date on the FPT Vision Action Plan, reiterating the continuing need to align immigration levels with economic demand, build a fast, flexible economic immigration system focused primarily on meeting labour market needs across Canada, and improve social and economic settlement and integration outcomes for newcomers to Canada. As immigration remains crucial to Canada’s economic future, the ministers agreed to meet again before the end of the year to continue this important work.
Under the Canada-Québec Accord relating to immigration and temporary admission of foreign nationals, Québec fully assumes sole responsibility for establishing immigration levels, and for the selection, francization and integration of immigrants. In areas under its responsibility, Québec develops its policies and programs, legislates, regulates and sets its own standards. Québec is an observer at FPT meetings.
Quick facts •EOI will complement the Provincial Nominee Program which will continue to be a key mechanism to allow provinces, territories, and employers to meet regional labour market needs. Almost 41,000 provincial nominees (including their spouses and dependants) were admitted to Canada through the PNP in 2012, up from approximately 13,500 in 2006. •Thanks in part to the PNP, 42 percent of all economic immigrants in 2012 intended to settle outside of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, compared to only about 20 percent in 2000. •In 2012, 62 percent of immigrants were in
the economic stream. Governments aim to achieve a minimum of 70 percent, nationally and by jurisdiction, in the years ahead. •FPT governments are committed to ensuring that newcomers integrate and contribute fully to the Canadian economy, and to their communities, as soon as possible. For its part, the Government of Canada will invest almost $600 million in 2014-2015 to support newcomers’ settlement needs outside of Quebec.
Tax Tips: Some of the most common overlooked deductions
Tax season is officially underway. But before you file your papers, you might want to make sure you’re not missing anything. Here are some some of the most common deductions that often get overlooked.: If you purchase a policy to cover medical expenses while you are away, it is considered a medical expense for tax purposes.
expense for tax purposes. Employer healthcare premiums: If you pay premiums for your employer healthcare plan, you can claim them as a medical expense. Children’s activities: Tutoring qualifies for this credit. And the cost of enrolling your child in certain types of recreational or cultural activities (such as language lessons or Girl Guides) may qualiTravel medical insurance: fy for the Childrens’ Arts Amount. If you purchase a policy to cover Public transit: Although you medical expenses while you are cannot claim the cost of one-trip away, it is considered a medical tickets, monthly passes qualify for
a credit regardless of the reason you are using the transit system. Sandwich generation: If one of your elderly parents is living with you, you may be able to claim the caregiver amount depending on their income and age.
Healthcare
deductibles:
If your healthcare plan requires you to pay a deductible on your prescriptions or dental bills, the amount you are responsible for is a medical expense. Safety deposit boxes: This will be the last year it is allowed
but if you have investments, this is considered an expense and can be claimed. Strictly speaking the deduction was only allowed if the box was used to store items related to the income-producing process such as Canada Savings Bonds or share certificates. This is the last year that this will be an option. Vehicle expenses: If you drive your personal car for work but your employer does not reimburse you enough to cover your auto expenses, you can make a claim. But you have to report the amount
your employer pays you as income and claim a percentage of your insurance, registration, gas and car payment expenses based on how many kilometres you drive for work. Source: CTV News
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
L I F E S T Y L E
Employment concerns for working Muslim women Before a Muslim woman seeks employment, she must carefully weigh all of her options and prepare herself for inevitable challenges. Every day, many Muslim women cope with the challenge of working in a non-Muslim environment: a male employee offers his hand during introductions, other em-
pens, and often. Moreover, women should be aware that the laws can only do very little to discourage it, after that you are on your own. What is the Islamic perspective in women and work? What guidelines should be followed if a woman works? What are some strategies that may be effective in helping her
ployees begin to discuss private aspects of their lives at lunch, an invitation is sent to all employees for a get-together at the local bar; someone makes a joke about Hijaab or Salaah. These are just a few of the many possible situations that a woman may face as she struggles to maintain not only her job, but, more importantly, her Muslim identity. All women who have been exposed to the workplace at some point in their lives can fully grasp the myriad of reasons why working outside the home is an enormous problem, in particular for Muslim women. There are countless contrasts in the workplace to our Islamic value system. There are valid reasons why laws were enacted for sexual harassment in the workplace in the United States, and that is because it hap-
to maintain Islamic values and behavior? Setting priorities: The most important role for a woman is motherhood. This special role that Allaah, Almighty, has created for her, affords her honor and respect in Islam. Where does she fulfill this role? Naturally, in her home. Allaah, Almighty, Says (what means): “And abide in your houses and do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance…” [Quran 33: 33] This does not mean that a woman is a prisoner in her home, but only that she should have a valid reason (meeting her basic needs) to go out, to avoid any tribulation, trial, or temptation that may result from mixing between men and women. A woman should not work in a nonMuslim environment unless there is
an extremelly compelling reason for her to do so. Allaah, Almighty, has not prohibited women from working, but He has provided numerous protections for women, that are primarily concerned with where, how, and with whom she associates. She should seriously consider the costs and benefits for herself, and the impact on her ability to fulfill her primary responsibilities, before taking on a job. There are many situations that may make it necessary for a woman to work, such as to meet the financial needs of the family or to fulfill the needs of the society (doctors, midwives, teachers). There are several obvious guidelines that should be followed if a woman must work: First, she must obtain consent from her guardian or husband (if married), who may offer a broader perspective on how her work may influence the family and its functioning. Secondly, a woman must ensure that her home and children are properly cared for. Her husband may be of assistance in this area, or outside help may be employed. Thirdly, care must be taken to choose employment that is appropriate and fits with her skills. Obviously, any work that deals with forbidden activities, services, or products would not be allowed but there is a world of possibilities available. Forthly, any job that prevents her from fulfilling any of her Islamic obligations, like Hijaab or Prayer for example, is not an option to be considered. Fifthly, while at the job, a woman must maintain her inwardly and out-
wardly modesty and chastity. There is an immense and growing need for Muslim women in various medical fields, in education, in helping professions such as social work, counseling, psychology, psychiatry, and childcare. With the growth of technology and communications capabilities, there are unlimited opportunities for women to do some type of work or business from home (such as secretarial and typing; writing, editing, publishing; computer work, etc.). This would be an ideal situation that would eliminate many of the concerns that may arise for working women. Maintaining an Islamic foundation: This common concern for women who work outside the home must be taken very seriously. Women need to be careful that the job they choose does not lead them to transgress the limits of Islam. Fedwa is a successful computer programmer at a major University who understands the risks of working in a non-Muslim environment. She knows that if she is not cautious, others may begin to negatively influence her. When she first began working, she would attend luncheons with other employees, but soon discovered that much of the time was spent on idle talk and conversation about forbidden activities (e.g. boyfriends, drinking). She decided that the best precaution for her would be to avoid these luncheons completely, so that a bond would not be established between herself and her co-workers. This type of influence could be so subtle, that a sister may not even be aware that she
has fallen into the trap. Listening to inappropriate conversations on a regular basis may lead a sister to become desensitized and thereby forgetful about appropriate etiquette. Another sister, Layla, echoed the same concerns. Layla is a Dental Claims Clerk at a major HMO who also decided to stop sitting with her co-workers during lunch. She and three other Muslim sisters at the same company have devised a creative way to preserve their identity while socializing at the same time. Each Friday, the sisters pray Thuhr (noon prayer) together in a conference room, followed by lunch. During lunchtime, they study about Islam in a private halaqah (Islamic study circle). Layla also discussed her struggle with wearing Hijaab. When she first became Muslim, she considered not wearing Hijaab to job interviews for fear that potential employers would react negatively, preventing her from being considered. This rationale carries a strong message. After more consideration, she realized that Allaah would be the only One Who could assist her in finding a job, and if she did not wear it, she would not receive Allaah’s help. She wore the Hijaab and found a job. She felt that the Hijaab was a barrier in only one of her interviews. Since that time, Allaah, Almighty, has strengthened her faith. Her advice to other Muslim sisters is to be open and honest about religious beliefs and practices, and to incorporate this into conversations. http://www.islamweb.net
Best Pizza in Town
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
F O O D
Eat your way back to youth Author: Rima Al-Mukhtar It’s a priority for most people these days to look young. Many women purchase cosmetics, lotions and anti-wrinkle creams to keep their skin looking young and fresh. Others go the extra mile and visit their dermatologists and undergo surgery to nip and tuck their skin to attain youthful features. Health specialists say beauty comes from within. Nature provides super foods that can control ageing and make you feel younger and healthy. “Many people think they need to buy bottles of vitamin pills to enrich their bodies with young hormones, this is not true. One need to look no further than their fridge for some great age-defying treatments,” said Hessa Shabaan, nutritionist. “Antioxidants, the health-protecting complexes found in plant-based foods are key, as they stop damage to the body’s cells, but so are the right type of fluids and dairy products,” she added. Add age-defying foods to your diet and start looking and feeling younger. “There are many factors in your daily life that can make you look older than your actual age, such as insomnia, stress, pollution, dehydration and smoking which play a major role in speeding up the ageing process,” said Shabaan. “You need to take good care of yourself and invest in some quality time relaxing and
maybe go to the spa for a massage every once in a while to take the stress off your shoulders. Limit your coffee and tea to once a day and you will not regret it,” she added. According to Shabaan, there are foods that can protect you from age-related illnesses and degenerative diseases, and prevent wrinkles from appearing before their time. “You need to indulge in healthy food every day to cleanse your body off the toxins and stay away from cigarettes and smokers to keep your lungs and your skin healthy; you also need to have your beauty sleep to ensure clearness of the mind and freshness of the skin,” she said. List of foods that Shabaan promises to make you look and feel young: 1) Avocado: Aside from being delicious, this fruit is rich in antioxidants and is high in vitamin E, both of which help protect the skin. Avocado helps in regenerating skin cells, which give your skin a more youthful complexion. Make sure to add avocado in your smoothies, salads and sandwiches; it will give you a great twist and will help you achieve your beauty goal. 2) Blueberries: These small, blue, juicy balls contain cancerpreventing antioxidants called anthocyanin. This fruit is filled with vitamin C and dietary fiber,
which plays a vital role in bone health and metabolism. Blueberries also contain certain minerals, which help control the anti-ageing process. High in potassium, these berries help fight puffiness. The best part of this fruit is that it tastes like candy. 3) Dark chocolate: Chocolate that contains more than 70 percent cocoa is usually full of proteins and Vitamin B. This type of chocolate can help you improve your skin cells and your hair too, not to mention it tastes amazing. 4) Green vegetables: When it comes to green vegetables, the darker the color the better it is. They are filled with plethora of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to help build and repair the skin’s cells. These veggies can also help control weight and also help fight heart diseases. Greens such as kale, spinach and broccoli are a great choice of healthy food, which you can mix with your regular dishes and be creative with new dishes or even better drink a glass of green juice every morning to provide you with the energy you need. 5) Water: It is the real fountain of youth. 70 percent of our bodies contain water and it keeps us fresh and hydrated. Dehydrated bodies feel tired, cranky and dehydrated skin looks dry and lackluster. 6) Kidney beans: They are full of fiber, protein and potassium
which helps reduce the cholesterol levels. They also help reduce the risk of any heart diseases. 7) Prunes: These dark purple dried fruits are known for their laxative qualities and are used in natural digestive remedies. They are formidable anti-aging food, even though they have wrinkly skin and they may not be as attractive as dried apricots or raisins, but they happen to be filled with potassium, fiber and antioxidant phytochemicals, plus iron and vitamin A. 8) Turmeric: Beauty gurus know the secret behind the anti-ageing and health promoting properties of this great spice that contains the highly effective antioxidant called curcumin. Use this spice in your diet to keep your brain young and healthy. Studies say it helps preserve memory and reduces the
risk of Alzheimer disease, while protecting you from heart disease and cancer. 9) Nuts: Munching on nuts will provide your body with mineral selenium, which helps to improve skin elasticity. Selenium is a potent antioxidant, which helps to reduce the risk of skin cancer and prevents from premature ageing. 10) Whole grains: They offer an array of anti-aging elements, from fiber to protein to iron. But perhaps just as significantly, they are the best appetite-satisfying alternative to refined white carbohydrates. Make sure to stay away from white based foods that are high in simple carbs and can lead to heart disease, obesity and general malaise, all of which ages you. Source: arabnews
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
SPECIAL
Pakistan Day 23 March, 1940
From concept to reality
By Khwaja Razi Haider It is a historical fact that after the events of 1857 and the subsequent consolidation of the British Raj in India, the political thinkers and intellectuals of the Sub-continent started to think about the political, religious cultural and social future of India. As a result, many ideas, plans, proposals and schemes were put forward for the partition of India and the formation of a separate Muslim state. Apart from indigenous proposals, British parliamentarians, writers and others were also thinking in terms of the bifurcation of India. The first such scheme for the partition or division of India was voiced by a British Parliamentarian John Bright in June 1858. Addressing the House of Commons he suggested “five or six large presidencies with complete autonomy, ultimately becoming independent States.” After two decades, in December 1877, he again reiterated that “he is seeing several independent and sovereign states in India when British withdrawal had been affected.” After 1857, since the Muslims of India were grossly marginalised in the social, religious and political fields, they were not inclined to accept the demand for partition of India into two independent and autonomous states. Although the actual struggle for the establishment of a proposed Muslim state started in March 1940 from the platform of the All India Muslim League (AIML), it nonetheless has a long historical background. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the first Muslim thinker who stressed that Hindus and Muslims are two different nations, hence any attempt to fuse them into one nation would fail. Accordingly in 1867, before the Divisional Commissioner of Banaras, he very clearly said “I am convinced both these nations will not join whole heartedly in any thing. At present, there is no hostility between the two communities, but on account of the so-called educated it will increase immediately in future. He who lives will see.” After the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885, his conviction became firmer when he said “Indian National Congress is a Hindu organisation and it can not provide safeguard to the interests of Muslims.” Although Sir Syed Ahmad Khan did not present in principle, any plan or proposal for the partition of India, yet he provided a basis to the Indian Muslims for thinking about their future. From to 1940, more than one hundred proposals and schemes for the partition of India were presented by different quarters. In these proposals, the principal of partition was presented mostly on administrative and communal grounds; however, these proposals not only popularised but also paved the way for the vivid description and elucidation of the Two Nation Theory. It is amazing that the first scheme for the partition of India was presented by John Bright in 1858, a Britisher. On the 4th of June 1858, while participating in a discussion in the British Parliament concerning the Government of India, he was of the opinion, “A great country like India cannot be administered by Britain for a long time, one day we will have to let them rule. Hence it is necessary to abolish the Governorship and instead of keeping a colony, and for administrative purposes, India should be divided into five
presidencies presidencies.”” It is however strange that in 1947, the last scheme after some 90 years, was also presented by Viceroy Lord Mountbatten- a British. In 1887, Theodore Beck, educated at Cambridge and the Principal of M. A. O. College at Aligarh, after reviewing the political and social condition of India observed that “Muslims are a separate nation, rule of majority is impossible; Muslims will never agree to be ruled by the Hindu majority.” The second scheme for the partition of India was proposed by a renowned Muslim Scholar Jamaluddin Afghani who in 1879, proposed a broader Muslim state. He was of the opinion that there should be a Muslim State incorporating the north-west Muslim majority provinces of India, Afghanistan and Muslim Central Asia. During the tenure of Viceroy Lord Ripon, in 1883 a British writer Wilfred Scawen Blunt, visited India and held negotiations with different leaders. He wrote in his book Ideas about India that “practically India is to be divided as such that all Northern provinces under the Muslim Government while the South provinces under a Hindu government”. A great Muslim journalist and novelist Maulana Abdul Haleem Sharar, after analysing the deteriorating conditions of the Indian Muslims and the chances of future HinduMuslim riots, felt that if the current problems were to be solved, the partition of India was a must. In 1899, another British intellectual and the principal of MAO College Aligarh, Theodore Morison proposed that the only solution to the Indian political uncertainty was to centralise the Indian Muslims in one province or tract of the country, for instance, the north of India from Peshawar to Agra. But the most shocking event was revealed on October 16, 1905, when Lord Curzon decided to divide the province of Bengal into two. This was a blessing for the Muslims of India but was against the interests of the Hindus. In 1906, the All India Muslim League (AIML) came into being. In 1908, the Muslims of India achieved more successes through the efforts of AIML; with the help of new reforms, the right for separate electorate for the Muslims was accepted. The Minto-Morley Reforms in 1909 ensured that the Muslims would be free to choose their own candidates. According to the same reforms, the Administrative Council of Viceroy was expanded and changed into Imperial Legislative Council. Almost simultaneously, on December 12, 1911, at his coronation ceremony, King George V announced the cancellation of the division of Bengal. This was a painful moment for the Muslims, while the Hindus who were continuously raising voices against this decision, celebrated joyously. These events forced the Muslims of India to struggle for their rights as a separate community. On 10th May, 1913, a newspaper called Comrade published a comic column written by a journalist named Wilayat Ali Bambooq where he said, “to solve the Hindu-Muslim problem, Hindus and Muslims must be separated from each other. North India must be handed over to Muslims, while the rest may be handed over to Hindus”. From 1913 to June 1917 five proposals came out about India’s constitutional and adminis-
trative future but in September 1917 the two Khairi Brothers, Abdul Jabbar and Abdul Sattar, played a prominent role in advancing the idea of a Muslim state in India. During the period 1913 to 1917, a vital change occurred in the political scenario of the Sub-continent through the efforts of M A Jinnah, who was actively participating in politics from the platform of the Indian National Congress and the Legislative Council. He joined the AIML in 1913 and made efforts to create communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims. He was gaining popularity on both sides but some ideologies were not in favour of Jinnah’s efforts. In 1918, Sir Aga Khan in his book “India in Transition” proposed a plan of a huge federation of South Asia with India as its nucleus and centre. From 1919 to 1923, some other politicians and social scientists proposed schemes. Prof. Muhammad Sarwar in his book Afadat wa Malfuzat-i-Hazrat Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi, wrote that in 1924 an anti-British personality Ubaidullah Sindhi in his manifesto issued from Istanbul in 1924, observed that each region of India was to be called “Swarajiya Republic” and the collection (India) was to be known as the Indian Federal Swarajiya Republican State”. The Federal Capital was to be at Delhi. Apart from Sindhi’s observation, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, a renowned poet and politician was the first Indian who moved a resolution demanding, “Complete independence” for India from the Congress platform during its 1920 annual session and again in his presidential address delivered before the ML’s annual session at Ahmadabad in Dec 1921. Three years later, Maulana Hasrat presented a slightly amended proposal in his meeting with the Hindu leaders in 1924. Mohani proposed his scheme on two grounds: that no country could be really free under dominion status and that the Muslims would receive a better deal under the independent Federal structure. In the same year Lala Lajpat Rai a Congress leader, founder of the Hindu Mahasabha and a journalist, wrote several articles on the Hindu-Muslim problem and on Pan-Islamism. In May 1925, Khilafat leader Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, while commenting on Sardar Gul Khan’s proposal in his journal Comrade, said “Muslims have no desire to rule over Hindu areas”. Maulana Muhammad Ali never gave any concrete suggestion about the partition of India but from his writings and speeches it is indicated that he had a very clear idea about the partition of India. Journalist Murtaza Ahmad Khan Maikash, Syed Sardar Ali Khan and Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Sir Ross Masud also presented their proposals but all were superseded by the proposal made by Allama Iqbal in his presidential address. Allama Iqbal proposed that “I would like to see the Punjab, NorthWest Frontier Province, Sindh, and Baluchistan amalgamated into a Single state. Self-government within the British Empire or without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim appears to me to be he final destiny of the Muslims, at least of North-West India.” In the same address, Iqbal also said “the principal of European democracy can not be applied to India without recognising the fact of
communal ggroups. The Muslim demand for the creation of a Muslim India within India is, therefore, perfectly justified” The proposal of Iqbal was not only welcomed by the Muslim circles but also gained popularity and importance even in non-Muslim circles. In 1933, a very thought provoking declaration was made by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, a student of Cambridge University. After passing the examination of Law, during the Round Table Conferences in January 1933, Rahmat Ali issued a declaration entitled “Now or Never: Are we to live or perish forever?” In his declaration, Rahmat Ali demanded a Muslim homeland. The homeland of the Muslims of the Sub-continent was named in the first sentence of the declaration as ‘Pakistan’, according to which “… we mean the five Northern units of India, viz., Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan.” Choudhary Rahmat Ali’s proposal embodied in his declaration, gained significance and importance due to two reasons: first, he issued this declaration at a time when the Round Table Conferences were in session in London; second, that Rahmat Ali was the only person who suggested a name “Pakistan” for his proposed Muslim homeland. After Rahmat Ali’s declaration, a flood of opinions and suggestions burst forth in India and internationally. The word “Pakistan” became immensely popular. In April 1934, Jinnah was elected the president of the AIML again. He reorganised the League with the purpose to participate in the elections which were due to be held under the India Act of 1935.At this crucial stage Allama Muhammad Iqbal extended his full support to Jinnah. During 1936 and 1937 he was in touch with Jinnah and was continuously writing to him on the issues which the Muslim India was facing. In his letter on 28, May 1937, Iqbal commenting and elucidating the seriousness of the Muslim India’s situation wrote that to solve these problems it is necessary to redistribute the country and to provide one or more Muslim states with absolute majorities. 1937 to early 1940 were the years when many a proposal, suggestion, scheme and observation came forward about the partition of India on Hindu Muslim basis from all the corners of the country. 1940 was the landmark of the demand for partition because in that year AIML in its annual session held in March 1940 at Lahore in the supreme leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah presented its separate Muslim homeland plan. The plan was embodied in a resolution, which was initially called Lahore Resolution, which later became famous as Pakistan Resolution. The entire struggle of All India Muslim League after March 1940 was concentrated around this Resolution till the creation of Pakistan in August 1947. Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, Professor Sharif al Mujahid and K K Aziz in their research work summarised these proposals and schemes with authentic sources and came to the conclusion that the historic Pakistan Resolution was not the end but the beginning which led to the creation of Pakistan. The author is Acting Director, Quaid-i-Azam Academy, Karachi
21
Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
ADVERTISER
22 LIFESTYLE NO MONEY........NO TALK ! Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
Money - Your last power at old age! yourself.
4. Don’t believe your children’s promise Most children think it is a privilege to show compassion, genuine love and deep concern for their parents but be warned that not all children think alike.
5. Expand your circle of friends to include young ones who will definitely outlive your old BFFs. Keep up with new inventions, trends, music and lifestyle including all the scams and schemes you should guard against. Remember that when you mix with the young, you also open a fresh avenue to channel your thoughts, experiences and values through so that the lessons you learned are not lost, forgotten or buried with you.
6. Be well groomed and smelling fresh of spring water all the time. By: Adam Buksh Gentle Reminder ... How to stay ‘safe’ at old age: (Remember only you can save yourself safely at old age)
1. Do not retire. If you’re over-aged, retire and get all the benefits but find another income-generating job or open a business that will keep you active physically and mentally. Travel and bond with true friends, play a sport, learn a new hobby and volunteer in your community or parish. Don’t loaf around. Your spouse will hate you because you’ve become a sloppy, listless bum with nothing good to say about the household and things that you never bothered about before. Solve crossword puzzles, play Scrabble, write your memoirs, and above all, read ...this will keep you alert and keep Alzheimer’s at bay.
There’s nothing more depressing than seeing people exhale when you walk by because you reek of baul (camphor chest) or lupa (dirt). Old age or bust, don’t look and smell like a corpse when you’re not one yet.
7. Do not meddle in the life of your children.
Being Successful! By: Shabnam Khan – Family Counsellor If you want success as bad as you want to breathe, you will be successful. I’m sure everyone wants to breathe so really what are the steps to become a real success story? People are yearning and wanting success. We all want to make more money, or have more than we already have right now. But how bad do we really want it? How do we really become a real success story? The steps to becoming a real success story are not always simple as one may think. If so, everyone would have a success story, everyone would be making more money, or everyone would be starting their own business, etc. But if you want it as bad as you want to breathe success will not only come but will change your life to ways that you never saw before. There are 5 magical steps that will help you to become successful. 1. Find your purpose ~ Find your purpose and true happiness will come. We were all created with a thought in mind and with a true purpose. Finding your purpose will help you live longer and grow stronger. What if we were sitting in a chair expecting it to ride us down the street like a car would. It wouldn’t work would it? That’s because it’s not the purpose of the chair to take us here or there. Find your purpose and the success you yearn for will push you to becoming a real success story. 2. Write the Vision ~ Writing the vision is the 2nd step to becoming a real success story. In a nutshell it just says that your dreams and vision will come to life. Writing the vision is another word for setting goals for
If they ask for your counsel, give it, but be ready to accept that they may not take it. Their situations in life cannot be compared to the situations that you experienced in your life. The playing field has changed and they need to develop their own set of survival skills. If you raised them to be street smart, they can handle themselves in tough situations and be able to read people. Champion and encourage their dreams and desires but on their own terms.
yourself and seeing who you will become and be and what your real live success story will look like. 3. Be willing to Fail ~ All real success stories are full of failure stories. Oh yes all successful people failed at one time or another. Remember, just “don’t quit”. Continue to try over and over again until they become a real success story. 4. Surround yourself with other real success stories ~ This means continue to surround yourself around like-minded people. If you want to be a real success story, then surround yourself with other people who live, breathe and produce success. 5. Be a positive thinker ~ All people who are a real success continued to believe that they could do anything possible than they believed. Even when the time is down and negative things happened, they still believed that they would be success no matter what the results were. If you want to have a true successful story, just take the challenge and do it anyways. You will be amazed with the results and it will be very rewarding!! shabnam@skcounselling.ca
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8. Do not use old age as your shield and justification for turning 2. Live in your own place to enjoy grumpy. independence, privacy and a solo There’s nothing more annoying than an arrogant, old fool. Welcome each day as anlife. If you move in with your children, your rank or degree of importance is reduced to that of a bed spacer who has no place of honor or, worse, like crumbling furniture merely displayed with no added value. Maybe, you have to ‘kowtow’ to conform to their own rules that are not kind, considerate or mindful of you? If you witness your children engaged in a war of will and wits with your grandchildren, whom will you side with? Will they even appreciate your arbitration? Remind your children that silence is not a sign of weakness; you are merely processing data that is taking longer to complete.
3. Hold on to your nest egg, bank deposits and assets. If you want to help your children, do give, but not to the extent that you wipe out your life’s earnings, singing heroically not a shirt on my back nor a penny to my name. Staying solvent and in the black is a good hedge against all kinds of tempests. You will sleep better, you will not be afraid to express your opinion and you will be confident about
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Jamadi ul I- 20, 1435H March 21, 2014
SPORTS
FIFA bosses paid off by Qatar 2022 brass: Reports
Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organizing committee has denied being aware of any alleged payments by the disgraced former head of the country’s soccer association to an ex-
vice president of FIFA. Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday that a company under the control of Mohamed Bin Hammam paid $1.2 million to Jack Warner, the former president of North American soccer’s governing body CONCACAF and a member of the FIFA committee which chose the 2022 World Cup hosts. One of Warner’s companies requested that payment in December 2010, the Telegraph said, two weeks after a FIFA vote selected Qatar to stage the 2022 tournament ahead of rival bidders the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea. Qatar’s organizing committee has always denied any wrongdoing and on Tuesday again reiterated that its practices were above board. “The 2022 Bid Committee strictly adhered to FIFA’s bidding regulations in compliance with their code of ethics,” the Committee said in a statement. “The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy and the individuals
Source: NHL mulls draft process
The NHL is looking at adjustments to its draft lottery process that would allow more teams potentially to obtain top draft picks, a source said. The topic came up during the recent meeting of NHL general managers in Boca Raton, Fla. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the group he would have a specific proposal for the GMs to assess at their meetings during the Stanley Cup finals in June, a source said this week. The draft lottery process has been evolving in recent years, moving from a standard system where the 30th overall team in any given season had the first overall pick in that year’s draft to a draft lottery system where the bottom five teams were given a chance at the first pick in a weighted system that still favored the worst teams in the league. After last season’s lockout, the lottery system was expanded to give all 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs at least a mathematical chance to earn the first overall pick. No team could move more than one pick away from its finish in the standings under the previous two systems no matter who received the first pick. Last June, for example, the Colorado Avalanche finished 29th and earned the No. 1 pick with the 30th place Florida Panthers dropping back to the second pick. All the other teams that didn’t make the
playoffs drafted in inverse order of their finish. But the NHL is looking at expanding the process to give more teams better chances at top picks via a weighted lottery. Exactly how the process would work is unknown, and it’s unclear what factors would go into determining the mathematical chances the 17th team would have at a pick in the top three or five or seven in the draft versus the 30th team. The principle of giving the very worst teams the greatest access to the very best drafteligible players has been at the core of successful rebuilds involving powerhouse teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks. The earliest the changes to the draft lottery system, which would have to be approved by the NHL’s board of governors if the GMs decided to adopt them, would be before the highly anticipated 2015 draft which features Sidney Crosby-like franchise opportunities in Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, who is also garnering significant attention as a possible No. 1 pick. Expanding the possibilities of landing top picks among a greater number of non-playoff teams likely would help remove the possibility, or at least the perception, that teams might be tanking in order to get the No. 1 pick. Source: ESPN
involved in the 2022 Bid Committee are unaware of any allegations surrounding business dealings between private individuals.” The Committee declined to comment on further questions asked by Reuters. The Telegraph also alleged that $750,000 was paid to Warner’s sons, citing documents it says indicate the various payments to Warner family members were to “offset legal and other expenses” and “professional services provided over the period 2005-2010”. It was reported in March 2013 that an FBI probe into corruption in international soccer had recruited Warner’s son Daryan as a co-operating witness. Opting to host the world’s biggest soccer tournament in a tiny desert state where daytime summer temperatures rarely fall below 40 degrees Celsius has provoked widespread anger. Among those opposing the decision have been Europe’s leading clubs and human rights groups highlighting dire working con-
ditions in Qatar’s construction sector. FIFA president Sepp Blatter previously admitted the governing had made a “bad mistake” over the bid processes for choosing the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venues, which were held simultaneously and led to the suspension of two Executive Committee members who attempted to sell their votes for cash. Qatari Bin Hammam, the ex-president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and a former member of FIFA’s executive committee, challenged Blatter’s re-election as president, but days before the 2011 vote Bin Hammam was accused of trying to bribe Caribbean officials to vote for him in a plot orchestrated by Warner. Bin Hammam and Warner both denied wrongdoing, but Warner subsequently quit his FIFA and CONCACAF positions and Bin Hammam was banned for life from all FIFA and soccer activities. Source: Toronto Sun
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NEW WEST/BURNABY
WHALLEY
Burnaby Square #106-7885- 6th St., Burnaby
Plaza 102 10235 King George Hwy., Surrey
604-523-0900
604-582-8699
BASIT KHAN B.SC R.Ph Open 7 days 9am to 9pm
MULTI CULTURE TRAVEL
Your travel agency for western canada Email: mctrvl@shaw.ca We are open 7 days a week Flying Any Where 24 Hours EMERGENCY Service Call us for the Best Rates and Prompt Services
Contact: Amer Anwar, Travel Consultant Serving you in English, Hindi, Gujrati Malayalam, Punjabi & Urdu Fly Direct to Pakistan, Bangladash, Sri Lanka, India, Fiji, Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, South Pacific, Europe, Canada & USA.
BC Reg 28697
VANCOUVER (SURREY)
EDMONTON
CALGARY
9476 - 120 St. (Scott Rd.) TF: 1-800-311-1404 Tel: 604-580-1311
9314 - 34th Avenue TF: 1-800-268-5817 Tel: 780-448-1191
#730 5075 Falconridge Blvd. NE TF: 1-800-416-4711 Tel: 604-263-8500
Specialist For First Time Home Buyers
$7.99 ea
Nusrat Hussain
Finest Pakistani Cuisine in Vancouver
604-505-4866 nh.team3000@gmail.com
www.alwatantandoori.com Pakistani Singer
IBRAR UL HAQ SHOW FOR SALE! If a n y part y is i n te res t ed in h o st ing t his s how fro m A p r il- 28- May8 i n Vancouver Contact: Liaqat Ch
1-416-910-2355
Under new Ownership
www.redhotchilipepper.ca
#110- 8077 King George Blvd. Surrey, B.C. V3W 5B4
Fully Renovated
Red Hot Chili Pepper Indian Style Chinese Food We serve Halal Meat & Poultry We have a private party room for special occasions Lunch Special: From more than 20 items $6.95 ea
Catering for your party as well
All meat
supplied Same Chef and Same Menu by Alfaraza at the Same Location. 10% OFF on Pick Up (at main dishes only)
Hand Slaughtered Meat
Chicken Box Sweets from Bangldesh Legs & Thighs $75
ek s a We 7 Day
12790-96 Ave @ 128 St Surrey Phone: 604-583-9987
#104 9278 120TH ST High exposure on Scott road Retail unit 930 Sqft
Rent $1600 per month
Junaid.iqbal@century21.ca (604).599.4888
www.junaidiqbal.ca
D L O S UNIT 41 13499 92 AVE, SURREY