The Asian Star July 7 2018

Vol 17 - Issue 23

Saturday, July 7, 2018

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Saturday, July 7, 2018

Woman ‘forcibly confined’ in car, RCMP investigating the incident Surrey RCMP are investigating a suspicious incident in which a woman was “forcibly confined” in a car in the Whalley area on Thursday. Investigators are asking for help to find a man, woman, and a vehicle linked to the incident, which happened at around 11:30 a.m., in the area of 108th Avenue and King George Boulevard.

Police received reports that witnesses observed a woman being forcibly confined in a small black car in this area. They say they are concerned for the woman’s wellbeing.

The woman has been identified by police as 40-year-old Trina Bird (pictured), described as a First Nations female, 5-foot6 and 190 lbs., with long black hair, which may be dyed pink. She was last seen wearing a white dress.

Investigators are also looking for a person of interest identified as 41-year-old Terrance Desnomie, described as a First Nations male, 5-foot-9 and 196 lbs, with black hair, a moustache and stubble, and brown eyes.

Surrey investigators are looking 41-year-old Terrance Desnomie. He is a person of interest in a suspicious incident in Surrey on Thursday. The vehicle police are looking for is a black 2015 Nissan Versa bearing a British Columbia License Plate of FE2 30D. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, or contact Crime Stoppers.

BC says fund will help create 22,000 childcare spaces by 2021 British Columbia’s children’s minister visited a childcare facility in Coquitlam on Friday to explain how the government intends to create thousands more childcare spaces across the province.

Katrine Conroy said providers can now apply to the Childcare BC New Spaces Fund for a portion of the $237 million that was announced in the spring budget for such programs. She said $221 million has been earmarked specifically for the new spaces fund and it will be available to private-sector, non-profit and public-sector childcare providers, with the aim of creating 22,000 new licensed spaces over the next three years. Katrina Chen, minister of state for childcare, said the new fund will also support the creation of spaces on school grounds for before- and after-school care for elementary-aged youngsters.

It will give boards of education 100 per cent eligibility, up from 90 per cent, for the total cost of any childcare project they launch, up to a maximum of $500,000, Chen said. “Too many parents are dealing with a lack of good options when it comes to childcare, and that’s only made worse as spaces close due to financial pressures on childcare operators,” she said. Spaces for infant and toddler care continue to top the list of priorities and funding preference will be given to communities with the greatest need, such as fast-developing urban centres and Indigenous, rural and remote communities.

Public-sector partnerships, including local governments and school districts working with other non-profit providers to create childcare spaces, will also be eligible for funding of up to 100 per cent of the total cost of a project, to a maximum of $1-million, Chen said. Not-for-profit organizations remain eligible for up to 90 per cent of any project, to a maximum of $500,000 while private childcare providers can apply for 75 per cent of the cost of adding new spaces, to a maximum of $250,000.

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www.theasianstar.com Vol 17 - Issue 23

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Owning a house in Vancouver costs the average person 120 per cent of their income, says RBC Owning a home in Vancouver is the most unaffordable it has ever been in any Canadian city, according to economists at the Royal Bank of Canada. Using the latest data from the first three months of 2018, economists found the costs associated with owning a condo are more than 50 per cent of household income and hit almost 120 per cent for a house in Metro Vancouver, depending on income.

Owning a home in Metro Vancouver is the least affordable it has ever been, according to an economist from Royal Bank of Canada. “Affordability has resumed deteriorating,� said Robert Hogue, senior economist for RBC. “It’s hard to deny that there’s a crisis situation in Vancouver,� he said. The findings are based on an estimated median household income of $75,400 in the Metro Vancouver area, and based on a buyer making a 25 per cent down payment, Hogue said. The “aggregate� share needed of a household’s income is 87.8 per cent, which is “the highest any market in Canada has ever been,� he said. Following the foreign homeowners tax imposed by the former B.C. Liberal government, the market cooled down in 2016 and average home prices decreased, he said. But Continued on page 6

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South Asian driver of semi in Humboldt Broncos bus crash faces 29 charges operation of motor vehicle causing bodily injury. He was arrested in Calgary on Friday morning and remanded into custody.

Sidhu is set to appear in court in Saskatchewan next week, but no date has been set. Sidhu was working

The driver of the tractortrailer that collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus has been arrested and charged, RCMP announced on Friday.

Truck driver Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 29, is facing 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous Jaskirat Singh Sidhu

Continued on page 6

Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council accused of fraud, forgery and human rights violations The council that oversees the work of thousands of immigration consultants in Canada is facing serious allegations from one of its own members. Muhammad Watto, 54, alleges in court documents that the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) has engaged in fraud, forgery and human rights violations. Watto, who has been a long-time critic of the council, has

filed a notice of application under the Not-for-profit Corporation Act asking the Ontario Superior Court to order a formal investigation into the ICCRC, a non-profit organization that has been mandated by the federal government to regulate immigration, citizenship Muhammad Watto, 54 and international student advising services.

Continued on page 7

Indians are falling out of love with gold Indians’ love affair with gold is cooling.

Imports slumped more than 25 percent to 54 metric tons in June from a year earlier, a person familiar with the information said, asking not to be identified as the figures aren’t public. Overseas purchases plunged 40 percent to 343 tons in the first half from a year ago, according to data from Finance Ministry officials compiled by Bloomberg.

Buying has been poor as the rupee extended its slump to a record low last month, making prices of overseas goods more expensive. Rural demand has suffered as farmers typically slow purchases from June to August because they are busy taking

advantage of seasonal rains to plant crops.

Finance Ministry spokesman D.S. Malik declined to comment on the June numbers.

Another reason for the decline in demand

has been the waning interest from millennials, who are more attracted by high-end consumer goods. The precious metal has dropped to third position among India’s imports as the relentless rise in purchases of smartphones, TVs and other goods has made electronics the second-largest item, with oil the first. Prices in India are holding above the psychological level of 30,000 rupees per 10 grams, discouraging fresh buying, said Continued on page 7

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OPINION

Saturday, July 7, 2018

The BC Liberals and RCMP should take full responsibility for the money laundering fiasco The BC Liberal Party and the RCMP should take full responsibility for turning BC’s casinos into laundromats to clean the dirty money obtained as proceeds of crime by criminal gang, mostly with connections with China.

But the former Attorney General of BC Liberal Government, SUZANNE Anton, claims all errors and mistakes that led to her government not doing much to stop criminal gangs turning BC, specially Metro Vancouver, into their personal laundromat for cleaning criminally obtained cash was “unintentional”.

How can that be of comfort to BC residents.

The current leader of the BC Liberals, Andrew Wilkinson, says it is “sad exercise” blaming past politicians for money laundering failures. What ? What is actually sad is that heavyweights of the former government, former leader and premier, Christie Clark, former Finance Minister, Mike de Jong, and former Housing Minister and former deputy Premier, Rich

Coleman, are sitting quietly as if nothing has happened. They are not being held accountable and they do not have the guts to stand up and say they fumbled the ball and betrayed the trust of the BC public. And they are all collecting hefty pensions and severance benefits.

Current NDP Attorney General David Eby puts the blame on the previous B.C. Liberal government — saying it failed to address the problem for years despite warning signs - and he is right.

But the blame should also be shared by the useless RCMP in BC. RCMP is fortunate that Eby commissioned former deputy RCMP Commissioner Peter Germain, who, according to some reports may have let off his former colleagues lightly by putting most of the blame on BC Liberal politicians.

Germain found that money laundering in casinos across the Lower Mainland reached a peak in 2015.

“The system faltered.The problem grew over time until it outdistanced the ability of existing legislation ... to manage it,”he said.

Eby said the money laundering is tied to organized crime, the ongoing opioid crisis, the real estate market and skyrocketing housing prices across the Lower Mainland.

The report said organized crime groups, primarily from Asia, laundered money from illegal drugs and then invested the money in Vancouver-area real estate.The 250-page review also said the B.C. Lottery Corporation (BCLC) has outright failed to curb money laundering. And River Rock Casino in Richmond was perhaps the worst culprit in allowing criminals to “clean” dirty money. Yet no one has of yet has been held accountable.

This can only happen if an independent inquiry is held and organizations such as River Rock casino lose their license to operate.

The BC government should also seriously think about setting up provincial police force to replace the useless and outdated RCMP, which let BC down by not doing more to stop the money laundering in casinos such as River Rock.

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Teen dies in Abbotsford crash

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A teenager is dead after a car crash in Abbotsford Thursday. Emergency crews were called out at around noon after a collision involving a Dodge Ram pickup truck and a Toyota Camry at the intersection of Mt. Lehman Road and Automall Drive. Abbotsford police say the passenger of the Toyota Camry, an 18-year-old woman, was taken to hospital in serious condition. She later died. Police say the 32-year-old pickup truck driver and the 17-year-old driver of the Toyota Camry are co-operating with investigators. The investigation continues. Police are not releasing the name of the victim.

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Saturday, July 7, 2018

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Saturday, July 7, 2018

South Asian driver of semi in Humboldt Broncos bus crash faces 29 charges

120% of personal income costs owning a house in Vancouver, says RBC

From page 1

From page 1

The team bus was travelling northbound on Highway 35. The semi-trailer was coming from the east on Highway 335. The semi had a stop sign and the bus did not. the Calgary-based Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd. when the crash occurred at a rural intersection.

He was heading westbound on Highway 335 in a semi as a Charlie’s Charters bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos was travelling northbound on Highway 35 to an SJHL playoff game in Nipawin, Sask. The bus had the right of way.

There is a flashing stop sign for drivers on Highway 335 at Highway 35 between Nipawin and Tisdale. The RCMP said the semi was in the intersection when the bus crashed into it.

Sidhu was briefly detained after the April 6

collision then released. He was uninjured.

Sidhu worked for the trucking company for one month prior to the fatal collision, according to owner Sukhmander Singh. Singh said Sidhu trained with him for two weeks and was driving on his own for two more weeks before the crash.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Humboldt Broncos were heading to Nipawin for a playoff game when the collision occurred.

Ten members of the Broncos died. The six other deaths included the bus driver, an athletic therapist, the head coach, assistant coach and two employees of Humboldt’s FM radio station.

since then prices for both single detached homes and condos have risen, and continued to rise through the first quarter of this year.

This, Hogue said, combined with the Bank of Canada’s increased interest rates, means someone looking to buy a home will now be paying more for their mortgage.

These latest numbers on the cost of home ownership stand in sharp contrast to what is considered “affordable.” According to the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, housing is considered affordable if it costs less than 30 per cent of a household income.

The report shows that the average price for a condo in Vancouver is $657,000 and the price for a detached home at $1.58 million.

This means that even if a Vancouver family earning $75,400 per year can come up with a down payment of $164,000 for a condo, they’ll still be paying over 50 per cent of their household

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income towards home ownership costs.

According to the report “things could get worse if — or when — interest rates rise further” and “current price levels are an impossibly high hurdle for many would-be buyers.” Cosimo Ernesto Commisso was one of two people killed in a shooting in Woodbridge on Friday.

Even though the Bank of Canada increased interest rates over the past year, RBC predicts it will raise its rates again. By July 2019 it predicts interest rates will have increased by one per cent, from 1.25% to 2.25%.

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LOCAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

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Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council accused of fraud From page 1 “I have observed myself some major discrepancies and some major alleged fraudulent activities concerning, not only the way they were handling public complaints, but also the way they were handling the funds,” said Watto, who has been a consultant for 12 years. Among the allegations in the court filing are: The directors and officers of the council are working against the charter, mandate and articles of the corporation and for their own self-interest. Altering and forgery of financial statements. Multiple counts of accounting fraud. Failure to secure, or destruction of, financial records. Open violations of human rights, The notice of application also says the RCMP is reviewing information about the council’s activities.

Regulatory council set up in 2011 The allegations have yet to be proven in court and the council denies it has done anything wrong. Details about the allegations have yet to be released. The regulatory council, which was set up in 2011, sets the rules for how immigration consultants conduct themselves, providing education, licensing and discipline. It’s needed to help and protect those who want to come to Canada, overseeing more than 4,000 consultants. It is run by a 14-member board of directors.

If the council isn’t running smoothly, those who will suffer most are the immigrants and refugees who use consultants in their efforts to live in Canada.

The council also recently fired its president, Stephen Ashworth, who had been hired only a year ago. Ashworth was the fifth president of the ICCRC, which was created in 2011 by the previous Conservative government to replace a prior body which was entangled in a number of problems. Cindy Beverly, ICCRC director of communications, said Ashworth was relieved of his duties because “the board has a different alignment.”

Ashworth would not comment on his dismissal. Recommendation that council be disbanded This is not the first time the council has faced controversy. Last June, a parliamentary committee recommended that the government get rid of the council and step in to regulate consultants directly after hearing of problems facing the regulator from within. Mr Watto would support that recommendation. “We want government

Indians are falling out of love with gold From page 1

The precious metal has dropped to third position among India’s imports as the relentless rise in purchases of smartphones, TVs and other goods has made electronics the second-largest item, with oil the first. Prices in India are holding above the psychological level of 30,000 rupees per 10 grams, discouraging fresh buying, said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, a director at Commtrendz Risk Management Services Pvt. Ltd. “The great performance of equities in India has dented the appetite for safe-haven gold.”

to look into this and take over,” he said.

The ICCRC sent a written response to the CBC’s request for an interview about Watto’s allegations.

“The ICCRC is committed to good governance and financial probity. The ICCRC rejects Mr. Watto’s unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct,” it reads in part. It also noted that Watto is facing potential disciplinary action and revocation of his licence. “I have not

done anything wrong,” said Watto, who characterized the filing of a complaint against him as an attempt to intimidate him. He said the same thing has happened

to other members who asked questions about the council’s transparency and accountability. Watto said the accusations against him are without merit. Federal department says council operates at ‘arm’s length’ The department for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said it is aware of the court action and the recent dismissal of Ashworth. Biggest immigration fraudster in Canadian history left $900K fine unpaid In a written statement it said “the ICCRC is the regulator of immigration consultants and is a self-governing organization that has an arm’s-length relationship with the department.”

As for the year-old recommendation that government scrap the council, the department said it “continues to closely analyze the report.”

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Saturday, July 7, 2018

Average gas price in Canada surges to 5-year high: ‘Testing levels that have never seen before’ Soaring gasoline prices in Calgary and Edmonton have pushed the national average to a five-year high, according to an online price monitoring firm.

Dan McTeague of GasBuddy.com says the national average price for regular gasoline was 136.0 cents per litre on Thursday, up from 105.2 cents on the same date last year and closing in on the previous high of 139.1 cents in June 2013.

According to the website’s live price counter, prices in Calgary averaged 138.2 cents per litre on Thursday morning, up 11.6 cents from last week’s average and 43.8 cents from the same date a year ago. Edmonton prices were at 136.2

cents per litre, up 13 cents from last week and 47.8 cents from 12 months ago.

McTeague says the biggest cause of this week’s surge in Alberta prices was “gas bar shenanigans,” as retailers who hadn’t passed on recent increases in wholesale prices decided to catch up all at once.

He doesn’t expect the increases to stick, pointing out some stations in Edmonton are already retreating. A gas pump is shown at a filling station in Montreal. An online price monitoring firm says gasoline prices in Canada

have spiked at the highest average price ever recorded thanks mainly to a 17-cent increase in the price per litre of regular fuel in Calgary. “These prices will turtle but the point is that we are testing levels that have never been seen before,” he said. He says average prices in Alberta are below the peak in September 2008 but most people are likely paying more for fuel because the current average is brought down by Costco, which

tends to sell gasoline at cost to bring members into its stores. McTeague says price increases are also being driven by higher profit margins at refineries, stronger oil prices, the weak Canadian loonie and higher Canadian taxes on fuel.According to the GasBuddy.com website, prices on the Prairies have jumped the most compared to last year, with Alberta’s average price up 37 cents to 132.3 cents per litre as of Wednesday night, Manitoba up 36.2 cents and Saskatchewan ahead by 31.5 cents. The site says British Columbia’s average price was the highest in the land as of Wednesday at 144.2 cents, a rise of 30.9 cents in the past 12 months.

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Premier John Horgan says price gouging, not higher taxes, is responsible for skyrocketing gasoline prices in British Columbia.

Horgan says the price per litre rose nine cents between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and that suggests fuel companies are seeking bigger profits.

He says there’s a disconnect between the price of a barrel of oil and the price at the pumps and he’s raised the issue of

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gouging with the federal government.

Opposition Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson accused Horgan of a “tax grab” last week after the NDP government approved a 1.5 per cent increase in the gas tax to fund Metro Vancouver transit.

The price of gas per litre rose nine cents in British Columbia between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. But Horgan says the Metro Vancouver mayors’ council asked him for assistance to cover the shortfall in funding new transit projects, and he gave them a tax tool they have the option of using.

The council has said that if it finds other ways to make up the shortfall, it won’t have to use the increased gas tax.

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Premier Horgan hopes that BC Ferries work on 5 new vessels can be done in the province BC Ferries is looking to replace some of its aging vessels — and Premier John Horgan says he’d like to see some of the work done in the province.

The operator put out its call for project proposals on Tuesday for the design and technical support services for five doubleended passenger ferries.

The vessels would replace the C-class ships in the BC Ferries fleet, which were built between 1976 and 1981 and usually service the Duke Point-Tsawwassen, Horseshoe BayDeparture Bay and Horseshoe BayLangdale routes.

BC Ferries vicepresident Mark Wilson says the average age of the fleet is 31 years and 10-15 new ships will be needed over the next 10-15 years.

BC Ferries is aiming to have the first new vessel launched by 2024. This first contract would not include the construction of the vessels.

In recent years, under B.C. Liberal governments, new ferries have been built in Europe, but Wilson says this time the hope is that some of the work can be done in B.C. “As a customer, we’re working very, very closely with industry here to do what we can to make sure we get as much Canadian content in these vessels. And also to encourage industry as a customer to participate in this process,” he said.The C-class ferries are double-ended, meaning they have a ramp at both ends and don’t have to turn around to reverse direction.

Horgan agrees and says the province will look at BC Ferries’ request for bids — but the

infrastructure to build the large ships no longer exists in B.C. “We’ll take a look at that over the summer and see what we can do to effect positive outcome for B.C. workers again ... The benefits to the community of having shipbuilding jobs in a maritime province are significant,” he said.

Ferry-building jobs should stay in B.C., says NDP Fast ferries remembered The last large ferries to be constructed in B.C. were the illfated fast ferries, which were built under Glen Clark’s NDP government in the late 1990s.

The vessels, which cost the B.C. government about $450 million to build, were supposed to provide speedy service between Vancouver and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

But the vessels were taken out of service after being plagued by mechanical problems and concerns about the large wake they caused.

They were dry-docked for years by the subsequent B.C. Liberal government and later sold to the Washington Marine Group for about $19 million.

They were eventually resold to the Abu Dhabi Mar, a yacht-building company based in the United Arab Emirates.

But there is some shipbuilding being done on the West Coast. Currently the Washington Marine Group is building some ships in North Vancouver as part of a federal government shipbuilding project. B.C. shipyard awarded $230M contract to design navy’s resupply ships Vancouver Shipyards gets $65M from Ottawa to build ships

Surrey Mounties respond to bomb threat at Surrey courthouse Surrey provincial courthouse was shut down briefly on Friday morning as police investigated what appears to have been an unfounded bomb threat.

“We did respond and the members did a sweep of the building and the police dog services came and did a sweep of the building.

Nothing was located,” RCMP Corporal Elenore Sturko said.

“I don’t think it’s that common,” she said of such threats.

“They don’t know who has done the threat,” she said of this particular case.

LOCAL

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

BC Hydro adds more vehicle charging stations across southern BC BC Hydro is expanding its network of electric vehicle charging stations.

The Crown utility says 28 new stations complete the second phase of its fast-charging network and are in addition to the 30 stations opened in 2016.

Thirteen of the stations are in Metro Vancouver, seven are on Vancouver Island, including one at the Pacific Rim Visitor Centre near Tofino, another is in Campbell River, and two have opened on the Coquihalla Highway at the Britton Creek rest area.

A further six stations are located throughout the East Kootenay and BC Hydro says the next phase of its program will connect drivers

travelling between Kamloops and Prince George, while stations in Prince Rupert are also being planned.

Hydro spokeswoman Mora Scott says the stations can charge an electric vehicle to 80 per cent in just 30 minutes, at a cost of 35 cents per kilowatt hour.

Mora Scott says that translates to roughly $3.50 for the equivalent of a full tank of gas in the average four-cylinder car.

“The number of electric vehicles on B.C. roads is increasing, there’s currently around 9,000 across the province, and we actually

expect that number to rise to 300,000 by 2030,” Scott says in a

news release.

In partnership with municipalities, regional districts and several businesses, BC Hydro has been installing charging stations throughout the province since 2012 with support from the provincial and federal governments.

Scott says the utility wants to ensure the stations are placed where drivers need them so charging options are available provincewide.

“One big thing that we know drivers of electric vehicles worry about is the concept called range anxiety, that the stations aren’t going to be where they need them,” she says.

Several models of electric vehicle are now capable of travelling up to 500 kilometres on a single charge, says Scott.

BC Hydro president Chris O’Riley says the new charging sites will encourage electric vehicle drivers to explore B.C. this summer.

Job growth beats expectations days before Bank of Canada rate decision

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Canada added 31,800 jobs in June, most of them parttime, while the unemployment rate rose to 6.0 per cent from 5.8 per cent as more people sought work, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll predicted a gain of 24,000 positions and said the jobless rate would remain unchanged.

The data are likely to boost expectations that the Bank of Canada

will hike rates on July 11 for the fourth time in a year.

The central bank’s governor said last week the next move would be decided by economic data. The jobs gain was driven by an increase of 22,700 in part-time positions, while full-time work rose by 9,100. Manufacturing employment grew by 10,900 jobs, the first advance this year. The Bank of Canada also pays close attention to income growth.

LOCAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Wall Street short seller’s drastic advice for saving Vancouver’s economy — and itself Seizeassets.Prosecute.Paywhistleblowers.

Those are just a few recommendations Marc Cohodes has to save Vancouver’s economy.

Cohodes is a high profile shortseller and fraud-hunter who earned his reputation finding hidden problems and inflated profits on Wall Street.

Lately, though, he’s turned his attention to B.C. Cohodes admits he’s friends with B.C. Attorney General David Eby, who last September hired former deputy commissioner of the RCMP Peter German to conduct an investigation into the province’s money laundering problem.

Reports of criminal activity started surfacing a decade ago.

While this week’s report by the B.C. government – bluntly titled Dirty Money — links money laundering to B.C.’s opioid overdose and real estate crises, it doesn’t explain why the previous government, under BC Liberal leader Christy Clark, wasn’t able to stop it.

In an interview with Global National’s Robin Gill, Cohodes says Eby has all kinds of tools at his disposal do to something now, and he shouldn’t be afraid to use them.

“I think [Eby] should prosecute and investigative people who fueled this, people who profited from it on the backs of hardworking B.C.-ers,” he said.

But Cohodes goes even further with a proposed fix: “I think the B.C. government needs to seize assets, sell the assets at an auction, split half the money with the Chinese government, split half the money with B.C. and give the whistleblower or finder, say, 10 per cent.”

It’s a dramatic proposal for a dramatic problem in British Columbia: the blend of organized crime, drug trafficking and a housing affordability crisis.

In his report, German recommended the establishment of an independent regulator for the casino industry to rein in money laundering.

But that doesn’t go far enough for Cohodes.

“You have to do drastic things and drastic measures need to be taken so asset seizure is one place to really start.”

Cohodes takes issue with the finding in Dirty Money that only $100 million has been illegally funneled through B.C. casinos.

“The numbers in my mind are in the tens of billions of dollars and I think the reasons those numbers don’t come out is because the government doesn’t want to scare the hell out of people,” he said.

He’s recommended to Eby that authorities reward whistleblowers who tip off the government to drug trades or luxury home and car ownership.

German’s report lists China, Mexico and Colombia as key players in a “complex network of criminal alliances” coalescing with underground banks at its centre.

“In addition, ‘high rollers’ from China facilitate the flight of capital from China using Canadian casinos, junket operations and investment in real estate,” it says, which is why Cohodes focuses his arguments squarely on money launderers from there.

Seizing assets would take property out of the hands of criminals, put it back on the market, reset prices and help B.C. coffers for any dislocation, according to Cohodes.

But Canadians’ penchant for politeness means it won’t be easy for Eby to garner support for the revolution he deems necessary, he says.

“The kitten-and-rainbow crowd needs to ask for scalps because these money launderers don’t pay taxes. They need to pay their fair share to help this get better for generations to come,” Cohodes said.

While he says the problem can be fixed, it won’t stop Vancouver’s real estate bubble from bursting. In his view, the market is already essentially frozen.

“The sooner it resets and resets severely, where hard working B.C.-ers who are born here and want to live here, want to own a place, the better everyone is,” Cohodes says.

“Real estate collapsing is a long term plus, but short term it’s gonna be a b****.”

His final recommendation is that people stand behind Eby to brace the blow.

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11

Former Attorney General says BC Liberal failures that led to money-laundering fiasco was ‘unintentional’ Former BC Liberal Attorney General Suzanne Anton spoke with the media about former Liberal government’s efforts to stop money laundering during its tenure.

What were you doing to fight money laundering in your time as attorney general from 2013 to 2017?

There were a number of causes of the failure to recognize money laundering. There was a failure of co-ordination between the different bodies. And the RCMP did a lot of investigation outside of the casinos, but they didn’t get involved inside the casinos until late.

It was around 2016 that the problem was really identified and dealt with.

What was the conversation around the cabinet table about tackling the money laundering problem?

The failure was never an intentional failure, but it was an unintentional failure.

You and I would shake our heads at the thought that someone would take their own personal resources and gamble $100,000, but people do and they can legitimately do it. Now, people can also illegitimately do it.

People would come in. They would lose $100,000 and that wouldn’t be recognized as money laundering.

The pieces that needed to be put together is that a person might lose that money [lent by criminal organizations to high rollers for gambling] from here and repay it offshore where it would be recycled back into organized crime.

What are these significant actions that you are talking about? What exactly did the Liberal government do to address money laundering?

The RCMP was spending a lot of its resources going after illegal gaming. It made some very important seizures Continued on page 12

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Arson suspected in series of 29 wildfires in Okanagan region RCMP are continuing an investigation based on the premise that 29 wildfires were deliberately set across the Okanagan Valley dating back to 2014.

The fires occurred in Naramata, Okanagan Falls, Osoyoos, Penticton, Summerland and Lake Country, within a time frame from 2014 to 2017.

S/Sgt. Annie Linteau said the Southeast District RCMP Intentionally Set Wildfires Task Force struck in May to carry out the investigation, with the assistance of the B.C. Wildfire Service and other impacted stakeholders, believes the fires are connected and the cause has been determined to be arson.

Map of fire locations.

—The task force has the ability to focus on all related historical and future wildfires, regardless of jurisdictional and inter-agency boundaries, which have been caused by arson.

“The investigation so far has allowed us to see similarities in all these fires but I can’t really say anything more beyond that so as not to jeopardize what is an ongoing investigation,” Linteau said.

Linteau acknowledged the update was timed to coincide with the traditional start of forest fire season, as the task force is still looking for more information from the public.

“It is always more difficult with the passage of time, but any information, whether you might think it is insignificant or not, might be helpful,” she said.

From page 11

Former Attorney General says BC Liberal failures that led to money-laundering fiasco was ‘unintentional’ A very important tool that came in under the B.C Liberals was the Civil Forfeiture Act. If the police pick up a lot of money, they’ll understand that it’s the proceeds of crime, but up until we had the act, it was hard to know what to do.

Now, they can take that in front of a judge and if a judge is satisfied that it’s proceeds of crime, it will be confiscated. $13.5 million in $20 bills made its way through the River Rock casino in one month. How did the problem grow to that extent?

It was recognized by all the different entities that there was a problem, but they needed to put their heads together to figure out the best solution. That happened in 2015.

But it took several years to do that. In the meanwhile, the problem grew to the extent it did.

That’s correct. And it was slow. It was an effective response but late.

The fault was not that people [government entities] didn’t want to make the changes, but they hadn’t been able to put together a coordinated response.

A report into potential money laundering at Richmond’s River Rock casino is to be ‘reviewed” by FINTRAC, Canada’s financial intelligence unit. When you took over as attorney general, the B.C. Lottery Commission was bringing in more than $1.1 billion to government coffers.

How did that revenue impact your government’s desire to crack down on money laundering?

If you’re suggesting that anyone made poor decisions based on the revenues

that came in, that would be completely inaccurate and wrong to suggest that.

People go into government for the right reason. They go in out of integrity and concern to do the right thing for the public. That was absolutely the case with everyone I worked with in our government and, what’s more, I believe it’s the case with this [NDP] government.

Since 2005, the B.C. Liberal Party has accepted $232,709 in donations from casinos across the province. How much might that have had to do with how the Liberals dealt with money laundering?

Absolutely none.

You did not turn a blind eye to money laundering because of donations?

These are fairly heavy-hitting accusations and I absolutely reject them. It would be very wrong to suggest that people who were there in the Liberal government were there for the wrong reasons, just like it would be wrong to suggest the people in the NDP are there for the wrong reasons.

It’s actually almost an irresponsible accusation.

It’s a question.

I would absolutely reject that. People that I served with all had the greatest of integrity.

There is a genuine, legitimate, ongoing concern about organized crime that is something we all need to be concerned about in B.C. What I can say is that people in our public institutions are there with integrity.

LOCAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Woman charged with 77 offences after RCMP find drugs, stolen goods in vehicle RCMP charged a woman after discovering drugs and stolen goods in a vehicle during a traffic stop. A 26-year-old woman from Penticton facing 77 charges after Airdrie RCMP stopped a vehicle registered to a suspended driver and found drugs, stolen property and fake credit cards inside.

Officers spotted a vehicle with B.C. plates on Yankee Valley Boulevard in Airdrie — about 25 kilometres north of Calgary — just after midnight on Tuesday and a check showed the register owner’s licence was suspended.

They pulled the car over and found a lone female inside. “The female driver was very nervous and produced what appeared to be a fake driver’s license,” RCMP said in a release Thursday. “Through several police checks, the RCMP officer quickly learned that the female was on probation and conditions for charges including personation and fraud.”

The vehicle was seized and the female arrested when officers spotted drugs inside.

A search of the car turned

up several items including: Suspected fentanyl.

Suspected methamphetamine.

Marijuana drug paraphernalia.

Numerous knives.

A collapsible police baton. Bear spray.

Break-in tools. Stolen mail. Stolen cheques Fraudulent government identification.

Hand-written documentation outlining potential fake credit card and bank accounts.

Three laptop computers. A portable printer. Materials to manufacture fake credit cards.

A smart key programmer.

Police say the stolen goods were linked to crimes in Calgary, Cochrane, Red Deer, Surrey, B.C., Vancouver, and Coquitlam.

Stephany Heppner, 26, of Penticton, is charged with 77 offences. She was remanded into custody and was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.

Anyone with information is asked to call Airdrie RCMP at 403-945-7200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

‘Incurable, life-long pedophile’ sentenced in Yukon to 16 years jail for abusing children A Yukon court sentenced a man to 16 years in prison for dozens of sexual offences against several girls under the age of 14.

The man cannot be named by court order.

Yukon Supreme Court justice Ron Veale’s sentencing decision, issued June 21, describes the man as an “incurable, life-long pedophile with an intense sexual deviance confirmed by ... 25 convictions for sexual offences on prepubescent girls.” The man had pleaded guilty to 11 counts of sexual interference, nine counts of making child pornography, three counts of voyeurism and two counts of possessing child pornography. Most of the crimes occurred in Yukon between 2008 and 2015. The man’s sentence also includes one offence in Ontario and five in BC. Court documents describe the man’s 13 victims as prepubescent girls who were friends of his daughter, or relatives. The abuse happened while the victims were visiting the man’s house for sleepovers or during travel.

The Supreme Court decision says the man recorded videos and photos of sexual abuse

on his computer and that his assaults were “meticulously and elaborately planned.”

The court notes that some victims appeared to be sleeping while the assaults were recorded.

In some cases, the man preyed upon girls after giving them pills he called “vitamins.”

‘Unb elie vable trauma’ The decision notes the man “lied to everyone in his family and community for 20 years,” before his child pornography was discovered by his son and reported to police.

The court decision includes statements from victims and their families. One statement says the man was “hiding behind a façade of family and religious values.” Other statements speak of “unbelievable trauma” inflicted on victims and their families. Veale’s decision describes the offences as “horrifying and deplorable.”

“It is difficult to find words adequate to describe the acts and their consequences. [The man] has caused untold damage to the children he abused and their families,” the decision reads.

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Mayor Hepner asks feds to fund $10 million to combat gang voilence in Surrey Surrey’s mayor says that she will ask federal government for $10 million in funding for anti-gang programs for BC’s fastest-growing city, where people are dealing with “emotional upheaval” after recent acts of gangs and gun violence. Linda Hepner said money would be spent over five years after a task force aimed at preventing gang violence issued a report with six recommendations, including an expanded gang exit and outreach program that has been led by a combined police and border services unit for about 18 months in the province.

“We first piloted it and it’s the only one in the country that I know of,” Hepner said. “In less than two years, it’s actually worked with more than 100 people that are in gangs. They’ve actually now got a chance to be part of a gang free future but that is in jeopardy because we need funding for that.” Hepner said “dozens” of people have left gangs because of the program, which the province has committed to funding until the end of the year. Surrey residents have held anti-violence rallies calling for action, including more RCMP officers, after two teenage boys were recently found shot to death on a rural road and a father and hockey coach was gunned down outside a home. The task force, which Hepner led after launching it last October, also recommended more police enforcement and the launch of an initiative that would allow nightclubs and other businesses to ban alleged gangsters. The expansion of early intervention programs to deter children from entering the gang lifestyle was among the recommendations, and Hepner said some kids lured into gangs are as young as 10 and come

from a range of backgrounds.

“The profile is so different in British Columbia than anywhere else in North America,” she said.

“They could be affluent, they could be poor, they could be middle income. They run the gamut here.” Hepner said youths are joining gangs for difference reasons. “Generally, those that are more affluent are out for glory and glamour,” she said. “The ones that are in more vulnerable economic circumstances have often been subject to trauma. Lots of them are subject to seeing domestic abuse, some of them not feeling that they fit in culturally and don’t feel part of the community.” Other recommendations include the development of strategies to help at-risk children and their families, as well as stronger neighbourhoodbased and culturally appropriate programs.

The mayor is also calling for more funding from the provincial government.

The Public Safety Ministry announced $1.12 million in funding Tuesday to expand an anti-bullying program based in schools called Expect Respect and a Safe Education, or ERASE, in communities across the province where gang-affiliated behaviours have been identified. It said the strategy is designed to prevent, identify and stop harmful behaviours, whether they occur in school or online.

The task force in Surrey included citizens, people from the business community, police and a local member of Parliament. It said RCMP statistics suggest gang members involved in conflicts between 2014 and 2016 were age 23 on average and had committed their first criminal offence at the average age of 16.

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LOCAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018 Two RCMP investigators met with PAN at the scene to retrieve the phone and take a statement.

Police took multiple photographs of where the phone was located and a nearby fire pit.

Wednesday evening, a passenger aboard the Amtrak Cascades 518 told the North Delta Reporter the northbound train came to an abrupt stop at around 10 p.m., just after crossing the Canada/U.S. border.

Evan Hagedorn – a recently graduated journalism student who interned with the Reporter this spring – said an Amtrak employee told passengers that there was an emergency on the tracks.

Emergency crews could be seen outside the train shortly after, and passengers were provided with a more detailed update roughly half an hour later, Hagedorn said.

Teenager dead after struck by passenger train in South Surrey

Rail tracks just south of 24th Avenue in South Surrey walkway the morning after a teenager was killed when he was struck by a passenger train.

A teenager is dead after being struck by a passenger train in Crescent Beach Wednesday evening.

Police confirmed a male youth was hit shortly after 10 p.m. and was dead when officers arrived.

The victim’s age and name haven’t been released at this time, however, Peace Arch News has learned he was a 15-year-old student at a South Surrey high school, and an avid athlete.

“Surrey RCMP is currently investigating the matter and the investigation is still in its early stages,” noted an RCMP release. “There are

multiple witnesses that are being interviewed in order to create a clear picture of the incident.”

According to one witness, the victim was among a group of around 50 teens who had gathered on the beach near the Christopherson Stairs, which lead to the waterfront from the foot of 24 Avenue. He was reportedly crossing the tracks towards the beach when he was hit.

The impact of the train threw the teen “as if he was hit by a car,” the witness said.

RCMP seize crabs, vessel in Surrey A man is under investigation after Fox said police were unable to get an official RCMP searched a vessel at the Wards city of residency for the suspect, but have Marina, located on the Nicomekl River, confirmed that he lives in the Lower Mainland. and found three large coolers full of crabs.

Fox said there are two teams within According to an RCMP news release the Shiprider program, one based out of issued Wednesday, the Vancouver Pacific Surrey and the other based out of Victoria.

Shiprider Program “It’s a specialized observed a suspicious program, high-speed vessel being removed vessels that work from the water at the hand in hand in South Surrey marina. direct partnership The suspect, who was with the U.S. Coast pulling the vessel out Guard,” Fox said. of the water at the time Both U.S. Coast police made contact, Guard and RCMP was arrested for illegal members are possession of crabs specifically trained and the Department of Shiprider RCMP searched the vessel at Wards Marina for Fisheries and Oceans operations.

U.S. were contacted to Coast Guard conduct a Fisheries Act investigation, Sgt. officers and RCMP members carry Mike Fox told Peace Arch News Wednesday. out investigations on the same vessel.

RCMP Shiprider members also conducted While in Canada, Fox said, U.S. Coast an impaired-driving investigation and served Guard members are given a peace officer a three-day immediate roadside probation. status and work under direction of the RCMP. The driving suspension prohibits the “It removes the barrier of law suspect from operating both water and enforcement, really,” Fox added. road vehicles for the duration of the ban.

The Shiprider team targets any type of cross A truck and 21’ Bayliner vessel and border criminality, Fox said, including illegal boat registered to the suspect were seized. guns, drugs, human trafficking or fishing.

Police, firefighters, paramedics and searchand-rescue crews responded, along with the Coast Guard Hovercraft.

The coroner also attended.

As word of the incident spread on social media, parents of some of the teens – reportedly including those of the victim – arrived at the scene.

Thursday morning, a bouquet of flowers was placed on a rock at the entrance of Christopherson Stairs, and a green lei hung on a bush near the tracks, next to a black camping chair. In the bush behind the chair, a smashed cellphone with a photo of two teens on the back was found by a PAN reporter shortly after 8 a.m.

Massive early morning fire destroys townhome construction site in Surrey Woodbridge Homes’ Sylvia townhouse According to an electrician who worked development was destroyed in a fire Thursday morning. (Contributed photo) on the project, the 38 homes were scheduled A significant fire swept through a to be complete at the end of the summer.

“These were almost complete buildings townhouse development and impacted up yesterday, with to 10 North Delta homes roofs on and near the 6200-block everything,” the Scott Road in the early electrician told hours of Thursday Surrey Nowmorning (July 5).

Leader reporter Surrey fire’s assistant Tom Zillich, who chief Jason Cairney said visited the scene the department got a call this morning. around 1 a.m. about a According to fire at the Woodbridge Zillich, the siding Homes’ Sylvia townhouse Multiple townhomes construction site went up in was melted on development on 121 Street flames by an early morning fire near 62 Avenue and neighbouring in Surrey. Delta Fire got a Scott Road, Surrey / Delta. houses and call around the same time.

“The crews responded and arrived trees were torched next to buildings.

Aftermath of fire in Surrey on 121st to the townhouse complex being fully involved,” Cairney said. Nearly 40 Surrey Street at townhouse complex under Woodbridge Homes’ firefighters and 10 firefighting apparatus construction, at Boundary Park project. were on scene, while 18 firefighters Sylvia Residents remembered seeing the and five apparatus came from Delta. flames in the sky in the early morning.

Many were evacuated, some going to the neighbouring church, while others said Translink brought buses for them to shelter in.

At 1:30 a.m., members of the Delta police department arrived to assist. According to public affairs coordinator Cris Leykauf, the department was dealing with a “significant fire” when the wind picked up and started blowing “tennis ball-sized embers” across Scott Road.

“It was very dramatic,” she said. “The members said it was like something out of a movie.”

It was at that time Delta firefighters on scene realized the embers were travelling to Delta homes, deputy chief Guy McKintuck said. Those firefighters called him and two other deputy chiefs to open the emergency operations centre in Firehall No. 1 in Ladner.

At times, McKintuck said, the Delta fire department was getting more calls than they could handle. In total, there were nine firetrucks in North Delta and 45 firefighters battling flames at a number of homes in the Sunshine Hills area. Firefighters were doing quick hits to eliminate hot spots on homes before moving on to the next fire.

On Facebook, commenters said fire department members were in neighbouring cul-de-sacs watching that the embers did not enter Watershed Park. Other residents noted on Facebook that Delta police department members worked to get rid of embers that found their way onto roofs before the fire department could arrive, and neighbours came together to protect large trees that were at risk of catching on fire.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Children as young as 10 being recruited into Surrey gangs

Children as young as 10 are being recruited into criminal gangs in Surrey, officials said on Tuesday as they detailed a plan to step up police enforcement while also working to prevent kids from joining gangs in the first place.

The assessment followed a series of highprofile killings, including the shooting of two teens, aged 16 and 17, who were found dead on a Surrey street last month. Investigators have not provided details of a motive and said neither victim was known to police, but said the attack was targeted.

Dwayne McDonald, the assistant commissioner in charge of the Surrey RCMP, told a news conference police have learned they are missing a vital opportunity if there is no effort to start discouraging children from gang involvement in the elementary school years.

“It’s fair to say that kids in elementary school are susceptible to gang recruitment,” he said, adding that children as young as 10 or 11 are being sought out by gangs in Surrey.

So far, this year, police in the city have reported 26 incidents of shots fired, which is on par with 2017 when there were 59 reported shootings.

But new concerns about gangs have flared up owing to a pair of recent highprofile incidents, including the death of the two teens in June. More recently, a minor hockey coach, who was also a nurse, was gunned down in his driveway. Both cases are under investigation by the regional Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Amid the concern, which has led to a rally attended by hundreds at city hall, Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner released a report on gang-violence prevention, which has been meeting since last October.

Ms. Hepner announced such enforcement

measures as doubling the size of the RCMP gang squad by shifting officers into the unit from other duties. For security reasons Mr. McDonald declined to detail the specific number of officers in the team.

But Ms. Hepner, and provincial SolicitorGeneral Mike Farnworth, attending the news conference, also talked up prevention and reaching out to kids to either encourage them away from gangs or rescue them from gangs.

F a r n w o r t h announced $1.1-million in new money for a program that works in schools to encourage kids away from gangs and $239,000 to support gang members who want out of the groups.

Hepner said arrests alone cannot end gang conflict, and that she is unsettled by the thought of kids being targets by gangs.

“It scares the daylights out of me when I look at my grandchildren and I think how impressionable young people can be,” she said. “That’s scary.”

Former gang member Jordan Buna, who works with police and speaks to youth about steering clear of gangs, said the targeting of kids is a reality in B.C., especially as operatives in “dial-a-doping,” which he says is “basically a pizza-delivery service only for drug distribution.”

Users call phones for drug delivery, and kids are often recruited for the job by gang leaders, Mr. Buna said.

“What a lot of these younger kids don’t realize is there’s a reason these 20- to 25- to 30-year-olds are getting them to engage in this kind of behaviour, because it is hands down, the riskiest behaviour there is,” he said, citing

BC regulator fines Kinder Morgan $920 for Water Sustainability Act violations B.C. Oil and Gas Commission says it has fined Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. $920 for four violations of the provincial Water Sustainability Act related to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

The commission says it issued tickets late last week for one violation related to noncompliance in the use of fish spawning deterrents and three related to noncompliance In water volume reporting

— each of which carries a $230 fine.

In an email, Trans Mountain’s media relations department confirms it received the violation tickets and is currently reviewing them.

It says the charges are related to its installation last fall of deterrents through its fisheries protection program to discourage fish from spawning in stream areas that would be affected by construction, a method it says has been approved by the National Energy Board.

However, it says the NEB determined the deterrents were a construction activity that occurred when construction wasn’t

authorized and, as a result, activity was halted and the installations were removed.

the dangers of meeting strangers in public or private places amidst competing drug gangs.

In an interview, Robert Gordon, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said that while there has been an upswing in violent gang activity in recent weeks the situation is not all that different from years past.

Neither, he said, is the release

of

15

this type of report.

“It’s the same script,” he said. “It’s a script which surfaces every time there is an election coming, both municipal and provincial. And especially if there have been a couple of high-profile killings. What’s going on in Surrey at the moment is a perpetual problem without a clear solution.”

Voters in Surrey go the polls this fall to elect a successor to Ms. Hepner, who is not seeking re-election.

16

LOCAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Burnaby mayor Corrigan’s challenger wins labour council endorsement as Burnaby mayoral race heats up A challenge may be brewing to Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan’s political dynasty in the city with a new opponent winning a significant endorsement and opponents circling incumbents on the issue of housing affordability.

Corrigan is seeking a sixth term as mayor at the helm of a Burnaby Citizens Association council, but last week retired city firefighter Mike Hurley announced his intention to enter the race with the support of the New Westminster & District Labour Council. “The decision by the (labour council) to endorse me adds a strong and considered voice to my candidacy to become mayor,” Hurley said in a news release following the decision, and “confirms much of the input and comments I have heard that say it is time for a new mayor in Burnaby.” Hurley, a former president of the Burnaby Fire Fighters Association, did not respond to Postmedia News Tuesday to answer followup questions.

Corrigan is also up against Joe Keithley, former lead guitarist and vocalist for the punk band D.O.A., who is running for Burnaby Municipal Green Party, and trying to unseat the incumbent who has been in office since

2002. Labour council secretary treasurer Janet Andrews said Hurley was the only Burnaby mayoral candidate to submit an application for endorsement by its deadline and delegates from its affiliate unions voted to endorse him on June 27. At the same time,Andrews said members voted to not endorse any of the BCA’s incumbent councillors running for reelection: Pietro Calendino, Dan Johnston, Sav Dhaliwal, Colleen Jordan, Paul McDonell, Nick Volkow, and James Wang. The labour council did, however, endorse BCA council candidate Baljinder Narang, who is now sitting as a Burnaby school trustee,Andrews said.

Andrews said she couldn’t speculate why delegates decided to vote against endorsing the BCA incumbents whom have had its support in the past, because it is a “very democratic process.” The organization will hold another endorsement vote in August.

“I can’t speak to what each delegate was thinking or what their affiliate (union’s) instructions were,”Andrews said.

However, she said housing affordability is “a consuming concern” for members in all of the

Police break window to rescue two kids from hot car Delta police says an officer had to break the window to free two children who were left in an overheated car parked at Tsawwassen Mills shopping centre on Canada Day. According to Delta police, passersby spotted the children in the vehicle just before 5 p.m., and told the fiveyear-old to try and open the vehicle door. After the child was unsuccessful, someone called police. “When our officer arrived on scene, he discovered the children trapped in the hot vehicle sweating profusely, crying, and with

bright red faces,” Delta police spokesperson Cris Leykauf said. The three-year-old was strapped in a car seat in the full sun, police said.

An officer then smashed the car window and “helped the children out of the vehicle and brought them into the police cruiser so they could be cooled off by air conditioning right away, and provided with water,” Leykauf said.

“He was very concerned with their condition, particularly the youngest child who had irregular breathing.”

Fire breaks out in building housing near Kitsilano’s popular shopping area The cause of a fire that gutted businesses and two apartments in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood Thursday morning is still under investigation.

Flames broke out around West 4th Avenue and MacDonald Street early Thursday morning, closing that portion of West 4th Avenue.

a foot reflexology business. It also appears the fire spread to an appliance store next door. All three businesses appear to be destroyed.

The fire was aggressive and hard to access, according to fire officials.

Nearby residents told Global News, everyone who lives in the units above got out safely, but some said they lost everything.

“I thought we were just leaving to get out of the building because

Officials said when fire crews arrived just before 6 a.m., flames were coming through the roof of a building which houses both residential and commercial properties including the Topanga Cafe, the fire alarm was going so I didn’t a very popular grab as much as I would have if M e x i c a n I would have known that is what restaurant, and was happening,” resident Bronwen Smith said. Sophie Bakos said she’s worked at the Topanga Cafe for four years and was devastated by the loss. “I basically met my family there, so many friends there. None of us know what to do. So many friends, so many memories there.

It’s not just a restaurant, it’s our people,” Bakos said. “The flames were coming through the roof upon [crews] arriving,” Asst. Dep. Chief Martin Paulson with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services told Global News. “We feel that everyone’s been evacuated safely from the building.”

While pedestrians can now access the West 4th Avenue sidewalk on the north side, the road was still blocked in both directions between MacDonald and Balaclava as of 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Fire crews are expected to be on scene most of the day.

Saturday, July 7, 2018

DREAM CARPET

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NATIONAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Vedic Seniors Parivar get together in Surrey

Vedic Seniors Parivar members having a get together at Elgin Heritage park at Crescent beach in White Rock on June 30th, 2018.

New trial ordered for Maninder Gill in 2010 shooting The former managing director of Radio India, Maninder Singh Gill, has won a new trial after appealing his convictions related to a 2010 shooting in Newton near a Sikh temple.

“The appellant did not receive a fair trial,” Justice Gregory Fitch found.

Fitch quashed the convictions and ordered a new trial after Gill appealed, with his lawyer Richard Peck arguing the trial judge had misapprehended material evidence that was central to Gill’s claim of self-defence.

Gill had been sentenced to four years in prison, in 2016. Justices Richard Goepel and Susan Griffin agreed with Fitch’s reasons for judgment, which were rendered at B.C.’s Court of Appeal in Vancouver on July 5.

Gill was convicted of aggravated assault and related firearms offences for the shooting of Harjit Atwal in a parking lot next to the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Newton following a wedding celebration on Aug. 28, 2010.

“Specifically, the judge misunderstood and overlooked evidence, elicited by the Crown in the cross-examination of the appellant’s niece, that she asked the appellant what had happened shortly after the shooting occurred,” Fitch stated in his reasons for judgment. “She testified that she thought the appellant told her he had been stabbed. The judge failed to take this evidence into account in assessing the self-defence claim.”

“I am satisfied that the misapprehension of this evidence played an essential role in the judge’s rejection of the self-defence claim,” Fitch found. “In addition, I am of the view that the judge engaged in impermissible speculation by concluding that an injury to the palm of the appellant’s left hand was not a puncture wound inflicted by assailants prior to the shooting, as the appellant testified, but a pinch wound caused by the hammer of the revolved used in the shooting. This factual finding as to the cause of the appellant’s hand injury was another important component of the judge’s reasoning that led him to reject the defence of selfdefence.” Gill had testified at his trial that associates of Atwal stabbed his hand. After one of them dropped a gun, he told the court, he grabbed it and fired a warning shot and then shot Atwal in the hip. Atwal had testified at the trial that he was upset with Gill for “very bad stuff ” said about his family on Radio India, Fitch noted in his reasons for judgment.

NATIONAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Canada’s embassy in Haiti taken for $1.7 million by gang of swindlers and fraudsters: Report A probe uncovered systematic fabrication of documents, fraudulent bills, forged signatures, misdirected cheques and more Canada’s embassy in Haiti was overrun by a criminal organization after more than a dozen locals hired to work at the diplomatic mission in Port-au-Prince swindled more than $1.7 million through numerous schemes and frauds, internal investigation reports reveal.

An internal probe of the embassy’s finances and staffing from 2015 to 2016 uncovered systematic fabrication of documents, fraudulent bills, forged signatures, misdirected cheques, secret commissions and personal use of Canada’s diplomatic license plates.

A Canadian court has now branded the local embassy employees a criminal organization.

The government revealed the amount of the loss last year but the National Post has learned new details of the extent of the frauds. Thirteen locally hired staff were implicated in the schemes and fired after longstanding swindles were revealed; five Canadian employees were disciplined and one was fired; another local worker fled to Canada, where he applied for refugee status.

The embassy’s initial suspicions were modest.

Two locally hired workers were spotted using Canadian diplomatic plates without authorization. Embassy staff discovered the two workers had been using embassy vehicles as their own for several years

and one had even transferred ownership without embassy management noticing.

The two employees were fired but clues from that probe uncovered more serious suspicions of internal problems at the mission and, in January 2016, investigators from Global Affairs Canada’s special investigations branch arrived to examine the embassy’s books and interview employees.

Investigators uncovered a steady, slow siphoning of funds through fairly small contracts such as for roof renovations, lamppost installation, cleaning supplies, maintenance work, electronics and diplomatic cars. A variety of schemes and frauds were used including false invoices, bogus suppliers and money redirected to benefit local employees. The employees worked in various jobs at the embassy from advisers and receptionists to supervisors and property managers.

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise is greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G7 Outreach Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, June 9, 2018. LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images Investigators found embassy employees conspired with local businesses in bidrigging for contracts “to deceptively take advantage of the mission,” according to an investigative report.

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Death toll jumps to 34 as heat wave continues to bake southern Quebec Temperatures are a bit cooler today across Quebec, after overnight showers brought an end to the six-day heat wave that consumed southern Quebec and resulted in the deaths of at least 44 people.

Twenty-eight of those deaths were in Montreal, 10 more than were reported Thursday.

As of midday Thursday, Montérégie’s public health department reported two more deaths caused by the worst heat wave Quebec has seen in decades. Montreal’s health department reported 18, and seven have been reported in the Eastern Townships.

There was also one death in Laval and six in the Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec region.

Many of the deceased were over the age of 65 and had histories of physical or mental health problems, fitting the profile of those who are more at risk.

Montreal heat wave: People with health conditions, no air conditioning at most risk Today’s forecast predicts a high of 24 C in Montreal, 10 degrees lower than Thursday’s peak temperature.

In Quebec City, the high is 20 C today.

Environment Canada lifted the heat warnings that had been in place in the province for several days, although temperatures are expected to climb back up to 29 C on Sunday and Monday.

According to Environment Canada’s Serge Mainville, the weather will be much less humid than during this week’s hot spell.

“The higher temperatures and humid Sunday and Monday will mostly affect southern Quebec,” Mainville said.

Public health still on alert Despite the milder weather, emergency responders from UrgencesSanté will have a higher number of paramedics working than usual.

Thursday’s temperature reached a high of 34 C, which led to a higher number of 911 calls for paramedics, according to Urgences-Santé spokesperson Valérie Tremblay.

“For the paramedics and the dispatchers, it’s very hard work,” she told CBC News.

She said paramedics responded to 1,378 calls Thursday, about 30 per cent more than the average.

Death toll jumps to 34 as heat wave continues to bake southern Quebec Montreal public health officials are continuing door-to-door checkups today, and will be targeting the most vulnerable clients, according to the regional director of Montreal’s public health department, Mylène Drouin.

“We’re going to visit several rooming houses and possibly old folks’ homes to see how men are recovering,” Drouin said.

About 60 per cent of those who died in Montreal were men living alone.

None of them had air conditioning at home, and all of them lived in buildings with many storeys, Drouin said.

Gangs, guns and Toronto: A primer on this summer’s shootings and the stories behind them An unknown victim died on Wednesday of injuries from a Canada Day shooting in Toronto’s Kensington Market area, bringing the city’s 2018 death toll from gun violence to 25.

“The government has to do something about this gun violence because so many precious lives are taken away too soon,” says Mary Yeboah, aunt of 31-year-old Jenas Nyarko, who was shot on June 24. Police have said Ms. Nyarko’s death was not a targeted killing; video footage suggests gang members simply shot the first person they saw on a rival’s turf.

Toronto Mayor John Tory is reaching out to the Ontario and federal governments for help in combatting gang crime in the city. Scott Bardsley, a spokesperson for federal Public

Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, told The Globe and Mail that Ottawa is eager to “work together with the province to bring criminals to justice and enhance crime prevention efforts.”

Twenty-five people have been killed and many more injured by gun violence in Toronto this year, which is up from the year before. By this time in 2017, only 16 people had been killed by gun violence and 70 recorded as injured.

The dead come from all over Toronto and all walks of life. They range in age from 17 to 45. They were killed at home, in their cars, on the street, in Kensington Market and outside nightclubs. Two were young rappers who were mourned by Toronto’s music scene.

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NATIONAL

Saturday, July 7, 2018

US auto tariffs could cut Canada’s output by nearly 1 million cars, CIBC says The number of cars made in Canada could fall by almost 900,000 units a year if the U.S. hits this country with a 25 per cent auto tariff, according to a recent report by CIBC. Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets, is the latest analyst to sound the alarm over the impact that Canada’s economy could see from the recent tariff threat from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“It wasn’t that long ago when it was commonplace to question whether President Trump could make good on his promises.

But, so far, he’s generally found ways to stay true to his word, and that’s exactly what’s so concerning about auto tariffs,” Mendes said in a note on Wednesday. Trump and his administration have repeatedly threatened Canada with the possibility of imposing a 25

per cent tariff on cars imported from Canada, along with 10 per cent tariff on auto parts after deciding against exempting Canada from hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum since June. Trump threatens tariffs of up to 25% on all cars imported into U.S. How U.S. tariffs on cars could hit Canadians The Canadian government has responded with tit-for-tat tariffs on those metals from the U.S., along with tariffs on a long list of other goods starting this month, which has intensified the trade war between the two neighbours.

Mendes estimates that if the U.S. imposed a 25 per cent tariff on cars imported from Canada, then that would result in the country’s auto production falling by 900,000 units a year. But, if a U.S. auto tariff was imposed on all imported cars.

Trudeau shouted down at raucous Nanaimo meeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke over jeers Friday at a rowdy town hall meeting in Nanaimo as he defended his government’s decision to support the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline through B.C. Trudeau said the pipeline is a key component of the federal government’s approach to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which means Ottawa had to get a national agreement on carbon pricing that will allow Canada to meet its international commitments on climate change.

“But in order to do that, part of moving forward is approving the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which will be able to get our resources responsibly and safely to new markets across the Pacific,” he said, adding the government’s ocean protection plan will better protect the coastline from oil spills at the same time. “It is in the national interest to move forward with the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and we will be moving forward with the Kinder Morgan pipeline.”

The prime minister faced a mix of cheers and boos on his arrival. When he spoke about the pipeline, he was repeatedly interrupted, causing him to show his frustration at one point by exclaiming: “Come on! Come on! Really?” “If you can’t respect the people in this room, you need to leave,” he said before asking the police to remove those who were disrupting the event. Police physically removed a man and a woman as someone else shouted: “Shame on you Trudeau.” Trudeau spoke to an overflow crowd in the gymnasium at Vancouver Island University, while dozens of protesters carried anti-pipeline placards outside.

The final town hall of his cross-country tour started almost an hour late because of travel delays caused by weather, officials said. So many people wanted to attend the event that organizers were shifting seating in the gym at the last minute to make room.

Trudeau defends policy on asylum seekers, as Ford blames Ottawa for ‘housing crisis’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending the way his government has handled a surge of asylum seekers, a day after Ontario’s new government blamed him for the influx and demanded Ottawa pay for it.

Trudeau, speaking Friday on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning, said Canada has an obligation to help those seeking protection, but that there is a rigorous system to ensure only people who need that help are allowed to stay.

On Thursday, Trudeau met with Premier Doug Ford for the first time, moments after Ford’s government had issued a statement demanding that Ottawa cover “100 per cent” of the costs of dealing with the newcomers. In Toronto, thousands of refugees are now in the shelter system.

Trudeau said Ford had a number of questions about immigration issues during their closed-door discussion.

“The premier asked me a question that a lot of people have asked me: ‘Why don’t we just stop them at the border? Why don’t we just prevent them from crossing?’” Trudeau said.

“We have to provide due process for people according with Canadian law and values.” Trudeau also criticized conservative politicians — the prime minister didn’t name names, though said they’re both here and around the world — for making the refugee issue as a divisive one. “When you’re playing

up divisions and fear, you’re playing a very dangerous, short-term game,” he said. On Friday, Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s minister of children, community and social services, fired back at Trudeau saying if he’s going to continue to encourage people to seek refuge in Canada, his government should foot the bill. “They, and they alone, should be be responsible for the housing and settlement costs,” MacLeod told reporters at Queen’s Park. MacLeod said it’s unclear how much the province is spending to house asylum seekers, but suggested the $11 million the federal government is sending to the province may only cover “one-tenth” of the cost. NMacLeod added the province will continue to welcome those who immigrate through official ports of entry, and will still provide supports to those people. “Ontario is, and always has been, a welcoming place,” she said.

A statement from Ford’s office, meanwhile, said the spike in refugees has resulted in a “housing crisis” and a strain on provincially run services.Before their meeting at city hall Friday, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced he had some good news for Trudeau.

Tory said in a call with other Ontario mayors, many suggested they could welcome refugees that the province’s largest city can no longer house.

Canadian cannabis workers targeted by US guards for lifetime bans As tensions between Canada and the U.S. have risen in recent months, a quieter, slower-burning conflict has been developing along the border: Canadians associated with the cannabis industry — even if they have never used the drug — can be banned for life from America.

Despite Washington State legalizing cannabis within state boundaries, the border is under federal jurisdiction. And since cannabis, along with drugs such as heroin and cocaine, is a Schedule I substance, past or current association with the drug is considered a federal crime in the U.S. Canadians involved in the cannabis

economy are finding themselves hit with lifetime bans on entry to the U.S. for violating federal drug law. Immigration lawyers and policy experts say there is little hope of the situation improving Jay Evans, CEO of Keirton Inc., an equipment manufacturer, was recently given a lifetime ban on entering the United States when border guards discovered some of his machines are used by cannabis producers. Experts say an increasing number of Canadians involved in the cannabis economy are learning the same lesson the hard way.

Saturday, July 7, 2018

All harassment claims must be taken seriously, says Rachel Notley of Trudeau groping allegation When asked about a two-decade old claim that the prime minister inappropriately touched a female reporter, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said all allegations of sexual harassment need to be taken seriously.

“In all cases, when people, usually women, raise these issues, they need to be taken very, very seriously,” the premier told media on Friday before joining the Calgary Stampede Parade.

The incident in question allegedly took place in 2000, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was 28, at the Kokanee Summit in Creston, B.C. The event was raising money for the Avalanche Foundation, a charity Trudeau became involved with after his brother, Michel, died in an avalanche in 1998.

‘I am confident that I did not act inappropriately,’ Trudeau says of groping allegation After the event, an unsigned editorial was published in the local paper, the Creston Valley Advance. The editorial accused Trudeau of “groping” and “inappropriately handling” a young female reporter, and suggested she felt “blatantly disrespected” but

provided no other details about the incident.’

“I think it’s a good start here that her concerns have been acknowledged. That’s what we have to do,” Notley said. “Once that happens, we need to make sure there is a fair process and that everyone’s voice is heard. I think that’s part of a larger conversation that people’s voices are heard.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he is confident he did not behave inappropriately, in regards to a groping allegation from 2000 that has recently resurfaced.

On Thursday, Trudeau said he had reflected on the accusation and felt “confident” that he had not acted inappropriately at the time.

Notley said she hasn’t looked into the details of the allegation, but that all claims should be heard. “Every situation is different. There’s no question about it,” Notley said.

“But I think … in all occasions, one of the common things that we have to begin with in all situations is to acknowledge the concern and treat it with respect and integrity and give it the fair attention it deserves.”

Demand for EI sickness benefits rising More and more Canadians are applying for federal help as they take time away from work to battle serious illness — and almost four out of every 10 of those applicants are maxing out their benefits.

Since 2015, demand for sickness benefits under the federal Employment Insurance program has reached a 10-year high, with more than half of successful applicants taking 10 or more weeks’ worth of payments.

The figures, contained in a recent report to Parliament, show more than 142,000 people used their maximum allotment of 15 weeks in 2017, an increase of about eight per cent over the previous year.

NDP jobs critic Niki Ashton said the fact that so many people are using up their benefits is evidence that the 47-year-old program needs an update.

A spokesman for Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the government already has made improvements to sickness benefits to give people more options for returning to work.

In the 2018 budget, the Liberal government agreed to allow new parents and those recovering from illnesses to work while receiving benefits without jeopardizing their EI payments.

PM Trudeau says he doesn’t remember ‘negative interactions’ on day he’s accused of groping a young woman Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said he doesn’t “remember any negative interactions” on the day he is accused of groping a young woman 18 years ago.

Appearing at a Canada Day event at Regina in western Canada, the prime minister was asked to address allegations he groped a female reporter at a music festival in British Columbia in 2000. “I remember that day in Creston well.

It was an Avalanche Foundation event to support avalanche safety. I had a good day that day.

I don’t remember any negative interactions that day at all,” he said, reports The Washington Post. The allegations first appeared in 2000 in a community paper’s unsigned editorial. The Creston Valley Advance editorial suggested Trudeau, who was then a 28-year-old teacher, groped one of the paper’s young, female reporters at an event raising funds for the Avalanche Foundation.

The Trudeau family was active in the foundation after Michael Trudeau, the prime minister’s brother, died in an avalanche in Kokanee. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau was attending a Canada Day event when he was asked to address allegations he groped a female reporter at a music festival

in 2000. While the editorial did not outline specific details of the alleged incident, or name the report, it did state the reporter involved felt “blatantly disrespected”. It also said Trudeau allegedly apologised a day later for “inappropriately handling” the reporter.

According to the National Post, the reporter involved is no longer in journalism.

The Advance’s publisher at the time has told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp she recalled speaking to the reporter who came to her “because she was unsettled by it”. “She wasn’t sure how she should proceed with it because of course we’re talking somebody who was known to the Canadian community,” she said.

The Advance’s editor at the time, Brian Bell, stood by the report, telling the Canadian Broadcasting Corp he was confident whatever allegedly happened “was definitely not welcome and definitely inappropriate”.

The allegations have resurfaced after political commentator and Trudeau critic Warren Kinsella shared an image of the editorial on Twitter alongside the hashtag #MeToo. Trudeau is a self-described feminist who has previously said he has “no tolerance “ for sexual harassment.

NATIONAL

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22 In a huge setback to fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya, the UK High Court has ruled in favour of a consortium of 13 Indian banks by granting permission to enforcement officers to enter his sprawling estate near London and seize his possessions.

Saturday, July 7, 2018

The former liquor baron has been staying with his friend Pinky Lalwani at the estate located in quintessentially English upperclass village of Tewin after fleeing India.

Congress says all not well in BJP-JD(U) alliance but will keep distance from Nitish Amid signs of discomfort in the BJPJD(U) alliance, Congress said Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had made it amply clear that he was unhappy with ally BJP, but it would not step into the muddle as the JD(U) was in partnership with a “fascist party”.

Denying that the Bihar CM had sent any feelers to Congress, AICC in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil told TOI, “Nitish Kumar’s feelers are in public domain that he is not happy with BJP. He did not participate in Yoga Day, Modi’s gimmicks day, he

scrapped the ‘PM crop insurance scheme’ and introduced his own. At the recent meeting of Niti Aayog, Kumar spoke about Bihar package but despite being an ally, PM Modi did not even acknowledge the demand. It was an insult not only of Nitish Kumar but also the people of Bihar.”

Congress’s “no comments” policy on Kumar stems from the hostility of senior ally RJD of Lalu Prasad towards the JD(U) chief following the latter’s somersault to quit the ‘secular alliance’ and form government with BJP.

Troll held over rape threat to Congress leader’s daughter The Mumbai police on Thursday arrested one Girish Maheshwari for posting an online threat to rape the 10-year-old daughter of Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi.

Maheshwari, 36, was arrested from his home in Bavla in Ahmedabad after Chaturvedi filed a complaint with the city police.

Sources said Maheshwari has been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act

T h e o r d e r, passed by Justice Byran, even allows the authorities to “use reasonable force to enter the property if necessary”. However, there has been no order against Mallya’s Cornwall Terrace property in Regent’s Park, London yet.

On 24 November, 2017, the UK High Court had registered in English courts the Bengaluru DRT judgment and implemented a worldwide order freezing his assets up to the value of Rs 10,421 crore. Mallya had applied to discharge the freezing order and set the registration aside but in May this year, the High Court ruled in the banks’ favour.

The June 26 order has opened the door for High Court enforcement officers to take legal steps to enforce the Indian judgment.

UK court allows officers to enter Mallya’s estate, ‘take control of goods’

under which getting bail was difficult.

Maheshwari had trolled Chaturvedi on Twitter after some fake quotes were attributed to her regarding the rape of a minor girl in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur.

Though Maheswari deleted the threatening tweets following an uproar, screenshots of his messages were available online and the cybercrime cell of the Mumbai police traced him to his home in Ahmedabad

The order comes after Mallya lost a case in the High Court against the registration of the Bengaluru Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) judgement in UK courts. The DRT ruled that Mallya owes the consortium Rs 6,203 crore plus interest amounting to Rs 9,863 crore.

The HC order dated June 26, which TOI is in possession of, says that the High Court enforcement officer or any enforcement agent acting under his authority “may enter Ladywalk, Queen Hoo Lane, Tewin, Welwyn, and Bramble Lodge, Queen Hoo Lane, Tewin, Welwyn, including all outbuildings of Ladywalk and Bramble Lodge to search for and take control of goods belonging to the first defendant (Mallya)”.

Increase of 16 paisa per litre fuel price up again Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the first time in more than a month on the back of rising global rates and weakening rupee.

The increase of 16 paisa a litre in petrol and 12 paisa per litre in diesel came as oil companies revised prices after eight days.

Mumbai: The rupee tumbled for the second straight session to hit a fresh closing low of 68.95, sliding by 21 paise following a panic demand for the US dollar coupled with savage capital flight worries. PTI Teresa charity employee arrested for ‘selling’ baby Ranchi: A woman staffer has been arrested and two others, including a sister-in-charge, detained for allegedly selling a child born to an inmate of a shelter home, run by Mother Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charity here, the police said. Anima Indwar, a woman employee of Nirmal Hriday, was apprehended based on a complaint filed by Rupa Verma, head of Child Welfare Committee’s Ranchi unit. pti Violence: HC summons Lucknow varsity VC, SSP Lucknow: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad HC on Thursday took suo moto cognisance of the clashes between

students and teachers of Lucknow University.

The Division Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan has summoned university Vice-Chancellor SP Singh, Proctor Vinod Singh and Lucknow SSP Deepak Kumar on Friday. A PIL has also been filed in the case. tns Heavy rain triggers floods, landslides in Maharashtra Mumbai: Parts of Maharashtra were inundated by heavy rains, causing floods and landslides on Thursday morning, according to police and disaster management cell officials.

Vehicular movement at Mahad in Raigad district was affected after landslides blocked roads on the Mumbai-Goa highway. Skymet said rains would continue along the West Coast, mainly over coastal Gujarat, Konkan, and Karnataka for another 24 to 48 hours. TNS Sohrabuddin encounter: No of hostile witnesses reaches 80 Mumbai: Three more prosecution witnesses on Thursday turned hostile in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter cases, taking the number of such witnesses to 80. Sharafat Ali, who had ‘shared’ a cell with Prajapati, deposed in a CBI court here.

SC to function with only 22 judges against sanctioned strength of 31 the Supreme Court will be functioning with only 22 judges against the sanctioned strength of 31 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.

Justice AK Goel demitted office as a judge of the top court on Friday bringing down the actual strength of the court to 22 judges.

With three more judges due to retire by the end of the year, the situation is likely to get worse as the Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has not been able to recommend names for elevation to the Supreme Court in its last three meetings.

CJI Misra will retire on October 2, followed by Justice Kurian Joseph in December and Justice Madan B Lokur in December.

Despite agreeing “in principle” to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph, the Collegium has been dithering on sending his name back to the Government, which had asked it to reconsider his elevation.

The Collegium is likely to meet soon to reconsider the names discussed earlier. After the retirement of Justice J Chelameswar on June 22, Justice AK Sikri has entered the group of top five that

selects judges for the Supreme Court and 24 high courts.

In his farewell address at a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association on Friday, Justice Goel defended his verdict banning immediate arrest in cases under The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, as it was a question of individual liberty.

“Normally we don’t say anything after writing the judgement. But now I am a free man, so I’m saying something,” said Justice Goel.

Talking about suspension of fundamental rights during emergency declared by former prime minister Indira Gandhi, Justice Goel said: “This had led to assumption of arbitrary and unchecked powers by the police and the administrators”.

He talked about Justice HR Khanna’s famous dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case in which the majority of four judges had said that a person could not move the court to enforce his right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.

This was what was in his mind when he delivered the SC / ST verdict, Justice Goel said.

Saturday, July 7, 2018

More than 100 police personal arrested for smuggling drug More than 100 Punjab Police personnel have been arrested for smuggling drugs or abetting illicit trade since 2014 — when the state first began its crackdown on the menace.

Of these, nearly 30 have been arrested in the 15 months of the Congress government alone.

The arrested include two DSPs while the remaining are non-gazetted ranks. Besides, an SSP has been accused and questioned for allegedly patronising an inspector charged with smuggling drugs. Two other SSPs are facing inquiries for helping drug-tainted cops get relief from court. The Special Task Force (STF) formed to check drug smuggling has nabbed 12 policemen from Punjab, including sacked Inspector Inderjit Singh and retired DSP Jaswant Singh. It has also arrested a

Haryana cop and registered seven cases.

While the STF has data on action taken against Punjab Police personnel, no official data is available with the police of past one year. Punjab Congress chief and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar had during the 2017 elections released data based on Home Minister Kiren Rijiju’s reply in Parliament that said 53 Punjab policemen were booked for helping drug smuggling from 2014 to 2016. The number has now risen to 100. Focus is back on the cop-smuggler nexus with more than 30 druglinked deaths of youths being reported over the past one month alone. AAP leaders, including state convener Bhagwant Mann and co-convener have been demanding a CBI inquiry into the role of these cops.

Ready to undergo dope test but won’t force other MLAs, says Punjab CM Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he was willing to undergo dope test, but would leave it to the conscience of other elected representatives to take a decision on the same. He was responding to demands from certain sections, including the opposition parties and also from within the Congress, that politicians should also be made to undergo dope test, as had been announced by the chief minister yesterday for government employees and police personnel. “I have no problem in taking a dope test,” the chief minister said, taking on the challenge thrown at him on this count by certain political and other entities. “Given the gigantic scale of the drug problem, nobody should be having any problems about taking such a test,” he said, adding that a couple of politicians, including a minister in his Cabinet, had already shown the way by volunteering for drug screening. Even though no fingers have been raised so far against any politician in the existing regime of complicity of any kind in drug abuse or trading.

State seeks cancellation of 24 drug frame-up cases The Punjab government has sought the cancellation of 72 cases of frameup, including 24 registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, on the basis of reports submitted by the Justice Mehtab Singh Gill commission. The move comes at a time when the state government has recommended death penalty for drug trafficking. The panel was set up by the government a year ago to probe the implication of innocents by the police during the 10-year SAD-BJP rule. Trial courts have already accepted the recommendations in 19 of these 72 cases. In all, the recommendations have been complied with in 133 cases.

This includes award of compensation for the victims of implication, besides initiation of action against erring police officers, including the recovery of the relief amount. Recommendation for FIR cancellation and action against cops has been made by the commission in 328 cases. A report submitted by the commission’s statistical officer to the government states that proceedings under Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code have been initiated in 18 cases and action against erring police officers/ officials taken in seven cases. Section 182 deals with “false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person.”

PUNJAB

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‘We cannot live here’: Afghanistan’s Sikhs weigh future after suicide bombing The victims of the Hindus and Sikhs. attack claimed by The Sikh community now numbers fewer militant group Islamic State included Avtar than 300 families in Singh Khalsa, the Afghanistan, which has only two gurdwaras, only Sikh candidate in parliamentary or places of worship, elections this October, one each in Jalalabad and Kabul, the capital, and Rawail Singh, a Singh added. prominent community activist.

Although almost Afghan Sikh men carry the coffin of one of entirely a Muslim “I am clear that country, Afghanistan we cannot live here the victims of yesterday’s blast in Jalalabad anymore,” said Tejvir was home to as many as Singh, 35, whose uncle was killed in the blast. 250,000 Sikhs and Hindus before a devastating “Our religious practices will not be tolerated civil war in the 1990s. Even a decade ago, the by the Islamic terrorists. We are Afghans. U.S. State Department said in a report, about The government recognizes us, but terrorists 3,000 Sikhs and Hindus still lived there. target us because we are not Muslims,” added Singh, the secretary of a national panel of

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INDIA

Saturday, July 7, 2018

K’taka CM waives Rs 34K cr farm loans in first Budget Keeping his pre-poll promise, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday announced a Rs 34,000-crore farm loan waiver, but in a contentious move proposed a hike in taxes on fuel and power in the maiden budget of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government.

Kumaraswamy, who holds the finance portfolio, said the increase in taxes on petrol, diesel, power and liquor was aimed at mopping up additional revenue to offset the burden on the exchequer caused by the farm loan waiver.

He, however, capped the agricultural loan to be written off at Rs 2 lakh, saying it would not be right to waive loans of higher value. Kumaraswamy said all defaulted crop loans up to December 31, 2017 will be written off in the first phase.

The JD(S) leader had, in the run-up to the Assembly polls, promised he would

waive farm loans totalling Rs 53,000 crore within 24 hours of assuming office. The CM said the quantum of loans paid by every farmer, who had not defaulted on repayment, or Rs 25,000, whichever is less, would be credited to their bank accounts.

The families of government officials and those of the cooperative sector, farmers who have paid income tax for the past three years and other ineligible farm loan recipients will be out of the purview of the scheme.

However, he proposed to increase the rate of tax on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.14 and Rs 1.12 per litre, respectively. The tax on electricity will also be raised from the existing 6 to 9 per cent.

The CM said, to facilitate fresh loans to farmers, clearance certificates would be issued to them after waiving the arrears of the defaulting account holders.

Taiwan accuses India of bowing to ‘bully’ China A notification by the ‘Maharaja’ has led to diplomatic friction between India and Taiwan.

The Ministry of External Affairs defended the decision of Air India to rename ‘Taiwan’ into ‘Chinese Taipei’ on its website amid criticism of India bowing to Beijing.

MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: “The Air India decision was consistent with international norm and with our own position since 1949.”

Earlier, China welcomed the decision.

Beijing views Taiwan as a rebel region that separated at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and must be united to the Chinese mainland under its “One China” policy.

However, Taiwan lodged a strong protest with the MEA, asking Air India to consult it on the

matter. International carriers like Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines and Air Canada have also changed description of Taiwan on their websites following pressure from Beijing.

Beijing happy: Air India is respecting the basic fact that there is one China and Taiwan is part of China. We approve of that.

Respecting China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and obeying Chinese law is a basic principle foreign companies need to follow in China.” Lu Kang, Chinese foreign Ministry Spokesman Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India is disappointed with Air India changing Taiwan into ‘Chinese Taipei and regrets that this move can be seen as a gesture of succumbing to the unreasonable and absurd pressure from China.

Banks working closely with UK to recover dues from Mallya: SBI MD Indian banks are working very closely with various agencies, including in the UK, to recover maximum out of assets owned by Vijay Mallya after a British court allowed them to search and seize properties of the fugitive liquor baron, SBI MD Arijit Basu said on Friday.

“We have been able to come this far because of efforts that were taken in a very coordinated manner by all agencies including the government. We are very happy with the court order and with this kind of order we have we should be able to go after those assets,” he told reporters here.

The SBI is the leader of consortium of 13 banks that lent about Rs 9,000 crore to Mallya’s now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Without giving a specific number, Basu said: “There are various laws which operate between different countries that allow us to go beyond our national borders. With the effort that we have made, we have got worldwide

freezing order. Going by the assets that we have, we feel that it will be significant amount of the debt if not whole amount”.

Asked about timeline for auction, he said, banks are working very closely with all agencies and lawyer in London as to how High Court Enforcement Order (HCEO) can be enforced.

State Bank of India has appointed valuer to assess the value of assets of Mallya.

Asked about recovery in India, Basu said the consortium has recovered Rs 963 crore from auction of Mallya’s Indian assets.

The order grants permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter the 62-year-old tycoon’s properties in Hertfordshire, near London.

It permits the officer and his agents entry to Ladywalk and Bramble Lodge in Tewin, Welwyn, where Mallya is currently based.

Indian family of seven says ‘living like prisoners’ in UAE An Indian family of seven, claiming to be “living like prisoners” in Sharjah, is seeking help from the UAE government to legalise their residency status fearing arrest and deportation, a media report said on Friday.

The family, three of whom do not have passports and visas, said they do not even have enough to eat and there are days when they have to survive on a packet of ‘quboos’ (Arabic bread), Khaleej Times reported.

Madhusudhanan, 60, from Kerala, and his Sri Lankan wife Rohini, 55, said they want to give a normal life to their children who have never been to school in their lifetime, the report said. Their four daughters — Ashwathy, 29, Sangeetha, 25, Shanthi, 23, Gauri, 22 — and one son, Mithun, 21, are all unemployed and live with their parents in a dilapidated twobedroom house in Sharjah, it said. “I could not enrol my five children in school because

of our illegal status. They did not even have their passports for a long time. They haven’t travelled outside the UAE even once. They have suffered for a lifetime. I want them to have a decent life,” Madhusudhanan said.

All the children have been home-schooled by their mother and now can read and write, the report said. “Children are afraid to go out.

We are living like prisoners without knowing what our future would be. I have scarified 30 years of my life for my family. My children deserve better,” said Rohini. Madhusudhanan came to the UAE in 1979 as a worker. He married Rohini in 1988. “Everything turned upside down when I lost my job after three years, ending up as an illegal resident,” he said, adding that before he had his first daughter in 1989, he lost his second job also. “I could not apply for her passport because I was living illegally in the country.

Principal, teacher arrested for gang-rape in Bihar The Bihar Police on Friday arrested a principal, a teacher and two students over the allegations of gang-rape of a school girl in an area near Chhapra. The girl, in her complaint to the police, said that she was blackmailed and gang-raped by the principal, two teachers and 15 students for the last seven months, ever since her father went to jail. A case has been registered in Chhapra’s Parsagarh that falls under Ekma police station based on the girl’s statement. The girl has alleged that ever since her father went to jail in December 2017, the

principal and the teachers of the Deepeshwar Gyan Niketan gang-raped her. In total, two teachers (including the principal) and 15 students have been booked on the basis of the victim’s statement. The girl narrated the ordeal to her father when he was released from jail.

The family alleged that the police first refused to lodge the complaint, but conceded after they threatened to take the matter to senior officials. A medical test of the girl will now be conducted

Saturday, July 7, 2018

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Sikh election candidate among 19 dead in Afghan suicide attack

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A suicide bomb attack in a city in eastern Afghanistan where President Ashraf Ghani was visiting killed at least 19 people, including the only Sikh candidate in upcoming legislative elections, officials said Sunday.

The attacker struck a market located hundreds of metres from the provincial governor’s compound where Ghani was holding meetings, governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP. Of the 19 killed, 17 were Sikhs and Hindus,

provincial health director Najibullah Kamawal told AFP. Another 20 people were wounded in the attack.

Avtar Singh, the only Sikh candidate running in the October 20 parliamentary and district council elections, was among the dead, an Indian embassy official said. In a statement the embassy condemned the “cowardly terrorist” attack.

There were scenes of anguish at the hospital where grieving relatives wept and hugged each other as they waited for news of their loved ones.

World’s biggest trading bloc is a step closer after Tokyo meeting Asian trade ministers took another step toward creating what could be the world’s biggest trading bloc, expressing hope that a deal could be signed by the end of this year.

Ministers from the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which includes China, Japan and India but not the U.S., met in Tokyo on Sunday to try and thrash out remaining differences.

“The path toward a year-end agreement is now clearer,” said Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s Trade Minister

during the jointpress conference held Sunday. “As protectionism concerns increase globally, it’s important that the Asian region flies the flag of free trade.”

If ever fully achieved, the partnership would also include the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and cover one third of the world’s economy and almost half its population.

Malaysia’s former PM released a pre-recorded video hours after being arrested for corruption Malaysia’s former prime minister created a pre-recorded video that was released after he was arrested on Tuesday for corruption and breach of trust.

Najib pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to four charges linked to an investigation into $4.5 billion missing from state investment fund 1MDB, of which hundreds of millions of dollars were reportedly found in Najib’s personal bank accounts.

Najib has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but the existence and tone of the video, in which he appears humble but doesn’t concede any guilt, indicates Najib knew he would shortly be arrested and had begun

preparing for a legal and public opinion battle.

“My dear Malaysians, if you are listening to this message, it means that actions have been taken against me,” Najib says, according to a translation from Channel News Asia.

“There has been a lot of fake news and images spread, many of them false, convoluted and slanderous. Let investigations be conducted first, I have not had the chance to defend myself,” Najib’s voiceover said.

He added: “I am not perfect, I am only human. However, please believe that these accusations leveled against me and my family are not all true... I have tried my very best but I realize that it isn’t enough.”

China pledges more ‘selfless’ loans to Sri Lanka China vowed Thursday to keep providing financial help, including loans, to Sri Lanka under its massive “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan despite warnings about the island nation’s debt mountain.

Dismissing “Western media” claims of a “debt trap”, China’s embassy in Colombo also rejected a recent New York Times report about alleged corruption in Chinese projects on the island.

Sri Lanka last year granted Beijing a 99-year lease on a new port on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes after being unable to afford to repay Chinese loans for the $1.4-billion project.

This stoked concerns, including in Western countries and India, about President Xi

Jinping’s signature $1 trillion project of funding infrastructure projects across Asia and beyond.

The embassy statement put China’s Sri Lankan loan portfolio at $5.5 billion, just over a tenth of Colombo’s total $51.82 external debt. It did not disclose what other projects it aims to finance.

“China will continue to provide selfless support, including much-needed funds for the development of Sri Lanka,” the statement said.

“The so-called ‘Debt Trap’ is a false proposition created by the Western media, with a direct attempt to obstruct the joint development of China and other developing countries, including Sri Lanka,” it said.

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The global terrorist group Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s deadly suicide bombing that left 17 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus dead among 21 people in Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.

The attack was targeted at a delegation of Afghanistan’s Sikh and Hindu minority communities, waiting outside the governor’s house, to meet the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. In a statement issued on Monday, the IS claimed that it had targeted a group of “polytheists,” in a clear reference to Sikh and Hindu communities.

Once vibrant minority communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s bordering tribal regions, the Sikh and Hindu population has reduced to a few hundred due to unending war and terror in

the region for the last three decades. Majority of them have migrated to India and western countries.

On Monday, the bereaved families carried the coffins of their loved ones to a temple for funeral.

The communities protested against the government and the Afghan President for failing to provide them security. The delegation had an appointment with the President but it was postponed till afternoon.

“As we were asked to step out of our vehicles for security checking outside the governor’s house, a bomber on foot, detonated his explosives,” Jagandar Singh, who lost his brother in the bombing, told a private news channel in Afghanistan.

Among the dead were Avtar Singh Khalsa, the only Sikh candidate running in Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections this year in October.

Saturday, July 7, 2018

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FIJI

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Human rights commission to take action against discriminatory practices

The Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission says it is taking some strong measures now in relation to cases of landlords advertising and getting tenants based on their ethnicity or religion, and it will also take action on the media outlets who are printing advertisements for people who are looking for people of particular races for certain jobs.

This also means taking landlords to court until such time the attitude changes as the constitution guarantees common and equal citizenry.

The stern message has come through as the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission confirms that they are now looking into an incident in a prominent Suva suburb, where a property caretaker on the instruction of a landlord had put out flats on rent and had displayed a notice seeking tenants of only a particular ethnic group.

Commission CEO, Joel Abraham confirms that they have now sought assistance from the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination

Former proposed candidate of NFP further remanded for allegedly raping sister-in-law The former proposed candidate of the National Federation Party who is now facing one count of rape, will spend further time in remand. The 66-yearold man who could barely walk, applied for bail through his lawyer, Nancy Choo in the Nasinu Magistrates Court. The prosecution strongly objected to bail, saying that the offence is serious and the accused may interfere with the witnesses and the complainant. Magistrate Sufia Hamza denied the bail application and ordered that the accused be taken to CWM Hospital for proper medical examination.

It is alleged that the man raped his 53-year-old sisterin-law in Nasinu last Thursday night. Police say it is alleged that the man approached the woman if he could spend the night at her Nasinu home as he was too tired after a wedding and could not go back home.

The man allegedly started knocking on the woman’s bedroom door in the middle of the night and then forcefully got into the room.

He then allegedly raped the woman.

Lautoka sugar mill up and running again Fiji Sugar C or p or at i on says the L a u t o k a mill is fully operational after a “brief eight-hour stoppage”. In a press statement released yesterday, the miller said the stoppage was because of boiler feeder problems which affected the supply of bagasse to the mill’s boilers which powered the factory. Bagasse is the fuel residual matter left over from crushing cane which provides fuel for operating the mill. FSC said the issue was resolved by engineers and the mill resumed operations at 8.30am yesterday.

“As of 8am this (yesterday) morning, a total of 116 lorries were weighed in at the Lautoka weigh bridge,” said FSC chief

executive officer Graham Clark.

“Seventy-eight lorries were from the Lautoka sectors and collectively 38 from Rarawai and Penang or 33 per cent”. Mr Clark added that FSC senior management had been stationed at the mill overseeing the progress of mill repairs and also tendering to the needs of lorry drivers in the queue. He said lorry drivers who had queued up during the mill downtime were well catered for with proper meals and beverages. “These are teething problems at the start of the crushing season,” Mr Clark said.

“Labasa mill, which commenced crushing a week ago, also faced similar start-up issues and they are well and truly into their crushing momentum now”.

Commission, and are working together to curb residential tenancy discrimination based on gender, ethnicity and racial background.

Abraham reiterates that such practice is illegal and in contravention of the Constitution and the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission Act. Director of the Fiji Human Rights and AntiDiscrimination Commission, Ashwin Raj says action needs to be taken now as our constitution does not allow these discriminatory practices.

Raj says they are now planning to take legal action against the landlord.

Ashwin Raj says media outlets that publish discriminatory messages, will also be taken to task.

He says they have gone past the point of saying to people that this is an act of discrimination. Raj says they are now monitoring compliance and to ensure that action is taken against those not following the constitution and other laws in the country.

Pacific women rising in business sector The success of Pacific women entrepreneurs was highlighted at the biannual National Pacific Business Trust Awards held in Auckland last week.

Four young women took home the Pacific Impact Award for their social enterprise, KOKITI Workshops, which offers Pacific art and well-being workshops to children between the ages of 5 and 14.

One of the founders, Annabelle Ryan says the recognition is a lot to take in.

“We still can’t believe it’s happened. Our category was so hard and the people that are in it are so amazing and the legacy we hope to live up to it.”

Ryan said the Pacific Business Trust has played a huge role in their success and she hopes more entrepreneurs access the same service and support.

“It’s intimidating for sure but… they’re humble, they’re down-to-earth and that’s who you need to be around.”

The Pacific Woman in Business Award went to Rachel Lewis, the founder of marketing

consultancy business Devitising Marketing.

World-renowned choreographer and dancer Parris Goebel stole the show winning the inaugural Pacific Legacy Award for her services to the community.

She said she was humbled to be acknowledged by her Pacific people.

“When I work in the industry, I just want to represent and I want to bring my people with me. I’m always talking about where I’m from and my culture.”

Chair of the Pacific Business Trust, Fa’amatuainu Tino Pereira, said he was impressed with the high calibre of finalists this year.

He said the future looks bright for Pacific businesses and hopes the community make the most of the opportunities out there.

“Pursue the dream, use every avenue in your waking hour to pursue that dream.

It’s not easy, but we have the talent and the creativity and the support of the wider family to make it happen, said Pereira.

Rabuka shows confidence for wining next election Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) leader Sitiveni Rabuka is confident that differences within the party will not affect votes for the party in the coming general election.

In an interview with this newspaper, Mr Rabuka admitted there were still differences within the party. He said there were party members who were still against his leadership. He said there were certain party members who were also against the inclusion of former People’s Democratic Party leader and SODELPA provisional candidate Lynda Tabuya into the party.

“Some people are still uncomfortable,” he said. “They are not looking at the party as a whole, they’re looking at their own position.”

Mr Rabuka said although the differences

might still be there, it would not get in the way of his work as the party leader. “I have never had any control or command of a unified unit,” he said. “We have to deal with everybody because we all have our strengths and weaknesses and we all each have our contributions to make.

“Some of the contributions may be seen as distractive, it’s up to the leader to mold and make everybody work together and harmonise all our differences.”

He said the voters would be voting on what the party stood for in the upcoming general election, while those close to the candidates would be voting for what they knew about the candidates. “They will be voting along these lines rather than voting for what one candidate thinks of another candidate.”

PAKISTAN

Saturday, July 7, 2018

29

Former PM Nawaz Sharif sentenced to 10 years in jail for corruption and money laundering Former PM Nawaz Sharif has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for corruption and money laundering. Nawaz Sharif ’s daughter Maryam also has been sentenced to seven years in jail, the verdict was delivered in one of the four cases of corruption against him - the Avenfield corruption case - related to the ownership of four flats in the posh Avenfield House in London.

Nawaz Sharif wanted the announcement of the verdict delayed by a week, but that request was dismissed by the court today. Mr Sharif, who is still in London along with Maryam, had said he wanted to hear the judgement of the case while standing in the courtroom where he “endured more than 100 hearings” with his daughter. In the identical applications compiled on behalf

Accountability bureau arrests principal secretary to former PM Principal secretary to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Mr Fawad Hassan Fawad isarrested by National Accountability Burea in Ashiana Housing scam on Thursday.

Sources reveal that Fawad Hassan is a bureaucrat and former principal secretary to disqualified prime ministers Nawaz Sharif.

Fawad Hassan appeared before NAB in the housing scam case to record his statement, however, the authorities arrested him for failing to cooperate with the investigation.

NAB Lahore had summoned Fawad to probe whether he misused his authority in the scam. Fawad is also accused of amassing assets beyond income including plazas worth

millions. He’s also accused of obtaining plots in costly housing schemes and allotting agricultural land in several parts of the country.

Despite being summoned nine times by NAB, Fawad made four appearances. In the last summon, he had requested exemption for personal reasons which the bureau granted him. Previously, NAB Lahore summoned Fawad in February and April, 2018. Fawad previously served as then-chief minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s secretary in 2013.

He took the role of prime minister’s principal secretary in 2015 and worked with both Nawaz and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Former PM Abbasi gets court nod to contest election Pakistan’s former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was today cleared by a high court to run for the July 25 general election from Rawalpindi, days after he was disqualified for life by a tribunal.

Abbasi was on June 27 disqualified by the Punjab Election Appellate Tribunal for “not fully revealing” his assets. He had challenged the order in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

A two-judge LHC bench headed by Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi heard the arguments and set aside the tribunal’s decision of disqualifying the former prime minister, clearing the way for him to contest

election from his native NA-57 (Rawalpindi-I) constituency. Earlier, the single-judge tribunal accepted a plea that Abbasi had not fully declared his assets and was not “truthful and righteous” under the Constitution to contest elections or hold any office. Abbasi is also contesting election from a seat in Islamabad and was already cleared to participate after initial objections. Initially, election officials had rejected his nomination from Islamabad but accepted his bid from Rawalpindi. The general elections are set to be held on July 25.

At least 11,855 candidates are in the run for 849 general seats of national and provincial

of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam, the counsel cited the poor health of Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of the former PM, who is hospitalised in London, as the reason for the family’s bid to have the verdict postponed. Kulsoom, diagnosed with throat cancer last year, was shifted to the UK for further medical treatment. Since then, Maryam and Nawaz Sharif have made several trips back

and forth from London to attend the hearings and attend to Kulsoom. The Avenfield case was among the four corruption cases filed against the former PM and his children by the NAB on the Supreme Court’s orders in the Panama Papers case which disqualified Nawaz Sharif.

Apart from Mr Sharif, Maryam and son-inlaw Capt (retd) Safdar are accused in the case.

Two massive sinkholes create havoc after rains in Lahore In Lahore two massive sinkholes opened up after relentless rain flooded capital of Punjab in Pakistan this week, leaving six people dead.

The sinkholes appeared Tuesday in front of the General Post Office on Mall Road, a major thoroughfare in an old part of the city, lined with buildings dating back to the colonial era.

The area was cordoned off, disrupting traffic and attracting curious pedestrians.

By Wednesday night, the sinkholes had been filled, the road repaired, and traffic continued. The larger sinkhole had been six meters (20 ft) deep, 15 meters (49 ft) long, and 12 meters (39 ft) wide, according to

Amna Ikram, director general of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA). A second, smaller sinkhole had appeared close nearby.

A committee formed by Hassan Askari Rizvi, caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, is currently investigating the cause behind the sinkholes. Torrential monsoon rains lashed many cities and towns across Pakistan before dawn Tuesday, flooding streets and killing six people, as authorities struggled to restore normalcy in rain-affected areas.

A number of open ducts near a building had caused water seepage, which traveled under the road and eroded subsoil, said LDA

Imran Khan blames Modi govt’s ‘aggressive posture’ for strain in Indo-Pak ties Imran Khan on Thursday said and isolate Pakistan. They have that ousted prime minister Nawaz a very aggressive anti-Pakistan Sharif had made efforts to improve posture…What can one do in the face of this attitude?” Ahead of Indo-Pakistan relations, but general elections scheduled on “aggressive anti-Pakistan posture” July 25, opposition leader said adopted by the Indian government that key to the Prime Minister resulted in the present impasse House lies in understanding between the countries. Imran Khan the country’s complex political was quoted as saying by Dawn Imran Khan realities. Speaking on Pakistan’s newspaper, “Sharif tried everything, even personal (gestures) like calling him military influence in foreign policy, Khan (Narendra Modi) over to his house. No one said that army will get involved where there got in his way. But I think it is the policy are security situations. of the Narendra Modi government to try

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NRI

Saturday, July 7, 2018

‘Free tablet’ scammer will pay $2.8 million for rebate scheme The sentencing of a Nevada based corporation and its CEO on grand larceny and securities fraud, among other charges by New York’s attorney general, it is announced. Sungame Corporation and its CEO, Neil Chandran, were ordered to cough up more than $2.8 million in restitution to investors of the scheme, or face up to four years in prison.

Sungame offered an unusual deal: For every $1,000 paid upfront, the company would send you an experimental tablet that could render content in 3D. A few weeks later, Sungame would send you back $1,500 as a rebate, no strings attached. After that, you’d have the option to either hold onto the tablet itself or

let Sungame resell it and send you back the profit. As Chandran presented it, it was part of a pre-purchase incentive plan, a way to get inventory moving before the product itself was shipping.

If that sounds too good to be true, it should.

Sungame wasn’t actually making tablets — although in 2016, the company did buy 9,000 of Dlodlo’s VR headsets to keep the demos running and the illusion intact. A civil suit claims one victim transferred $230,000 over the course of 2014, only to get the runaround when he asked about the rebate.

Indian-origin student who hacked computers to change grades gets probation An Indian-origin former university student, who hacked into his professors’ computers to change all his 10 grades from ‘F’ to ‘A’, has been granted one and a half years of probation and asked to apologise to his teachers, according to a media report. Varun H Sarja, 20, a former University of Kansas student, had pleaded guilty to two counts of identity theft and two counts of unlawful computer acts in May. Fourteen other felony charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

“As the prosecutor and his defence attorney had requested in a plea agreement, Sarja of Olathe received a year and a half probation, with an underlying 18-month prison sentence that he could be ordered to serve should he fail at probation,” The Lawrence

Journal-World reported on Monday. Ken Anderson was appointed to the court in 2002

by Governor Rick Perry. He resigned from his position on September 23, 2013 after he was arrested for withholding exculpatory evidence Sarja, who has no prior criminal record, agreed to the terms of his probation, including that he would apologise directly to those affected by writing letters to the university and the professors involved, the report said. Sarja was a freshman studying engineering at varsity during the 201617 school year, when he successfully used a keystroke logger to steal instructors’ confidential login information, hacked into multiple campus computers and change F’s to A’s.

Emirates withdraws ‘Hindu meal’ option after customer feedback Emirates airlines said that it has withdrawn the “Hindu meal” option on its flights. The meal was an option for vegetarians and meat eaters who do not consume beef.

Emirates said the decision was taken based on a review of its services, media reported. “Emirates will discontinue the Hindu meal option,” a statement by the airline said.

“We constantly review our offering, taking into consideration customer uptake and

feedback. Food and drink form an integral part of any Emirates flight experience.”

A m o n g “religious meals”, Emirates lists Indian Vegetarian Meal, Vegetarian Jain Meal and Kosher Meal. The in-flight menu also caters to people with many kinds of dietary requirements – for diabetics, for people with gluten or nut allergies, for those with high cholesterol or kidney problems, etc.

Indian-origin financier faces rape trial in UK A Indian-origin finance consultant from north London is on trial for allegedly raping an 18-year-old woman after a night out drinking with his colleagues. Sanjay Naker denies three charges of rape, one count of attempted rape, one charge of assault by penetration, and a count of sexual assault as the trial got underway at Inner London Crown Court this week.

The married 28-year-old is accused of carrying the woman over his shoulder after she was denied entry into a nightclub in central London for being drunk and raped her in an alleyway. The jury was told that the last thing the unnamed woman remembers was standing in the smoking area with her cousin at the club and then staring at a brick

wall in the alley. Naker told police the sex was consensual and said the woman had not appeared drunk. He admitted later searching online for a definition of the word “rape” but said it reassured him he had done nothing wrong. Showing the jury CCTV footage from the incident in March last year, prosecutor Neena Crinnion said, “He (Naker) has managed to manoeuvre her on to his back, into a piggyback position, and he is off across the road and down towards the passageway.

The CCTV shows she appears to be slumped over his back, not really maintaining any grip”. Jurors watched footage of the woman falling from Naker’s back and banging her head on the ground, the ‘Evening Standard’ reports.

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Saturday, July 7, 2018

Deepika and Priyanka Chopra neck and neck on instagram

Sonali Bendre reveals she has high-grade cancer

Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have made a huge name globally; prooftheir immense Instagram following. The actors are ruling the Insta-world with 24 M followers each. While DP currently stands at 24,025,025 followers, Priyanka is a little ahead with 24,027,207.

Earlier, the Padmaavat star enjoyed having the maximum number of Instagram followers in Bollywood, but it looks like the Quantico star is determined to lead the race.

Check out some of their coolest pictures: A new feather on Priyanka Chopra’s hat. The actress has scored a fan base of 25 million on Instagram, leaving behind Indian icons like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s followers on the photo-sharing platform.

Sonali Bendre says she has been diagnosed with a “high-grade cancer� and she is undergoing treatment in New York.

The actress took to Twitter and Instagram to share the news about her latest health. She has thanked her family and friends for supporting her.

In a long post, Sonali Bendre said: “Sometimes, when you least expect it, life throws you a curveball. I have recently been diagnosed with a high-grade cancer that has metastasized, which we frankly did not see coming. “A niggling pain led to some tests, which led to this unexpected diagnosis. My family and close friends have rallied around me, providing the best support system that anyone can ask for.

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Saturday, July 7, 2018

Jackie receives fashion icon award

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Buzz is that Lata Mangeshkar’s family is furious with Karan Johar that her iconic title song from his “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham‌â€? is used in the background on a newly-married wife, Kiara Advani, who finds sexual satisfaction through a vibrator in “Lust Stories.â€?

The family have so far hidden this from the songstress!

Salman Khan’s “Dabangg 3� being directed by Prabhu Dheva is likely to have Saqib Saleem as main villain.

Rajkummar Rao and Mouni Roy star in Dinesh Vijan’s “Made In China� on the travails of a Gujarati businessman.

Rao will also co-star with girlfriend Patralekhaa again after Hansal Mehta’s “Citylights� in the same director’s “Swagat Hai.� Better budgetary sense has prevailed, and Aamir Khan has abandoned a mega-star “Mahabharat� and will now make it with newcomers

– as a corollary, he may even make it as a web series. Ajay Devgn is keen to play Sher Singh Rana, who killed Phoolan Devi and had a checkered life before that, even writing a book. Devgn wants to produce the film as well.

Actor Varun Badola turns writer with Ekta Kapoor’s web series “Apharan� directed by Siddharth Sengupta. He also acts in it.

Nushrat Bharucha has turned down a Rs. 1 crore film offer from down South, stating that she wants to do only “quality� films, even if regional.

Veteran actor Jackie Shroff, who has always impressed everyone with his sartorial expertise, has received an award as a fashion icon. “Parmanu- The Story of Pokhran� has crossed Rs. 65 crore nett in India and is still showing in theatres in week 6. It is John Abraham’s biggest solo hit. Disha Patani, who has a yen for painting, picked up the brush recently “after ages� and put up what she painted on Instastory. Well, apart from fitness and Tiger, this is clearly her third love.

Bollywood

Saturday, July 7, 2018 Soorma (transl.

Warrior; Hindi pronunciation: is a 2018 Indian Hindi biographical sports drama film based on the life of hockey player Sandeep Singh, directed

by Shaad Ali and produced by Sony Pictures Networks India and C.S. Films.The film stars Diljit Dosanjh and Tapsee Pannu in lead roles[2] and is scheduled to have its theatrical release on 13 July 2018.The official trailer of the film was released on 11 June 2018 Soorma tells the story of the international hockey player Sandeep Singh, played by Diljit Dosanjh, who was paralyzed and used a wheelchair for two years after an accidental gunshot injured him in 2006.[5] The film’s tagline is “The Greatest Comeback Story of the Hockey Legend Sandeep Singh”. Fighting against all odds, Sandeep got back on his feet and made a comeback to international hockey in 2008. India won the 2009 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup under his captaincy and went on to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

Diljit Dosanjh as Sandeep Singh Tapsee

Film: ‘SOORMA’ Pannu as Harpreet Angad Bedi as Bikramjeet Singh Siddharth Shukla as Harpreet’s Brother Kulbhushan K h a r b a n d a Pitobash Vijay Raaz Herry Tangiri Ammar Taalwala.

November 2014, Chitrangda Singh purchased the rights to make a biopic on the life of former India Hockey captain Sandeep Singh.[7][8] In July 2017, it was reported that Chitrangda Singh would be collaborating with Sony Pictures Networks to produce the film in which Diljit Dosanjh would be playing the lead role.[9] For the role of Sandeep Singh,

DOESN’T GIVE (DA)BANG FOR THE BUCK?

Attendees of Salman’s Vancouver show cry foul, claim $5,000 tickets double-sold; organisers hint local promoter may have “over-committed”

(From left): Guru Randhawa, Daisy Shah, Sonakshi Sinha, Jacqueline Fernandez, Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Maniesh Paul at the San Jose edition of Da-Bangg Tour

13

July SOORMA

*ing: Diljit Dosanjh, Taapsee Pannu

July

13

the first preference of the producers was Ranveer Singh but the actor refused to do the film on being offered the role in the year 2016 citing lack of dates.[10] Initially, for the role of Harpreet, the makers of the film had finalized Ileana D’Cruz but the actress opted out of the project as the filming dates

UPALA KBR hitlist@mid-day.com CONSIDERING Salman Khan’s Da-Bangg: The Tour Reloaded was touted as one of the grandest Bollywood shows across the US and Canada, it wasn’t surprising that tickets for the Vancouver leg sold like hot cakes.

But many of the superstar’s fans returned home disgruntled; from the tickets being double-sold to many audience members being shown the door — it has been learnt that the July 1 gig was mismanaged.

While the tour — that also features Katrina Kaif and Sonakshi Sinha, among others — has been managed by Sohail Khan Official Entertainment and JA Events, the Vancouver leg was organised by Gold Spade Entertainment. Bhavesh Patel of Sahil Promotions is the international promoter in the US and Canada.

Patron Perminder Chohan said he had bought two seats in the VVIP section, only to find another couple occupying his place. “When we asked the couple to vacate our seats, the security guards pushed me out of the auditorium. My friend Rahul Gill, who had another seat in the section, questioned the security’s actions. Next thing you know, they kicked him out too. The organisers were present there, but they didn’t defend us.”

Chohan’s friend Rahul Gill alleges that the VVIP passes were double sold. “Many people couldn’t find their seats as the tickets were sold twice over. A couple had occupied my seats too, but they were polite enough to move when I showed them my tickets. You

New Released Bollywood Films June

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were clashing with another film of hers that she was doing with Rajkumar Gupta.[11] In September 2017, it was reported that Taapsee Pannu had been signed to play the romantic lead opposite Diljit Dosanjh in the film. The principal photography of the film began in Shahabad in November 2017.[14] The next schedule of the filming process took place in Chandigarh in December 2017.[15] [16] For the final schedule of filming, which involved shooting the hockey matches, the production unit moved to Belgrade in Serbia where shooting continued for 10 days before coming to an end on 24 December 2017.[17] [18][19] The Hockey sequences in the film were choreographed by Sandeep Singh and his brother Bikramjit Singh.]

Soorma Soundtrack album by ShankarEhsaan-Loy Released 3 July 2018 Recorded 2017-2018 Genre Feature film soundtrack Length 23:27 Language Hindi Punjabi Label Sony Music India.

‘When I asked the couple to vacate our seats, the guards pushed me out of the hall’ Perminder Chohan, attendee don’t expect such mismanagement when you have bought tickets worth $5,000 each.”

He adds that several attendess, who faced a similar situation, put up their grievances on the organiser’s site. “A lot of people started complaining on Gold Spade’s site. Instead of addressing the concerns, they pulled the site down yesterday.”

Another audience member, Avtar S Virdi, claimed that apart from

June

15

RACE 3

*ing: Salman Khan Jacqueline Fernandez

June

3

08

EKTA

SANJU

KAALA

*ing: Navneet Dhillon, Robin Sohi

*ing: Sonam, Ranbir Kapoor

*ing: Rajnikanth Nana Patekar

shelling out $10,000 for two VVIP passes, he spent another $2,000 for the meet-and-greet event. However, he was told at the last minute that the postgig event was cancelled. Virdi added that he is still awaiting the refund.

When mid-day reached out to Jordy Patel of JA Events, he claimed that Khan and other stars had honoured the meetand-greet commitment. “Although they were supposed to meet 50 fans, the stars obliged many others with pictures. But, sometimes the local promoter overcommits to get more footfalls. It may have happened this time too. However, we honoured our commitment.”

Bhavesh Patel from Sahil Promotions remained unavailable for comment, but his father Babulal Patel said, “The meet-and-greet happened, and I have photos to prove that. Gold Spade Entertainment mismanaged the event. But, if people were asked to leave, there must be another reason.” Despite repeated attempts, Gold Spade Entertainment remained unavailable for comment.

4

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Bollywood

Sonali Bendre reveals she has high-grade cancer

HOROSCOPE Aries March 21 - April 20 With a nice blend of energies enlivening your leisure zone, the week ahead could see you eager to indulge in a hobby or take advantage of any romantic opportunities. Meanwhile, with the sun in your home and family zone, this can be a good time to focus your attention on homey matters and enjoy some pampering and selfcare. A lovely aspect between the sun and jovial Jupiter on July 5 can be wonderful for a special date night and a chance to get closer to the one you love.

Taurus April 21 - May 20 The week reveals many opportunities for connecting with others and enjoying life in general. Whether busy

or services, or connecting with friends and neighbors, you’ll have plenty to keep you on the go.

could be on the agenda, especially if you’re entertaining or preparing to have guests to stay.

Gemini May 20 - June 21 With chatty Mercury, your personal planet,

that the more people you speak to, the more opportunities come your way. And with lovely Venus also continuing in this sector, making new and valuable connections should be easy.

There is also the possibility of a small windfall on Thursday when the sun aligns with positive Jupiter.

Cancer June 22 - July 23 With the sun continuing in your sign, you may be in your element and ready to explore new possibilities. There is also a

indicating that this can be a good time to look for bargains and get your money to work harder for you in general.

Thursday could bring an opportunity for an outing that turns into a very positive experience.

Libra Sept. 24 - Oct 22 With the sun in a more prominent sector, this can be an opportunity to enjoy the limelight. However, because the sun is in sensitive Cancer, you may shine most when you’re responding to and helping resolve people’s questions and urgent needs. You could also be busy socially. A lively focus on your sector of friendship is encouraging you to get involved with events and gatherings.

It could be very positive in the sense that a golden opportunity may comes to your way.

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 22 You could be looking for high adventure, and if so, the coming week could see you eager to enjoy new experiences. At the same time, you might be busy with professional

ambition.

A lively alignment between the sun and upbeat Jupiter in Scorpio on Thursday could coincide with the chance of a trip that opens new opportunities for you.

Sagitarius Nov 23 - Dec 22

Sonali Bendre says she has been diagnosed with a “high-grade cancer� and she is undergoing treatment in New York.

The actress on July 4 took to Twitter and Instagram to share the news about her health. She has thanked her family and friends for supporting her. In a long post, Sonali Bendre said: “Sometimes, when you least expect it, life throws you a curveball. I have recently been diagnosed with a high-grade cancer that has metastasized, which we frankly did not see coming. “A niggling pain led to some tests, which led to this unexpected diagnosis.

My family and close friends have rallied around me, providing the best support system that anyone can ask for. I am very

blessed and thankful for each of them,� she added.

The actress is undergoing treatment in New York. “There is no better way to tackle this, than to take swift and immediate action. And so, as advised by my doctors, I am currently undergoing a course of treatment in New York. We remain optimistic and I am determined to fight every step of the way. “What has helped has been the immense outpouring of love and support I’ve received over the past few days, for which I am very grateful. I’m taking this battle head on, knowing I have the strength of my family and friends behind me,� she added.

With lively Mercury and lovely Venus in your sector of travel and far horizons, the

adventures in faraway places. If you have the urge to study, this can be a great opportunity to

!

With the sun in a more intense sector, this and the coming weeks may encourage you to consider making radical changes to key aspects of your life.

Capricorn Dec 23 - Jan 20 "

could be high on your agenda this week. With talkative Mercury and harmonious Venus in your sector of shared assets and deep soul bonds, certain conversations could lead to positive

! #

someone around July 5, but this can be the starting point for a very fruitful discussion.

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19

Leo June 24 - August 23 The month begins with the sun in a private sector of your chart. This indicates you could

meditation would be very helpful. This can also be an opportunity to let go of anything that no longer serves you, enabling you to move forward more freely.

At the same time, with lively Mercury and gorgeous Venus in your sign, you may be attracting positive attention.

Love life and relationships could keep you busy this week, and they may be a source of constant fun and amusement. The sun in your lifestyle sector could see you eager to

! $

slipped lately, you could be looking for ways to get back on track. On Thursday, a lovely aspect between the sun and upbeat Jupiter in a more prominent sector could inspire you to connect with a personal trainer or other wellness professional so you can reach your

!

Pisces

Virgo August 24 - Sept 24 Your social life could be busy this week, with plenty to keep you occupied. However, with both lively Mercury, your ruler, and lovely Venus in a more secluded sector, a part of you might be happy to spend time alone thinking things through and resolving any issues in your own quiet way.

Thursday, when the sun aligns with jovial Jupiter, could be an especially upbeat time for a social event or get-together.

Feb 20 - March 20 Leisure activities can bring you a lot of pleasure, and you might begin to wonder if you could turn one hobby into a side business.

Lively Mercury and convivial Venus continue to move through your lifestyle sector, and

schedule and how you might improve on it.

Thursday could be a lot of fun as a lovely aspect between the sun and jovial Jupiter encourages you to go on a journey of discovery.

Bollywood Stars’ Birthdays

NEETU SINGH JUNE 8

MUMTAZ JULY 8

MASTER SALEEM JULY 13

MADHU SAPRE JULY 14

5

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Sikh Youth of BC celebrate Sant Teja Singh Ji day This past weekend, the Sikh youth paid tribute to a Saint Scholar, Principal/Sant Teja Singh (MA LLB Am Harvard) A three day program was organized, to remember the first Ambassador of Sikhism to the Western Hemisphere. Sant Teja Singh Ji established the Khalsa Diwan Society and had successfully proved to the Canadian government that all the Sikhs are highly capable people (When Govt. was planning to send all Sikhs to Honduras)of constantly contributing to the economy. Teja Singh Ji had a vision for the future of Sikhs in Canada and had laid out the foundation for us to carry his legacy forward. The event spanned

over three days, starting on Friday June 29th with the Akhand path Arambh in the morning and in the evening there was a Katha Darbar hosting Bhai Gurvinder Singh Ludhiane Wale, Giani Surinder Singh and Bhai Mehtaab Singh who presented in English. On Saturday evening there was a Dhadhi Darbar featuring Gaini Pritpal Singh Bains, Gaini Milkha S Mauji, and Gaini Surjit S Varas. The main event was July 1st, Sant Teja Singh Day, with the Akhand path Bhog in the morning followed by Gurmat Samagam and then

Kajol finds dubbing dificult?

Kajol, who dubbed for the Hindi version of Disney. Pixar’s “Incredibles 2,� says she finds the process painful. Asked how she looks back at the after the success of the film, Kajol told IANS in a recorded response: “I still find the dubbing process painful despite success of the film...But yes definitely everything we worked towards has panned out well and has been appreciated.�

Kajol lent her voice to the character of Helen Parr, Elastigirl. The sequel picks up right after the 2004 original, with Craig T. Nelson returning as the voice of Bob Parr, Holly Hunter as Elastigirl and Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone. Brad Bird, who voices fashion designer Edna Mode, is back to direct the project. The sequel again deals with the Parr family attempting balance having a normal life with their superhero powers.

It released in India on June 22 and worked well at the box office. Are you motivated to take more dubbing opportunities for Hollywood films? “I don’t really know. This was a one-time thing. I don’t know whether I wish for another film or not. But if I have to do another animated superhero film, I will definitely think about it.� She will next be seen in “Eela.� Kajol was born as Kajol Mukherjee on August 5 1974, also known by her married name Kajol Devgn, is an Indian film actress, who predominantly works in Hindi cinema. Born in Mumbai to the Mukherjee-Samarth family, she is the daughter of actress Tanuja Samarth and filmmaker

Shomu Mukherjee. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Filmfare Awards, and alongside her aunt Nutan, she holds the record for most Best Actress wins at the ceremony, with five. In 2011, the Government of India awarded her with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of the country. After making her acting debut in the 1992 romance Bekhudi, Kajol had her first commercial success with the 1993 thriller Baazigar. She rose to prominence by featuring as the female lead in several topgrossing romances, including Yeh Dillagi (1994), Ishq (1997), Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998), Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha (1998) and Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain (1999)—and received critical recognition for playing against type in the 1997 mystery film Gupt: The Hidden Truth, that earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Villain, and the 1998 psychological thriller Dushman. Her portrayal of a conservative NRI in the romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), a tomboy in the romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), a loquacious woman in the melodrama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), a blind Kashmiri woman in the romantic thriller Fanaa (2006) and a single mother in the drama My Name Is Khan (2010).

Wednesday.........................CLOSED

a conference on Teja Singh from 11am to 2 pm. The Conference at Gurdwara Sukh Sagar New Westminster, was highlighted by Dr. Khem S Gill (former Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University) and special appearances by Prof. Gurvinder S Dhaliwal, S. Bhagwan Singh Johal (India), Dr. Sarbjit S Virk (Seattle), and Bhai Paneet Singh (Canada).

The speakers spoke about Sant Teja Singh

Ji’s legacy and contributions to the South Asian Community in Canada. The event was attended by many people from all over lower mainland.

The event was enjoyed by the sangat, with an opportunity to view a special exhibition on Sant Teja Singh Ji, hosted by the volunteers of Akal Academy. The exhibition on Sant Teja Singh Ji, shed light on the lasting contribution to the sangat of the lower mainland during his mission to the west in the early 1900’s.

MADHU SAPRE Femina Miss India pageant in 1992 Madhu Sapre was born on July 14, 1971, a model / actor from Maharashtra.

In the 1990s, Sapre was an athlete who rose to fame when she started modeling. As Miss India she represented India at the 1992 Miss Universe pageant, where she was the 2nd runner up.

Madhu Sapre says “All the

answers had to be truthful,� she says, “and coming from the heart. Nobody told us we had to be politically correct.

I said what my heart told me and I lost. According to me India has been in poverty for many years, so it was not going to suddenly change in one year by my becoming the prime minister. But there are other areas like art and sports in which we can improve.

And being a sports girl

have the equipment and the grounds in India. In the brief time you get to answer I wanted to say all this but perhaps because of my inadequacy in English, I could not express myself. She has also acted in the Madhu Sapre lives in Riccione, a small town on the east coast of Italy with her husband, Italian

businessman Gian Maria Emendatori and shuttles between India and Italy. They have a daughter together named Indira.

She met Emendatori through mutual friends while he was in India on a holiday.

They got married in 2001, after which she moved to Riccione. A case

the Wildlife Protection Act against an ad agency for illegal use of the python. The accused include the publishers and distributors of two magazines that featured the controversial ad, the advertising agency, the two models and the photographers.

The case lasted for 14 years, after which the court acquitted.

6

Bollywood

Saturday, July 7, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

on the controversial choices she made.

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

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

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

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

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

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

He later apologised for hurting people’s sentiments.

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

Agencies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, July 7, 2018

7

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Saturday, July 7, 2018

Vol. 9 No. 23

Saturday - July 7, 2018

Tel: 604-591-5423

BC real estate market and it’s affordability

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com transparent and help the provincial government crackdown on money laundering. “It’s one step in the right direction and it’s proactive, instead of reactive.

We’ve also seen it implemented with pre-sales on new construction and that’s a positive measure as well.�

He feels investors started hiding behind numbered companies about two years ago when the 15 per cent foreign buyers’ tax was introduced to keep speculators from leaving homes vacant, so this legislation also gives the province more accurate information to better analyze the market. “Better measures to know who really owns the house when the house transfers to another party’s name. There’s going to be more of an accountability of a paper trail.�

The government’s collecting feedback on draft legislation until August 19.

I

s is searly to say if it will allow more people to enter the local housing market, but a new public registry identifying property owners has support from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Board President Phil Moore, who represents more than 14,000 realtors and brokers, says it’s difficult to predict how this will impact sales, but there’s no reason for investors to hide behind numbered companies. “Any time that the government places in measures that make people accountable to pay the taxes that are due, when 99 per cent of the citizens are paying their taxes, we certainly endorse those changes.� Moore adds the board spent two years consulting with the provincial government on this and it’s not clear if proposed changes will make prices come down. “It’s really going to be difficult to understand if it’s going to really create more affordable housing. It really depends on how the government’s going to structure this. We really support the government collecting the tax that they’re owed.� Moore, who has been a realtor since 1989, is expecting the registry to make property transfers more

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9

Saturday, July 7, 2018 What’s a buyer to do? Despite the threat of rising rates, tighter mortgage regulations and well-intentioned government intervention, the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) real estate market continues to defy expectations.

Fraser Valley’s HPI Benchmark Price — which measures the rate at which housing prices change over time — rose more than 15%, year-over-year, for single-family home in March 2018. The HPI Benchmark Price for all properties in Greater Vancouver (which includes: Whistler, Sunshine Coast, Squamish, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Metro Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadow, Maple Ridge and South Delta) rose more than 16% in the same period.

Yet, during the same time frame, Fraser Valley was reporting an almost 25% yearover-year decrease in sales and the GVA was reporting an almost 30% drop.

Home sale in BC expected to drop?

Here is what Phil Moore, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president, says about market conditions: “High prices, new tax announcements, rising interest rates, and stricter mortgage requirements are among the factors affecting home buyer and seller activity today.” He added, “Even with lower demand, upward pressure on prices will continue as long as the supply of homes for sale remains low.” The fact that March 2018 was the “quietest” March for new home listings since 2009 and that total inventory across the Greater Vancouver Area is still below historical norms, means that property prices are probably

not going to drop anytime soon.

While housing activity appears to be slowing in 2018, real estate agents working in this western Canadian market aren’t worried.

Just under 50% of ReMax agents surveyed by MoneySense believe prices will continue to rise this year, while another 40% felt prices would level off. What’s shocking is the percentage of agents who admitted to working with buyers who were searching for investments rather than a place to live. Just over 35% of realtors reported working with investors who

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were looking for good rental opportunities, while 12% were working with buyers who just wanted to “park their money.”

That’s a tough break for buyers in this market who must now content with lower inventory, higher demand, consistently high prices and, finally, tougher mortgage regulations.

Still, for those dreaming of owning their own single-family home, this 2018 market can seem daunting. You could downsize your property size and type or you could opt to buy a home based on solid fundamentals. In real estate, this means finding good-value neighbourhoods that offer a better-than-decent chance of continued momentum in the future. True, this is harder to find in hotter markets like Vancouver, but it’s not impossible. This year’s Where to Buy Now in Vancouver in 2018 list shows us that buying based on these strong fundamentals is possible, whether your search is in Vancouver’s core, inner suburbs or outer communities.

10

Classifieds / Jobs

Saturday, July 7, 2018

NOW HIRING

NOW HIRING

CNC Machine Operators in Surrey email resume to jobs@machining.ca Please mention AS subject line when applying

Metro Standard Insulation Ltd is hiring experienced or inexperienced insulation installer, LMIA work permit available. Good pay, ride available. Please call: 778-927-1005 - 778-838-6447 E-mail: info@metrostandardinsulation.com

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Matrimonial *Looking for a groom!* Vancouver-based well-settled Arora Sikh family seeking a groom for their daughter. 28/ 5’4�, Canadian citizen, qualified CPA/CA working as senior accountant for a public accounting firm. Kindly respond with biodata and recent pictures.

Email: northam27@yahoo.ca Phone: 6047297962

Community news South Asian Seniors Bingo On The House July 8th 2018 ( Sunday ) from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm.

Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members and non members also to come and play Bingo for the sake of entertainment and make some new friends, on July 8th 2018( Sunday ) from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan hall 8321 - 140th street Surrey B.C. Please bring only two dollars with you to play 2 games, do not worry if you do not know how to play, members will explain you the game just for the sake of fun. Tea & light snacks will be served after the game is over. Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator at 604 - 507 - 9945 for further details.

Project funded by Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program for Hindi speaking Seniors.

---------------------------------------------PEOPLE FIRST SURREY is holding an open house These are good opportunities for people to come and talk to the PEOPLE FIRST TEAM in person and give feedback on the 16 point campaign platform. These include solutions for key issues in Surrey like Transportation, ! " # $ green spaces etc.

The event is at Guildford library meeting room (15105 105 Ave, Surrey, BC V3R 7G8 ) on June 23rd from 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm and is a free event.

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