The Asian Star August 22 2015 by The Asian Star Newspaper

www.theasianstar.com Vol 14

Issue 30 Saturday, August 22, 2015

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2 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

Police identify person of interest in suspicious Vancouver ancouver Police say they have nightclub death identified a person of interest

involved in a fight outside a local nightclub that led to the suspicious death of a 60-year-old man. On Aug. 11, two men were involved in an argument outside Shenanigans Nightclub on Robson Street near Bute around 1 a.m. Police said a 60-year-old Vancouver man was punched and knocked to the ground. He was taken to hospital with what appeared to be a minor ahead injury, but refused treatment and left. Shortly after, paramedics were called to a West End apartment building, where he was found unresponsive on the floor, police said. He later died in hospital where it was determined he suffered a serious brain bleed. A 26-year-old man spotted on surveillance cameras has been identified as the other person believed to have been involved in the fight. Police said the investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid.

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Woman, 24, charged with animal cruelty in ‘horrific’ animal attack in Surrey

24-year-old woman who allegedly attacked a three-year-old Labrador retriever last Valentine’s Day has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty following a BC SPCA investigation. If convicted the woman, Lindsey Hirtreiter, would face a maximum fine of $75,000, up to two years in jail and up to a lifetime ban on owninganimals. Ryder went missing from his owner’s home in Chimney Heights in mid-February and was later found in a nearby basement suite. The woman was covered in blood and told her landlord she had been attacked by a dog. A fouryear-old girl inside the suite was removed bythe Ministry of Children and Family Development. Police say it was clear the dog had not attacked her and Hirtreiter wasarrested under the Mental Health Act and sent for a psych assessment. At the vet it was determined the dog had been repeatedly stabbed,forcefully fed jewelry and rings had been stuffed into his eyes.

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Bollywood section

Kwantlen first university in the world to teach marijuana business

Check Inside for Details

Tel: 604-591-5423

Issue 30 Saturday, August 22, 2015

urrey-based Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) offering of a course in legal marijuana growing has created a history of sorts – and massive interested world wide. KPU is the first official institute of higher learning to offer such a course Since announcing the new program last Monday (Aug. 17), the internet has blown up with articles in TIME Magazine, BBC, CNBC, Fox News, USA Today, and VICE are just some of the outlets eager to report the Continued on page 6

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he New Democratic Party is registering record support from Quebecers while maintaining a comfortable lead across the country, a pair of new public opinion polls show. A CROP poll of Quebec voters, done exclusively for La Presse, suggests that, with 47 per cent support in the province, Thomas Mulcair’s party could exceed its surprising 2011 election haul of 103 seats, 59 of which were in Quebec. Nationally, the NDP are still front-runners, but the federal election race appears to be growing tighter as op-

Everyone is visiting the PNE – even a dinosaur could not resist it. The PNE fair official gets underway this weekend. Photo: Chandra Bodalia

bollywood section

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NDP achieving record support in Quebec, holding lead nationally, new polls show

Everyone is going to the PNE

Obama warns Pakistan to cut terrorism ties - or lose much needed American aid

akistan PM Nawaz Sharif ’s invitation to the White House in Washington and billions of dollars in aid is on hold until it does more to stop using terrorism as a proxy to expand its influence. Otherwise it also faces the

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risk of being officially declared a “hostile state”. Pakistan’s bottom feeding on American aid is about to end unless it terminates its policy of covertly using terrorism to further its frontiers, the Obama administration Continued on page 8

position parties compete for frustrated voters clamouring for change, according to new data from Forum Research. The poll of 1,473 respondents, done for the Toronto Star, gives the NDP 34 per cent support and commanding leads in Quebec, British Columbia and Atlantic Canada. But Liberal numbers have also improved since the election was called three weeks ago. With 28 per cent of respondents saying they would back Justin Continued on page 6

NRI donates $1.5 million for Sikh studies at University of California NEW YORK: An Indian-American cardiologist has donated $1.5 million to the University of California-Irvine to create a Chair for Sikh studies within the school, media reported on Tuesday. Harvinder Sahota donated the money to the university that will now teach Sikh studies as a regular course. The department will be named after Sahota’s mother, Bibi Dhan Kaur Sahota, India West reported. “My mother taught me never to degrade anyone and respect everyone,” Sahota was quoted as saying. “I still abide by the lessons she taught me as a child. I wanted to honour my mother for the woman she was and the man she helped me turn out to be,” he said. Classes in the department are expected to begin in September, 2016

4 i Saturday, August 22, 2015 By Laura Jones

OPINION

B.C. cities need heavy-hitter negotiators

Municipal unions bring in outside experts for labour talks; the province should fund a team for B.C.’s municipalities I am in Montreal with my three kids in tow. It’s a fantastic adventure that had a funny start. There is always lots of construction in Montreal, so I wasn’t surprised to see policemen re-

routing traffic around construction sites. What did surprise me is the way they were dressed: normal police shirts and traffic vests paired with bright colored pants of various descrip-

tions, including a pair of pink camouflage pants. “Mommy, why are the policemen wearing funny pants?” What to tell the kids? This is a fun city. Is it the joie de vivre of Montreal expressing itself? Is it meant to make the tourists smile? I had to ask my Quebec colleagues, who explained that it had nothing to do with entertaining tourists. It was a continuing protest against the provincial government for passing a bill that put the brakes on excessive compensation for municipal employees. Bill 3, passed late last year, requires municipalities to change the split on municipal pensions so that the government and municipal employees each contribute 50 per cent. In Montreal, the split had been that the government (taxpayers) was contributing as much as 70 per cent, while employees were contributing only 30 per cent. The law got some national attention as the immediate protests saw chairs flying in council chambers and garbage burning in the streets. How did a provincial government get brave enough to take such a strong stand when senior levels of government are typically so careful about not upsetting municipal governments? In this case, the public was mad. They had became aware of how dysfunctional the compensation of municipal employees had become with taxpayers on the hook for pension liabilities estimated at close to $4 billion for 170 Quebec municipal pension plans. Overly generous compensation packages are not unique to Quebec. In B.C., municipal employees earn an average of 17 per cent more than equivalent jobs in the private sector. (Occupations such as police and firefighters aren’t included in these calculations because there are few equivalents in the private sector.) Between 2000 and 2012, municipal government spending in B.C. outstripped a reasonable benchmark by a wide margin: Population grew 15 per cent while inflation-adjusted spending increased by 55 per cent. In other words, we have a problem, too. Maybe the B.C. government should do more about it. The B.C. government has found one good way to bring more accountability to municipal spending by creating a municipal auditor general. The office has done a number of performance audits of local government and uncovered some serious problems such as major expenditures made without council authorization, lack of value for money, lack of written contracts and conflict of interest in awarding contracts.

Continued on page 7

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Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 5

LOCAL

6 i Saturday, August 22, 2015 From page 1

Kwantlen first university in the world to teach marijuana business

tory, according to Hayley Woodin, media specialist at KPU. “It’s been a stressful week,” Jim Pelton, executive director of continuing and professional studies at KPU, says. “I’ve never experienced anything going viral on the internet before and so that has been surprising — and a very pleasant surprise I must say,” Pelton said. Starting this September, students at KPU can be the first ever to take two courses in ‘Plant Production and Facility Management’ and ‘Marketing, Sales and Drug Development.’ The seven-week courses were developed with the assistance of the KPU School of Horticulture at the Langley campus and the Canadian National Medical Marijuana Association (CNMMA). Offered only online, they are open to anyone anywhere in the world at a cost of around $1,250. It’s taken a year to develop the courses, after the university recognized a need to have trained individuals in this brand new industry, Pelton said. “For people in the industry who have been registering for the course, I think they’re interested in it because there’s never been a place where they can go to fill in the knowledge gaps in order to enhance their careers in the industry,”

he said.“And I think for people interested in getting into the industry, this is a good way to put something on their resume that says, ‘hey, I’ve got a skill set here to sell. I’ve got a skill set to provide this industry above and beyond my interest in this historically interesting plant.’” Taught by instructors Tegan Adams, business development manager at the Health Canada licensed Experchem Laboratories, and Deepak Anand, executive director of CNMMA, the courses will cover many aspects related to the professional management of marijuana for medical purposes. These include plant production, facility management theory, becoming a licensed producer, marketing, sales, patient acquisition strategies, medical conditions and drug development processes. The first class has already been filled, but a second one has been opened. Plans for a January session are already in the works as well. Registration is open at www.kpu.ca/cps.= KPU has four campuses in Langley, Surrey, Cloverdale and Richmond, offering courses in business, liberal arts, science, design, health, trades and technology, horticulture, and academic and career advancement. More than 19,000 students at-

Federal Minister and Conservative Party candidate from Calgary, Jason Kenney and Vancouver South Conservative candidate Wai Young pictured here visiting the home of a support in Vancouver. Photo: Chandra Bodalia

Dr Subramaniam Swami (right) visited the Ross Street Gurdwara last week. He is seen here visiting the Komagata Maru Exhibition. Photo: Chandra Bodalia

NDP achieving record support in Quebec, holding lead nationally, new polls show From page 1 Trudeau’s Liberals, there is a virtual tie tal 228 seats in the House of Commons. with Stephen Harper’s Conservative The survey indicates that Trudeau’s Liberals party, which has 29 per cent support have increased their support in the province that is strongest in the Prairie provinces. since the campaign was launched on Aug. 2. “There’s a huge desire (for change),” said where the major parties are in a three-way pollster Lorne Bozinoff. “Seventy-one per dogfight for the province’s 121 seats of the cent want (the Tories) out. That’s a lot of total 228 seats in the House of Commons. people. Is that 71 per cent going to split The survey indicates that Trudeau’s Liberals themselves four ways and let the Tories back have increased their support in the province in, or is there going to be some reckoning?” since the campaign was launched on Aug. 2. Nowhere are the dynamics of the mar“Polls will go up and down between athon federal election campaign more now and the election. What we know is pronounced than in Ontario where the this: that we’ve got two months of hard major parties are in a three-way dogfight work ahead of us before the election,” Mulfor the province’s 121 seats of the tocair said at a campaign stop in Vancouver.

B.C. woman who defrauded man for breast implants sentenced for stealing gems

woman who pleaded guilty to defrauding an elderly man into paying for breast implants and a tummy tuck has received another jail sentence - for stealing precious stones. Brandie Bloor, 39, has now pleaded guilty to pocketing the stones worth $2,500. Provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison sentenced Bloor to 90 days behind bars, a one-year probation term and barred her from being within 30 metres of Sahali Mall. Bloor will also have to repay a store $1,000 - the approximate wholesale value of the stones. She appeared in court Thursday via video from jail, where she is already serving a nine-month sentence for stealing

an elderly man’s identity to pay for cosmetic surgery last year. Crown lawyer Chris Balison said Bloor walked into a store on Nov. 22, 2014 and waited for an 82-year-old clerk to become distracted with another customer. Balison said Bloor stole 10 precious stones and took off. The clerk called the mall maintenance worker to help find the thief. “He followed her to a bathroom, but (Bloor) eventually left the mall.” Police identified her using video surveillance. The stones were not recovered. Bloor is also on the hook for $17,000 - the amount she fraudulently obtained to pay for the implants and tummy tuck.

OPINION

Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 7

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair (middle) with NDP MPs, Jasbir Sandhu (right) and Jinny Sims (second from right) and other candidates (left) at an event in Surrey on August 19.

B.C. cities need heavy-hitter negotiators

From page 4

The next frontier could be to better protect taxpayersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interests at municipal bargaining table. Municipal staff charged with negotiating salary and benefits are often totally outgunned by well-funded unions. As soon as one municipality makes a generous deal, it then becomes the new standard for the others. Privately, many mayors complain about this problem. To help, the B.C. government could create a special team of bargainers with enough experience to go toe-to-toe with the union heavyweights. When local unions call in

the heavy hitters to help them make better deals, local governments would have access to their own heavy hitters to protect taxpayers. Municipal governments tend to want the province to stay out of their business but taxpayers would arguably be much better off it got more, not less, involved. Maybe in B.C. we can do this without our police wearing funny pants. Laura Jones is Executive Vice President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. She can be reached at laura.jones@cfib.ca. Follow her on Twitter @ CFIBideas.

Phone scams in Surrey and Delta, police warn

olice are warning residents about a few phone scams in Surrey and Delta recently. Canada Revenue Agency says thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been an increase in telephone scams where a caller claims to be from the CRA but is not. Recent scams involve threatening taxpayers or using aggressive language to scare them into paying fake debt to the CRA. The caller requests immediate payment by credit card, and threatens court charges, jail or deportation. Often scammers use phone spoofing apps that

allow them to display numbers legitimately linked to the CRA. In some cases, scammers will email. The goal is to access personal and banking information. The CRA warns not to give out personal or financial information over the phone to an untrusted source, as it can result in identity and financial theft. A few calls about this scams have come into the Delta Police Department, as have reports of phone scammers claiming to be fundraising for a Delta Police anti-bullying initiative. These callers are using an unidentified or blocked numbers.

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LOCAL

8 i Saturday, August 22, 2015 From page 1

Obama warns Pakistan to cut terrorism ties - or lose much needed American aid

has conveyed to Islamabad, amid indications that the US is also making Prime Minister Sharif ’s proposed visit to Washington conditional to meeting this objective. A key Obama administration official on Thursday said there

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has been no announcement about a Sharif visit to Washington in October although the trip had been widely reported in the Pakistani media based on briefings from diplomats in Islamabad. “This is news to me. We have not

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tional security council of the White House, told PTI. “If it is pakka (final) you would be the first to hear.” The rethink — or at least holding back the announcement — of the visit comes after the administration conveyed to Islamabad that it will not certify the effectiveness of Pakistan counterterrorism operation to Congress to enable passage of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), the military reimbursement aid that goes towards keeping Pakistan solvent. As part of its rentier-state ethos, Pakistan provides logistical support to US and coalition forces in Afghanistan and in turn bills Washington for reimbursement. Pakistan has extracted more than $13 billion from the US since the coalition forces swooped into Afghanistan. The CSF was scheduled to end following the US drawdown from Afghanistan in December 2014, but the Obama government extended the program for another year through a legislation containing additional conditions, including a requirement for certification by the defence secretary that Pakistani military operations are rolling up terrorist networks, including the Haqqani group in North Waziristan. But true to form, Pakistan’s military-intelligence establishment has again suckered Washington fooling the US by keeping the death from illnesses of Taliban supremo Mullah Omar and Jalalludin Haqqani while trying to manage their succession. The manipulation, coming after Osama bin Laden being sheltered in Abbottabad, has further eroded trust in a country with a long history of lying and dissembling. Although US policy of forbearance is centered around its fear of Pakistan’s collapse, that tolerance is being tested in the face of the Pakistani military-intelligence’s serial malfeasance, including its continued patronage of terrorists associated with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in which six Americans died. “The US move is politically more damaging for Islamabad than its financial impact, which is significant nevertheless for being an important source for narrowing the current account deficit. More importantly, it coincided with the deterioration in ties with Afghanistan because of Kabul’s allegations that Islamabad continued to harbor Taliban bases from where attacks were being launched,” Karachi’s Dawn newspaper, which first reported the rupture, said on Thursday. “The US decision is also likely to sour ties in the run-up to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s scheduled visit to White House in October,” it added. Pakistan’s economy is both parlous and perilously-poised, despite frequent juggling of numbers in a country that does not even conduct a regular census. With economic growth barely matching projected population growth, it is reduced to living on aid and remittances. Even aid is starting to dwindle after its familiar patrons in the Gulf have pulled the plug and its sugar daddy China has not come through with the expected bail-outs. Desperate to keep the US pipeline open, the Pakistani military, which runs the country’s foreign policy on behalf of the nominal civilian government , has been decimating its civilian population with every-day air-strikes this week in North Waziristan, announcing dozens of dead “militants” which no one is able to authenticate due to lack of access.

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Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 9

LOCAL

Man facing trial in Surrey murder gets 30 months jail for Richmond shooting

convicted killer who was sched- Sandhu, resulting in the bodily harm con- Crown recommended a 30-month sen- rence sought an 18-month prison term. uled to go to trial this week in the viction rather than attempted murder. tence, while defence lawyer Darcy Lawmurder of a Surrey man at a 2011 Christmas Eve party was recently found not guilty of the attempted murder of another man in Richmond. Russell Bidesi, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Bradley McPherson in Surrey. His trial for the McPherson murder was to begin Monday (Aug. 17), but was delayed when Bidesi’s defence lawyer withdrew. Court documents indicate late last month Bidesi was found not guilty of attempted murder and convicted of a lesser charge in a Richmond case where he was accused of shooting another man in the chin. In a July 24 B.C. Supreme Court decision, Bidesi was found guilty of attempting to cause bodily harm and was sentenced the following week to twoand-a-half years in prison. It was early morning Nov. 20, 2011 – just over a month before McPherson was shot – that Bidesi and Harpreet Sandhu were at a hotel party in Richmond. Court heard that while they had a “cordial” relationship, the two got into an argument outside that turned into a brief altercation. One of Bidesi’s friend’s punched Sandhu and another pulled out a gun and waved it around. Moments later, a cab pulled up and when Sandhu and his friends went to take it, Bidesi ran towards the taxi, carOffer ends soon rying his friend’s gun. There was an argument and Bidesi pointed it at Sandhu. The gun fired, hitting him in the chin. Bidesi argued he pulled the gun only to intimidate Sandhu and that it fired accidentally – a defence the judge did not buy. But while Justice Barbara Fisher found the shooting was intentional, she said there were aspects of the evidence that raised doubts Learn more at WINDmobile.ca. Offer is valid as of August 17, 2015 and is subject to change or cancellation without notice. All unlimited plan features in Canada are from anywhere on our network, otherwise that Bidesi intended to kill long distance and roaming rates apply. All services subject to WIND’s Terms of Service, Fair Usage Policy and Internet Traffic Management Policy and are for personal use by an individual. Applicable taxes

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10 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

LOCAL Oil drops below $40 a barrel for 1st time since 2009

he price of a barrel of the North American crude oil benchmark today dipped below $40 US for the first time in 6.5 years. West Texas Intermediate, as the most common blend on the continent is called, was changing hands at $39.93 US a barrel — the lowest price recorded since early spring 2009. At that time, the global economy was emerging out of a global recession, and oil was on its way higher after setting a record low close of 33.98 a barrel on Feb. 12, 2009. By the end of the year, oil was in the $75 range This time, however, it’s an open question as to where oil is headed next. Influential market watcher Gary Shilling predicted that oil prices could go as low as $10 this year because the world is still producing about three million more barrels of oil every day than it needs to satisfy demand. Data this week showed 456.2 million barrels of oil are in storage in America. That’s about 100 million more barrels than the normal level seen this time of year, and more is coming as American producers pumped out 9.52 million barrels a day last month, official data showed this week.

It’s the highest output for July since 1920. Loonie drops in line with oil dip The oil market is also headed into a time of year when prices tend to decline for seasonal reasons. U.S. refineries typically shut down or scale back for a few weeks in late summer for maintenance and to recalibrate. “When they do that, that reduces demand for crude oil,” Scotia McLeod portfolio adviser Andrew Pyle said in an interview. “It increases concerns.” Now that we’ve breached $40 US, Pyle notes many analysts say there’s no telling where the next floor might be. “Once we get below 40 which many see as a psychological barrier, theoretically there is no low point where we say ‘that’s where oil prices will stop,’” Pyle said. Barring a miraculous rebound Friday afternoon, the price of WTI is on track to be lower for an eighth straight week — the worst streak for oil since 1986, when the price of a barrel troughed to around $10 a barrel. The loonie sold off on oil’s weakness, losing more than half a cent to dip below 76 cents US.

Manasvi Noel is Miss India-Canada 2015

Manasvi Noel of Mississauga City has been crowned Miss India-Canada 2015 at the 25th edition of the annual beauty pageant.

Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 11

India’s independence day celebrated

Indian flag raising ceremony to celebrate India’s Independence Day last Saturday (August 15) was held at the Indian Consulate in Vancouver.. Dozens of people attended the event. Photo: Chandra Bodalia

12 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

LOCAL

Burrard Inlet spill impact exaggerated ‘100 times’: Kinder Morgan

inder Morgan is calling out Metro Vancouver for a report they commissioned saying it overestimated the air quality impact of a Burrard Inlet oil spill by 100 times. The information comes from Kinder Morgan’s final submission Thursday to the National Energy Board regarding its Trans Mountain Expansion Project. The Metro Vancouver report created a spill model evaluating how benzene, which is added to crude oil for shipping, would affect air quality in the Burrard Inlet in the event of a worst-case spill. “We spent the last couple of months having a look at it and wrote our own report, sort of in response to that,” said Trans Mountain Expansion Project spokeswoman Ali Hounsell. “The reality of the benzene found in the products shipped in our pipeline ... is five times lower than they stated.” According to Hounsell, the size of the worst-case scenario spill for Burrard Inlet was also overestimated. “So they effectively did twelve spills at the same time in Burrard Inlet, creating a

size of spill that is not credible,” she said. “So, in essence, the effects that they were measuring were overestimated due to the fact that they overestimated the size of the spill, that we don’t believe to be credible, and overestimated the amount of benzene that we don’t think is credible either.” Kinder Morgan stated in their Replies to Intervenor Final Evidence statement that those overestimations resulted in a worst-case scenario 100 times worse than its estimates. But, Vancouver’s deputy manager Sadhu Johnston was quick to defend the study commissioned by Metro Vancouver. “Well that model was developed by a very credible consultant, and the model that they used and developed in partnership with (Metro Vancouver) is a model that is used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association,” said Sadhu. “That is a U.S. federal government agency, the model is well recognized, it is the leading 2D numeric oil spill trajectory model that is used daily by NOAA and many, many, other regulatory agencies all over the world.

Students and teachers at the year-end celebration of students and teachers of the Punjabi School of Akali Singh Sikh Society Gurdwara at Skeena Road, Vancouver. The celebration was held on August 14.

LOCAL

Hundreds of Canadian civil servants’ emails on hacked Ashley Madison list

he apparent email addresses of hundreds of Canadian federal, provincial and municipal government employees are contained in a massive leaked list of names purported to be users of Ashley Madison, a matchmaking website for cheating spouses. Ashley Madison does not send verification emails, meaning the accounts might not belong to actual users of the site and could simply be the work of disgruntled tricksters. Further, the data goes back to 2004, suggesting some email addresses may no longer be operational. In a statement, Toronto-based Ashley Madison’s parent company, Avid Life Me-

dia, said it was actively monitoring and investigating the leak to determine the validity of any information posted online. It did not immediately respond to a question about why people can register for Ashley Madison with unverified or fake email addresses. Federally, more than 170 addresses associated with the Canadian Armed Forces are on the list, and hundreds more from other departments and agencies, including justice, public works, the Canada Revenue Agency and the RCMP. At least one MP was registered by name. Several email addresses attached to the Senate were registered

Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 13

A successful SABA Golf Tournament

he annual SABA golf tournament was held on Wednesday at Hazelmere Golf Course in Surrey, attended by at least 150 people. It was a huge success and like past years, the tournament was fully sold out. SABA also had overwhelming response from sponsors, all the leading Banks, Car Dealerships, restaurants and Law offices supported the event. The tournament was inaugurated by City of Surrey Councilor Tom Gill. $10,000 of the proceeds will be donated to endow- SABA President Maghar Dhaliwal with the reprement fund setup at Kwantlan Poly- sentatives of Diamond Sponsors, Maskeen Group. technic University, which takes SABA’s overall contribution to $80,000 so far. dowment funds of $ 20,000.00 each with SABA president Maghar Singh Dha- K P U. So these Three funds generate $ liwal thanked everyone for attend- 3,000.00 every year and three scholaring andd supporting the event. ships are being given to deserving students “So far S A B A has established three En- and this will continue for ever,” he said.

Dr Subarmaniam Swami visiting the new Hindu Temple under construction on marine Way in Burnaby (next to the hare Krishna Temple). The new temple is scheduled to be opened in Spring of 2016. Photo: Chandra Bodalia

Man, child pepper sprayed in Newton

man and child landed in hospital this week after being pepper sprayed at the Newton Bus Exchange. On Thursday, at about 2 a.m., police were called to 137 Street and 72 Avenue, after a report of the attack. Three men have been arrested, and police believe the attack may have been random. It is believed that the victims and the attackers are not known to each other. It is not

thought that the attackers were attempting to rob the man, but the motive is not clear. The Newton Bus Exchange has long been a hotbed of criminal activity. Less than two years ago, a hockey mom was beaten to death outside a rink about 100 meters away from the exchange. Since then, the community has been fighting for better police protection in the area.

Alcohol believed to be involved in hit-&-run A 54-year-old man is in hospital following a hit-and-run in Surrey early Saturday morning. Surrey RCMP say a brown Toyota van was driving eastbound on 80 Avenue when it turned north onto King George Boulevard and struck the male pedestrian in a crosswalk. The van driver continued for a short distance before pulling into a business, parking and getting out of the vehicle. A witness was able to lead police to the vehicle and driver.

The pedestrian was taken to hospital in serious condition. Mounties believe alcohol played a large part in the incident and the driver is being investigated for impaired driving. Anyone who witnessed this incident or has further information is asked to call the Surrey RCMP at 604599-0502 or Crime Stoppers, if they wish to remain anonymous, at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca, quoting file number 2015-117197.

About 150 people attended the event.

14 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

Georgia family loses all after moving truck stolen in Abbotsford

family from the state of Georgia who had their moving truck stolen while travelling through Abbotsford is pleading for the public’s help in recovering a life’s worth of possessions. Abbotsford police said they received a call at 11:30 a.m. Monday from a distraught Anna Spencer, who said a 26foot GMC U-Haul truck that she and her family were using to move to Alaska was stolen from a hotel parking lot in the 36000-block North Parallel Road. An investigation turned up hotel surveillance footage which appears to show a vehicle pulling up next to the U-Haul at 3:22 a.m. Four minutes later, the truck was driven away. The truck contained most of the family’s possessions, estimated to be worth $100,000. Spencer and her

five children were headed north to join her husband who had recently been transferred to Alaska. Although the stolen vehicle was recovered Wednesday morning in Surrey, a “significant number of items” were missing, police said. Spencer made an emotional plea for anyone with information about the whereabouts of her property to come forward. “I wasn’t even here 12 hours and my 26-footer U-Haul truck with my four-bedroom house in it was stolen,” said Spencer. “My life, my children’s life, our military gear, everything that we accumulated ... everything.” Anyone with information is asked to contact Abbotsford police at 604-8595225, text 222973 (abbypd) or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Canada’s attempt to deport man arrested for terrorism

stalls as Pakistan refuses to take back citizen

he Canadian government’s attempt to deport two Pakistani citizens arrested in Toronto for terrorism is lagging, and the lawyer for one of them said Tuesday that Pakistan was refusing to take his client back. Jahanzeb Malik and Mohammed Aqeeq Ansari were to be deported more than a month ago but their departure was put on hold at Pakistan’s request. Canadian diplomats have since met with Pakistani officials over the issue but without result. “He is in limbo,” said Malik’s lawyer Anser Farooq. Malik was arrested in March for allegedly plotting a suicide bombing in downtown Toronto. “Canada wants him out. Pakistan won’t take him.” The RCMP had identified Ansari as a member of the terrorist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Paki-

stan. The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered his deportation on the grounds he was a danger to Canada’s security. Although both men are citizens of Pakistan, they remain at the Central East

Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont. Ansari has been held there since October. Pakistani authorities have declined to explain what is holding up the deportations.

“It would be not appropriate to disclose at this moment,” said Asghar Ali Golo, the Consul General of Pakistan in Toronto. In an interview, he said there was “no doubt” about the men’s’ citizenship but that Pakistan was seeking “clarification” over “certain issues.” “Once those clarifications are received in Islamabad from the Canadian High Commission then I think we will get some permission to send them back to Pakistan,” he said. “There is some kind of negotiation going on between us and Canadian government on how can we deport them so we have a number of meetings.” The consul-general said he met with both detainees on Monday. “I basically wanted to understand the main issues,” he said. He said Pakistan understood the seriousness of the issue and wanted it resolved as soon as possible. “Both governments are working for an amicable solution to this situation.”

Surrey murder trial adjourned suddenly after defence lawyer withdraws

murder trial that had been expected to run for four weeks was adjourned Monday after defence counsel withdrew due to an “ethical and professional responsibility issue.” Russell Atma Bidesi, 26, is charged with second-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Bradley McPherson. According to information previously released by police, McPherson, 28, was at a Christmas Eve house party in Surrey and was standing up for some people who were being disrespected at the party when he was shot. McPherson did not have a criminal record. Bidesi was initially scheduled to go to trial in February, but he was in the midst of another, unrelated legal case, and there was some late disclosure from Crown in the McPherson case. Defence lawyer Darcy Lawrence applied for an adjournment, which was granted, and the trial was rescheduled for Monday. Lawrence told the court on Monday that he was applying to withdraw as counsel. He said it was not a financial issue or a ploy by Bidesi to delay the trial, but an ethical issue.

“I would not make this application — I don’t make this lightly. I’m aware of the time that has literally been wasted because of the late application,” Lawrence told the court. “I’m very much mindful of that

and I wish it hadn’t gone this way, but it has.” Lawrence did not provide any more information about the ethical concern, and the court was not permitted to inquire further because of possible issues with solicitor-client privilege. Justice Jennifer Duncan said she believed Lawrence had reached “a fundamental fork in the road” in his representation of Bidesi.

LOCAL

Citizenship Act changes challenged in court by civil rights groups

ew law allows Ottawa to revoke citizenship for anyone convicted of terrorism, treason or espionage offences A new law that gives the federal government the power to revoke Canadian citizenship for certain dual nationals undermines the country’s identity and violates its Constitution, a coalition of civil rights groups said Thursday. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) said the rules that went into effect when Bill C-24 became law in May create a two-tiered system in which naturalized Canadians are treated as second-class. The two organizations are launching a formal constitutional challenge of the law on the grounds that it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The organizations take exception to the government’s much-publicized position that the bill is necessary to protect Canada from terrorism, but have focused the charter challenge on many of the law’s lesser-known clauses. Vague stipulations about a new Canadian’s intention to live here, plus changes to the procedure by which people can contest challenges to their citizenship, mean the bill could have an impact on millions more than Ottawa’s intended target, they said. “All Canadian citizens used to have the same citizenship rights no matter what their origin,” B.C. Civil Liberties Association Executive Director Josh Paterson said at a news conference. “We were all equal under the law. Now this new law has divided us into classes of citizens: those with more rights and those — overwhelmingly immigrants to Canada and their children and grandchildren —who have fewer rights.” In rolling out the contentious bill, the federal government spoke openly about some of the new powers it would provide. Passport revocation The new law allows Ottawa to revoke citizenship for anyone convicted of terrorism, treason or espionage offences inside or outside of Canada. The rules also apply to dual citizens who take up arms against Canada by fighting in a foreign army or joining an international terrorist organization. Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has previously stated that the regulations are necessary to combat “the ever-evolving threat of Jihadi terrorism.” But the civil rights groups said other provisions, such as the “intent to reside clause,” present more insidious threats. CARL member Lorne Waldman said the ambiguously worded clause forces naturalized citizens to declare their intention to make Canada their permanent home, but leaves the door open to accuse them of misrepresenting their claims if they’re out of the country for an extended period of time.

“This means that if after they obtain citizenship they wish to travel abroad for an extended period, perhaps if they got accepted into a university or because there’s a family member who’s ill, they face the prospect of having their citizenship revoked because they misrepresented their intention,” he said. Waldman also expressed concern over the revamped revocation process. He said people on the verge of losing citizenship previously had the right to a hearing in front of a judge, who would then decide their fate. Now, Waldman said, people are given 60 days to fight the revocation through a written submission.

Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 15

Vancouver claims a million cyclists have crossed the Burrard Bridge so far this year

he City of million so early in the Vancouver year is really surprisis celebrating to us,” LaClaire ing the fact that said. “It’s a pretty draone million (ish) matic change.” There’s bikes have crossed no doubt the hot, dry the Burrard Bridge weather had some inalready this year fluence on the volume, even though ofhe said, but he hopes ficials admit the the bike traffic increase data could be off comes in part from the by as much as safety improvements 10 per cent. The The 991,066th cyclist of the year crosses the made to the south inbike counter at Burrard Bridge on the evening of Aug. 20, 2015 tersection last year. the south end The counter uses an of the bridge is expected to hit seven diginduction loop that detects metal when a its sometime on Friday, a milestone that bike crosses over. The city also uses countusually takes a full year to reach, the city’s er hoses in this location to double-check its director of transportation Lon LaClaire information. (The hoses count the “bump said Thursday. Even though the counter bump” of a bicycle, making it challenging to isn’t perfect – LaClaire said this particular set them off by jumping on one.) The techone is “off by between five to 10 per cent,” nology is an improvement over having or up to 100,000 trips in either direction – people count bikes passing by (they still it reveals a big jump from previous years. do this sometimes), but it’s not precise. “The fact that this year we’re reaching one

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16 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

LOCAL

Drought threatening thousands of trees

t goes without saying that Howard Norman, the Vancouver Park Board’s manager of urban forestry, is praying for rain as the longest drought in the city’s history is affecting many of the city’s trees. “The longer it goes on, the worse it gets. A lot of trees are starting to drop leaves or having leaves turning brown. That is a defence mechanism,” he said. “Trees do that to shed a base that uses moisture. So trees will do a leaf drop with hopes that they will get more moisture soon and either regenerate the leaf this fall or in the springtime.” “We have trees that have lost leaves, especially maples along Pacific in Yaletown. But we put our water bags around the bases and they just bounced right back,” he said. “If they get moisture, they’ll be fine, but

they were already starting to put themselves in dormancy to protect themselves. Some trees will make it, but we are going to have some tree loss, no doubt about it.” How much? “I’ve no idea. It’s hard to judge and we won’t know until the springtime,” he said. The city has an inventory of about 140,000 trees on streets and 315,000 in public parks and other green spaces. “The problem is this drought started so early this year. It’s not like it just went dry in July. So trees already suffering from the year before are more susceptible. We have our fingers crossed that we are going to get a bit of rain in the next week or two. That should help a lot,” he said.

Premier promises hunt for Rock Creek fire starter

ith a wildfire threatening their homes, residents of Kettle Valley Road East forded a river to stomp out hotspots, preventing the fire from whipping up again. Christy Clark vowed Sunday that if a person set the immense and fast-spreading wildfire in Rock Creek, that person would be found and prosecuted. The fire has wiped out 30 homes and forced hundreds to flee with little more than the clothes on their backs. The B.C. premier visited Oliver, where two fires were burning, and a community centre being used by Rock Creek evacuees in Midway. She told reporters that she heard reports “there were witnesses and that (what they saw) might have been caught on a gov-

ernment, road Transport Ministry camera.” “I don’t know that that is true,” said Clark. “But we are going to do everything that we can to try and identify, as we always do, how the fire started. The Forestry Ministry does an incredible job of investigating these things, figuring out right down to last match where these fires originated.” The B.C. Wildfire Service listed the Rock Creek fire as caused by humans. “If we can find evidence that suggests a specific individual was responsible, we are going to do everything that we can and use all the tools we have to make sure that people see some consequences for irresponsible behaviour.” Kerstin Klenheimer and her husband deserted their house when the 37-square-kilometre fire broke out Thursday.

More than two dozen ‘third parties’ have registered in hopes of influencing federal election Dozens of groups with their own political agendas could, combined, spend millions in this federal election campaign trying to influence voters. These so-called “third parties” (they aren’t actually political parties) are registered to advocate and run advertising during the federal election campaign. They include public and private-sector unions; an anything-but-Conservative veterans group; animal rights supporters; the small-government National Citizens Coalition; environmental groups; the Canadian Medical Association and even one called “Voters Against Harper.” To date, more than two dozen third parties have registered with Elections Canada. Many will run ads either nationally or in specific ridings to support their agendas. Others will rely on grassroots approaches to targeting voters. Third parties registered with Elections Canada (as of Aug. 19): Animal Justice Canada Legislative Fund AVAAZ BC Government and Service Employees’ Union Canadian Health Coalition Canadian Media Guild Canadian Medical Association Canadian Union of Postal Workers Canadian Union of Public Employees Canadian Veterans ABC Campaign 2015 Diane Babcock Dogwood Initiative Downtown Mission of Windsor Inc. Fair Vote Canada Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec Friends of Canadian Broadcasting IATSE International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada Leadnow Society Les Sans-Chemise National Citizens Coalition Inc. NORML Canada Inc. Ontario Public Service Employees Union Open Media Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario UNIFOR Voters Against Harper Their goals include boosting funding for the CBC, improving seniors’ care, restoring door-to-door mail delivery, securing better services for veterans, electoral reform, and strategic voting, to name a few. “The outcome of the election is going to come down to a handful of Conservative swing ridings, so we’re trying to build blocks of voters to vote together to defeat the Conservatives,” said Amara Possian, election campaign manager with Leadnow, an advocacy organization calling for action on climate change, democracy and the economy.

LOCAL

If everyone was as healthy as people in BC Canada would save billions

New UBC study figures Canada could save $5.3 billion a year by matching B.C

f all Canadians were as slim, active and tobacco-free as British Columbians, the country would reduce its economic burden from bad health by 10 per cent, according to research from - of course - British Columbia. A study today in the Canadian Journal of Public Health crunched nationwide numbers to conclude that matching B.C.’s relatively low rates of obesity, inactivity and smoking would save Canadians $5.3 billion annually in both direct medical costs and indirect costs such as disability and shortened lives. Author Hans Krueger is a health economist with the School of Population and Public Health at the University of B.C. Since there is debate about the best way to calculate indirect costs, Krueger notes his figures could be off by 17 per cent one way or the other, but are significant nonetheless. “Everyone recognizes that there are impacts that go beyond the health care system, it’s just how you value those from an economic perspective that becomes the is-

Former counsellor found guilty of sexual assault on 14 year old

former counsellor at a native healing centre east of Vancouver has been found guilty of two sex-related charges involving a 14-year-old girl who was staying at the centre. Darren Justice was convicted of one count of touching a person under the age of 16 for a sexual purpose and one count of sexual assault. The girl, whose name is protected by a publication ban, alleged that Mr. Justice touched her breasts on several occasions and digitally penetrated her vagina on one other occasion while she was staying at the Stehiyaq Healing and Wellness Village near Chilliwack in August, 2011. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jenkins said he did not accept Mr. Justice’s version of events, including his claims that messages he sent to the girl on social media were merely those of a friend. “A 40-year-old person in authority telling a young, vulnerable and emotional teenager that he ‘loves her’ indicates a romantic approach,” the judge said as he delivered his verdict on Thursday, noting that a fellow employee at the centre had warned Mr. Justice about inappropriate behaviour with the girl. The judge also found the girl’s evidence credible, despite some discrepancies in her testimony about the exact dates when the incidents took place and how long Mr. Justice was touching her vagina. “What is clear is that she was touched in a sexual manner,” Justice Jenkins said, adding that “the duration is not of great significance.” The guilty verdicts add a bleak footnote to the history of Stehiyaq, which opened in April, 2010, with close to $5-million in government support. It was to be a refuge for aboriginal girls struggling with addic-

sue. Economist rarely agree on anything so we’ve tried to take a moderate course,” said Krueger. “If I thought I was going to lose 10 years of my life (through unhealthy habits), that would mean something to me - it has a value.” Krueger estimates annual savings would be about $1.75 billion for Ontario, $1.5 billion for Quebec, $620 million for Alberta and $350 million for Saskatchewan.

Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 17

Son of former BC Liberal MLA charged in fentanyl bust

he son of a former British Columbia member of the legislature has been charged in a fentanyl bust in Calgary last month. Kasimir Tyabji-Sandana, who is 27, is charged with one count of importing a controlled substance. He made a brief appearance via closed circuit television in Calgary court on Monday. He will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Sept. 16. His lawyer is working on setting a date for a bail hearing. Police intercepted a package marked as a muffler from China last month at Vancouver’s International Mail Centre. It was addressed to someone in Calgary and contained 122 grams of pure fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used primarily to treat severe pain. Fentanyl is a growing concern across Canada as the number of deaths and over-

doses from the drug continues to climb. A recent report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse said as many as 655 Canadians may have died between 2009 and 2014 from fentanyl overdoses. Health Canada’s drug analysis labs have also been detecting fentanyl more and more often in street drugs being sent for testing by law enforcement agencies. Calgary police say 145 people in Alberta have already died from suspected fentanyl overdoses this year compared with 120 last year. Arrests are also up. Police in Calgary have made 34 fentanyl busts this year compared with 12 in all of 2014. Tyabji-Sandana’s mother, Judi Tyabji, was elected to the B.C. legislature for the Liberal party in 1991 and she was the first woman to have a child while in office. An affair with then-Liberal leader Gordon Wilson stunned the party two years later.

18 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

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Average house price up 9% in July to $437,699, CREA says ‘A story about 2 cities,’ as Toronto, Vancouver

he average price of a Canadian home rose at an annual pace of 8.9 per cent in July to $437,699, the Canadian Real Estate Association says. But stripping out the two major housing markets of Toronto and Vancouver, the average price drops to $341,438 and the year-over-year gain is reduced to 4.1 per cent, according to CREA. “It’s fair to say that the strength of national sales is still a story about two cities,” CREA’s chief economist Gregory Klump said. “Trends in British Columbia and Ontario have a big influence on the national figures, since they account for about

60 per cent of national housing activity. “These remain the only places in Canada where home prices are growing strongly,” Klump added. The numbers seem to back up CREA’s narrative that Canada’s housing market is, on the whole, balanced. Of the 26 markets the realtor group tracks, seven are seeing average prices below year-ago levels and six are up in the zero-to-four per cent range. Economists have taken a close look at Calgary’s housing market in recent months, looking for signs of the oil contagion spreading into Calgary’s real estate valuations. At the moment, it looks like while the city’s housing market is clearly slowing, it’s not crashing the way some people had feared. “Calgary home prices are effectively flatlining, not correcting more sharply as some feared — stay tuned though with WTI oil prices testing the low $40 [US] range,” BMO economist Robert Kavcic noted. Outside of prices, the realtor group said there were fewer sales in July for the second straight month, but that figure is only down because spring was a record high for home sales. By historical standards, the number of transactions was still high in July. Sales activity for the three-month period May, June and July as a whole reached its highest monthly levels in more than five years, CREA said. The monthly decline in July was largely because of a slight downturn in the Hamilton-Burlington and Durham Region areas of Southern Ontario after they hit record levels in June.

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46 i 15, 2015 i Saturday, Saturday -August April 4, 2015

Spinach and Feta Pasta Ingredients :

riginal recipe makes 4 servings, 1 (8 ounce) packagepenne pasta, 2 tablespoonsolive oil, 1/2 cupchopped onion, 1 clovegarlic, minced, 3 cupschopped tomatoes, 1 cupsliced fresh mushrooms, 2 cupsspinach leaves, packed, salt and pepper to taste, 1 pinchred pepper flakes, 8 ouncesfeta cheese, crumbled

Method:

1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain. 2.Meanwhile,

chicken (no butter) Masala Your favourite butter chicken but without the butter and added calories!

Recipe

heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic, and cook until golden brown. Mix in tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook 2 minutes more, until tomatoes are heated through and spinach is wilted. Reduce heat to medium, stir in pasta and feta cheese, and cook until Ingredients heated through. • 250g boneless chicken • 2tbsp rapeseed oil • 1 medium red onion • 3 large tomatoes • ½ cup cashew nuts • 100g tomato puree • 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves • 100ml low fat cream • 1tsp garam masala • 1tsp red chilli powder • 1tbsp ginger- garlic paste • 2tbsp thick low fat yoghurt • salt to taste

Procedure: Marinate the chicken with the ginger garlic paste and the yoghurt for 20 min. soak the cashew in warm water for 15 minutes.chop the onions and tomatoes. Heat 1 tbsp oil to a pan. sear the chicken pieces in the hot oil for 1 minute on each side to a golden colour. remove the chicken pieces. in the same pan, add 1tbsp oil and the chopped onions. saute till a translucent pink. Add the tomatoes, red chili powder, garam masala powder and cook on medium flame till the tomatoes are tender (approx. 4-5 minutes). remove from flame and run in a blender with the soaked cashews to make a smooth paste. return to the pan and add the tomato puree. Bring to a boil and add the chicken pieces. simmer for 4-5 minutes till the chicken is cooked. Add the low fat cream and simmer for 2 minutes. Broil the fenugreek leaves on a pan. crush the fenugreek leaves over the curry and remove from fire. serve hot.

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Saturday, August 15, 2015 i 7

8 i Saturday, August 15, 2015

LOCAL

‘Working poor’ couple from tiny Alberta hamlet win $50M lottery

ver y shy man from a tiny Alberta hamlet made his wife blush and a room full of people laugh Thursday when asked why he was in the Mini Mart that day. “We had to go get birth control,” said Raymond Scott, glancing at his wife, Sheena. Then he chuckled, and everyone joined in. It was there, while his wife was in the back of the M&M Mini Mart, that Scott checked his Lotto Max tickets and discovered he had just won $50 million. “Raymond, I’ve got to tell you,” said Bill Robinson, president of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. “I’ve been doing this a long time. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that line.” A prize of that size would change anyone’s life. And the Scotts, perhaps more than most, were due for some good luck. “I just actually had surgery,” Raymond said, “actually a year ago today. For cancer stuff.” He didn’t elaborate. But he did talk about a life filled with struggles. “We were both kind of like the working poor our wholes lives,” he said. The couple lives in Fort Kent, Alta., a hamlet of 220 people about 250 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. Scott, 38, said he bought the Lotto Max tickets for the Aug. 7 draw in nearby Ardmore. He said his first job was working at the local gas station. When he graduated high

Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 19

UBC to investigate Professor’s claim she was gagged when she questioned why Arvind Gupta quit as UBC president

he University of B.C.’s acting president says the school is investigating claims a professor was intimidated over a blog post suggesting former UBC president Arvind Gupta lost a “masculinity contest” with the school’s leadership. Angela Redish says she’s concerned by allegations of gagging levelled by Sauder School of Business Prof. Jennifer Berdahl against the chair of UBC’s board of governors and administrators at the school. Berdahl claims they tried to gag her after she suggested Gupta’s faculty-friendly style put him at odds with the university’s corporate culture. “I’m worried that we have a faculty member who is feeling those kinds of pressures,” Redish said. “But I am still trying to figure out what the facts are and to hear all sides of it.” ‘Masculinity contest’ Berdahl’s allegations come amid a storm of controversy and speculation following Gupta’s sudden departure last week, a little more than a year into his five-year term. Citing confidentiality, UBC has said little about his resignation, beyond announcing the computer scientist “decided he can best contribute to the university and lead Canada’s innovation agenda by resuming his academ-

ic career and leadership roles in the business and research community.” Gupta is on academic leave and did not return a phone call. In her first blog posting, Berdahl, an expert on gender and diversity, admitted she didn’t know the details behind his resignation, but noted that he was the first “brown man” to serve as president. She said he listened to others and was committed to change and diversity. “UBC either failed in selecting, or in supporting, him as president,” she wrote. “I believe that part of this outcome is that Arvind Gupta lost the masculinity contest among the leadership at UBC, as most women and minorities do at institutions dominated by white men.” Shortly after the post ran, Berdahl says she got a call from board of governors chair John Montalbano, the Royal Bank of Canada executive whose $2-million donation created her teaching post. “He was very, very upset. And seemed to take

Toronto police lay charges after fake monk arrested near CN Tower

fake monk has been arrested and charged after being found near the CN Tower, Toronto police said Wednesday. People who appear to be Buddhist monks aggressively asking for money from people in the street is not a new phenomenon in Toronto — 52 Division has been investigating reports since at least 2013. This particular man, whose name has not been released, was previously arrested on Aug. 12 for aggressive panhandling and was released on the condition that he not be near the tower, Toronto police spokesperson Const. Victor Kwong said. The man has been charged with failing to comply with recognizance and mischief. He is scheduled to appear in a Toronto court for a bail hearing Thursday, though police have not released his name. Kwong confirmed that the man was the same one that anoth-

er officer, Const. Scott Mills, had tweeted photos of on Aug.

it as a personal affront to him. Which I had never thought of while writing it,” she said. ‘Truth is our best defence’ In the days that followed, Berdahl says an associate dean scolded her and set up a meeting with her dean to discuss the issue. But she says the meeting was cancelled when she said she was planning to bring a faculty association adviser with her. “I felt more gagged than I have ever felt in my life,” said Berdahl. “It seems like of all places in our society that free speech is sacred and encouraged and plays an absolutely vital role, it is the university. And to think that it is being discouraged here is devastating.” Berdahl says she felt intimidated, but felt she had little choice other than to go public: “I think that the truth is our best defence. And sunshine is our best disinfectant.” Redish says she spoke with Montalbano about the allegations at a meeting of the board of governors. But she wouldn’t give any details about their conversation. She says the university’s human resources department will work with the faculty association and reach out to the parties involved. She said they’ll determine whether to call in an outside arbitrator.

Canada’s youngest mass murderer to complete 10 year setence mext May

lta. — It’s one of the most horrifying murders in Canadian history. A 12-year-old girl in Medicine Hat, Alta., conspired with her 23-year-old boyfriend to murder her parents and younger brother in 2006. The girl, who can’t be named because she was a youth at the time, is nearing the end of her sentence. Here is a look at her path toward freedom: Nov. 8, 2007: She receives a 10-year Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision sentence, the maximum for young offenders between the age of 12 and 14. It includes four years in a psychiatric institution and 4 1/2 years under conditional supervision in the community. Nov. 7, 2010: She is allowed to serve her sentence in an open custody group home in Calgary with all outings needing the approval of the office of Alberta’s Solicitor General.

20 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

The organizers of the Pakistan Festival in Surrey last week.

LOCAL

Pakistan’s Independence Day was celebrated at the residence of Consul General of Pakistan, Muhammed Tariq in Vancouver on August 14, with a flag hoisting and cake cutting ceremony. Pictured above is Muhammed Tariq (second from left) cutting a cake to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day. Photo Chandra Bodalia

Former Vancouver police chief and former Surrey city manager appointed to Translink board

The proposal was rejected by alhe province has named Van- most two-thirds of voters, and Mr. couver’s former police chief and Fassbender said the results were also Surrey’s former city manager a sign that “the public has clearly said to the board of TransLink, as it tries to the province has to be more engaged.” demonstrate that it is working to imThe plebiscite unleashed a torrent of prove the agency in the wake of a failed public anger in the five months of camplebiscite on transit improvements. paigning and public voting, largely diBut a former planner who has stud- rected at TransLink, which was viewed as ied TransLink says that although the wasteful and inept. But the province was two appointees, Jim Chu also criticized for forcand Murray Dinwood“While this is a ing a vote on essential ie, are highly respected, helpful first step, infrastructure, which they can’t fix the essenTransLink urgent- doesn’t happen with tial problem at TransLink, ly requires new roads, bridges, schools, which manages the region’s funding tools to improve hospitals or other comtransportation system. the transit system across munity necessities. “The basic model is bro- Metro Vancouver – service Many critics also ken,” said Ken Cameron, has been declinblamed the debacle the former manager of polon the province’s deing since 2010,” icy and planning at Metcision to take away his statement says. ro Vancouver who did a power from mayors. comprehensive study for When TransLink was created in 2000 the TransLink mayors’ council on issues to give the region more power to co-orconcerning how the agency is governed. dinate its land-use and transit plan“The model is just so basically flawed. ning, it was governed at the top by a It is unique in North America, in a bad council of 12 of the region’s 21 mayors. way, where the top policy-making levels In 2007, the province changed the strucare not elected people,” Mr. Cameron said. ture so that an appointed board of busiThe minister now responsible for ness, academic and community repreTransLink, Peter Fassbender, said the ap- sentatives formed the board. The current pointments are an important step because seven-member board was chosen by mayit’s the first time the province will have ors from a short list provided to them by a direct appointees sitting on the board. He search committee. The province gave itself called Mr. Chu and Mr. Dinwoodie “prag- the right to appoint two representatives matic, objective” people who will bring but never did so in the past eight years. a regional and provincial perspective. Under the new system, mayors, on a sep“They will bring a fresh perspec- arate council, were only given the power tive because of their experience.” to decide whether property taxes could Fassbender, the former mayor of the city be raised by more than 3 per cent a year. of Langley and a TransLink mayors’ council Last year, they got two seats at the board chair, said the province got a clear message for the chair and vice-chair of the mayfrom the resounding “No” in last month’s ors’ council. Those seats are currently plebiscite asking voters to approve a new held by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robsales tax to pay for transit improvements. ertson and Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner.

Children wave Pakistani flag while dancing during the Pakistan Festival organized by Pakistan Canada association at Holland Park in Surrey on August 16.

Photo Chandra Bodalia

Police have no concerns about parents of baby found in hotel safe

he New York parents of the baby girl found locked inside a Niagara Falls, Ont., hotel safe and freed by a maintenance worker earlier this week have contacted police, who say they have no concerns about the child’s safety. After an interview with the parents, police say the child is safe and there will be no charges. “We can say now that there was no criminality involved in this,” Det.-Const. Amanda Sanders of Niagara Regional Police Service said. “We had a positive outcome here. The child is safe and happy. We have no concerns with the safety of a child.” Police said children were playing in the Howard Johnson hotel room on Tuesday when they decided the safe was a good spot to hide, but an older sibling didn’t know how to open it after the baby went

into it. The parents immediately got help from hotel staff members, adding that the child never lost consciousness in the safe and was constantly calling for her parents. Police say the family, from Brooklyn, had travelled from Niagara Falls with another family. They left Niagara Falls before police could speak to them about the incident. They were staying with friends in Markham, north of Toronto, when parents learned that police were looking for them. Police said family members had their cellphones turned off to avoid roaming charges and were not aware that police were searching for them. The family, whose first language is not English, underwent interviews Thursday night with the help of an interpreter, police said.

Edmonton Police Association to fight for embattled constable facing termination

he president of the Edmonton Po- In the most recent case, he faced four lice Association says he is “100-per- Police Act charges alleging that a writcent” in support of a veteran often statement and testimony he gave ficer found guilty this week of deceit. at a 2012 police disciplinary hearing Const. Elvin Toy was relieved of his du- were “false, misleading or inaccurate.” ties without pay Wednesday, two days On Monday, EPS Supt. Thomas Grue after learning he had been found guilty found Toy guilty on two counts of deceit he said were wilful rather than negligent. of two counts of deceit Two counts of disunder the Police Act. creditable conduct Sgt. Maurice Brodeur, were proven, but president of the police asstayed, because they sociation, said he expects were based on the that at a penalty hearing same evidence as scheduled for Sept. 29, the deceit charges. Chief Rod Knecht will The 2012 disciplinary recommend Toy’s emhearing stemmed ployment be terminated. from a 2009 Law En“Trust me, Sept. 29 they forcement Review will be terminating him,” Board hearing at Brodeur said Thursday. Sgt. Maurice Brodeur, president of the which three people The association plans Edmonton Police Association, said his to appeal Toy’s sus- organization will appeal the suspen- saw Toy looking at lawyer Tom Engel’s pension to the Ed- sion of Const. Elvin Toy. materials during a monton Police Combreak in proceedings. mission on grounds Toy was found it is too harsh. guilty of discreditable conduct in “Obviously, if they are suspend2012 for looking at Engel’s notes. ing without pay, they are of the belief that he will be terminated, He received a 50-hour suspension. and so we are preparing to fight Brodeur said he was with Toy on that — to appeal that — also,” Bro- Wednesday when the constable was deur said. “This is a battle for us.” told he was suspended without pay. Police spokesman Scott Pattison Toy had been prepared for what coming, Brodeur said. confirmed only that Toy has been was He said that while Toy’s difficulties with the relieved of his duties without pay. police department date back more than 10 “EPS protocol (is) not to comment at years, the constable has done “exemplary” length prior to conclusion of internal processes,” Pattison said via email. work in the fraud section the past few years. Toy has faced disciplinary “He comes to work, he puts forward 100-perhearings several times in cent effort, and he’s one of their experts in rehis Edmonton police career. gards to certain aspects of economic crime.

POLITICS

Saturday, August 22, 2015

i 21

Federal leaders focus on pledges to help Canadian families

The three main federal party leaders were were on the campaign trail Thursday where they focused on their party’s respective promises to help Canadian families. Stephen Harper said a re-elected Conservative government would increase tax relief for families adopting children, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair promoted his universal child-care plan which promises a spot for every Canadian child at $15 per day, and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau vowed to give Canadians caring for a seriously ill family member greater access to benefits. “We believe that there is no higher calling than that of raising a child,” Harper said during a campaign stop in Newmarket, Ont. “Nor can there be any greater reward.” Harper said the Conservatives would increase the value of the Adoption Expense Tax Credit, which is designed to defray the costs associ-

credit fully refundable. ated with adopting While both refundable children. and non-refundable ‘We recognize that tax credits reduce the adoption costs can amount of tax a perbe high and, in some son owes, a refundable cases, prohibitive for credit can result in a parents.’ - Stephen tax refund. “What this Harper, Conservameans is lower-income tive leader Thomas Mulcair Justin Trudeau Stephen Harper families who pay little Currently, the or no income tax will still be able to receive non-refundable tax credit allows families to the full assistance of the government to help claim 15 per cent of adoption costs to a maxcover the cost of adoption, ” Harper said. If imum of $15,000. the Conservatives are re-elected Oct. 19, the Harper vowed Thursday that a re-elected increase in the tax credit would be implegovernment would increase the maximum mented in 2016 and cost the government an eligible adoption expenses to $20,000. At 15 additional $4 million in foregone revenue. per cent, that works out to $3,000 per child. The Conservatives would also make the About 3,000 children are adopted every year

... also promises $250M for 2,500 new police officers

ly fees that average $1,215 for one infant, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. A comparable spot in Quebec can cost as low as $152 each month. Mulcair said he has spoken to boards of trade and chambers of commerce across the country, including the Surrey Board of Trade, about workers’ needs. “They realize that in helping families get affordable quality child care, that they as employers are also being given help,” he said. He said the lack of reliable child care is estimated to cost B.C. businesses more than $600 million per year, again citing the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Mulcair promises 110,000 daycare spaces in BC

DP Leader Tom Mulcair has stacked another building block in his party’s universal child-care platform, promising to create 110,000 daycare spaces in British Columbia, where parents pay some of the highest fees in the country. He said his plan will make it easier for families in a province where two out of three children don’t have access to regulated child care. “I’ve spoken to mothers forced to choose between their career and their children,” Mulcair said Thursday, during a campaign stop in the riding of Vancouver Granville. “It goes without saying that it’s women, first NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, right, greets a and foremost, that have young boy during a campaign stop in Surrey

DP Leader Tom Mulcair laid out his pledge to train 2,500 new ‘front-line’ police officers across the country during a campaign stop in Surrey, B.C., Wednesday afternoon. Mulcair said, if elected, his government would reintroduce the Police Officer Recruitment Fund, a program first established by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s government in 2008. Originally touted as part of Harper’s law and order agenda, the original $400-million fund expired in 2013 and was not renewed. Mulcair promised to work with the provinces, territories and First

in Canada, according to the Adoption Council of Canada. As well: Public adoption can cost up to $3,000. Adoption through private agencies can go as high as $20,000. International adoptions can cost as much as $30,000. NDP promotes $15 a day child-care plan NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was in Vancouver on Thursday where he promoted the NDP’s plan for universal child care. Mulcair promised to create 110,000 child-care spaces in B.C., where Vancouver parents pay some of the highest fees in the country. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, right, greets a young boy during a campaign stop in Surrey on Wednesday. He said his plan will make it easier for families in a province where two out of three children don’t have access to regulated child care.

Nations to inject $250 million over the next four years into the renewed fund, followed by $100 million annually. He said the new officers locations will be assigned based on policing needs and will be decided after consultations with leaders at various levels of government across the country. Surrey has been plagued by violence in recent years. Between March and June this year, there were 36 shootings in the city, Mulcair said. “Gang and street violence, gun violence, in Surrey have now reached epidemic levels.

to make that type of sacrifice.” Tiny children giggled and played with colourful toys or hugged their parents’ legs as Mulcair re-iterated his plan to create one million child-care spots at $15 per day. He was asked if he could guarantee a spot for every Canadian child: “That’s the goal.” The New Democrats first unveiled the policy plank last fall. In details released with Thursday’s announcement, the party said more than 50,000 spots would be made available in Vancouver alone. It said families in the city pay month-

22 i

CLASSIFIEDS

Saturday, August 22, 2015

C JOBS “Balwinder Singh Singhmaar, resident of 15095 92Ave, Surrey, BC V3R 5V8 has a vacancy for In-home Child caregiver for infant child and 9 years old son. $10.25/hrs, Full Time, 40 hrs/ week. Applicant must have high school with minimum of 1 year of related experience within last 3 years or 6 months of full time training in caregiving. Job Duties includes Supervise and care for children, prepare formulas and change diaper of infant, feeding, bathing, dressing, prepare children for rest period, escort child to school, prepare and serve nutritious meal and snacks, accompany to and from activities & appointments, light housekeeping, laundry, maintain safe environment at home, keep record of day-to-day activities, health and progress of children. Optional accomodation is available at no charge but this is not a condition of employment” -------------- August 13 2015 Jun13_155 Long Haul Truck Drivers Reqd. Sal:$23.00/hr, 40hr/wk, +1yr exp. & Class A 0r 1 license reqd., FT/PT Duties: Operate, drive straight or articulated trucks to transport goods & materials on local routes or over long distances.Plan trip logistics & obtain required documentation to transport goods. Perform pre-trip & post-trip

JOBS inspection of vehicle systems. Record cargo information, hours of service, distance travelled & fuel consumption.May perform emergency roadside repairs. Lang: English. Work at various location in Canada & USA. Contact: Balwinder from Metro Transport ltd.12772 82nd Ave, Surrey, V3W 3G1 E-mail your resume at metro_transport@yahoo.ca. ------------------------------Jun13_15

1 Optical Frame Fitter Reqd. Sal: $22.00/hr, 40hr/wk, +1yrs exp. or certification reqd., FT/ PT Duties: Obtain specifications for eyeglasses or contact lenses from a prescription. Assist clients in selecting eyeglasses. Grinding & polishing of lenses. Cut & edge lenses & fit lenses into frames. May supervise or manage activities of other opticians. Lang: English. Location: 12841 96 Avenue, Surrey, BC, V3V 6V9 Contact: Imran from Eye See 2020 Optical at opt_eyesee@yahoo.ca. ------------------------------Jun 06_15 Dosa Corner Restaurant Ltd in Vancouver Looking to hire an authentic south indian chef . This is a full time permanent position. $18.50/hr. 40hrs/week. Must have at least 3-5yrs experience in south indian cuisine & specialized knowledge in Dosas. Duties include Prepare & cook meals.kitchen

JOBS

management. Plan menus & quality. Orders food supplies. Mail your resume to selvamm164@ gmail.com or apply by person at DosaCorner Vancouver. 110-8248 Fraser Street. Vancouver. B.C.. V5X 3X6 Ph: 604-324-3672. -----------------------------------Seamstress required Seamstress (Tailor) needed Foam & Décor is looking for Full Time or Part Time Seamstress ( tailor) for drapery in Surrey. Salary will be provided @ 12 per hour. Please call 604-594-1882 Mayuri Indian foods inc is looking to hire an Ethnic Food Cook in Surrey BC. F/T & Perm.$17/hr. Must have at least 2-3 yrs experience in South Indian cuisine & specialized knowledge in Indian spicing. Duties: Prepare & Cook meals; Supervise Kitchen helpers; Plan menus; Ensure quality & determine food proportions; Monitor & order food supplies; Set up & oversee buffets; Manage kitchen operation. Mail resume or apply by person Mayuri indian cuisine , Unit 102A,12677 80th Ave., Surrey BC V3W 3A6 Fax: 604-572-3281 ------------------------------------English Classes for Adults Register for classes September 2-8 For more information,Visit: www. victoryesl.com Call: 604.755.7976 E-mail: victoryesl1@gmail.com ----------------------------

E JOBS

Cook Require Curry junction Restaurant in White Rock need cook immediately, This is a full time permanent position for a experienced person, Depending on experience salary will be upto $21 per hr. with other benefits. Call:604-729-6741 or 604-385-1558 ---------------------------Transworld Security located at 2nd Floor, 5050, Kingsway, Burnaby BC V5H 4H2 is looking for a Static Guard, Static Guard Supervisor, Mobile Supervisor and Field Manager. These are permanent full-time positions. Static Guard pay rate is $13.00 per hour plus vacation pay. You would be required to patrol industrial and commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows and gates. Answer alarms and investigate disturbances. Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors and guests. Call police or fire departments in cases of emergency. Circulate among visitors, patrons and employees to preserve order and protect property. Static Guard Supervisor pay rate is $14.00 per hour plus vacation pay. You would be required to oversee and supervise Static Guards. You will need to ensure the duties of the Static Guards you supervise are being completed and the client’s needs are be-

S Matrimonial Seeking a suitable match for Ravidasia Sikh Boy, 30 / 5’10”, Living in Canada, B.Tech. Please send your biodata and pics at aman.shine@gmail. com or contact +1 306 461 3131. ing met. Field Manager pay rate is $18.00 per hour plus vacation pay. You would be required to report to the Director of Operations and you are responsible for supporting, mentoring and supervising the security officers in the field. You will be required to manage the company’s field operations and resources after business hours. Mobile Supervisor pay rate is $18.00 per hour. You would be required to provide ongoing leadership, direction and training. You need to ensure all standing orders and scheduled daily activities are carried out for each shift. You will be required to discipline staff when necessary

To PLACE YOUR AD IN THE ASIAN STAR CLASSIFIEDS Section Please

Call: 604-591-5423

COMMUNITY MOSAIC Seniors Club provides free activities for immigrant seniors age 55 and above. We also provide workshops and individual support on topics relevant to seniors. We run activities such as walking clubs, English conversation classes and field trips. Come make new friends, practice English, get information and have fun! Volunteer language support available in many languages. For more information, or to register, call: Burnaby South: 5902 Kingsway || 604 438 8214 Basic computer classes, English conversation circles, Persian calligraphy, DIY class Burnaby North: 2055 Rosser Avenue || 604 292 3907 English conversation circles, Taichi class Vancouver: 1720 Grant St || 604 254 9626 ext 273 English conversation circles, basic computer classes For the Vancouver location, there is priority for Permanent Residents. -------------------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members and also non members, even family members to come and watch the Bollywood Movie - MORNING WALK - on big screen free on August 23rd 2015 ( Sunday ) at 1.30 pm to 4.00 pm at Shanti Niketan hall of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple 8321 - 140th street Surrey BC. A retired professor Anupam Kher experiences his morning walk changes his life forever, when he meets his once a classmate and friend Sharmila Tagore. A beautiful and heart tugging tale of two families who are so different from one another, yet connected through a special bond. Light snacks and tea will be served during intermission.Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 for further information. ------------------------------------Culture & Conversation Night August 27 MOSAIC Vancouver, 2nd floor, 1720 Grant St ‘ 604 254 9626 ext 488 Karen Legal Information Workshop: Employment Standards Learn about your rights in the workplace. Topics include: minimum wage, parental leave, working hours, statutory holidays, filing complaints as well as the rights of caregivers, employees and employers. There will be sample scenarios to explore. August 30 1–3pm Our Lady of Mercy Parish, 7455 10th Ave, Burnaby Joy 604 438 8214 ext 211 --------------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members and non members also to attend a Powerful Presentation - Exercise for a Healthy Life Style with a Focus on Healthy Heart by Monika Tsia Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Amy Sangha Physiotherapist both working for Fraser Health in Cardiac Rehablitation and Prevention Program at Jim Pattison Out Patient/ Surrey Hospital. They will explain Health related Fitness and will demonstrate you, how to perform

different types of Exercise for Healthy Life Style. Monika Tsia and Amy Sangha will answer all your questions about Health related Fitness. Tea and light snacks will be served after the Powerful Presentation. Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604- 507- 9945 for further details. ------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults/ Senior members and non members also to attend a Powerful Presentation - Exercise for a Healthy Life Style with a Focus on Healthy Heart by Monika Tsia Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Amy Sangha Physiotherapist both working for Fraser Health in Cardiac Rehablitation and Prevention Program at Jim Pattison Out Patient/ Surrey Hospital. They will explain Health related Fitness and will demonstrate you, how to perform different types of Exercise for Healthy Life Style. Monika Tsia and Amy Sangha will answer all your questions about Health related Fitness. Tea and

Saturday, August 22, 2015

i 23

Funeral Service for Bakshish Kaur Kang Bakshish Kaur Kang (August 7, 1918 - August 18, 2015) has passed away at the age of 97. Funeral Service will be held on August 22, Saturday at 9:00 AM at Riverside Funeral Home, 7410, Hopcott Road, Delta BC . Antim Ardaas will be held at Guru Nanak Niwas Gurdwara, No 5 Road, Richmond. For more information call Mohinder Kang, son at 604-721-6507 (cell) or 604-5996507 (home). light snacks will be served after the Powerful Presentation. Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604- 507- 9945 for further details. ------------------------------------Vancouver’s 42nd Chariot Festival of India 11:30 to 1:00pm Sunday, August 9, at 2nd Beach in Stanley park, Vancouver --------------------------------------------Free Community Workshops & Activities August 1–16 English & Multilingual August 1: Powell St Festival

August 8: Korean Cultural Heritage Festival August 27: Wood Boat Festival Meet up location will be confirmed upon registration 604 438 8214 --------------------------------------Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults, Senior members and also non members to come and attend Meditation for Anxieties ( Worries ) to retrieve your ‘’ Inner Child ‘’ so that you can become whole as a person and learn better self care, by Dr. Jaswant . S . Bhopal a Psychiatrist, Physician &

24 i

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Business / Finance

Economists welcome Harper promise to collect foreign real estate investment data

conomists and researchers are applauding Stephen Harper’s election campaign promise to collect data on foreign ownership in the real estate market, but they caution that more information is needed before any policies to restrict the practice are devised. “First get the information, then decide,” said CIBC economist Benjamin Tal. If re-elected, Harper’s Conservative government would spend half a million dollars next year collecting data on how many foreign investors are snatching up homes across the country — a topic of heated debate recently, especially in Vancouver, where the average price of a detached home is over one million dollars. During an event in that city this week, Harper suggested the Tories are ready to work with the provinces to ensure that the purchase of homes by foreign, non-resident investors doesn’t impact the “availabili-

ty and affordability of homes for Canadians.” Tal called the promise to collect more data “very positive,” saying that “regardless of who wins this election, this is something that we desperately need.” However, he said it’s unlikely that foreign investment — which tends to be focused on the high-end, luxury segment of the real estate market — is having a notable impact on the affordability of average homes. Data on the extent of foreign investment in Canadian real estate is “largely anecdotal” said Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren. “We’re currently very limited in what’s available,” she said. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the country’s leading mortgage insurer, has polled condominium property managers on the percentage of homes owned by investors whose permanent residence is overseas.

EI for self-employed costs $40M to administer, pays only $21M in benefits

Conservatives brought in maternity, parental leave for self-employed workers, but it wasn’t very popular

an campaign promises cost more than they’re worth? A document obtained by CBC News under Access to Information suggests Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have discovered the cost of delivering a new program that turns out to be less popular than expected. Administering maternity and parental leave for self-employed workers through the employment insurance system cost taxpayers double the value of the benefits actually paid out, according to a briefing book prepared for Employment Minister Pierre Poilievre. Extending EI’s special benefits to self-employed workers was part of the 2008 Conservative election platform, which made a deliberate pitch to female voters and young families with offers like that. The day he he announced it, Harper said his government had consulted with entrepre-

neurs and small business people and heard that it was “unfair” that they couldn’t take maternity leave the way salaried employees could. (In Quebec, benefits had been available for self-employed workers since 2006.) The program was voluntary. It was intended to be mostly self-financing through the EI premiums paid by those who wanted to join. In other words: a cheap platform plank. Half a million to join? Today, EI’s special benefits are available for not only maternity and parental leaves, but also leaves for sickness, compassionate care and care of critically ill children. (The vast majority of the claims are maternity and parental leaves for women.) Self-employed parents could opt in starting in 2010, with the first benefits payable in 2011. The government estimated between 300,000 and 500,000 would sign up. By 2014, officials were projecting 55,000 claims would be submitted annually.

Canadian firm patents ‘space elevator’

Canadian company wants to build a tower that would allow astronauts to take an elevator part way into orbit. The tower would be 20 times higher than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building that soars 830 meters (2,723 feet) into the sky. The idea of a “space elevator” was first proposed in 1895 by Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky after he saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and was revisited nearly a century later in a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. But technical barriers have always kept plans stuck at the conceptual stage. Last month, however, Thoth Technology was granted a US patent for its “space elevator,” which is modest in comparison but promises to significantly reduce the cost of space travel. The Pembroke, Ontario-based firm envisions building a 20-kilometer (12mile) high tower with a platform at the top “for launching payloads, tourism, observation, scientific research and communications.” The tower would be constructed of pressurized, stacked cells, according to the patent. “Elevator cars may ascend or descend on the outer surface of the elevator core structure or in a shaft on the interior of the elevator core structure.” Hauling pay-

loads on an elevator into near space would virtually eliminate atmospheric drag, and then launching them into space from the stratosphere would require less fuel. The company estimates this would reduce the cost of space flight by one third. In his 1979 novel “The Fountains of Paradise,” Clark proposed delivering payloads from the ground to outer space by using a huge cable anchored to an orbiting platform.

Business / Finance

CPP invests $170M in Malaysian mall, condo and office tower complex

he Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is venturing into the Malaysian real estate business for the first time. The CPPIB has purchased a 49 per cent stake worth about $170 million in a joint venture to invest is a mixeduse development in the capital of Kuala Lumpur with Malaysia’s Pavilion Group. They will develop Pavilion Damansara Heights, a project integrating corporate towers, luxury residences and a retail galleria in one of the most affluent sec-

tions of Kuala Lumpur less than 10 kilometres from the Petronas Twin Towers. Jimmy Phua, the managing director of CPPIB’s real estate investments in Asia, says the joint venture is a “great opportunity to work with a smart partner in a high-quality real estate asset that will provide attractive risk-adjusted returns over the long term.” The CPPIB invests funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan to pay current benefits. As of the end of June, the fund totalled $268.6 billion.

GM extends Oshawa plant life to 2017 with Equinox production

eneral Motors says it will extend the life of its Oshawa, Ont., assembly plant until at least 2017 by spending $12 million to produce Chevy Equinox SUVs there. GM Canada said in a release Wednesday that the move “will help to meet strong North American customer demand for the Chevrolet Equinox.” Currently, Equinoxes are built at the nearby CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont. Under a program already in place, the CAMI plant produces more Equinox chassis than the plant is currently able to paint and assemble, so the excess are shipped to the nearby Oshawa plant to be finished.

Wednesday’s announcement means that arrangement will be expanded. It also extends the life of the Oshawa plant by at least another year. Currently, Oshawa makes the Camaro but that assembly line is set to end in November. Other assembly lines that make versions of the Chevy Impala, the Buick Regal and the Cadillac XTS in Oshawa are set to be cancelled or moved elsewhere no later than 2016. GM currently employs about 9,000 people in Canada and the company has invested approximately $800 million in its Oshawa and St. Catharines, Ont., operations over the past three years. It recently announced a further $800 million investment in its CAMI operation in Ingersoll.

U.S. housing in broad-based recovery

he U.S. economy appears to have entered the third quarter on a firm footing, with several housing-related data reports signalling a robust recovery in the American housing market. U.S. housing starts in July surged to a near eight-year high, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday, thanks to a surge in the construction of single-family homes. In the first seven months of the year, U.S. housing starts were up more than 11 per cent over the same period last year. Economists say improving employment prospects — with almost 3 million jobs added in the past year

— and relatively low mortgage rates are giving Americans more confidence to buy. “Perhaps the most encouraging element of the [Commerce Department] report was the strength exhibited by the single family segment, with home builders breaking ground on nearly 50,000 more single family homes in July than at any prior point during the recovery,” said TD senior economist Michael Dolega in a note. “A continuation of improvement in this previously lagging segment would be a clear signal that confidence and incomes gains are finally manifesting in the housing market.”

Vietnam devalues dong currency, matching Beijing’s yuan move

ietnam allowed its currency to weaken by at least 1 per cent Wednesday following the devaluation of the Chinese yuan and the expectation of a possible U.S interest rate hike. The central bank-set reference rate weakened to 21,890 dong to the U.S. dollar and the trading band within which the dong can be traded was widened to 3 per cent from 2 per cent, the State Bank of Vietnam said. “Following the strong devaluation of the Chinese yuan, domestic market sentiment is very much concerned with the negative impact of a United States Federal Reserve interest rate increase,” the central bank said in a statement. It said the bank was widening the trading band — effectively allowing the dong to weaken more — “in order to proactively lead the market and pre-empt negative impacts from the possible Fed rate increase.” Fed rate hike looming Economist Tran Du Lich said the central bank’s decision

to widen the band to 3 per cent was necessary in the current situation. He said a possible Fed rate increase later this year would weaken the appeal of the dong even more. “Some 85 per cent of Vietnam’s transactions are in U.S. dollars,” he said by telephone from Ho Chi Minh City. “Any move by the Fed therefore will always have some impact on Vietnam’s currency exchange policy.” The VN Index, the country’s main stock exchange index, fell nearly 2 per cent by late morning Wednesday before bouncing back to close at 577.8 points, or 0.41 per cent lower. Last week, China sharply devalued the yuan, which the government said was part of reforms meant to make its exchange rate more market-oriented. But the decision accentuated worries over the health of the world’s second-largest economy following a slump in exports Two-way trade between Vietnam and China was $59 billion last year, in which Vietnam recorded a deficit of $29 billion.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

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Punjab refuses to hand over Gurdaspur terror probe to NIA

he Punjab Government has refused to hand over the investigation of the first-ever suspected Fidayeen attack in the state at Dinanagar on July 27 to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) saying it can handle the probe on its own. Sources in the state government said Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini met with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and conveyed the state’s decision to continue with their probe claiming the investigation had reached a “crucial stage” and handing it over now could hinder its pace. The NIA has been asking the MHA to allow it to take over the investigation of the Dinanagar attack so that a watertight case could be made to bring out the complicity of Pakistan in the attacks. The Punjab Government is under fire from Central security agencies over the evidence collected and shared with them, especially the GPS coordinates. Both Intelligence Bureau and Border Security Force (BSF)

PUNJAB

Saturday, August 22, 2015

have expressed their reservations over the “handling” of evidence by the Punjab Police — a charge strongly denied by Punjab Government. While the sources refused to divulge anything on the status of the Punjab Police’s investigation citing international ramifications, they insisted the probe was continuing in the right direction. “It was a conscious decision not to allow the Army take over the operation on the day of the attack. It was an attack on the police force and the police had to deal with it on its own,” said the source. A decision had been taken at the highest level that the investigation, too, should be handled by the Punjab Police, considering its experience in dealing with cross-border terror and its intelligence on the fringe elements that could have supported the three terrorists killed in Dinanagar, the source added. A senior official in the NIA said under the NIA Act, 2008, any state government which witnesses an attack, where the complicity of another country is suspected, should approach the Ministry

Congress to corner govt over cane growers’ dues

he Congress is set to take on the SAD-BJP government over the non-payment of dues to sugarcane farmers by sugar mills in the state. Two top Congress leaders, Capt Amarinder Singh and Partap Singh Bajwa, have chalked out separate protest programmes to seek early payment to cane farmers. While Bajwa will hold protests in front of sugar mills, starting from a mill in Phagwara, owned by SAD leader Jarnail Singh Wahid, from August 25, Captain will gherao of the Chief Minister’s Chandigarh residence on August 21. Both leaders have lambasted the SAD-BJP government for non-payment of adequate compensation to farmers whose crops were damaged during the unseasonal rains and floods. “It is unfortunate that the state has not been paying

the promised compensation of Rs3 lakh each to farm suicide victims. Potato farmers were forced to go for distress sale of their produce at a price as low as 60 paise per kg. Cotton growers are selling their crop at half the price. Poplar tree growers are facing hardships due to fall of price of the tree wood from Rs1,200 per quintal to Rs400 per quintal. The government is doing nothing to bail out the farmers,” alleged Bajwa, adding that the cane growers’ dues to the tune of Rs682 crore had not been paid. The Amarinder-led August 21 dharna in front of the CM’s residence will be attended by sitting and former MPs, MLAs, PCC and DCC presidents and other leaders. Captain said: “The sugarcane farmers have not been paid since December last. Ideally, they should be paid for their produce within

‘False’ drug case: Cong leader’s supporters gherao police complex

Relief paid to non-existent farmers for borewells that didn’t exist

he Gobindpura thermal plant land compensation scam, which got five revenue officials of Mansa chargesheeted in May, has got murkier. The issue of wrongly giving government jobs to outsiders had cropped up earlier. Now, many irregularities have emerged in the compensation paid for borewells and motor pumps. In documents — that are in the possession of The Tribune — many farmers who exist only on paper had got compensation up to Rs 2 lakh each for their motor pumps and borewell in their fields.

In connivance with officials of the revenue department at the village and tehsil level, a number of farmers — who had neither installed a motor pump and nor had they got a ‘kotha’ constructed over the pump in their fields that were acquired for the thermal plant — had become beneficiaries. Village Nambardar Babra Singh is a big contender in the list of compensation-getters for motor-pumps. Babra Singh got Rs 1.55 lakh for borewell and Rs 70,762 for the ‘kotha’ in his field and his brother Tehal Singh got Rs 1.42 lakh for the borewell that they allegedly never had in their fields.

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Congress supporters block entrance to the police complex

upporters of a Congress leader Sandeep Doodhwal today gheraoed the district police complex at Hanumangarh, 61 km from here, alleging that the police had falsely booked him under the NDPS Act. The police foiled their attempt to enter the office of the district police chief. They raised slogans against the administration. District Congress chief Surinder Dadri, former minister Vinod Chaudhary, Panchayat Samiti chief Jaidev Bhidasara, vice-chairman Amar Singh and Congress rural leader Gurdeep Singh Chahal slammed the police for booking Congress leader Sandeep Doodhwal under the NDPS Act under a conspiracy allegedly hatched by some BJP leaders. They said Sandeep Doodhwal was a whistleblower as he had exposed the alleged siphoning off wheat and other essential commodities supplied to

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Police shoot at two Sangrur brothers in mistaken identity

n an alleged mistaken identity of a car, a police team of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA)staff, Bahadur Singh Wala, shot at two youths, injuring them seriously. Mistaking them to be criminals on the run, the police fired at the two brothers, belonging to Sherpur town of Sangrur district (Punjab), after a franwith this coupon - at Katron viltic chase on Tuesday night lage, aroundexpires 12 kmDec. from 31 Dhuri (Sangrur). The CIA staff was initially chasing a white Ford Figo, which was reportedly being driven by Abdul Raashid alias Ghudda from Malerkotla with occupants Feroze, Irfan and Amarjit Raiya. Malerkotla Deputy Superintendent of Police William Jeji said the four were history-sheeters and around 10 cases were registered against them in Patiala, Barnala, Ludhiana, Malerkotla and Mohali. After receiving a tip-off, the police had started chasing them but the four managed to give the police a slip. Thereafter, the po-

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fair price shops under the Public Distribution System in Hanumangarh district. They alleged that some ‘miscreants’ had kept a small quantity of opium in Sandeep’s jeep which he had parked in the local court complex on August 7. He went to the court for a hearing in connection with the “wheat siphoning off ” case. Station House Officer Ranveer Singh had seized opium from Sandeep’s jeep after receiving an anonymous phone call. On the same day, the Congress had demanded custodial questioning of the caller to ascertain the facts but the police ignored it, they said. Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav and his deputies negotiated with the protesters and sought a month to solve the case. But the protesters gave them a week to book the suspected conspirator and warned the police to step up their stir if they failed to act.

lice reportedly mistook another white Ford Figo of two brothers — Satinder Kumar (28) and Sunil Kumar (32) — to be the one being used by the alleged criminals. The two brothers drove at high speed after the police, chasing them in a Swift, fired shots at their car. As the two cars collided, Figo overturned and the police reportedly fired shots at the duo. Satinder was injured in the shoulder and feet, while Sunil received a bullet injury in the head. The police claimed that the four “criminals” had earlier injured a Punjab home guard at Faridpur village, near Malerkotla, where the CIA team had laid a naka to capture them. The police stopped firing after some local residents, who were organising a “langar” on road, reached the spot. The police team was gheraoed by villagers for more than an hour and was allowed to leave only after senior police officers assured that action would be taken against the guilty.

INDIA

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Saturday, August 22, 2015

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Rajiv Gandhi remembered

president Sonia Gandhi, along with daughter Priyanka Vadra, granddaughter Miraya Vadra, son-in-law Robert Vadra and son Rahul Gandhi, pays tribute to her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Veer Bhumi on the occasion of his 71st birth anniversary in New Delhi on Thursday. The Gandhi family, hundreds of Congress workers and leaders gathered at Vir Bhumi on Thursday to pay tribute to former Prime

Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 71st birth an n i v e r s ar y Prime Minster Narendra Modi tweeted: “I pay my tributes to India’s former PM Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary” President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally visited Vir Bhumi The event was organized by the All India Congress Committee.

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US to develop Allahabad as smart city

he US will help Uttar Pradesh develop Allahabad as a ‘smart city’, said US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma. During a meeting with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the envoy said a US delegation would soon hold detailed discussion with officials of the state government regarding this. Seeking information about key sectors where US industrialists could invest in Uttar Pradesh, Verma underlined the desire to strengthen bilateral relations with

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India, especially with Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister shared the areas where there were abundant investment potential and investment-friendly policies in place like agriculture, agro-processing, solid waste management and infrastructure development. The US ambassador lauded the Uttar Pradesh government for initiating ambitious infrastructure projects like the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Lucknow Metro Rail.

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BJP Govt making ‘fool of itself’ in its dealing with Pakistan - Congress Amidst the Kashmiri separatists issue threatening to jeopardise the India-Pakistan NSA-level talks, the Congress on Friday slammed the government over its policy with regard to Pakistan, saying it has made a “joke of itself ” and “failed” to send a clear message despite provocations. The party also charged that the government’s “flip-flop diplomacy is hurting the country dearly”

even as India made it clear to Pakistan that it should not go ahead with the meeting here of its NSA Sartaz Aziz with Kashmiri separatists when he comes to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. Former Union minister and Congress leader Manish Tewari said the BJP-led NDA government is making a “joke of itself ” as regards to its engagement with Pakistan.

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Saturday, August 22, 2015

Police find $31m inside home

hen anti-corruption police in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal raided a house belonging to a municipal engineer in the city of Howrah on Friday evening, little did they realise they would stumble upon the largest amount of of cash they had ever seen. Police raided Pronab Adhikary’s house after receiving complaints from real estate developers that he had been demanding bribes for clearing building plans. His wife has denied the allegations,

New Chief of Staff for Western Command

and said her husband was being framed. Mr Adhikary’s mid-level job as an engineer in the local government-run municipality involved clearing building construction plans. By the end of the raid, they had recovered cash worth $31m (£20m) from the 15-year-old, six-room, two-storey house in the suburb of Howrah, on the outskirts of the capital, Calcutta. Corruption is rife in real estate in India, where developers and officials often connive in clearing illegal building plans in return for bribes. Also, cash - also called

Are India-Pakistan talks jinxed? Sunday’s planned talks between the security advisers of India and Pakistan have hit the buffers over the disputed Kashmir region. Analyst Harsh V Pant on what bedevils discussions between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Strange are the ways of talks between India and Pakistan. Days before Sunday’s expected meeting between the security advisers of the countries, it appears both sides are provoking one another to cancel the talks. Many in India believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government appears to have recognised from the very beginning that a quest for durable peace with Pakistan is a non-starter. All that matters is the management of a neighbour that is more often than

not viewed as a nuisance by Delhi. For India, the real challenge is China which has pledged $46bn (£30.7bn) worth of investment in Pakistan and recently at a meeting of the UN Sanctions Committee, blocked India’s move to seek action against Pakistan for releasing the suspected mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. Pragmatist Lakhvi was released on bail from a Pakistani jail in April, a development that India described as “unfortunate and disappointing”. However, Mr Modi is a pragmatist and his agenda of enhancing regional cooperation in South Asia will remain unfulfilled without a thaw in India-Pakistan tensions.

Truck driver who helped terrorist arrested The NIA today arrested the truck driver who allegedly ferried Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Mohammed Yakub Naved to Jammu on two occasions, including on August 4, a day before he and his accomplice ambushed a BSF bus, killing two of its personnel. The driver, identified as Khursheed Ahmed, alias ‘Surya’, said to be an overground operative of the banned LeT, is a resident of Awantipura. NIA sources said Khursheed had taken Naved and his accomplice Mohammed Noman, alias Momin, to Jammu on July 20 on a reconnaissance mission during which the timings of convoys of the BSF and the Army were marked. The militants initially wanted to attack either of the convoys then and but decided against it

SOUTH ASIA

Thailand claims ‘lot of progress’ in Hindu temple blast probe BANGKOK: Thailand on Friday claimed to have made “a lot of progress” in its probe into the blast in the Brahma temple here and suspected that the bomber had a number of “accomplices” in the country’s worst attack that had killed 20 people. It also tripled the award for information leading to the arrest of the bomber here to 3 million baht (USD 85,000). Amid tight security, religious prayers, known as merit- making rites, were held this morning at the Erawan Brahma temple in the memory of the twenty people killed on Monday. Speaking after the memorial, national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said the bomb was an attempt to create fear and uncertainty in the capital. “The aim is to discredit the govern-

ment and create a climate of fear to deter tourists,” Somyot told reporters. “There’s a lot of progress (in the case), but I can’t disclose everything,” he said. Somyot also said that the main suspect who was captured on CCTV placing a backpack under a bench at the temple minutes before the explosion must have had “accomplices supporting the attack”. A police spokesman on Thursday also hinted that investigators are looking at whether a private dispute could be behind the blast, media reports said. Also, two suspects who attracted suspicion after being seen on CCTV footage near the main suspect at the temple were ruled out as accomplices. Police are now also investigating a woman dressed in black and seen in CCTV footage at the time of the blast.

college. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Lt General Gurdeep Singh was commissioned into the Kumaon Regiment in June 1977. He has held various command, staff and instructional appointments in Western, Eastern and Northern Commands.

t General Gurdeep Singh has been appointed as the Chief of Staff, Western Command, Chandimandir. Prior to this appointment, he was Commandant, Infantry School, Mhow. He takes over from Lt General Venugopal Menon, who moves over as Commandant of an Engineers training

at the last minute and were ferried back to the Kashmir Valley, officials said. Khursheed, 35, has already served a prison term of two-anda-half years for alleged drugs smuggling and cases are registered against him for involvement in stone-pelting incidents in 2010 and 2011, they said. Information about Khursheed was given by Naved, who is in Srinagar in NIA custody. The arrest was made by the NIA after receiving the go-ahead from the anti-terror agency’s chief Sharad Kumar, who was here to review the progress of the case. The NIA was handed over the Udhampur case on August 7, two days after Naved and Momin attacked a BSF convoy killing two personnel. Momin was killed in retaliatory fire.

Wickremesinghe sworn in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister

anil Wickremesinghe was sworn in on Friday as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister after winning a general election, and agreed with President Maithripala Sirisena’s party to form a national unity government to push ahead with reforms. Wickremesinghe, 66, took the oath of office in a Buddhist ceremony in the presence of Sirisena, cementing an alliance between the two that successfully fought off a comeback bid by ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa. His centre-right United National Party (UNP), which won Monday’s poll but fell seven seats short of an outright majority, will team up with Sirisena loyalists

in the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP). “A broad-based consensus at political level will create the kind of political stability and policy stability that we need,” said Sirimal Abeyratne, a professor attached to Colombo University’s Economics Department. The formation of the broad coalition will put Sirisena into a position to advance reforms begun when he quit Rajapaksa’s government and in January defeated the nationalist strongman’s bid to win an unprecedented third term as president. These include changes to the constitution to make the government more open and accountable on the Indian Ocean island of 21 million, and to simplify its complex election rules.

NRI

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helps debt-ridden Indian prisoners’ release

Dubai-based Indian businessman has come forward to provide financial assistance to help the release of debt-ridden Indian prisoners who have been imprisoned for unpaid debts. Firoz Merchant, Founder and Chairman of Pure Gold Jewellers, joined a charitable drive by the Consulate General of India (CGI) Dubai to provide relief to imprisoned Indians who have appealed for help on humanitarian grounds. As part of the drive, five prisoners have been currently released from Merchant’s financial assistance. An amount of over $20,000 was donated to settle the debts of these prisoners. “We have always supported CGI initiatives to help the underprivileged and now we have extended our help to those in prison for unpaid debts. The release of these five prisoners is the first step,” Merchant said. “Many Indians come to the UAE with big dreams and they prosper in this land but there are others who get trapped in financial crisis due to unfortunate circumstances often out of their control,” he said.

FIJI

64 people face sedition charge

ix more p e o ple have been charged with one count each of sedition and one count each of urging political violence by Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde. The six, Salimoni Serau, Penasio Manasa Luqa, Joseva Caucau, Isireli Serewai, Rokoua Duatini and Filimoni Naloga, were produced at the Tavua Magistrates Court on Frida and remanded in custody. A total of 64 people are facing sedition charges. “The defence counsel requested bail but was informed by the court to make a formal application. The State asked for all six to be remanded in custody due to the seriousness of the charges and continuing police investigations into the use of firearms,” the Director of Public Prosecutions said yesterday. The matter has been adjourned to August 26, 2015 to be called at the Rakiraki Magistrates Court.

$20 million investment

rench banking chain BRED Bank Group has invested an additional $20million in capital for its establishment in Fiji. This was announced by Bred Bank Group CEO Olivier Klein during the opening of the bank’s branch in Nadi on Wednesday night. According to Klein, the capital increase would further strengthen the financial structure of the bank and enable it to pursue its strategy over the long run. “This clearly shows our commitment and confidence in our teams and in the Fijian market,” he said. Expansion in Fiji is also a key goal for the bank. Klein said the opening of the latest branch in Nadi was a sign of the bank’s continued commitment to be a partner in the economic and financial development of banking services in the Fijian market.

High Court sends rapist to jail for eight years

Saturday, August 22, 2015 i 31

man was sentenced to eight years in prison last week for raping a woman while she slept during a drinking party back in November 2011. Vatemo Ravouvou was handed his sentence by Justice Thushara Rajasinghe in the High Court in Lautoka. Ravouvou was unanimously found guilty of the offence by the three assessors. “The act of rape is the worst form of sexual offence, which not only physically degrades a human being but also emotionally infringes someone’s life severely,” said Justice Rajasinghe. He said this type of offence required an active judicial intervention in order to demonstrate that such offences were condemned and denounced by civilised society without any reservation. While arriving at the sentence, Justice Rajasinghe considered the fact that Ravouvou was a farmer supporting his parent and daughter and his first offender status. Ravouvou will be eligible for parole after five years in prison.

Meanwhile sixteen people from the Nadroga Navosa province also appeared at the Nadi Magistrates Court yesterday charged with one count of sedition and one count of inciting communal antagonism. Charged are Ratu Inoke Tasere, Jimi Koroibete, Seru Kunalagi, Adi Cuvu Gavidi Atama, Ulaiyasi Rabua, Peniasi Naqau, Semi Tanikili, Ratu Osea Bolawaqatabu, Ratu Tevita Makutu, Mosese Nacavi, Eroni Rikoriko, Alifereti Nukunivou, Alifereti Gonewai, Raicula Rokovou, Adi Vasemaca Gonewai and Jocama Ratulevu. The group is alleged to have engaged in a series of meetings between October 10, 2014 and November 4, 2014 and is alleged to have signed a document titled the establishment of the Nadroga Navosa Christian State. The group appeared before Magistrate Seromi Turaga and applied for bail.

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Bainimarama claims rebels planned a separate state in Western Fiji

promises because if you break peaking in Tavua Vorege the law, you will be punished. Bainimarama said there “It is a lie to say that the iTaukei way was no need to be alarmed of life in Fiji is threatened. It is protectfollowing the arrest of suspects ed by the Constitution for all time.” who were charged with sedition. He said it was also lie to say that “We have the means to deal Christianity was under threat bewith any challenge to the authorcause religious freedom was also ity of the State and we intend to Prime Minister protected by the Constitution. do so with any legal means availVoreqe “Theirs is the mind-set of the past, able to us,” Mr Bainimarama said. Bainimarama. the misguided thinking that led to the “There will be no so-called independent state established in Fiji. events of 1987 and 2000 and tore our nation apart. “That thinking was wrong then and it is “Anyone who swears an illegal oath will face the full force of the law. Anyone who encourages wrong now.” The Prime Minister also urged Fipolitical violence will face the full force of the law jians to stand up against those who were causand this needs to be understood by every Fijian.” ing instability. “We will not and should not tolerate the He said people should not be swayed by those who sought to divide. kind of instability certain people are current“Do not listen to their lies and false ly trying to provoke.

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32 i Saturday, August 22, 2015

ID cards sold to millitants for $100 each

KARACHI: Pakistani authorities are investigating officials at the national identity database for allegedly issuing ID cards to militants, including some linked to al-Qaida, in return for bribes as small as $100. The country’s main spy service, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) uncovered the alleged corrupt practices at the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) during ongoing anti-terrorism operations, according to official documents. “It has been found that many NADRA officials are involved in facilitating miscreants and terrorists in obtaining fake identity,” said ISI correspondence seen by AFP. Adnan El Shukrijumah, a senior al-Qaida leader wanted by the US over a 2009 plot to attack the New York subway system, was among those who obtained a Pakistani ID card by bribing officials, the documents said. Shukrijumah, who was born in Saudi Arabia and spent some years in the United States, was killed in December 2014 during an army operation

Wary Nawaz Sharif dances to Pak army tune on NSA-level talks

aking independent foreign policy decision on ties with India has always proved difficult for Pakistan’s civilian leadership. Knowing the repercussions of independent decisions, specifically in the context of the 1999 Lahore Declaration, Nawaz Sharif is extra careful this time. His aides say he wants the military leadership on board before attempting to mend ties with India. “Nawaz Sharif knows that improving ties with India isn’t possible without the military’s support and endorsement,” a Sharif aide told TOI. So, while finalizing strategy for the NSA talks the Pak PM, his aides and his kitchen cabinet held extensive discussions with the army and ISI chiefs.

Pakistan cancels Commonwealth meeting over Kashmir feud

akistan has cancelled a conference of lawmakers from Commonwealth countries after a feud with India over Kashmir. India demanded that lawmakers from Kashmir be included at the event, Pakistan National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq said. More than 50 countries were expected to participate at the conference in Islamabad on 30 September. Kashmir, claimed by both countries in its entirety, has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years. Pakistan does not recognise the Indian state government in Kashmir, and had not invited the speaker of the assembly government. The South Asian rivals have fought two wars over the region. A ceasefire agreed

in 2003 remains in place, but the neighbours often accuse each other of violating it. Thursday’s decision to call off the Commonwealth parliamentary conference came as security advisers from Pakistan and India - Sartaj Aziz and Ajit Doval - prepared to meet in Delhi on Sunday to discuss a range of issues aimed at easing tensions. On Thursday, Indian authorities detained and later released two Kashmiri separatist leaders, while a third remained under house arrest. Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying he expects India will allow national security advisor Sartaj Aziz to meet with the Kashmiri leaders during his visit to Delhi.

Pakistan rejects India’s ‘advice’, to go ahead with Hurriyat meeting

oughening its stance, Pakistan on Friday rejected India’s “advice” not to hold a meeting between its NSA Sartaj Aziz and Hurriyat leaders in New Delhi, saying it will not “depart from an established practice” of interacting with them. This was conveyed to Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghavan here by Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who also made it clear that any pre-conditions for the talks between Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval were not acceptable to Pakistan. “Pakistani leadership has always interacted with the Kashmir/Hurriyat leadership, during their visits to India. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from this established past practice,” a Pakistan Foreign Office statement said, adding the decision was taken after Foreign Office consolations. Significantly, Pakistan’s reaction to Indian advice came after

a crucial meeting of civilian and military leadership here chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Earlier in the day, the External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson in New Delhi said Pakistan has been advised yesterday that it would not be appropriate for Aziz to meet with Hurriyat representatives. “Responding to the ‘advice’ of Government of India, conveyed by their High Commissioner that Sartaj Aziz may not meet the Hurriyat leaders during his forthcoming visit to India, the Foreign Secretary conveyed to the Indian High Commissioner that it would not be possible for Pakistan to accept this advice,” the statement added. “The Hurriyat leaders are true representatives of the Kashmiri people of the Indian occupied Kashmir. Pakistan regards them as genuine stakeholders in the efforts to find a lasting solution of the Kashmir Dispute,” it said.

Malala celebrates string of top GCSEs

mong those celebrating exam success is girls’ education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai (pictured) who gained a string of As and A*s in her GCSEs. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, took to Twitter to list Malala’s grades which include A*s in GCSE and iGCSE maths. “My wife Toor Pekai and I are proud of Malala getting 6A*s and 4As. #education for every child,” wrote Mr Yousafzai. Malala was shot by the Taliban after writing a diary about life under their rule in North-West Pakistan. Last year, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The 18-year-old, who now attends Edgbaston High School in Birmingham, achieved particularly well in the sciences, with top A* grades in biology, chemistry and physics - as well as in religious studies. She also scored As in history, geography, English language and English literature. Malala first came to public attention through her anonymous diary, published on the BBC’s Urdu website, which chronicled her desire to remain in education and for girls to have the chance of an education. At the time, scores of girls’ schools were being destroyed by militants in the Swat valley where she lived. She survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in October 2012 and was eventually flown to the UK for treatment and rehabilitation.

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Traffic deaths up 14% in U.S. as cheap gasoline spurs more driving

raffic deaths were up 14 per cent nationally in the first six months of this year and injuries were up by a third, according to data gathered by the National Safety Council. An improved economy and low gas prices have encouraged Americans to put a record number of miles on the road, said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president of the council. But, she said, that’s not the whole explanation for the increase in deaths and injuries. All told, nearly 19,000 people across the country lost their lives in traffic accidents through June, and the tally doesn’t include two of the historically highest months for traffic deaths, July and August, said the council, a non-profit organization created by Congress to promote safety. If the trend continues, traffic deaths this year could exceed 40,000 for the first time since 2007, when there were nearly 44,000 deaths, Hersman said in an interview. The increases began in the last quarter of 2014 and have been recorded consistently through each month of this year, Hersman said. ‘The wrong direction’ “As a safety professional, it’s not just disappointing but heartbreaking to see the numbers trending in the wrong direction,” she said. The nation’s driving steadily increased for 15 consecutive months through May, the Transportation Department said in July. Americans

drove 1.26 trillion miles in the first five months of 2015, passing the previous record, 1.23 trillion, set in May 2007. However, the cumulative increase in vehicle mileage this year through May is 3.4 per cent, far less than the 14 per cent increase in deaths, Hersman noted. Also, the estimated annual mileage death rate so far this year is 1.3 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles travelled, up from the preliminary 2014 rate of 1.2 deaths. Other safety trends are at play as well. In recent decades, deaths due to crashes involving drunken driving have dropped from about 50 per cent of fatalities to about 30 per cent, she said. Teen driving deaths are also down, and seatbelt use is up. And cars have more safety technology than ever, although drivers sometimes don’t use it or don’t know how to use it, Hersman said. On the other hand, a growing number of states are raising speed limits, and everywhere drivers are distracted by cellphone calls and text messages. The council estimated in a report this spring that a quarter of all crashes involve cellphone use. Besides fatal crashes, that includes injury-only and property damage-only crashes. “For many years people have said, ‘If distraction is such a big issue, why don’t we see an increase in fatal crash numbers?’ Well, we’re seeing increasing fatal crashes numbers, but I think it’s complicated to tease out what that is due to,” Hersman said.

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Tesla could offer driverless car sharing by 2018, Morgan Stanley says

n analyst with Morgan Stanley says the stock price of electric car maker Tesla could soon be worth almost twice as much as it is now largely because of the potential of self-driving cars that consumers can rent on demand, like Uber. In a research note to clients Monday, Adam Jonas raised his target price for Tesla shares to $465 US. That’s more that 66 per cent above his old target of $280 and well above the $243 level the stock closed at on Friday. Ride-sharing app? Jonas’ main reason for optimism is a business segment that the company doesn’t even do yet, which is a ride-sharing service using driverless cars. Worldwide, humans drive more than 16 trillion kilometres every year, most of which is done in cars made by “companies practicing a 100-year-old business model of human-driven, privately owned, internal-combustion vehicles,” Jonas said. “This is fundamentally changing.” Tesla is a leader in the electric car world, but sells just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of cars that major gasoline-powered players like GM, Toyota and Volkswagen sell every year. While the company says it

is on track to selling a million cars a year within the next decade, it is still a far cry off from the leaders. Self-driving cars soon But Tesla has an advantage in a business area it hasn’t even entered into yet, Jonas says, which is self-driving cars in an on-demand mobility service. Jonas’ idea would see a new business that works a bit like ride-sharing app Uber, but entirely populated by self-driving Teslas. He calls the division “Tesla Mobility” and unlike conventional cars, Teslas today already have a leg-up in autonomous driving because their vehicles are fully electric, wirelessly connected to each other and can “learn” on the go via software updates. “No other established automaker can claim this today,” he said, which makes it a lot easier for the company to roll out a self-driving vehicle than for other companies to do so. Jonas expects the entire car business to shift away from the current owner-operator model and toward an autonomous future in which people are driven around by robots in vehicles they can access only when they need them.

2015 Chrysler 200 sedans subject to recall

Recall affects over 7,000 sold in Canada

iat Chrysler is recalling 85,816 Chrysler 200 sedans globally because of an electrical problem that could cause the vehicles to stall. The recall affects certain 2015 Chrysler 200 midsize cars. Almost all were sold in the U.S., but the recall also covers 7,115 cars in Canada, 848 in Mexico and 19 outside North America. Fiat Chrysler says some electrical con-

nectors were damaged when a supplier was conducting post-production tests. The problem could cause the engine to stall or shift the gear unexpectedly to neutral. Fiat Chrysler says it’s unaware of any accidents or injuries related to the recall. Customers will be notified and dealers will repair the vehicles for free.

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