The Asian Star March 23 2019

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Vol 19 - Issue 8

T

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Tel:604-591-5423

Humboldt killer driver jailed 8 years staggering

he truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash a year ago was sentenced to eight years in prison when he appeared in a Melfort, Sask., court Friday. Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 30, pleaded guilty in January to 29 counts of dangerous driving causing death or bodily injury. On April 6, 2018, Sidhu’s semi-trailer truck failed to stop at a highway intersection, killing 16 people and injuring 13 on the bus carrying the Broncos junior hockey team and others en route to a playoff game. Judge Inez Cardinal empathized with the victims’ families as she read out her sentencing decision. “Most find the pain unbearable,� she said. “Families have been torn apart.�

Sidhu received a sentence of eight years for each fatality and five years for each person injured, to be served concurrently (at the same time). Cardinal said no case in Canada resembles this one due to the

Deficit to rise as Liberal budget unveils$22.8-billion in new spending aimed at seniors, young Canadians The Trudeau government’s fourth budget unveiled $22.8-billion in new spending across more than a hundred different areas as the Liberals aim to win the support of key voters ahead of the fall election campaign. In his final budget before an expected vote in October, Finance Minister Bill Morneau stressed the need for government “investments� over reducing the deficit. Before Tuesday’s budget, stronger tax revenue had Ottawa on track to substantially reduce the federal deficit over the short term, but the government chose instead to announce billions in new spending Continued on page 6

Former South Asian MLA tells RCMP how Jason Kenney’s team cast fake votes through Illegal ‘Identity Fraud’ scheme One of Jason Kenney’s former United Conservative Party MLAs is alleging to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that Kenney’s leadership team cast “thousands� of fake votes using party memberships registered with “fraudulent e-mail addresses� that were hosted on a server located “somewhere offshore.� In a letter newly obtained by PressProgress, independent MLA Prab Gill tells the commanding officer of the RCMP in Alberta that he believes “election laws may have been broken and that the criminal code was broken by members Continued on page 6

number of dead and injured. She said she knows this has been difficult, but hopes Sidhu and the victims’ loved ones can now heal. The truck driver who caused the Humboldt Broncos bus crash a year ago will learn his fate this morning during a sentencing hearing in Melfort, Sask. Opinions among victims’ families remain mixed. Some are calling for forgiveness, while others want Jaskirat Singh Sidhu to spend as many years as possible in prison. “I’m sure the weight of the world is on him,� Mark Dahlgren, whose son Kaleb was injured in the crash, said.

It has been nearly a year since Sidhu failed to stop at an intersection, killing 16 people Continued on page 7

Pakistan

Poor Nation, Rich Army

O

n March 23, Pakistan will celebrate its Republic Day with the same “zeal and fervor� as it does every year.

As usual, the Pakistani military will come out in full force, with joint parades by the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy.

The ostentatious marches will include a display of Pakistan’s nuclear-capable missile system, an air show, and gun salutes to local and international dignitaries present for the occasion.

The extravaganza is always broadcast live on local television channels, set to the fanfare of new propaganda songs produced especially for the event by the military’s media wing. It is rare for the public to question these theatrics—but doing so is more urgent than ever.

Pakistan is going through some serious financial turmoil.

Over the last few months, Prime Minister Imran Khan has crisscrossed the globe in search of aid to shore up the economy. Before one recent trip, he even acknowledged the country’s desperation for foreign money. Meanwhile, the country’s finance minister, Asad Umar, has been busy negotiating a new bailout package with the International Monetary Fund—Pakistan has been in the care of the IMF for 22 years out of the last Continued on page 6

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Can you help identify this suspect wanted in Surrey sexual assault RCMP are seeking help from the public to identify a suspect in a sexual assault which occurred in the Newton area on March 13. Police say the incident happened at approximately 9:30 p.m. PT. It began when a man allegedly grabbed a woman from behind and groped her when she was walking northbound on 124th Street near 72nd Avenue. According to police, the woman was able to get away from the man, but he followed her home and attempted to assault her again. The female managed to get inside her residence without being assaulted a second time. “Incidents like this are not only upsetting for the victim, but also for the community,” said Cpl. Elenore Sturko in a statement. The man was last seen heading southbound on 124th Street. He is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, of unknown ethnicity, with a skinny build and a short black beard. He was wearing a black baseball hat and a long black jacket with a cream coloured shirt underneath.

Surrey RCMP Special Victims Unit is asking anyone with information to come forward.

Witnesses with information are asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477

Tel:604-591-5423

Late-season influenza hits BC Health officials say British Columbia is experiencing a late-season surge of flu cases.

The latest flu bulletin from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says there’s been an unusual wave of new cases of the influenza A strain since early March, a strain mostly affecting older adults. The number of patients has jumped 50 per cent during the most recent three-week reporting period B.C. yet to hit peak flu, so be vigilant over holiday season “What we do know is that there is increased activity, there’s an increased number of positive influenza tests that we are getting,” said Vancouver Coastal medical health officer Dr. Reka Gustafson.

“We also are getting some late outbreaks of

influenza illness in long-term care facilities.”

This flu season previously peaked near the end of 2018 before winding down. The flu bulletin published March 21 says it’s too soon to know whether the second wave has peaked. It’s not too late to get the flu shot, health authority says, as virus hits B.C. hard Gustafson says acute care hospitals are facing some increased pressure, but that isn’t necessarily related to new flu cases.

“Influenza infection can make you more susceptible to what we call bacterial superinfections,” she said. “We’re seeing a little bit of a surge of pneumococcal pneumonia which is the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia.”

4 Peter Best

OPINION

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Ontario court ruling drives a wedge between Canadians

In December 2018, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its Restoule decision, which renders Canada and Ontario equally liable to pay the 21 Robinson Treaties bands their “fair” share of all Crown revenue received from sales, leases and licenses, less expenses, derived from treaties-surrendered lands retroactive to 1850. The land covers basically the entire Lakes Huron and Superior watershed. The court concluded that Canada and Ontario acted dishonourably by in effect unknowingly short-changing the bands of entitlements owed to them. The bands’ court winnings will be in addition to the already substantial non-treaty payments and benefits regularly paid by Canadian taxpayers to them.

This ruling is ill-founded.

The 1850 treaties clearly state that that the bands “freely and voluntarily” cede to the Crown all treaties lands. The treaties neither grant the bands a share of proceeds of the subsequent Crown disposition of lands nor of the resources within them. There was no evidence before the court that since the

treaties were signed, either the Crown or the bands acted as though the treaties were more than what they were - one-time agreements - providing, in exchange for the full and final surrender of the lands, a fixed annual annuity (set at $4 per year in 1875), lands for reserves, and the right to hunt and fish year-round on the surrendered lands. Relying upon recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions very favourable to Indigenous interests, the bands argued that a proper re-interpretation of the long-ago treaties was that they had only agreed to “share” the lands. They sought a retroactive share of Crown revenues from them. The court agreed. The court found that, according to the “Anishinaabe perspective and worldview,” the bands thought they were entering into a nation to nation “alliance” - “a reciprocal relationship between independent entities” involving “shared spaces and resources.” Accordingly, as the court ruled, the surrender of the treaties lands in 1850 was really a “gift” to the Crown, given with the “cultural expectation of equal reciprocity” - the sharing of the future proceeds

of the Crown development of the lands.

The court further ruled that, properly reinterpreted, the treaties were not “one time agreements” after all. They were actually “future oriented agreements situated within an ongoing relationship,” which relationship needed to be “reviewed” and “renewed” as circumstances change. The total absence of complaints by the bands about not getting their “fair share of the lands” since 1850 should not be held against them, the court held, because of the “honour of the Crown” doctrine.

It defies common sense and historical knowledge to think that in the midst of all the cultural mixing and borrowing that took place between Europeans and Indigenous in the 200year period before 1850 that the Indian band signatories did not understand the treaties in the same way the Crown did. And the court’s decision ignored and overturned over 150 years of conduct on the part of both treaties parties that confirmed their common intention that it was indeed a one-time agreement. The economic development of northern Ontario has been and remains based on this conduct. Rights and interests, public and private, have been based on it. Unless overturned on appeal, this ruling will be a strong precedent encouraging other Indigenous treaties in Canada to be challenged on similar “Indigenous perspective and worldview” grounds. If it stands, it will damage already-fragile government revenue, further destabilize the Canadian economy and further erode Crown sovereignty, already dangerously weakened by earlier Supreme Court indigenous law decisions. This ruling prevents these anachronistic treaties from ever becoming civically vestigial. It contemplates an infinite, never stable, ever-changing, race-based relationship between Canada and Indigenous Canadians. It’s demoralizing for all Canadians who believe in a true, civic coming together of all Canadians, regardless of ancestry. This ruling should be appealed. And our politicians should start thinking along Nelson Mandela’s vision of “one set of laws for all,” to better bind Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians together, instead of further dividing us.

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6

Saturday, March 23, 2019 Pakistan, poor nation, rich army

30. Inflation is at a four-year high, reaching over 8 percent, and Islamabad believes that it could tick even higher.

One-third of Pakistan’s population lives under the poverty line, and the country is ranked at 150 out of 189 countries in the latest United Nations Human Development Index. Although Pakistan’s recent economic woes are troubling, the country has faced similar pressures for years. One-third of its population lives under the poverty line, and the country is ranked at 150 out of 189 countries in the latest United Nations Human Development Index. The national debt stands at around $100 billion, while its foreign exchange reserves are a meager $15 billion. The value of the Pakistani rupee, one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia, has dropped 31 percent since 2017.

Yet anyone watching the parade on March 23 may believe that all is well. And they certainly won’t get the impression that the military is, in fact, behind many of the country’s economic problems. But after debt servicing, the military is Pakistan’s biggest economic burden. Already, over 20 percent of the annual budget officially goes to the military, but the armed forces have been pushing for more every year.

Just in the last budget cycle, it won a 20 percent hike in its yearly allocation. The actual expense of the military is even higher, but it is hidden by moving some of the expenses to other budget lines. The parliament neither seriously debates the military budget nor subjects its spending to audit. By contrast, the country spends less than 5 percent of GDP on social

From page 1

services like education and health care, well below the regional average. The military mainly protects itself by keeping the threat of India alive. The two nucleararmed neighbors have been in conflict since the partition of South Asia in 1947. The militaries have fought four wars, with three of them over Kashmir valley. Even though Pakistan initiated these conflicts, it has told the public that it was only countering Indian aggression. In recent years, Pakistan has avoided a direct war, perhaps because it lost all previous ones. But it relies on militant groups based in Pakistan to keep tensions alive. This February offered a glimpse of such dynamics at play. In turn, the Pakistani Army gets the perfect excuse for its oversized burden on the country’s economy. Like a mafia protection racket, the military creates its own demand. But it is not just the military’s budget that is eating away at the resources of a country that it has directly ruled for half of Pakistan’s 72 years of existence. Today, the armed forces’ empire has expanded well beyond its traditional role in security. It runs about 50 commercial entities. The military’s main business arm, the Fauji Foundation, has seen enormous growth. According to Bloomberg, its assets grew 78 percent between 2011 and 2015, and it has annual income over $1.5 billion. The military-backed organization has stakes in real estate, food, and the communications industry. It appears that the business wing of the military is expanding even more under Imran Khan gov’t. Khan’s critics allege that the military backed his candidacy and now, in return, enjoys relative freedom to do what it wants.

Former South Asian MLA tells RCMP how Jason Kenney’s team cast fake votes through Illegal ‘Identity Fraud’ scheme

of the Jason Kenney UCP leadership campaign.” “I am prepared to cooperate in the investigation,” the sitting MLA states in his letter detailing what he describes as an elaborate “identity fraud” scheme.

“Possibly thousands of individuals were impacted.” Prab Gill’s letter to the RCMP Dated February 11 and addressed to RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki, Alberta’s top mountie, Gill’s letter alleges that “fraudulent” e-mails were used to cast “thousands” of fake votes during the 2017 UCP leadership race. Gill tells the RCMP the alleged scheme involved Kenney’s campaign “signing up” supporters and collecting IDs, but adding “fraudulent e-mail addresses” to their membership applications – meaning when it was time to vote, “voting passwords were not sent to them” but to Kenney’s team instead. “It seems that possibly thousands of memberships ‘sold’ by the Jason Kenney UCP leadership campaign had fraudulent e-mail addresses added onto the membership application,” Gill tells the RCMP. Letter from Prab Gill to the RCMP Elsewhere, Gill adds he was “personally told” early in the leadership campaign that “the campaign had created thousands of e-mails somewhere offshore which would be used for voting for Mr. Kenney in the

leadership vote.” The RCMP is informed Gill has “personal information about a small group of Kenney volunteers,” including a Calgaryarea UCP candidate, whom he alleges cast fake votes at a “Kenney Voting Kiosk” setup in an empty warehouse. “I was told that there were similar other kiosks in other parts of Alberta,” Gill alleges to the RCMP, adding that “fraudulent e-mails were accessed and the credentials used to vote” by Kenney’s team at these locations. “This happened on three days that voting was opened.” Gill also alleges to the RCMP he was “approached by another Kenney volunteer” who “came to my constituency office with a short list of member’s passwords and asked me to vote for them and I refused to do so.”

“At the time, I thought this was only cheating and dirty politics,” the former UCP MLA tells the RCMP. “Since then I have learned that it may be a violation of the identity fraud section of the criminal code.”

“I believe that the creation of fake e-mail addresses to intercept the communication of another person so that Jason Kenney can steal someone’s vote fits the details and intent of the law.”

Our membership is probably in the range of ten times larger than all other Alberta parties combined.

Deficit to rise as Liberal budget unveils$22.8-billion in new spending aimed at seniors, young Canadians From page 1 over six years.

During the 2015 election campaign, thenLiberal Leader Justin Trudeau said he would run short-term deficits of no more than $10-billion a year to stimulate a sluggish Canadian economy, but vowed to balance

the books by the end of his first mandate.

The budget confirmed that his promise will not be kept. The Liberal spending targets key demographics that voted for the Liberals in 2015 and that the party will need to win over again this fall.

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Saturday, March 23, 2019 From page 1

and injuring 13 on the bus carrying the Broncos junior hockey team. He pleaded guilty to 29 counts of dangerous driving.

In January, Judge Inez Cardinal heard emotional victim impact statements from dozens of family members and friends.

Some parents told Sidhu they forgive him; others said they could not. Jaskirat Singh Sidhu arrives in court Friday morning for his final sentencing.

Sidhu also spoke directly to the families in court. “I take full responsibility for what has happened. It happened because of my lack of experience,” Sidhu said in January. “I can’t imagine what you are going through, what you’ve been through.

I have taken the most valuable things of your life. I will be so, so, so, so, so sorry from this day.” Dahlgren planned to make the drive late Thursday to Melfort from his home in Saskatoon. He said there should be consequences, but he doesn’t see the point of a lengthy jail term.

“It’s not going to change what happened on that day. I’m sure that he feels the weight of what he did every day. That itself is a life sentence.” “I know the judge has a tough job ... but we want to see a sentence that will send a message and make change,” Chris Joseph, whose son Jaxon was killed in the crash, told CBC News on Thursday.

“Just because somebody feels bad doesn’t mean they should get a lighter sentence. They still did the act. We feel they should serve the time.”

Crown prosecutor Thomas Healey is recommending a 10-year prison sentence.

One of Sidhu’s lawyers, Mark Brayford, cited cases with sentences of 18 months to four years, but didn’t make an explicit recommendation. He said Sidhu is ready to accept whatever sentence the court imposes. Joseph said he and his wife aren’t hopeful.

“Honestly, I’m expecting disappointment. Take that for whatever it is, but no, I don’t think he’s going to get the maximum,” he said. ‘I hurt everywhere’: Families describe pain

For more Updates, Visit our Website

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Humboldt killer driver jailed 8 years and loss during Humboldt Broncos crash sentencing hearing ‘I have taken the most valuable things of your life’: Driver in Humboldt Broncos bus crash tells hearing Scott Thomas and his family won’t be at the sentencing. They had a trip planned long before they knew about this date, and, after some debate, decided not to cancel it.

“The only reason that we would like to be there would be to support the other families,” he said. Thomas said they’ll need some private time to gather strength for the first anniversary of the crash April 6.

“We knew this couple weeks heading up to the accident was going to be tough. And it’s proving to be that way for sure.”

Former NHL player Chris Joseph and his wife Andrea arrive for the second day of sentencing hearings for Sidhu on Jan. 29,

2019 in Melfort, Sask. Joseph’s son Jaxon was among the 16 players killed in the crash.

Thomas said he feels he got some closure in January, when he met Sidhu face to face.

He won’t say what the two talked about, but describes it as the “ most exhilarating, confusing and powerful” 15 minutes of his life. “It was a meeting of two broken men. He’s broken. I’m broken. I’ll never be the same. He’ll never be the same. And it was something I’m so thankful, that I had that opportunity,” he said, adding he sees Sidhu as collateral damage. “He has to go to jail. I understand that. The length of the sentence to me is irrelevant when Judge Cardinal says whatever she’s going to say tomorrow. She’s a pretty learned woman and well respected, so whatever she comes up with I’m pretty sure is going to be a

pretty reasonable conclusion.” The Thomas family moved to a new house in February as a way to start fresh, but they brought Evan with them. There’s a hockey stick outside their front door. The garage walls are lined with his jerseys. A portrait of Evan sits in a chair at the head of the table. His first and last skates are on the window sill, beside his hockey bag and gloves. His ashes rest in an urn in the master bedroom, and Thomas has four tattoos on his arms, including Evan’s grad photo and his handprint. “When my family, my dad, my brothers, whenever we get together, we don’t shake hands. They all put their hand right here and shake his hand first,” he says, rubbing his forearm gently.

Because of the April 6 crash, the Saskatchewan government has promised to make several changes to the intersection where the crash occurred, from rumble strips to better signage.

8

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Not just Jawaharlala Nehru, even his sister Vijaya Lakshmi had strong reasons to decline India’s UNSC permanent seat Jawaharlal Nehru was recently accused of rejecting a permanent seat on the UN Security Council in favour of China, but the story is far more complex than finance minister Arun Jaitley and others would have us believe. We cannot understand the matter without grasping the totalising nature of the Cold War, or India’s place in world affairs in the first decade after its Independence.

The first four signatories of the “Declaration of United Nations”, which formalised the anti-Axis alliance in World War II, were the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China. These four would meet again at the tail end of the war, in Dumbarton Oaks outside of Washington

D.C., to discuss the basic parameters of a new, eponymously named organisation, officially established the following year in San Francisco, with the original declaration morphing into the Charter.

American President Franklin Roosevelt had originally conceived of these powers as “the four policemen”, the guarantors of the peace that was to follow.

When the UNO came into being, they

became the core of the new Security Council, along with France, which was added at Winston Churchill’s behest.

India was central to the establishment of the United Nations from its inception as well, demanding that the new body live up its ideals, to serve the greater good and the cause of world peace. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit led the charge at San Francisco as head of a counter-delegation to ensure that this was

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so. Her efforts ultimately had a significant payoff, leading via her victory over racist South African policies the following year, to the creation of the formal instruments of human rights. But even as the newly created UN was getting off the ground, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were turning frosty. The situation rapidly deteriorated into an all-consuming face-off, the entire world divided into two camps, each soon armed with the terrifying new (nuclear) power to turn whole cities to ash. The UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations, had failed primarily because the United States, the Great Power whose idea it was, had stayed out. As a result, the League had been impotent to prevent another catastrophic global conflict. So, ensuring the United Nations’ survival, while also ensuring the Great Powers’ participation and an everexpanding membership, was of paramount importance.

The Sikh Empire’s Expedition to Balakot

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A few weeks ago, Indian Air Force’s Balakot air strike using French-built Mirage-2000s bought India and Pakistan to the brink of war, and perhaps changed the regional dynamics forever.

Balakot has a history which has been a subject of much interest in the past few days: it was the site of the end of Syed Ahmad Barelvi’s jihad at the hands of the Sikh Empire. Today we look at this history and another curious fact - this was not the first time that French weaponry has been wielded against Islamist fanatics in this region.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (r. 1801-1839) was aware of the superiority of Europeans in technology and modern methods of war. He sought to close this gap by importing talent and building an indigenous capability. Ranjit Singh welcomed experienced scientists, engineers, mercenaries and officers from European nations to ensure that his kingdom could withstand any threat.

Besides, the Afghan kingdom, the Pathan tribes and jihadis were threatening his western borders.

French know-how became a major element in the defence of his realm. After Napoleon lost in Waterloo (June 1815) thousands of French and allied European soldiers were dismissed: the governments of Europe, including the new government of France, distrusted those who served under Napoleon. A few settled into civilian life, but most could not: fighting was all they knew, and they did not wish to waste the skills they honed fighting in three continents.

Many offered their services to Asian kings who wished to modernize their backward militaries.

At this juncture, Ranjit Singh accepted talented Napoleonic officers such as Jean-Francois Allard, Jean-Baptiste Ventura, Paolo Avitabile, and Claude Auguste Court into his service.

Besides such officers, there were chemists, doctors, engineers and soldiers of American, German, Italian, Polish and Irish extraction also. Many foreigners were given plum roles in the Empire. Claude Auguste Court was a product of the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and apparently knew the science of artillery. Paolo Avitabile also had considerable experience as an artillery officer. Court and Avitabile, along with the Sikh leader Lehna Singh Majithia (who possessed great skill in engineering), overhauled the Sikh artillery. They established the training program for the gunners. Court re-organized the artillery command structure and established arsenals and magazines on European lines.

The existing weapon foundries and workshops (established by Ranjit Singh and Mian Qadir Baksh in 1807) were rebuilt with French knowhow to manufacture a variety of high-quality guns and artillery. Ranjit Singh soon possessed a formidable artillery of about 500 pieces, including mobile horse-drawn artillery.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

House of Commons voting marathon ends, after Liberals nearly lost a confidence motion A Conservative-orchestrated filibuster ended just before 1 a.m. ET on Friday, after a marathon of voting on the government’s spending plans in the House of Commons.

The filibuster was triggered in protest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s refusal to offer a blanket waiver of privilege and confidentiality that ex-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould has claimed is necessary if she is to fully tell her side of the story.

Late Thursday afternoon, Conservatives believed they had caught the Liberals shorthanded, with not enough of them ready to vote to pass one item.

Since spending votes are confidence measures, the government would have fallen had any of the spending measures been defeated. Assistant deputy speaker Anthony Rota, an Ontario Liberal then in the chair, cited a Commons rule to say that it’s not the speaker’s duty to police whether members were in the chamber at the critical time to be eligible to vote. Liberals eventually carried the motion, as opposition MPs heckled. The marathon voting session also came as a former Liberal minister

fanned the flames of the SNC-Lavalin fire. Jane Philpott, who resigned early this month as Treasury Board president, told Maclean’s that she raised concerns with Trudeau, during a Jan. 6 discussion about an imminent cabinet shuffle, that WilsonRaybould was being moved out of Justice because of her refusal to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case. Liberals quickly flooded into the chamber, male MPs hastily doing up their neckties for decorum. “My sense is that Canadians would like to know the whole story.” But Philpott actually appears to already be free to talk about that Jan. 6 conversation with Trudeau: The government has waived solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidentiality for last fall, when Wilson-Raybould alleges she was improperly pressured, until Jan. 14, when she was moved to the Veterans Affairs portfolio. The waiver applies not just to Wilson-Raybould but to “any persons who directly participated in discussions with her” relating to the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin for alleged corrupt practices in Libya.

Deliveryman helps police arrest suspects in two crimes within an hour Karl will receive Commendation Awards 2019 from Vancouver Police Department

Karl Dey was delivering water to a Gastown shoe store when he saw a man grab a backpack and dashed out the door.

The Maple Ridge man took up the chase, waving down several police officers, who were able to tackle the man. His good deed done, Dey returned to his delivery truck to await the officers and provide a statement.

“I was waiting maybe three minutes, when I heard someone scream, ‘Help!’” he recalled Friday. “I have a daughter, and I guess my fatherly instincts kicked in.”

Karl Dey (Pictured) ran toward a screaming woman who told him she’d been sexually assaulted. The man, she said, was still inside her store. Without hesitating, Dey leaped into action again, tackling the man as he fled onto Water Street.

When police arrived, the officers recognized Dey. “They said, ‘Aren’t you the guy … ?’ I was just in the right place at the right time,” Dey said.

On Wednesday, Dey will pick up a certificate from the Vancouver Police

Department recognizing his bravery and assistance with the pair of arrests on Dec. 11, 2017. The deliveryman is among 14 recipients of the department’s 2019 Commendation Awards.

Although Dey was unable to attend the official ceremony earlier this month, several heroic civilians were honoured for bravery, including two Canadian Tire employees who intervened in a violent attack in 2016.

According to a description of the incident posted on the VPD website, Irfan Elahi and Joe De Jesus were working at the Bentall Street store when a man in camouflage entered and went straight to the firearms and hunting section. De Jesus, the manager of the section, quickly locked up a rifle he was working on.

“The man began smashing the glass cabinets. (De Jesus) confronted him and was pepper sprayed, but still persisted in trying to stop the assailant from obtaining a rifle,” said the description. The man then slashed him across the neck with a heavy knife.

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A drive through the Rockies can be a beautiful road trip, but depending on what side of the mountain range you insured your car on, it might cost the driver a lot more. A report by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, released on March 15, compares the cost of insuring a vehicle in B.C. and Alberta and found rates are higher west of the Rockies. According to the report, drivers in B.C. are estimated to pay between 13 per cent and 60 per cent more than they would in

Saturday, March 23, 2019

BC drivers paying 60% more insurance than Albertans Alberta for comparable coverage. Premiums for recreational vehicles are estimated to be up to three times higher in B.C. than Alberta and motorcycle premiums are an estimated 11 times higher. The insurance board is advocating for private insurance in British Columbia, but the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) responded in a statement that that would not work. “No

Is the West fed up with Canada? What a new survey shows about the federation’s growing fault lines Western Canada is experiencing a rising tide of resentment toward the rest of the country amidst political battles over pipelines, emissions and equalization payments, with a majority in Alberta and Saskatchewan now saying they get so little out of Confederation that they might as well leave. That’s according to a massive new survey from the Environics Institute, which confirms a widespread impression that

Western alienation has gotten worse since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister. Add a persistent malaise in Atlantic Canada, and the survey depicts an uneasy Confederation on the heels of its 150th anniversary. The poll, which asked more than 5,000 people about their attitudes toward the country January, found a federation feeling more provincial.

private insurer could come into B.C. and offer the rates they offer in Alberta,” ICBC said.

The neighbouring provinces have very different insurance models. In B.C., ICBC is responsible for providing mandatory auto insurance, and basic and optional insurance is sold exclusively through a provincewide network of approximately 900 brokers.

Premiums for recreational vehicles are estimated to be up to three times higher in B.C. than Alberta and motorcycle premiums are an estimated 11 times higher.

In Alberta, auto insurance is sold through

a competitive market. According to the Insurance Board of Canada, approximately 43 companies sell both basic and optional auto insurance to Albertans. ICBC is struggling financially. Between 2014 and 2016, its total net income decreased by $1.3 billion. ICBC a ‘financial dumpster fire,’ says B.C. attorney general Insurance Bureau of Canada hardly impartial, says AG In a post on his Facebook page on Thursday, Attorney General David Eby said the Insurance Bureau of Canada is an industry group with a vested interest in privatizing insurance in the province.

BC civil forfeiture office suing key target of province’s biggest money laundering case B.C.’s civil forfeiture office is suing to seize more than $5.3 million in cash and assets from a Richmond man who was a key target of an RCMP investigation into the biggest money laundering case in B.C. history. Named in the suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court last week are Paul King Jin, his wife Xiaoqi Wei, and several others, including Jin’s niece, Yuanyuan Jia, who is alleged to own a condo on Jin’s behalf.

The civil forfeiture office is seeking $4.86 million in cash and assets including a mortgaged Richmond condo on Jones Road valued at $764,000; a 2011 Porsche 911 the office says is owned in someone else’s name but beneficially belonging to Jin; $45,000 in chips from the River Rock and Edgewater casinos; and various other items including computers, cellphones, gambling equipment and jewelry.

The cash and assets, except the condo,

were all seized during police raids in 2015 during the RCMP’s E-Pirate investigation that uncovered an underground bank, Silver International, that allegedly laundered as much as $220 million a year, and possibly as much as $1 billion. Police allege clients of the bank included local drug traffickers, high-roller Chinese gamblers and members of Mexican drug cartels. Jin, already named as a key suspect and central to the RCMP’s E-Pirate money laundering probe in according to a Postmedia investigation published in 2017, was arrested on Feb. 24, 2016 for possession of proceeds of crime, money laundering, and running illegal gambling operations, but was not charged. Seven others were arrested as part of E-Pirate but also not charged, according to a Postmedia investigation published last month. Charges of money laundering against two others were stayed last November.

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Saturday, March 23, 2019

Two women recognized for multiculturalism, anti-racism work in Surrey

Homeless deaths in Surrey quadruple between 2007 - 2016 omeless deaths in Surrey quadrupled the year prior. The data released Thursday between 2007 and 2016, according to includes all cases where no fixed address new data from the BC Coroners Service. or permanent address was found, or the The report, released Thursday (March circumstances suggested homelessness.

21), summarizes the deaths between Fifty-three per cent of the people met 2007 and 2016 that were reported to the the criteria for street homelessness and coroners services and where the deceased 36 per cent for sheltered homelessness. met its “definition of homeless.” Cases were In total, 56 per cent of deaths were included if “no fixed address” was given accidental, 23 per cent were classified as as the home address, the location was at a natural and 11 per cent resulted from suicide. homeless shelter or if the “circumstances In 2016, 86 per cent of accidental deaths of death suggested homelessness.” and 53 per cent of all deaths resulted Vancouver saw the highest number of from unintentional drug and/or alcohol deaths at poisoning, 43 in 2016, whereas in followed by 17 previous years in Surrey and (2007 to 2015), 16 in Victoria. alcohol and In 2007 in drug poisoning Surrey, there d e a t h s were four accounted for homeless 63 per cent deaths.

That of accidental number stayed deaths and consistent 34 per cent Homeless camp. through to 2009, of all deaths and then dropped to three deaths in 2010 on average, the report states. and dropped again to two deaths in 2011.

Males, according to the report, From 2011 to 2013, there were two were more likely than females to meet homeless deaths each year. In 2014, the the criteria for street homelessness. number of deaths rose to five, before Overall, 85 per cent of those who died spiking to 12 deaths in 2015 and 17 in 2016. were male, while the percentage of In 2016, 991 people died of an illicit females “trended downwards with age.” drug overdose, marking the beginning of From 2007 to 2016 in B.C., a steady increase in the number of fatal there were 55 homeless deaths per overdoses linked to fentanyl. On April 14, year on average, the report states.

2016, the provincial government declared The coroners service said the data a public health emergency in response may be under-reported because of to the steadily climbing overdose deaths. cases where an investigator could not A total of 175 homeless people died across confirm a person’s housing status. the province in 2016, compared to just 73

Cellphone on passenger’s seat not necessarily distracted driving: BC judge The “mere presence of a cellphone within sight of a driver” does not necessarily constitute distracted driving, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled.

The decision came this month as a result of an appeal by a driver convicted in 2018 of using an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle on a highway.

The driver’s lawyer, Kyla Lee with Acumen Law, said a Vancouver police officer observed her client looking down while behind the wheel. Lee said the officer walked up to the window of the vehicle and saw a cell phone wedged in the front passenger seat. The screen was facing up, but it was not illuminated.

“The fact that the screen wasn’t illuminated was a key element, because it showed that he wasn’t, you know, using the phone in a way where he was just surreptitiously glancing down when he had the opportunity,” Lee said. Section 214.2 of the Motor Vehicle Act – which the driver was initially convicted of contravening – allows for devices to be used in a “hands-free” manner as long as they are “securely fixed to the motor vehicle.”

But in focusing on how the driver’s phone was or wasn’t connected to the car in this case, Justice Murray Blok said the justice who handed down the original conviction “did not really

address the question of ‘use’ of the device, a necessary element of the offence.”

In his decision, Blok added that “the appellant emphasizes that since the officer never saw the appellant touch the device in any way, there was no ‘further accompanying act’ and so the appellant cannot be found to have been ‘using’ his cell phone.”

“You can’t get a conviction for just having a phone loose in the vehicle,” Lee added. The driver’s conviction was ultimately overturned.

Vancouver police wouldn’t elaborate on how this decision may affect their ticketing policy. When questioned about the case, Sgt. Jason Robillard said, “I can say that we are aware of the ruling and it sets some very clear guidelines and interpretation of the Motor Vehicle Act.” Cpl. Mike Halskov with RCMP Traffic Services said the decision provides clarity about use of a cellphone, but points out while the court has ruled it’s OK to have your phone loose in your vehicle and nearby while driving, resisting the urge to interact with it is critical.

“If you receive a text message or a phone call and the screen illuminates and you look at the screen to see who’s calling you or who might be texting you, that would constitute use,” Halskov said.

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Two people are being recognized for their multiculturism and anti-racism work in Surrey.

The 2019 British Columbia Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Awards is recognizing a Surrey woman for her work with a youth social justice leadership program, and a woman who is part of a team at Simon Fraser University that helps refugees in Surrey, according to a news release from the provincial government Thursday (March 21).

The awards, reads the release, are for “excellence in promoting multiculturalism and addressing racism.”

Annie Ohana, the founder of youth social justice leadership program, is one of

the recipients of the 2019 British Columbia Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Awards.

Ohana received the award for “Individual over 30 years of age.” It was a two-way tie with Dalvir Nahal, of Penticton, for her work with Bollywood Bang, which is “dedicated to increasing awareness of Sikh culture and history by breaking down the cultural barriers in the Okanagan to fight racism.”

Nada Elmasry, of New Westminster, received the “Youth (aged 15 to 30 years) award).” She is the manager at RADIUS SFU and a team member for the Beyond Borders project, which is “focused on addressing themes of civic engagement, inclusion and systemic barriers to thriving livelihoods for refugees in Surrey.”

BC Attorney General ‘heartened’ but causious on anti-money-laundering initiatives by federal gov’t

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ttorney General David Eby said he’s “heartened” by millions in anti-money-laundering efforts and promised new legislation announced in the Trudeau budget Tuesday, but wants to work closely with the federal government to ensure success.

Eby also cautioned the funding announced pales in comparison with the magnitude of the problem, pointing to the underground bank uncovered in Richmond in 2015 that allegedly laundered $220 million a year, and possibly as much as $1 billion.

Eby, who has led an anti-money-laundering fight in B.C., also said the details are important, including how a new anti-money-laundering task force will operate and where resources will be allocated across Canada. That task force is meant to bring together federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies to better identify and address money-laundering threats.

Funding of $70 million for the antimoney-laundering plan will be spread out over five years. Just over $8 million will roll out this year, rising to $15 million annually in 2020. There is also another nearly $70 million for enhanced federal policing by the RCMP, some of which is meant to go to money-laundering investigations.

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and other organizations are currently pushing Attorney General David Eby to limit HIV prosecution in British Columbia.

Attorney-General said he’s ‘heartened’

by millions in anti-money-laundering efforts and promised new legislation announced in the Trudeau budget Tuesday, but wants to work closely with the federal government to ensure success.

Said Eby: “The concern I have is if you divide the amounts over five years and you divide the amounts again over the entire country, how much will actually show up in B.C. and especially in Metro Vancouver where the trouble areas are?”

Eby is slated to meet next week with Bill Blair, the federal minister of organized crime and responsible for money laundering, and said he will “certainly” make his concerns known.

“The side of the road is littered with special-task-force initiatives undertaken by previous federal governments, so we will be working closely with the federal government to make sure this one sticks,” he said.

The federal budget sets aside $24 million over fiveyearsforthenewtaskforcebeginningthisyear.

Nearly $29 million is set aside, beginning in 2020, to increase trade-based moneylaundering expertise, including strengthening the capacity of the Canada Border Services Agency and Canada’s financial intelligence gathering agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (Fintrac).

Trade-based money laundering includes the use of phantom shipments and over/ under invoicing where the exporter or importer pockets the difference.

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Saturday, March 23, 2019

Canada says BC trying to impede Trans Mountain with pipeline legislation The Canadian government says British Columbia is trying to obstruct the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion with “Trojan Horse” legislation that the province is passing off as a benign environmental measure.

Lawyer Jan Brongers asked the B.C. Court of Appeal on Wednesday to reject proposed amendments to the province’s Environmental Management Act, because the changes aim to regulate interprovincial oil projects that fall under federal jurisdiction.

“This legislation appears to be a Trojan Horse.

It’s one that is designed to appear as constitutionally acceptable, local environmental-protection measures,” he told a panel of five judges. “But in substance, it’s an unconstitutional initiative that’s only logical reason for being is to limit federally regulated pipelines and railways from moving additional heavy oil.”

The Appeal Court is hearing a reference case on the proposed amendments, which would enable B.C. to create a permitting regime for companies that transport hazardous substances through the province.

The province has argued it’s not attempting to block Trans Mountain or any other resource project, but is aiming to protect against ecological harm and require companies to pay for damages.

Mr. Brongers said the proposed amendments are clearly intended to

hinder additional oil shipments because they’re selective, narrow and targeted.

The only hazardous substance covered by the amendments is heavy oil, Mr. Brongers said, and only companies that intend to increase the amount of heavy oil they’re transporting will need to get a permit.

“We still don’t know why the volume of diluted bitumen that’s in the existing Trans Mountain pipeline is somehow deserving of an automatic exemption from the regime, but the new volumes that would be carried by the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline are not,” Mr. Brongers said.

Justice Harvey Groberman challenged Mr. Brongers on that point, saying these are amendments to legislation and are presumably designed to deal with a new problem.

“The fact that it’s directed at that emerging or new problem doesn’t seem to me to prove anything other than that the legislation is targeted,” Justice Groberman said.

The amendments also don’t apply to ships, and Mr. Brongers quoted B.C. Attorney-General David Eby as saying last year that tankers were excluded because they are under federal jurisdiction.

Mr. Brongers said B.C. has suggested that heavy oil is the first of a number of hazardous substances to be targeted by proposed permitting regime.

Spending on BC’s public schools up 11%: study Government spending on B.C.’s public schools has increased 11.3 per cent per student over the past decade despite enrollment dipping, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute.

When adjusted for inflation, the think tank said Thursday that during the 2016-17 school year, each student in the public school system cost $11,656. That’s compared to $11,059 in 2006 to 2007.

“Contrary to what we often hear, spending

is on the rise in B.C.’s public education system,” said Angela MacLeod, a senior policy analyst with the institute and co-author of the study.

Part of the reason, she said, is enrolment dropped seven per cent over the same 10-year period, amplifying even small increases in cost.

Nominal spending, which includes teacher and staff salaries, pensions and benefits, increased by about 12 per cent, from $5.8 billion to $6.5 billion.

Cost of refugee board chair’s car and chauffeur brings criticism The head of Canada’s refugee board has been given a car and chauffeur at a time his office is stretched trying to tackle a surge of asylum seekers entering from the U.S., the Star has learned.

Richard Wex, who was appointed chair of the beleaguered Immigration and Refugee Board in July, is the first person in charge of the tribunal to be afforded the benefit — at a cost of $78,562 a year.

Richard Wex is the first chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board ever granted a car — and chauffeur — at a cost of $78,562 a year.

Richard Wex is the first chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board ever granted a car — and chauffeur — at a cost of $78,562 a year.

Critics suggest the money could be better used to hire another refugee judge. (A judge’s current starting salary is $94,121 a year.)

“At a time when we need more adjudicators to have refugee claims

processed faster, how is this going to have a positive impact on the processing time?” asked Francisco Rico-Martinez, of Toronto’s FCJ Refugee Centre and past chair of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

“This is problematic when the board is struggling to find resources and innovative ways to improve efficiency to deal with the growing backlog.”

The refugee board has been besieged by a surge of asylum seekers crossing into Canada over the U.S. border since the end of 2016. The latest statistics show it has 74,645 outstanding claims with wait times for a hearing hovering at around two years. The injection of $74 million from the federal government in 2018 has allowed the board to hire 50 additional asylum judges and 185 support staff to try to reduce the backlog.

“Is that what (the funding) is supposed to be used for?” asked one disgruntled board staffer, referring to Wex’s car and chauffeur.

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Woman jailed for bringing gun & drug into shopping mall A woman under house arrest is now in custody after allegedly bringing a handgun, drugs and cash to Sevenoaks Shopping Centre in Abbotsford.

In a statement, Abbotsford police say Danielle Rigdon, described as a woman in her early 40s, left her home without permission wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet with GPS tracking.

She was quickly located, police say.

During her arrest, police allege Rigdon tried to hand off a bag to a friend which the arresting officer intercepted. Police say it was filled with drugs, cash and the handgun.

Rigdon faces earlier charges from January 2019 including uttering threats, pointing

a firearm and assault with a weapon.

Police said a search of her home after the alleged January incident turned up a loaded gun and ammo.

Rigdon remains in custody and is facing new charges for drug possession, carrying a concealed, loaded, prohibited weapon and violating the terms of her house arrest.

BC calls Maple Ridge’s bluff in unending homeless camp conflict B.C. government seems to have both Instead, it wanted more modular housing solved a housing problem and escalated units at a site already in operation, along a dispute with the City of Maple Ridge. with a new senior’s centre at the Burnett Housing Minister Selina Robinson Street site, and a “Made in Maple Ridge” announced Tuesday afternoon the province model for supportive housing going forward. will be constructing “ T h e 51 temporary mayor was modular homes told that on a plot of land it the plan owns in the 11700 that they block of Burnett brought Street, in an attempt forward ... to alleviate conflicts w o u l d n’ t over the Anita Place work,” she homeless camp. said in an “Our goal is to inter v ie w quickly get people last week. into housing where A homeless camp in lower mainland.

While they can get the help R obi ns on and the support they’ve long been needing, said BC Housing will begin work with while working to close the camp in a Maple Ridge on a seniors centre to managed way,” said Robinson in a statement. eventually replace the new modular The province said Coast Mental Health housing, the time for negotiations was over. will be the building operator and included “The people of Maple Ridge have been statements from the organization and waiting too long. The people who are in tent background from BC Housing in its statement. cities have been waiting too long. We need Notably absent from the announcement to move forward. We’re prepared to do that, was any statement by the city itself. with the city preferably, or without the city Which, to those following the at this point. We just need to get going.” situation, will come as little surprise.

Housing Minister Selina Robinson has In a presentation last week, the city said it repeatedly said the model the province wanted more housing for the homeless — just has implemented across B.C. for modular not at the site the province just announced. housing is sufficient for Maple Ridge’s

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Crime tourism a growing problem in Canada, says FBI agent An FBI agent who fights South American crime gangs says he expects the problem of Chilean burglars in Canada will worsen in the coming years.

Special Agent Romo is part of a task force battling the growing problem of crime tourism — thieves travelling on tourist visas who aren’t interested in seeing the sights but are instead intent on breaking into homes. (Romo’s first name has been withheld at the request of the FBI.) “They know that Canada has lax laws so that’s the reason why they like Canada,” Romo said.

“It’s just a free-for-all. That’s the reason it’s going to attract more.”

Police in Canada aren’t much more optimistic.

Two Chilean burglary rings were broken up in the Greater Toronto Area in recent years, but police are under no illusion that they’ve made anything more than a dent.

“For sure, it’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Halton police Det.

Sgt. Paul Foley. “By no means did we think we had stopped the problem. If anything, we had stalled the problem.”

The FBI has dubbed the phenomenon South American Theft Groups (SATGs).

While there are thieves from several countries, the biggest group hitting Canada appears to hail from Chile.

In April last year, Halton Regional Police arrested 15 Chilean nationals.

They say the group was responsible for more than 400 residential break-ins.

P o l i c e recovered about $2.7 million worth of stolen jewelry, watches, bags and designer clothing.

Foley says the group had so much loot it had rented a commercial storage locker.

“The thieves were extremely successful,” said Foley. “We found one bag with 60 watches in it.”

In September 2015, Toronto police arrested 12 Chilean nationals suspected of committing a series of break-ins over the course of four months. Three other suspects are believed to have fled home to Chile.

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Saturday, March 23, 2019

British Columbia Teachers’ Federation welcomes new leader The British Columbia Teacher’s Federation (BCTF) is welcoming a new president this summer.

On Tuesday morning in Victoria, the BCTF congratulated Teri Mooring on her appointment to the position; Mooring will be taking over Glen Hansmen on July 1 after holding the position as the BCTF first vicepresident for six years.

Mooring is from Quesnel, B.C. where talk of union work first took place around her kitchen table. Her father was the union president for the local paper mill, where Mooring worked as a teenager before embarking on her teaching career in 1988.

Around this time, teachers in Quesnel and across B.C. began to unionize. Locally, teachers joined the Quesnel District Teacher’s Association (QDTA), which Mooring joined and

eventually ran as president for five years.

“I never thought twice about it. I first became a TTOC chair, then a staff rep, and took on nearly every role on my local executive, including local president,” Mooring said in an earlier BCTF statement.

Mooring taught grade 6-7 for 20 years before joining the BCTF. As well as working as a vice president, Mooring has also worked as on of the lead negotiators in the most recent round of provincial collective bargaining.

In her new role, Mooring hopes to raise awareness about inequalities faced by smaller, rural schools in remote communities.

In a tweet, current president Glen Hansemen called Mooring “smart, articulate, principled and committed.”

In Trans Mountain court hearing BC says it won’t reject pipelines without cause A lawyer representing British Columbia says proposed changes to an environmental law won’t allow the province to refuse to provide a permit to a pipeline operator for no reason.

B.C.’s Court of Appeal is hearing a reference case that asks whether the province can create a permitting system for transporters of hazardous substances through its territory.

The governments of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan say Ottawa — not provinces — has jurisdiction over inter-provincial projects such as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Canada says in court documents that the proposed amendments to B.C.’s Environmental Management Act must be struck down because they give the province a “veto” over such projects.

Joseph Arvay, a lawyer for B.C., says

the amendments only allow the province to refuse to issue a permit or revoke one in cases where the operator fails to follow conditions imposed upon it. plans and agree to compensate the province, municipalities and First Nations for any damages, among other conditions.

When Premier John Horgan announced the proposed changes last year, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley accused him of breaking the rules of Confederation and declared a short-lived ban on B.C. wines.

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would triple the capacity of the existing line from near Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., and increase tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet seven-fold.

Varcoe: Election battle shapes up over energy and pipelines

A piece of history:

1900s train substation-turned-luxury home up for auction Buyers around the world will have the opportunity to bid on a luxury home and a piece of British Columbia’s history when an early 1900s substation-turnedestate in Abbotsford goes up for online auction this week.

Originally built in 1906 by the British Columbia Electrical Company, 39623 Old Yale Rd. is described as a “12-bedroom oasis” in a statement announcing the sale.

According to the release, the property features 10 bathrooms, four balconies overlooking 2.35 acres of land, acid-stained concrete floors, high ceilings and exposed brick interiors.

The 11,462-square-foot home also has five kitchens, a theatre room and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar and three fireplaces.

The property also comes furnished.

“With vast bedrooms, a two-bedroom suite in the main house and two additional rental apartments, there’s space for friends and family to call their own and make Old Yale Road feel like home for all,” the listing on Concierge Auctions’ website said.

Previously listed for just under $5 million, the property – known to locals as the “Sumas Powerhouse” or simply “the powerhouse” – will be auctioned without reserve on Concierge Auctions’ online marketplace starting Friday.

“While the sale is particularly targeting China and greater Asia, prospective buyers may bid via the company’s online marketplace from anywhere in the world,” the statement read.

Bidding will close on Thursday, March 28.

Canada cracks down on asylum seekers crossing US-Canada border Canada said on Tuesday it planned to spend an additional C$1.2 billion ($902 million) over five years to stem the flow of irregular migrants from the United States, which has become a political threat to the Liberal government ahead of an October election.

Some 57,000 asylum seekers from Nigeria,

El Salvador, Honduras and other n at i o n s crossed the U.S. border into Canada last year, in some cases citing a fear of persecution by the government of U.S. D o n a l d T r u m p .

They are allowed to stay until their cases have been heard. Given Canada’s clogged judicial system, that could take years.

Canada began prioritizing the deportation of asylum seekers who walked across the border last year, in a bid to tackle the politically sensitive issue.

In the annual budget, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Ottawa would implement a comprehensive border enforcement strategy “to detect and intercept individuals who cross Canadian borders irregularly and who try to exploit Canada’s immigration system.”

Most arrive in the populous provinces of Ontario and Quebec, which have spent hundreds of millions of dollars taking care of the newcomers. Critics complain that Ottawa is not doing enough to deter the migrants and Liberals concede the issue is hitting the party’s popularity.

According to the budget, the government will start spending the C$1.2 billion in the 2019-20 fiscal year to strengthen the border and speed up the asylum process. Ottawa will also try to “better manage, discourage and prevent irregular migration,” the budget text said.

Canadian officials have over the past two years visited Nigeria, as well as various ethnic communities in the United States, to try to persuade would-be migrants to stay put.

The officials have said that although the people driving the migrant surge claim that everyone who crosses the border is allowed to stay, most are sent back once their cases have been handled.

BC BUDGET

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Husband of slain BC woman Jassi Sidhu still haunted by her murder The last words Sukhwinder Singh Mithu remembers from his remained unconscious in hospital. It would last face trial, wife were a plea to her killers. be nearly a month before he could see again. but the past â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hurt my Mithu.

He said no one told him of his 25-year-old two decades Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hit him,â&#x20AC;? he recalls wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death for three months because his have been Jassi Sidhu uttering. family wanted to wait until they thought he hard on him.

On warm June evening 19 was well enough to handle the news. Her The couple years ago, a rikshaw driver in body was found the day following the attack was crossing Punjab Mithu and BC womand a bridge when at the edge of a lake. Court documents say Jassi Sidhu were returning they saw a home on scooter in village white car, Narike after an evening out. he said in Jassi Sidhu from Maple Ridge Punjabi from had secretly married a man India. He saw Mithu, a poor rickshaw driver four people in India, a year earlier against get out of the her motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wishes, police said in India.

Mithuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voice broke in a recent interview car. They ran at the pair armed with sticks as he recalled the attack on June 8, 2000, for and swords, said Mithu, 42. When one of which his wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother and uncle have been their attackers tried to hit him with a sword, extradited from Canada to India, where Mithu said he ducked and the weapon hit his they face charges of conspiracy to murder. wife. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She screamed and fell off the scooter,â&#x20AC;?

A lawyer for the mother, Malkit Kaur he said, his voice breaking He remembers Sidhu, and uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, says jumping off his scooter and running to her. he is confident his clients will be found not â&#x20AC;&#x153;I asked them why they were hitting her. I guilty and allowed to return to Canada. asked them why they were hitting us. I tried â&#x20AC;&#x153;They want to spend the rest of their life to defend her.â&#x20AC;? His wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s screams haunt him: in Canada,â&#x20AC;? said Simrandeep Singh Sandhu. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She was shouting for help. She was asking â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Are you OK, Mithu?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when he lost Mithu said he is relieved that they will at consciousness. For the next few weeks he

15

a post-mortem showed the cause of death was â&#x20AC;&#x153;shock and hemorrhage as a result of injury to the vital organs.â&#x20AC;?

Sidhuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother and uncle believed the marriage brought dishonour to the family, Indian police have said. They have also alleged that death threats were issued to the couple and phone calls were made from Badeshaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home in B.C. to some of the perpetrators around the time of the attack.

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BC family among hundreds stranded without luggage in India A family in BC is among hundreds of Canadians who have been left stranded and frustrated in India without their luggage days after their Air Canada flight flew out of Vancouver.

Johnny Birk said that he and his family have been in New Delhi since early Friday after departing Vancouver just after midnight on Thursday. He estimates that roughly 300 passengers were on the same flight, but only 30 pieces of luggage arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport with them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone was missing luggage,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was literally like a riot in the airport.â&#x20AC;?

Birk said he travelled to New Delhi for a wedding along with his mother and other relatives, including two children. Out of their groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 12 bags, only two arrived.

As frustration mounted and the entire group was only granted one Air Canada staff member to handle the angry customers, Birk started taking video on his cellphone.

The video shows that staff member attempting to fill out claim sheets for every customer involved in the flight and trying to answer their questions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They gave us one staff member to deal with 300 people, some of them elderly, some of them needing assistance,â&#x20AC;? Birk said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a madhouse.â&#x20AC;?

Birk said that since they arrived in India, two other flights have also flown into New Delhi from Vancouver â&#x20AC;&#x201D; both without their luggage. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have nothing,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m still wearing the same clothes, same underwear, same everything that I left Vancouver in three days ago. And everyone else on the flight is in the same situation.â&#x20AC;?

On Saturday, Birk said he called Air Canada and was told to be at the airport that afternoon to pick up the rest of his luggage.

But after two hours of waiting there, along with other passengers from their flight, Birk was told the luggage wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t arriving. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They said one bag was in London Heathrow Airport, two of them they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know where they are and the others are still in

Vancouver,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ridiculous.

Why canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t they get our bags here?â&#x20AC;?

In a statement to Global News, Air Canada blamed the issue on the renewed tensions between India and Pakistan, which has led to air travel restrictions.

Last month, Air Canada cancelled all flights to northern India because of the conflict, which was sparked after a bombing in the disputed region of Kashmir on Feb. 14 that killed 40 people. The airline resumed flights a day later. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Due to the ongoing airspace closure over Pakistan, we fly a longer route, which requires more fuel, therefore restricting the weight

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16

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Concerns about govt’s plan to move private seniors care into health authorities

S

enior care advocates are raising concerns over BC government’s recent announcement to move privately-run home support services back into health authorities.

The B.C. Seniors’ Living Association is worried ‘freedom of choice’ is going to be compromised under the new system.

Association interim CEO Alison Howard, however, says private contractors areflexible with seniors who request certain services with specific care aides.

Howard says choice is important for many people, as well as “to feel the trust and dignity that [the] same person can provide to them once they know how they like their bath or where their meds are kept.”

She adds seniors have more options with contracted providers.

“And what we’ve seen with our experience with the health authorities is that it’s a roster of people who come through, sometimes who gets those shifts are based on seniority,” Howard said. “They can often be a revolving door of care providers who are coming to the same person each and every day.”

The changes will affect Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and Island Health.

A joint statement from Fraser and

Vancouver Coastal Health says if clients already have ongoing relationships with a caregiver, the health authorities will work to ensure the clientcaregiver relationship is maintained.

“We are also very concerned with the continuity of care. We’ve heard from many seniors that they want consistent care with the same care provider. That is something we intend to strengthen by bringing home support services in-house. And if clients already have ongoing relationships with a caregiver, we will work to ensure the client-caregiver relationship is maintained.

These are issues that we will be working through with our contracted agencies as we transition the services in-house over the coming months. As for the concerns about seniority, staff working for the contracted agencies are already union members working on a seniority basis, and the union collective agreement does not change whether the employee is working for a private provider or a health authority. In fact, we recently participated in negotiations with the union to shift the collective agreement so that there is greater emphasis on continuity of client care rather than on seniority when it comes to assigning shifts, as we knew this was better for client care.”

Gurdwara Nanak Niwas welcome new Gianis India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas is pleased to welcome an addition to its roster of priests (Gianis). Recently, management committee of this place of worship was pleased to extend a warm welcome to Giani Amrik Singh from Dehradoon, India. Amrik Singh is a prominent Katha vachak. He received his basic education in the capital city of Uttrakhand and attended the prestigious Sikh Missionary College in Anandpur Sahib to become well versed in religious studies.Amrik Singh has spent a lot of time serving in a number of Gurdwaras in Bangkok, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia. He

received his junior diploma in music from Allahabad Paryag Sangeet Academy.Amrik Singh received his inspiration from his parents, especially his father Jasbir Singh.

At Gurdwara Nanak Niwas, Amrik Singh has already commenced sharing his knowledge and expertise in music, kirtan and katha with the congregation. Along with daily kirtan, he will be serving the Sangat with his katha. India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas Management Committee invites the public to come and listen to the melodious kirtan and Gurbani vichar/katha.

Balwant Sanghera

Co-workers sue Surrey man who won $1-million lottery Four co-workers are suing a Surrey man for what they claim is their fair share of a $1-million lottery prize.

Ding Jiu Du, Haret Dagane, Elwood Prado and Tounkham Homsombath say that on Dec. 12, 2018, they gave Hung Sengsouvanh some money left over from a contribution to an upcoming potluck Christmas party at the lighting factory where they all worked.

The co-workers say they each proposed to kick in $5 to buy a $25 ticket for the Lotto Max jackpot for Dec. 14 because it was such a large jackpot.

They say that Hung, who was employed as the “lead hand” at the factory where they worked, volunteered to purchase the ticket after work and the parties verbally agreed that any winnings from the lottery would be divided evenly.

“Some of the plaintiffs had been friends with the defendant Hung for many years, and all of them had a good relationship at work and trusted him and respected him as

their lead hand,” says a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court. “It was based on that trust that the plaintiffs believed that they did not have to put the contract into writing.”

Hung bought the ticket as agreed, but his co-workers did not hear from him over the weekend of Dec. 15 and 16, and Hung did not attend at the factory on the following Monday, says the lawsuit. The co-workers only learned via social media that Hung had won one of the $1-million Maxmillions prizes using the ticket bought from the money provided by them, says the suit.

“The plaintiffs asked the defendant Hung to provide them with their equal shares of the $1-million prize which would be $200,000 per plaintiff,” says the lawsuit. “The defendant Hung has repeatedly refused to provide the plaintiffs with their equal shares of the prize.”

Lotto Max is a nationwide lottery game with jackpots between $10 million and $60 million, and with multiple additional prizes known as Maxmillions worth $1 million each.

Man wanted on Canada-wide warrants arrested in Alberta A man wanted on a Canadawide warrant is in custody.

Saskatoon police said Sha Biswakarma, 24, was arrested Tuesday morning by police in Lethbridge, Alta.

Biswakarma had been spotted the

previous day in Saskatoon, police said.

He was wanted for criminal harassment and vehicle theft, and police said he has a history of violence.

Saskatoon police believed Biswakarma was in possession of a stolen Alberta car at the time he was seen in Saskatoon.

A paradox in Canadian housing market – stress test or interest rates There are three basic requirements of life; food, clothing, and housing. Housing is the most expensive necessity to meet in comparison to food and clothing. To own a house is a requirement for everyone (family).

In other words, if it is difficult to meet the housing requirement in developed economies, then it cannot be said that the economy is able to meet its individuals both ends meet.

Housing is the essential requirement to meet the basic need in the world. In Canada, it can be said as a pillar of the economy where many jobs are attached with this sector directly or indirectly. In Canada, where there is a continuous incoming flow of migration from the rest of the world, no

doubt housing demand will continuously persist. During the past decade, due to very low rate of interest, housing became more affordable. This led to commercialization and some affordable families became able to purchase more than one house as renters are available in the booming market and rents are high. This led to per capita increase in the household debt. Now the situation became intolerable where the economic indicators convey that especially in big cities like Toronto and Vancouver, the Canadian household debt has increased much more than the disposable income.

We can ourselves examine the outcome of the economy when such situation arises.

The worst impact Canadians had to face, the needy people living in these cities and their adjoining ones, were not able to meet the affordability to purchase their dwelling while the big players as well as foreigners occupied the housing market for their commercial interests. If there would have been different parameters for the control over the foreigners to enter this market, then there would have been a different situation as it is today. In this way, housing ability continued to remain away from the needy Canadians where the gap continued to rise in the housing prices and their affordable income.

During the past decade, the prime rates of interest have been historically low in Canada (the lowest prime rate in Canada was 2.25 per cent that remained between April 22, 2009 to June 10, 2010). Many home buyers availed this excellent opportunity to invest in the real estate industry and it became commercially a profitable business for whoever invested in this sector due to low cost of credit and increasing home prices.

Ultimately low cost of credit and increase in home prices turned this requirement to the commercial business as the low cost of credit was affordable with renting out the invested property.

Zoom Holi Fest 2019

T

he much-awaited Zoom Holi Fest 2019 is finally here and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite a

star-studded event, like every year. From Bollywood celebs in attendance to popstars, rappers performing, the event has been a blast so far. Arjun Kanungo, Jaleen Royal performed at the event while the heartthrob Badshah

stole the show. The rap artist turned up in a bright green jacket and rocked the party like no other. The event took off to another level when the much-awaited diva Katrina Kaif arrived.

Katrina looked vibrant in a black top, bright pink pants with a long jacket. Katrina even put up a post on Instagram yesterday asking her fans to come celebrate Holi with her at the Zoom Holi Fest 2019.

In fact she also had a special message for her fans about the fest.

The much-awaited Zoom Holi Fest 2019 is finally getting underway and quite the starstudded event, as it is every year. From Bollywood celebs in attendance to popstars, rappers performing, the event has been a blast so far. While Arjun Kanungo and Jaleen Royalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performances were a total show stealer, but it only becomes a party when Badshah is in the house. The rap

artist turned up in a florocent green jacket and rocked the event like no other. The coolest Holi celebration was hosted by Siddharth Kannan who kept the audience engaged until the very end.

From cheering to having some fun, Siddharth added an extra dose of masti to the party.

A r j u n K a n u n g o turned up in the traditional suited holi shade â&#x20AC;&#x201C; white.

The performer wore a white kurta and ripped white jeans with white sneakers. Jasleen, best known for her songs like Nachde Ne Saare and Laaj Sharam, however, was in a black shorts.

18

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Sunny Leone tops Bihar job merit list Sunny Leone could be working as a junior engineer for the Bihar government. If the list of candidates who had applied for about 200 posts, uploaded on the website of Public Health Engineering Departments website, is to be believed the name of the Canadian-born film actor figures as the top ranker. When the matter was brought to the notice of PHED minister Vinod Narayan Jha, he hastened to clarify this is not the final list. Those whose names figure will have to undergo a screening process which would

include verification of their documents and certificates.

The departments special secretary Satish Chandra Mishra responded with a mix of bemusement and bewilderment and said I do not know who is Sunny Leone. “But it does sound a name that might have been uploaded on the website by way of mischief. We will get it sorted out.”

Bihar Min VN Jha on “Sunny Leone” topping Bihar govt’s recruitment exam for jr engineers in state public health engg dept: Results aren’t out yet. Vacancies for Jr Engineers were announced&17000 ppl applied.

Punjabi celebrities making headlines in Bollywood

604-566-3111 7233 - Fraser St., Vancouver, BC

Punjabi singer-actor Ammy Virk seems to touch new heights with every passing day. Last year it was his Bollywood singing debut that fetched him fame, just a couple of months back, him being a part of Kabir Khan’s ‘83’ made him the talk of the town and now he is hogging the limelight for being a part of Ajay Devgn’s ‘Bhuj - The Pride of India’.

Ammy Virk will be seen playing the role of a fighter pilot, who will be a crucial part of the film that celebrates India’s triumph over Pakistan in the 1971 war.

Talking further about the movie, ‘Bhuj

- The Pride Of India’, is the tale of valour of 300 women of Madhapur, Gujrat who in 1971 played a significant part in India’s victory. Along with Ammy Virk, the other stellar cast of the movie includes Ajay Devgn, Parineeti Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati and Sonakshi Sinha.

The movie is being bankrolled by Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar, Ginny Khanuja, Vajir Singh, Abhishek Dudhaiya and Kumar Mangat Pathak. Besides being one of the producers, Abhishek Dudhaiya also enjoys the credit for writing and direction.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

HOROSCOPE

Indian cinema gaining global recognition - Deepika Padukone

D

eepika Padukone, who was announced the chairperson of the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) earlier this year, feels that Indian cinema is at the â&#x20AC;&#x153;brink of beautiful global recognition.â&#x20AC;?

On her new appointment, Deepika Padukone said here: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the reason I agreed is because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important for the youth to be part of such organizations, movements or things which actually bring about changes because the future is in our hands.â&#x20AC;?

She was interacting with the media at Zee Cine Awards 2019 here on March 19. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think in a way, we are responsible for shaping the way the film industry moves forward from here on, so that was a calculated move on my part as well as the boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. It is something that we spoke about. I read an article recently which said that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I was appointed the chairperson because of my status or position.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Yes, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s precisely why we did that.â&#x20AC;?

The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Padmaavatâ&#x20AC;? actress, now also a producer, added that if one of the most prestigious film academies of India can benefit from her position at the board then â&#x20AC;&#x153;so be it.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because I think Indian cinema is at the brink of beautiful global recognition.

If it hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happened already, I think there is a lot more to happen and hopefully, we will just take it to an all new level,â&#x20AC;? she said.

As for her upcoming films, she shared that she will be leaving for Delhi soon to start shooting for her next movie â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chapaak.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so ironic that on the day of Holi, I am off to Delhi for the shooting of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Chapaak.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; We will start shooting it on Monday. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very important film, and I feel that the story which we are showcasing in our film needs to be told,â&#x20AC;? she said.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Films more important than fameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; - Janhvi Kapoor

Aries March 21 - April 20 After a four-week period in which the sun has been in a private sector and the energy focused inward, this week could be like a rebirth. As the sun enters your sign midweek for a fourweek stay, it can seem as though youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re at the beginning of a whole new phase. Hopefully, in recent weeks youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve found closure on certain issues. This can give you a clean slate on which to make your mark. With a supermoon in Libra on that same day, feelings could be unpredictable and overwhelming at times.

Taurus April 21 - May 20

potent energy could inspire you to take a bold

so. There is another shift in focus, too, as the sun moves into a subtle sector of your chart for a month. Its presence here can inspire you

situations that have been hanging over you for

progress is delayed until you do.

Gemini May 20 - June 21 If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve hesitated to resolve an issue, an intense focus could see you taking steps to do

energies midweek could inspire you to do what you have to do so you can move forward.

The relief you feel will make it all worth it.

The sun moves into your social sector to add a lighter and brighter energy to the coming weeks. But over this week, the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s change of sign also coincides with a supermoon in your

Cancer June 22 - July 23

J

anhvi Kapoor says her films are more important to her than earning fame as she has experienced fame since her childhood. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fame is important for every actor and whatever fame I have earned is all because of my family. I have been getting recognized more after my first film so, I am very grateful for love and support which I received from the media and the audience. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have experienced fame since my childhood so now my work, acting and films are more important to me than fame,â&#x20AC;? Janhvi told media at HELLO! Hall of Fame Awards 2019 here on March 17. Janhvi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the elder daughter of late actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, made her Bollywood debut last year with the film â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dhadak.â&#x20AC;?

At the event, Janhvi also spoke about actress Madhuri Dixit Nene, who replaced Sridevi in the movie â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kalank.â&#x20AC;? She said that she is looking forward to watch her in the

movie. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was excited to see her in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Kalankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; from audience point of view. I think teaser of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Kalankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and every characterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s look in the film is looking really beautiful so, I am really excited to see that film,â&#x20AC;? added Janhvi.

Janhvi is currently working on the untitled biopic of Gunjan Saxena, the Indian Air Forceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s female combat pilot, who took part in the Kargil War in 1999.

Jhanvi completed her education from Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai and did acting course from Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, in California. Her debut movie is Dhadak. . She has one sister Khusi Kapoor, half brother Arjun Kapoor and one half sister Anshula Kapoor. Jhanvi kapoor sign is Pisces. Her height is 5ft4 inch, weight 52 kg. Her hair color black and eyes are brown.

She is popular celebrity in Indian cinema.

19

Bollywood

An event that involves others on your wavelength could give you the

! youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve wondered about following a certain path, the coming days could reassure you that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing the right thing. You could feel this at a very deep and instinctual level, suggesting that destiny may be at work.

At the same time, the coming four weeks can bring fresh responsibilities as well as opportunities your way as the sun enters your

Leo June 24 - August 23 As the sun, your personal planet, moves into Aries and your sector of travel and adventure, you might feel as though youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come out into the sunlight after walking in a dark forest. After an intense time, the coming few weeks can be a balm to your soul. If you can get away for a break, consider doing so because this can help recharge and refresh you. The sun enters Aries on Wednesday, and there is a supermoon in Libra and your sector of communication on

Virgo Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be afraid to follow your heart and pour your energy into something that seems to promise "

summon your energy and channel it into new possibilities.

At the same time, the movement of the sun into Aries and a more intense sector of your chart suggests opportunities to let go of situations and even relationships that no longer serve you.

Libra Sept. 24 - Oct 22 The focus shifts again this week as the radiant sun enters your sector of relationships for approximately four weeks.

It brings the opportunity to shine a light on key areas of an ongoing bond and, if necessary, do something about it. However, although this can be a chance to clear the air, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also an opportunity to negotiate and perhaps compromise where necessary.

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 22 Your lifestyle and wellness routines come into focus as the radiant sun moves into Aries midweek. It will remain here for approximately four weeks, during which time you may be busy with all kinds of plans and projects. But the cosmos is also encouraging you to be discriminating. Think about what works for you and what doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. It might be time to let go of certain habits and activities that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really doing you any favors.

Sagitarius Nov 23 - Dec 22 You might be ready for some enjoyment this week as the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move into your leisure sector puts the focus on fun and games. Do you have energy to spare?

Competitive sports can help channel it while enhancing your social life, too.

Go easy around midweek, though, because thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a full supermoon just as the sun powers into Aries. A romantic situation could begin and leave you with a decision about whether to take things further or not.

Capricorn Dec 23 - Jan 20 A determined aspect at the start of the week could see you making major strides with an intense romantic bond or creative #

$

vacating your home zone, life on the domestic front can begin to feel easier and less subject to unexpected events. On Wednesday, the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move into Aries and your family sector shines the spotlight on life at home and what you might do to improve matters.

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19 %

your money zone and moving to merge with hazy Neptune later in the week, it might be wise not to sign any important deals or other &

'

be quite as they seem, so do more research before getting more involved.

Networking and communication become further emphasized midweek as the illuminating sun enters your sector of talk and thought.

Pisces Feb 20 - March 20 Resources and money matters could be at the top of your priority list midweek as the sun

! will remain here for around four weeks, so youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have a chance to consider the things you own and how many of them you really need. This can be a great opportunity to remove some clutter and sell those things that could earn you some money.

20

By Vibhooti Vaishnav

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Happy Holi

Next big exuberant, colourful, joyful festival after Diwali is Holi. Traditions form in a society with its geography and climate along with beliefs and faiths and mythology.

Let’s brush up our mythology around holi.

To cut a long story short it was the full moon night of fagun month of indian calendar when Prahalad, a young boy of 5 was attempted to be burnt alive by his own father simply because he refused to accept his father as a sole god. He argued that god that governs universe is omnipresent and later succeeds in proving that when Narsinh avatar comes forth from a hot pillar.

Prahalad’s father Hiranyakashipu had

was tied to holika and burnt in anticipation that holika will come alive unharmed while prahalad will be engulfed in flames and reduced to ashes, Hold and behold exactly opposite came about. Holika was reduced to ashes to everyone’s astonishment and Prahalad was miraculously unharmed. This marks holi where symbolically a fire is lit and people gather and make offerings to mark end of dark evil arrogant human nature and welcome pure hearts full of devotion and

turning into bright warmer days, spring brings new life new hope in people, and hence the festival of colours. Celebrated in two parts, on Full moon night of fagun

a sister holika who had a boon that she cannot be burnt ever. Hence this child

faith and love and celebrate the following morning with colours and water and spread joy and happiness in the society.

Let’s look the timing of this festival in India. It is the advent of summer, so dark winter times are

communities get together and light a big campfire, pay their homage, and pray for burning of evil. This burning of holi also helps destroying certain viruses that are air borne during this season.

The second part of the festival is next morning when people come out in communities and throw colours and water and water balloons at each other. Kids eagerly waiting for this all year round and

get too excited running after each other and this festival at this point sees no bars of caste and religion and class. All differences are forgotten and everyone share the joy and happiness in such an exhilarating way. Once your face and clothes are coloured there is no distinction as it is hard to tell everyone apart. This is the significance that we are all same and equal and we all seek the same happinesses and joy and it is so easily attained if we all forgot our ego and differences and pursue life together. Let us, as adults, not adulterate the child in us, let innocence and wonder be always kept alive even if we have to live with worldly evils.

And this is totally achievable if we can leave our negativity of jealousy, hatred, distress, dismay, agony, greed, self centric attitudes, prejudices etc behind the dark night and let the dawn of positivity brighton up one day at a time accepting all with open mind, let’s celebrate unity in diversity.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

By Evan Mantyk

21

Press release

What is the Shen Yun show?

If you haven’t seen Shen Yun before, this is a review of what to expect during the performance. I’ve seen Shen Yun at theaters in the New York area each year and written at length on the topic. Hopefully this will be helpful!

1. Classical Chinese Dance: A Cultural Treasure. Imagine ancient Greek or Egyptian statues at a museum coming to life and demonstrating for you the dance forms of their advanced cultures which have now been lost. Amazing, right? That gives a rough idea of the value of Shen Yun. Shen Yun portrays classical Chinese dance.

Fei Tian College, which offers bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in the field, states: “Established on the foundation of the fivethousand-year-old, vast Chinese culture, … classical Chinese dance was handed down in a variety of ways, with plays being chief among them. Historically, throughout the

different dynasties, dances performed in the imperial court had different techniques and characteristics.” But it’s not just historical.

Flips, leaps, spins, and difficult postures make it exciting and beautiful to watch. The acting component of classical Chinese dance also allows for story dances that have moving drama or effective comedy.

2. Live Orchestra with Unique Sound.

Shen Yun’s live orchestra combines unique instruments from China with a full orchestra of Western strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion. The blend is smooth and immediately appealing to the ear. The New York Times writes: “The performers are accompanied by an orchestra that combines Chinese instruments, like the stringed pipa, the guzheng (sometimes called the Chinese zither) and the bamboo flute, with Western instruments.

‘This is technically difficult,’ Mr. Browde said, ‘because the tonalities are so different.’” You won’t hear this kind of lush Chinese-Western fusion anywhere else that I know of. If you are a musician of any stripe or a music aficionado, Shen Yun’s music itself is an experience. In fact, Shen Yun’s orchestra has its own symphony tour in the fall worth checking out. 3. Endless Array of Brilliant Costumes. Each of Shen Yun’s 20 or so performance pieces comes with its own brilliantly colored costumes and props, making for an exuberant pageantry.

After seeing Shen Yun, I stopped thinking of Chinese people as “starving children” (a tactic of my mother’s to get us to eat all our food) or as soldiers dressed in drab military uniforms.

The costumes are also transportive. You really feel like you’re in a different place. After seeing Shen Yun, clothing designer Donna Karan, creator of DKNY, said, “It was like taking a journey to China, here in New York!”

4. Interactive Backdrop in Theater. The performers and talented technical crew have created scenes in which the actors seem to come out of the digital backdrop, sometimes so flawlessly as to pass into the realm of stage magicians. It gives a whole new meaning to the idea of 3D—and no glasses required.

5. Meaningful Message: Falun Dafa Resists Persecution. Before communism seized control of the country in 1949, China had a long, deep history of spirituality, including Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. In this same tradition, Shen Yun performers have a background in the Buddhist spiritual practice Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong. This peaceful meditation practice has been one of the most ruthlessly persecuted groups in modern China.

Thus, Shen Yun was founded in New York by people who fled communism, and Shen Yun is banned in China. Some of the most striking pieces in the show depict this persecution in China and give Shen Yun an immediacy and global relevance.

6. A Wholesome Family-Friendly Show.

Shen Yun contains strong universal themes of family, good and evil, and cultural discovery easily grasped by children.

Also, the show contains about 20 separate pieces over about two hours with a 15-minute intermission in the middle.

This means the pace is quick enough that kids remain engaged throughout. Tell them to find their favorite dance, costume, or piece of music—there are a lot to pick from.

However, note that children under five are not usually admitted.

Question & Answer Here are some common questions people have asked when reading Shen Yun reviews.

1. How is Shen Yun different from other Chinese shows? Simply put, Shen Yun is much better. Better music, better choreography, better costumes and scenery, better pacing, and a better sense of cultural communication. You really feel the “5,000 years of Chinese civilization.”

Looking at Shen Yun’s background, this isn’t too surprising. Shen Yun was founded by Chinese people in New York, independent of the Chinese communist regime, which is known for revising history to its own benefit and looking down on tradition. Those other Chinese performance companies are based in China and are under the thumb of the communist regime and its ideological warfare—a poisonous path for art. They feature long and boring stories or circuslike spectacles that are eye-popping but aesthetically and spiritually shallow.

2. Can I find it online to download?

Shen Yun performances are not available online. You can check the Shen Yun YouTube channel for some short videos to give you an idea, but the show really has to be experienced in person.

3. Is the show promoting Falun Gong?

Is Bach’s greatest work, Mass in B Minor, promoting Protestant Christianity? All great cultures and times have produced compelling and moving art. One common thread of art throughout the ages has been a devotion to the divine, respect for humanity, and an aspiration for perfection. Falun Gong seems to inspire Shen Yun’s amazing performers, musicians, and artists to strive for perfection

ALL-NEW 2019 SHOW FROM NEW YORK • WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA

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“Exquisitely Beautiful! it was an extraordinary experience for us and the children.”

—Cate Blanchett, Academy Award-winning actress

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I encourage everyone to see and all of us to learn from.”

—Donna Karan, fashion designer, creator of DKNY

MARCH 22–31 • QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE 888.974.3698 ShenYun.com/Van Sold Out Across North America Last Season. Secure Your Best Seats Now!

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Saturday, March 23, 2019

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Saturday, March 23, 2019

Science

23

You can’t overdose on fentanyl by touching it The latest horror story in America’s opioid epidemic: Police officers are supposedly overdosing just by coming in contact with the synthetic opioid fentanyl. In the most recent example, a Vermont state trooper, acting Sgt. Brett Flansburg, last week reportedly fell ill and collapsed in a parking lot after he was exposed to small quantities of a drug.

This isn’t the first time a similar story has been widely reported. This genre of stories really took off with national reports that an East Liverpool, Ohio, police officer collapsed after he brushed fentanyl residue off his uniform. And there have been similar reports in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

But there’s one problem: Overdosing on fentanyl just by touching it or by simply being in proximity to it is extremely unlikely, if not impossible.

Yet overdose by contact has been a persistent myth about fentanyl since it began supplanting heroin in much of the US’s illicit opioid supply.

Still, these stories and the myth they perpetuate really matter. They suggest that helping people who use drugs can be dangerous. That can lead to unnecessary caution or new requirements, like forcing officers to put on certain equipment when they respond to an overdose — which could then lead to people in need of quick, unhesitating emergency help getting hurt or killed as they wait.

Fentanyl is a dangerous drug. It’s up to 100 times as potent as morphine, and several times as potent as heroin. It’s often mixed with or sold as heroin —

which means a person using the drugs can inadvertently take a much more powerful dose than he was expecting.

It’s a big reason drug overdose deaths have skyrocketed in the past few years, with overdose deaths linked to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) spiking more than 10 times over since 2011.

But fentanyl is only dangerous when it’s genuinely ingested — by snorting it or injecting it into the bloodstream. The American College of Medical Toxicology published a position statement noting as much in 2017, finding that “it is very unlikely that small, unintentional skin exposures to tablets or powder would cause significant opioid toxicity, and if toxicity were to occur it would not develop rapidly, allowing time for removal.”

Jeremy Faust, an instructor at Harvard Medical School and emergency room physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has treated many fentanyl victims in the ER. He says, “It’s just not a substance that is easily absorbed through the skin,” noting that pharmaceutical companies spent many years and millions of dollars in order to develop technology for a patch to deliver the drug via the skin.

If that doesn’t convince you, Chad Sabora, a harm reduction activist in St. Louis, posted a video holding heroin cut with fentanyl and carfentanil (a more potent synthetic opioid). As you can see, he’s fine: A common theme in these stories is that police officers couldn’t be revived after multiple doses of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone — typically

Ajay Devgn to release trailer of ‘De De Pyaar De’ Ajay Devgn turns 50 on April 2. To mark his milestone birthday, he will release the trailer of his next, De De Pyaar De, in the presence of fans at a suburban venue. Every year, his admirers throng his Juhu home, Shiv Shakti, to wish him. Now, he wants them to be part of the film’s event as well.

Akiv Ali’s directorial venture, which hits screens in May, also stars Rakul Preet Singh and Tabu. Devgn is known to suffer from cake trauma and avoids cutting it.

But there’s no way he can escape from cutting his 50th birthday cake and quip in Singham style, “Aata majhi satakli.”

Ajay Devgn is also attached to work in Luv Ranjan’s next directorial. The film, also stars Ranbir Kapoor, will release on December 25, 2020. Ajay will also be seen in the multi starcast Bhuj: The Pride of India, which is based on a true incident and is one of India’s most fascinating war-related stories. The film also stars Parineeti Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Ammy Virk, Sonakshi Sinha and Rana Daggubati.

He will also be seen in a sports biopic on the former Indian football coach Syed Abdul Rahim which is directed by Badhaai Ho director Amit Sharma. Devgn was last seen in Total Dhamaal which also stars Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh.

as a way of suggesting just how bad the overdose was.

But there’s another possibility: Maybe the person couldn’t be revived by naloxone because he wasn’t experiencing an opioid overdose. Naloxone can, in some cases, require several doses to take effect, but it will eventually work; if it doesn’t, then it’s likely not an opioid overdose.

So what’s going on with these cops?

It’s hard to say, and no one knows for certain. One possibility is panic attacks.

With the media widely reporting just how dangerous fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are, maybe some cops have convinced themselves that the drug really can cause an overdose if you touch it, so they panic — essentially, a nocebo effect.

If this is true, the spread of this myth could hurt more cops by potentially exposing

them to unnecessary panic.

The good news is so far, there have been no reports of police officers dying due to these encounters.

This myth, however, can be dangerous.

If they believe this myth, emergency response services may be motivated to require safety equipment for staff responding to an overdose — gloves, masks, hazmat suits, and so on. But when responding to an overdose, every second matters. Reversing an overdose just a few seconds or minutes earlier can prevent brain damage or death.

So requiring emergency crews to take seconds or minutes to put on unnecessary gear could put some overdose victims in actual danger — and then somebody might actually die of an overdose.

24

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Vol. 10 No. 8

Saturday - March 23, 2019

Tel: 604-591-5423

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com upcoming federal budget to help first-time homebuyers. CIBC economist Royce Mendes said 2019 is shaping up to be a tougher year for homebuilding. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Residential investment was downright ugly in the fourth quarter, and the latest reading on housing starts only added to the bad news on Canadian homebuilding,â&#x20AC;? Mendes wrote. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Prior to this reading, starts had seen a bit of a renaissance, rising back above 200,000 for four straight months. But the market has been a contending with the effects of higher interest rates and stricter lending standards, and a pace of 200,000 looked unlikely for the year as a whole.â&#x20AC;? The overall decline in the pace of housing starts came as the annual rate of urban starts fell 18.0 per cent in February to 155,663 units.

Housing starts suffer â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;steep declineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in February as tougher mortgage rules finally take a toll The annual pace of housing starts slowed in February as higher mortgage rates and less stimulative economic conditions helped soften demand, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Friday.

The housing agency said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts fell to 173,153 units in February compared with 206,809 units the month before.

Economists had expected an annual pace of 205,000, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a leading indicator of economic activity, Februaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s steep decline in housing starts may raise some eyebrows in Ottawa,â&#x20AC;?

Fotios Raptis, senior economist at TD Bank, The benchmark price of a detached home in Metro Vancouver fell nearly 10 per cent year over year as more sellers listed properties, the local real estate board says â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but house hunters continued to take their time in February.

The total number of homes sold in the region last month fell to 1,484, down more than 30 per cent from the sales recorded in February 2018 and more than 42 per cent below the 10-year February sales average.

wrote in a report. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Although housing starts seemed to be unscathed by the new B-20 regulations that took effect in January 2018, higher borrowing costs and tougher mortgage qualifying conditions may finally be taking a toll on new residential construction.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Bank of Canada is on hold,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; with little good news to be seen on the economic front Mortgage stress test proponents say rules are working. But what

exactly were they supposed to do, again? With the Bank of Canada holding interest rates â&#x20AC;Ś just how vulnerable are Canadians to debt?

The slowing housing starts come as sales of existing homes has also been slowing. The Canadian Real Estate Association reported home sales posted their weakest January since 2015. Rising mortgage rates and tighter lending rules have been blamed for the slowdown in sales, prompting some to call on the federal government to make changes in the

Slow months for home sales The composite benchmark price for a home, which includes detached properties, townhomes and condominiums, went down less than one per cent from January to land at $1,016,600.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a six per cent decrease over the past six months, according to data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

B.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest housing spike is happening in a city 6 hours from the Lower Mainland

The numbers reflect a market that increasingly favours buyers over sellers, with cheaper properties and less competition.

Home sales in the region hit their lowest level in nearly 20 years last year, recording the lowest annual total â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 24,619 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; since 2000.

Metro Vancouver home sales fall to lowest total since 2000 REBGV president Phil Moore has called 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x153;a transition periodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s housing market, which moved away

from sellersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; market conditions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;High home prices, rising interest rates and new mortgage requirements and taxes all contributed to the market conditions we saw in 2018,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he said.

Vancouver home sales fall nearly 40% in January as prices pull back The housing market in the Fraser Valley also saw a slowdown in 2018. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board said sales dropped 30.2 per cent last year, down to 15,586 total sales â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the lowest since 2013.

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25

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Over 11% of Vancouver condos have a non-resident owner, says new CMHC report

#106 - 7565 132 St. Surrey, BC 604.572.3005

Over 11 percent of Vancouver condos have at least one non-resident as an owner, a number that jumps to more than 19 per cent when it comes to newer built condos.

The information is contained in a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation housing market insight report which also found that non-residents â&#x20AC;&#x201D; defined as someone who

doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have their principal residence in Canada â&#x20AC;&#x201D; tend to own more expensive properties than residents, especially in Vancouver.

Some of the other findings: 7.2 per cent of all Vancouver properties have at least one non-resident owner.

Non-resident ownership is highest in

26

Community / News

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Matrimonial Punjabi Bansal family seeking a suitable mach for their 31 year old,â&#x20AC;? son, Height 5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;.11, Handsome,Sober, soft spoken, vegetarian currently in Patiala Punjab India. He has done studies in BTech Computer Science and working in Judicial Department as IT Analyst in Patiala. Girl should be well educated and family oriented freferably Canadian citizen or Canadian Permanent resident.

For more details please call 604-617-0615 or email Kushal.20776@gmail.com

27

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Home equity line of credit largest contributor to non-mortgage consumer debt - survey A home equity line of credit may be a cheap and easy way to borrow money to pay off your lingering holiday bills or consolidate high-interest debt. But experts caution that you need a plan to repay the money.

They say it is all too easy to only make the minimum monthly payments to cover the interest and never make any progress on reducing the amount you owe.

Getting a home equity line of credit can be a smart way to pay off debt.

But you need to understand all the details, especially how you’ll repay it.

Getting a home equity line of credit can be a smart way to pay off debt. But you need to understand all the details, especially how you’ll repay it. (Dreamstime) “It is so easy to stay in debt for a long, long period of time,” says Scott Hannah, chief executive of the Credit Counselling Society.

Hannah says consolidating highinterest debt using a home equity line of credit that charges a lower rate of interest can be a good plan — but you need to understand how much you can afford to

borrow, the interest rate you are going to be charged and how you are going to repay it.

Too often, he says, a HELOC is used by those who are spending more than they earn to cover daily expenses.

“It can really mask spending behaviour, it can really mask the fact that a person may not be managing their financial affairs well,” Hannah says.

A HELOC is secured by the value of your home while the interest rate charged is normally linked to the big bank prime rates and fluctuates as that rate changes.

The Bank of Canada has raised its key interest rate target five times since the middle of 2017, moves that have driven up the cost of borrowing.

A report on a survey taken by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says HELOCs are the largest contributor to nonmortgage consumer debt, more than double that of either credit cards or auto loans.

However, Michael Toope, a spokesman for the agency, says the survey found many consumers don’t understand how the lines of credit work.

Plummeting home prices, lack of foreign buyers is Real estate numbers show further softening of Metro Vancouver real estate market, and nowhere is that effect more dramatic than on Vancouver’s West Side.

One realtor says a lack of foreign buyers is why homeowners who bought in the pricey part of the town a few years ago are now selling for huge losses.

“The West Side housing market… became very reliant of foreign capital flowing in,” said Andrew Hasman, the realtor for an owner who finally managed to sell their 1920s character home after

more than a year on the market. “All of those buyers have kind of hit the sidelines and without those buyers, prices can only go one way and that’s down.”

The property in question was first listed for $2.7 million.

It then dropped to $2.4 million and then $2.2 million. Hasman said the home finally sold a couple of weeks ago for less than $2 million—$612,000 less than the owner paid for it 20 months ago.

A different home located nearby is currently listed at $2.5 million. In June 2016, it sold for $4 million.

Prices dropping across the region Last month, a detached fixer-upper in East Vancouver was listed for just shy of $1 million, a price that has been unheard of in the city for years.

While devaluing has been the most dramatic on the West Side, the trend extends right across Metro Vancouver, with most detached homes selling for well under their assessed value. Townhome

My neighbour’s sexual trysts literally shake me awake. I’m elderly and my health is at stake: Ask Ellie My neighbour’s sexual trysts literally shake me awake. I’m elderly and my health is at stake: Ask Ellie Christopher Husbands had a big smile after his manslaughter convictions for the Eaton Centre shooting. It’s easy to see why Christopher Husbands had a big smile after his manslaughter convictions for the Eaton Centre shooting. It’s easy to see why How do I heal from my boyfriend’s cheating: Ask Ellie How do I heal from my boyfriend’s cheating: Ask Ellie “People are not very familiar with the terms and conditions of the loans, these lines of credit, and they generally don’t have great plans for paying them back,” he said.

Just 15 per cent of HELOC holders knew that a financial institution can increase an interest rate at its discretion, while 45 per cent knew there are fees to transfer a HELOC to another institution.

The FCAC survey also found that one in five HELOC holders borrowed more than they intended.

The most popular use of a HELOC, according to the survey, was for home renovations at 49 per cent, while 22 per cent said they used their HELOC for debt consolidation.

Toope says if you are going to use a HELOC, you need to know what the money is going to be used for and how you are going to pay it back.

“You need to know why you are borrowing that money or why you need that line of credit,” he said.

28

Saturday, March 23, 2019

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Saturday, March 23, 2019

DREAM CARPET

29 17

30 18

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Stock options to be taxed more like regular income under new federal budget Executives at big established companies who get paid with large stock grants will owe more in tax under changes promised in the new federal budget.

Under the current rules, employee stock option benefits are taxed at half the normal rate of personal income — the same rate as capital gains.

The plan announced in the federal budget Tuesday will put a $200,000 annual cap on the stock-option grants that get the preferential treatment, for employees of large firms.

The government plans to exclude start-ups and rapidly growing businesses from the cap, to allow them to use potentially lucrative stock

options as a tool to attract and reward employees without necessarily paying big salaries.

“We will take action to limit the benefit of the stock option deduction for executives of large, long-established corporations — while ensuring that everyday employees aren’t affected, and that start-ups and emerging Canadian businesses can continue to grow, attract talent, and create more good jobs,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau said.

The government said the rationale for preferential tax treatment of employee stock options is to support younger and growing businesses and that it does not believe that they should be used as compensation for executives

BC unveils first poverty reduction plan NDP government recast 18 months worth of its accomplishments on housing, child care and social assistance on Monday into a newly titled poverty reduction plan that left advocates looking for bold action disappointed.

Social Development Minister Shane Simpson said the plan “comprises programs, polices and initiatives across government, tying together investments made over three budgets into a thoughtful, bold and comprehensive plan to address poverty in B.C.” The target is a 25-per-cent reduction in poverty, and a 50-per-cent reduction in child poverty, within five years. That means lifting at least 140,000

above the poverty line, including 50,000 children. But most of the 48-page strategy recapped $4-billion in housing, child care and social assistance announcements the NDP government has already made since taking power in July 2017. Jennifer Matthews, a legal advocate for the Together Against Poverty Society, said her organization was very disappointed. “I think that the people who are experiencing the most severe forms of poverty have really been left out of this plan,” she said.

“There’s not a ton in there that’s going to be of substantial benefit to them or really make a meaningful change in their lives.”

Pitt Meadows breaks tempreture recored set in 1914 Daily temperature records smashed across BCon Tuesday, with Pitt Meadows breaking a record set in 1914.

32 temperature records were broken on March 18, across BC and Yukon.

Environment Canada meteorologist Jonathan Bau said that as Pitt Meadows basked in 22.5 C, 36 other areas also smashed March 19 records.

Among the record setters were Abbotsford, with 22.7 C, breaking a 1960 record; Chilliwack with 24.1 C, breaking a 1928 record, and Hope with 22.4 C, breaking a 1947 record. Vancouver reached 14.8 C, half a degree warmer than the record set in 2016. In Victoria Harbour, the

19.2 C heat broke the 16.7 C record set in 1878.

“There’s a strong high pressure system sitting over much of B.C. and it’s unusual because it’s so warm, with the air coming from the States,” Bau said. “We are breaking records all the way up to Yukon. On Monday we had a record in Old Crow, which is in Yukon near the Beaufort Sea.” Bau said it will be warm again on Wednesday, then start to cool on Thursday, though remaining above seasonal temperatures.

On Monday, B.C. crushed 26 weather records, including the hot spots of Abbotsford and Squamish, which both hit 23 C. At 23.5 C, Squamish broke its record temperature of 18 C set in 1996, while Abbotsford beat its 1996 record of 18.2 C. White Rock also recorded a record 20.6 C. Meantime, Avalanche Canada issued a warning for the West Coast Monday because of the warm spell, saying the dramatic temperature increase will increase the likelihood of avalanches throughout the mountains. With the warm weather and B.C.’s spring break, more people are expected to be heading into the mountains.

“This is the first big warming to hit our snowpack, which is still fairly complex and winter-like,” said Grant Helgesson, a senior avalanche forecaster with Avalanche Canada.

“Any time the snowpack is hit with a big change, it tends to destabilize. The temperatures are forecast to increase substantially this week, with no nighttime cooling. This will weaken the snowpack on all aspects, increasing the possibility of large natural avalanches as well as making it easier for the weight of a person to trigger deeper weak layers.”

Budget 2019

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Federal budget makes it easier for working seniors to keep more of their money The federal budget contains at least two measures that will have working seniors cheer.

The first would allow working seniors to keep more of the money they earn before triggering a claw-back in the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS).

The GIS is a tax-free benefit available to low-income Canadians who receive the Old Age Security pension (OAS).

Currently, eligible seniors and their spouses can earn only up to $3,500 a year each before triggering a reduction in their GIS benefits.

And that limit only applies to employment income.

For those earning money from selfemployment, there is no exemption.

The new rules would apply equally to employment and self-employment earnings and allow seniors to make up to $5,000 a year before the government starts rolling back their benefits.

For the next $10,000 in annual earnings, the budget proposes a 50-per cent exemption.

The changes mean the annual income at which GIS benefits are fully rolled back would rise to just under $30,000 a year. That’s up from just over $20,000 a year for seniors with employment income and up from less than $20,000 for those with self-employment income.

A new option to defer some retirement income until age 85 Another measure that might help working seniors is a proposal to introduce socalled advanced life deferred annuities, or ALDAs. Annuities pay out a set amount beginning on a certain date and are one of the investments Canadians can buy with funds held in a registered retirement account.

Currently, annuity payouts must start by age 71.

With an ALDA, however, Canadians would be able to defer payouts until the end of the year their turn 85.

Individuals would be able to hold ALDAs worth up to 25 per cent of their

Alberta heading to the polls in April After weeks of anticipation and the ramp-up of election promises, NDP Leader Rachel Notley dropped the writ Tuesday.

Voters have 28 days to decide who they want to run Alberta for the next four years after NDP Leader Rachel Notley dropped the writ Tuesday and officially launched an election campaign that has already been informally underway for weeks.

“It is time for an election,” Notley said to a crowd assembled at Calgary’s National Music Centre Tuesday morning, kicking off the party’s campaign seeking a second majority government at the polls on April 16.

“Are you ready to fight for an Alberta where we bring people together, not keep them apart?”

“I can’t wait for the campaign ahead,” she said, flanked by supporters holding signs with phrases like, “fighting for you” and “fighting for jobs.”

Kenney kicks off campaign Notley’s main rival in the four-week

campaign, UCP Leader Jason Kenney, held his own event at Total Energy Services in Leduc Tuesday afternoon, where he said Alberta’s economy has been destroyed and is in a “job crisis” with thousands of positions shed over the last few months.

Albertans are poorer because of NDP policy,” he said.

Kenney also slammed the NDP’s record on the economy, pipelines and the government’s “disastrous alliance” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Are you better off than you were four years ago? That’s the question Albertans will be asking when they choose their next government on April 16. For the vast majority of Albertans, the answer is no,” he said.

Kenney said a full UCP platform, with costs, would be released midway through the campaign.

When asked about former UCP CalgaryMountain View candidate Caylan Ford, who quit after remarks surfaced where she suggested white supremacist terrorists are

31 19

Ottawa increases funding for money-laundering watchdog in the budget

O

ttawa’s increase in funding for the country’s money-laundering watchdog is set to help it beef up outreach and examinations in B.C.’s gambling sector, including more on-the-ground visits to casinos suspected of laundering more than $100 million in ill-gotten gains over the past decade.

This week’s federal budget proposed an extra $16.9-million for the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FinTRAC) over the next five years as part of Ottawa’s plan to “modernize” Canada’s anti-money laundering regime, which has drawn major criticism over the past year for its inability to stop billions from being laundered through British Columbia real estate and casinos. The agency confirmed Wednesday that part of that budget boost will go toward more examinations in both those sectors.

During the 2017 fiscal year, FinTRAC completed one examination of a casino entity, but, due to privacy concerns, could not say whether that was the Crown-owned BC Lottery Corp. (BCLC), which collects reports of possible money-laundering from the province’s 18 casinos then filters them and passes them on to the federal agency. During the previous two fiscal years, FinTRAC examined 14 of the 18 other reporting casino entities across Canada.

British Columbia’s Attorney-General David Eby welcomed the new federal funding and

resources, for which he has been pushing for months. He noted that fewer examinations can be more effective if they are properly targeted, but he found the number of examinations in recent years “surprisingly low.”

“If they are only visiting reporting entities like the BCLC and not individual casinos that’s not good enough,” he said. “If they had gone to Lower Mainland casinos over the better part of a decade – when this activity was taking place – I have trouble imagining that they wouldn’t have been shocked and amazed by what they saw in terms of the bulk cash coming into the casinos.”

FinTRAC said it can assess more than 90 per cent of compliance requirements by visiting the headquarters of a central reporting entity such as the BCLC. “In relation to assessing training, FINTRAC interviews front line staff at various casino locations based on a riskbased approach,” spokesperson Renee Bercier said in an e-mailed statement.

Mr. Eby, who is expecting an independent review into the province’s real-estate sector to be completed within the next month, said the review he commissioned last year into money laundering in his province’s casino sector showed police didn’t have enough resources to properly investigate and FinTRAC was hamstrung in sharing much of the intelligence it gathers from the various sectors reporting suspicious transactions.

20 32

Budget 2019

Saturday, March 23, 2019

New federal budget includes $300 million for zeroemission vehicle rebates Canadians who want to drive “green” vehicles may now be eligible for rebates no matter where they live, thanks to a $300-million pledge from the federal Liberal government built into in its newly-released 2019 budget.

The funding will be spread over three years and will give buyers up to $5,000 against the purchase of zeroemission vehicles, which include batteryelectric or hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

Currently, only Quebec and British Columbia offer such rebates.

However, the federal purchase incentives will only apply to vehicles with a maximum purchase price of $45,000. At the moment, that includes small cars like the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Bolt, Hyundai Ioniq, Kia Soul EV and Smart EQ. “With this budget, we are taking steps to

make zero-emission vehicles more affordable for more Canadians…who want to make the switch and pay less at the pump,” said Bill Morneau, Canada’s Minister of Finance, as he presented the budget in Parliament.

Morneau added the budget will “provide expensing to a full range of zero-emission vehicles, so that businesses that want to switch over their fleet can recoup that investment sooner.” Under the plan, companies can deduct the full value of a ZEV during the year it is purchased, up to $55,000.

Currently, a conventional gasoline vehicle has a maximum business deduction of $30,000.

Over the next five years, Natural Resources Canada will receive $130 million to build vehicle charging stations, including in fartherflung locations as well as in public parking lots.

Federal budget: 10 things you need to know Federal government unveiled a budget on Tuesday, ahead of a federal election, that marked a pivot back to middle-class issues with a slate of new spending aimed at key voting blocs.

The plan comes with a sizable price tag: New spending would total $22.8-billion over the next five fiscal years, and the government is projecting a $19.8-billion deficit for fiscal 2019-20 – slightly larger than projected in the fall economic update.

The budget touched on many key themes that were telegraphed ahead of time, including housing affordability, pharmacare and seniors’ issues. In many cases, however, the policies proposed on Tuesday differed greatly from what lobbyists had suggested to Ottawa.

With that in mind, here are 10 highlights from the budget.

1) Budget balance: he government approached this budget with a stronger fiscal position, owing to “spectacular revenue growth, the government is projecting a $19.8-billion deficit in fiscal 2019-20, followed by a $19.7-billion deficit in the next fiscal year. Those figures are roughly $200-million and $1.6-billion larger, respectively, than was forecast in the fall.

2) Housing affordability: The budget included a raft of measures aimed at improving home affordability. One notable inclusion is the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, which would allow buyers to share the cost of purchasing a home with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

3) Pharmacare: As part of last year’s budget, Ottawa announced it was forming an advisory council, chaired by former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins, to explore the creation of a national prescription-drug program. While the council’s final report and recommendations aren’t due until the summer, the 2019 budget lays out a road map for how pharmacare will be rolled out.

4) Skills training: The budget included several measures to help Canadians boost their job skills.

The Canada Training Credit is intended to help workers between 25 and 64 pay for training costs. Every year, eligible workers would accumulate $250 in training credits, rising to a lifetime total of $5,000.

Canadians could apply their accumulated credit against half their training fees and claim their refund when filing tax returns.

5) Seniors: As expected, the budget included a series of measures aimed at improving the lives and security of seniors and those nearing retirement. According to the government,

approximately 40,000 people 70 or older are currently not enrolled in the Canada Pension Plan, meaning they aren’t receiving a monthly retirement pension (the budget calculates that this would be $302 a month on average in 2020).

6) Indigenous programs: The budget promised billions of dollars for Indigenous communities and continuing reconciliation efforts. One of four major budget initiatives, the “Advancing Reconciliation” section alone totalled $4.7-billion in new measures, or 21 per cent of new spending.

The measures include funding to support ongoing claims settlements, investments in governance for First Nations, money to permanently fund surveys on Indigenous people and the health of First Nations communities and more.

7) Electric vehicles: The government is looking to stoke the adoption of zero-emission vehicles – but not only for consumers.

To help businesses buy such vehicles, the budget proposed making them eligible for a full tax writeoff in the year they’re put in use. Applicable vehicles would include electric-battery, plug-in hybrid or hydrogenfuel-cell vehicles. Capital costs for eligible passenger vehicles would be deductible up to a limit of $55,000 plus sales tax.

8) Supply management: The government has earmarked billions in support for supplymanaged farmers. This follows an uproar from dairy farmers, in particular, after Canada ceded some of the domestic market to U.S. producers in the new North American trade pact, which has yet to be ratified.

9) High-speed internet: While past budgets have included funds to build out Canada’s high-speed internet infrastructure, this year the government set a national access target. By 2026, Ottawa aims to have 95 per cent of Canadian homes and businesses with access to minimum download speeds of 50 megabits a second and upload speeds of 10 megabits a second.

10) Journalism: This year’s budget included the first concrete details on the federal government’s strategy to support journalism.

Under the government’s proposed system, journalism outfits can apply for “Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization” (QCJO) status, making them eligible for credits and other benefits. To become a QCJO, an organization would need to operate and be incorporated in Canada and chaired by a Canadian; at least 75 per cent of its directors must be Canadian; and it must be at least 75-per-cent owned by Canadians.

Government to reduce mortgage payments for some first-time home buyers As one of the most significant policies in Budget 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government has announced a major new housing program that aims to make housing ownership more affordable for first-time buyers.

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) will allow home buyers to reduce the amount of money they need for an insured mortgage.

As one of the most significant policies in Budget 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government has announced a major new housing program that aims to make housing ownership more affordable for first-time buyers.

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) will allow home buyers to reduce the amount of money they need for an insured mortgage.

T hrough Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the federal government will

provide up to $1.25 billion over three years, beginning in the 2019-20 fiscal year, to eligible first-time homebuyers by sharing the cost of a mortgage.

Those eligible would be first-time home buyers with household incomes under $120,000 annually. Additionally, the participants’ insured mortgage and FTHBI amount cannot be more than four times the participants’ annual household incomes.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Trudeau picks BC MP to replace Philpott as cabinet minister This time, the move was made to replace Ontario MP Jane Philpott, who resigned as the president of the Treasury Board over the SNC-Lavalin controversy.

Replacing Philpott will be British Columbia MP Joyce Murray, who was sworn in at Rideau Hall today. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The past few weeks have been difficult, and I have expressed my confidence in our prime minister and our support for the work we are doing on behalf of Canadians,â&#x20AC;? said Murray.

Murray said she wants to get past the scandal and contribute to the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work reducing poverty, tackling climate change and creating jobs.

She also doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to hear any more from Jody WilsonRaybould on the SNC-Lavalin issue.

The prime minister has been clear there was â&#x20AC;&#x153;a failure of communication,â&#x20AC;? Murray said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He will be leading our team in looking at how we can do better.â&#x20AC;?

The 64-year-old was elected to the House of Commons in 2008 and was one of a handful of MPs to make a run for the Liberal party leadership in 2012.

She and her family dealt with a personal ordeal in February when her son had to be medically evacuated from Mexico to Vancouver after suffering serious injuries during his honeymoon in Cancun.

Highlights from the federal budget 2019 The following are highlights from Tuesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2019 federal budget: $1.7 billion over five years, and $586 million a year after that, for a Canada Training Benefit to help workers upgrade skills and acquire new ones while keeping their jobs. The benefit includes a $250-a-year tax credit to pay for training programs and access to employment insurance to cover living expenses for up to four weeks away from work.

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New budget targets young Canadians with billions in fresh spending The final budget of the Trudeau governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mandate will scatter billions in fresh spending â&#x20AC;&#x201D; on everything from pharmacare to retraining workers to first-time home buyers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as the Liberals commit to an electoral fight that pits their deficit-spending vision versus the Conservativesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; balanced-books approach.

Finance Minister Bill Morneauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget Tuesday resembled Liberal economic plans that preceded it: the government will exhaust a big windfall, run near-term deficits of about $20 billion and offer no timeline to return to balance.

The document tabled in the Commons showed that a stronger economy last year will put an extra $27.8 billion into the federal treasury over the next six years, compared to government predictions in its November economic update.

With seven months to go before the election, Morneauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan will spread around $22.8 billion of that additional cash. The government also said itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s booked another $4 billion in spending since the fall update. Out of all this new spending, most of it will be aimed at Canadiansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pocketbooks.

Funding for some of Tuesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitments will only start kicking in after Octoberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s election, giving voters the chance to weigh in on the budgetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contents at the ballot box. The Liberalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; spending path places them in stark contrast with the Opposition Conservatives, who have called on the government to rein in spending. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The opposition would like to see us make cuts very rapidly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; their idea is balance the budget at any cost,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Morneau told a news conference Tuesday after being asked about his deficits.

Budget 2019

33

34

INDIA

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Vote for positive govt that serves people: Priyanka Underlining the need to rid the country of negative, anti-farmer, anti-women antiQPPS HPWFSONFOU "*$$ HFOFSBM TFDSFUBSZ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged people to vote for a positive government which would bring in a new kind of politics of TFSWJOH QFPQMF "EESFTTJOH a cross section of women, youth fisher folks, boatmen BU UIF "TTJ (IBU JO BO interaction called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sacchi baat Priyanka ke Saathâ&#x20AC;?, she pointed out how every section of society was disappointed in the past five years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was speaking to fisher folks and boatmen.

They have been deprived of 10,000 land pattas not far from here,â&#x20AC;? she said, adding: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once a Congress government comes at the Centre, a special ministry to

address the problems of fisherfolks will be TFU VQ w "U "TTJ (IBU TIF XBT XFMDPNFE CZ supporters who had been waiting for her since morning. Local poet Badri Vishal had been entertaining them with his poem written to welcome Priyanka.

Starting her day from $IVOBS GPSU JO .JS[BQVS Priyanka spoke to local reporters where she said that the BJP had systematically ruined all institutions in the past five years. Reaching Ram Nagar in Varanasi, she paid tributes to former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Shastri Smarak amid a clash between $POHSFTT BOE #+1 TVQQPSUFST "Ä&#x2122;FS IFS JOUFSBDUJPO BU "TTJ (IBU TIF NPWFE UPXBSET Dashwamedh Ghat where she offered prayers to the Ganga.

Billionaire Nirav Modi remanded in custody after London court appearance Fugitive billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, wanted by Indian authorities over a $2 billion loan fraud at state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) was remanded in custody after appearing before a British court on Wednesday.

Indian journalists are seen outside the Westminster Magistrates court in London, Br *OEJB BTLFE #SJUBJO MBTU "VHVTU UP FYUSBEJUF Modi, 48, whose diamonds have sparkled on famous Hollywood stars, after he was accused

of massive bank fraud, charges he denies.

The diamond magnate was arrested in the Holborn area of central London on Tuesday after he went into a bank to open an account and a member of staff contacted police.

On Wednesday, he appeared at Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Westminster Magistrates Court accused by India of two charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

Priyanka says we are not scared as Modi attacks Gandhis Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty on Wednesday just as Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra undertook her first tour of Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency.

The PM did so through a detailed blog in which he held the NehruGandhi family responsible for insulting institutions. Vadra, who is Congress in-charge for East Uttar Pradesh, later sought to counter the PM with a similar charge. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the press to Parliament. From soldiers to free speech. From the Constitution to the courts. Institutional insult is the

Congress way. Everyone is wrong, only the Congress is correct,â&#x20AC;? wrote Modi in a sharp attack on the Congressâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first family. i"T ZPV HP UP WPUF SFNFNCFS the past and how one familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire for power cost the nation so greatly. If they could do it then, they can surely do it now.

Eternal vigilance remains the price of liberty.

Let us stay vigilant and work hard to strengthen the intuitions given to us by the makers of our Constitution.â&#x20AC;?

Modi brought up former PM Indira Gandhi for promulgating Emergency and interfering with the judiciary.

New chief minister of Goa sworn in Newly elected Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant proved majority of his BJP-led government in the "TTFNCMZ DPNGPSUBCMZ XJOOJOH a floor test in the House, after the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday. When Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo asked GPS EJWJTJPO PG WPUFT .-"T supported the confidence motion in the two-day-old government, while 15 legislators opposed it. The effective strength of UIF NFNCFS "TTFNCMZ JT OPX BÄ&#x2122;FS UIF death of two members and resignation by two others. The change in leadership in the coastal state was necessitated due to the death of then CM Manohar Parrikar on Sunday. "Ä&#x2122;FS XJOOJOH UIF Ä&#x2DC;PPS UFTU 4BXBOU BQQFBMFE to House members to â&#x20AC;&#x153;be positiveâ&#x20AC;?, echoing a

message given by Parrikar earlier. Ä&#x2021;F TQFDJBM "TTFNCMZ TFTTJPO XBT convened by Governor Mridula Sinha to conduct the floor test.

Besides 11 members from the BJP, three each from the Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three Independents supported Sawant.

"MM $POHSFTT .-"T BOE POF from the NCP stood up against the motion. The session began with a discussion on a condolence motion moved by BJPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rajesh Patnekar, expressing grief over the death of Parrikar, GPSNFS %FQVUZ $. 'SBODJT % 4PV[B BOE GPSNFS Deputy Speaker Vishnu Wagh.Sudin Dhavalikar and Vijay Sardesai were appointed Deputy CMs in the BJP-led government on Wednesday.

Mayawati wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t contest Lok Sabha polls, but still in PM race BSP supremo Mayawati perplexed the Opposition ranks with her decision to withdraw from the Lok Sabha fray and her remarks that she was still not out of the potential prime ministerial race should numbers favour the anti-BJP camp after the elections. It all began with Mayawatiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cryptic message to her cadres this morning where she said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will not be contesting Lok Sabha elections.â&#x20AC;? Lest anyone imputed to her statement motives she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean, Mayawati later told her workers not to lose heart over her not fighting LS poll now. She also indicated that the race for the PM post was

very much open and she was a clear claimant. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I became the UP CM for the Ä&#x2022;STU UJNF JO * XBT not member of either UP "TTFNCMZ PS $PVODJM Similarly is the provision at the Centre where a person has to be a Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha member within six months of holding office of minister/PM. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be disheartened by my decision not to contest LS poll now,â&#x20AC;?

Mayawati said on Twitter after her decision not to contest created consternation in BSP camps. Her clarification triggered a series of reactions from jubilant BSP followers who started hailing Mayawati as â&#x20AC;&#x153;PM materialâ&#x20AC;? on Twitter. Only few hours

Auto-rickshaw driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter wins startup competition " ZFBS PME FOHJOFFSJOH TUVEFOU BOE UIF daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver emerged BT UIF XJOOFS PG IFS 45"35 QSPHSBNNF initiated by the Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC).

The programme, IFS45"35 BJNT BU QSPNPUJOH women-led startups and support women entrepreneurs. Rehnuma Sodawalaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winning concept was that of a virtual hand â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an HID (Human Interface Device) that allows one to control devices through the movement of the eyes, just like a mouse controls a pointer on a computer. Through the virtual hand, Rehnuma, who hails from Bharuch, aims to make the disabled more independent.

Rehnuma, who studied engineering at SVMIT college in Bharuch, is no stranger to

struggle, having seen difficult times throughout her childhood. Sharing her journey, she said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have always had financial troubles and it was extremely difficult for my father to raise me and my sibling. He could not even afford my engineering fees so I completed my studies on a student loan. During my final year, I spoke to my parents about my startup idea.

They immediately agreed to support my idea in every way possible, except financially. I knew then that I had to work hard on the project and secure funds.â&#x20AC;? Rehnuma started her company, Skynet Computeronix, with her GSJFOE "KBZ #IBSEXBK JO +VMZ MBTU ZFBS XJUI UIF help of initial funding of Rs 75,000 through an event organised by Gujarat Knowledge Society. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My first product was a wireless solar power bank, which charges itself with sunlight.

PUNJAB

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Former Akali MLA denied bail in Kotkapura firing case District and Sessions Judge Harpal Singh on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail of GPSNFS "LBMJ .-" .BOUBS 4JOHI Brar in an attempt to murder case. #SBS GPSNFS "LBMJ .-" GSPN Kotkapura, is one of the accused in the case of unprovoked police firing on protesters at Kotkapura in October 2015. The protest was against TBDSJMFHF JODJEFOUT JO #BSHBSJ "DDVTJOH IJN of playing a pivotal role in instigating the police in opening firing on the protesters, the SIT alleged that the exchange of 157 phone calls between Brar, the CM office, DGP office, ministers and local police officials on

the night before firing incidents clearly indicated that he was a commanding influence on the police and did not let the doctors in government hospitals give treatment to the injured persons.

Due to this alleged influence of Brar, doctors did not prepare medico-legal reports of the injured and the police desist from taking cognisance of their complaint.

Opposing this argument, counsel for Mantar alleged that SIT was relying on the statement of former SDM VK Syal, who was JOJNJDBM UP UIF GPSNFS .-"

DEO orders action against SAD leader for liquor at rally Tarn Taran District Electoral Officer- Tonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s replies were found to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;against the cum-Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Kumar facts in the complaint and hence rendered Sabharwal, in his report on the alleged serving untenableâ&#x20AC;?.

PG MJRVPS EVSJOH BO "LBMJ SBMMZ BU %FISB 4BIJC village in Khadoor Sahib last week, has EJSFDUFE UIF 441 BOE "TTJTUBOU &YDJTF BOE 5BYBUJPO $PNNJTTJPOFS "&5$ UP UBLF MFHBM BDUJPO BHBJOTU 4IJSPNBOJ "LBMJ %BM 4"%

leader Gurinder Singh, alias Tony. Tony JT TBJE UP CF UIF OFQIFX PG 4"% 5BLTBMJ

president Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, who had reported the matter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Dr S Karuna Raju.

Tony had organised the rally where he had KPJOFE UIF "LBMJ %BM Ä&#x2021;F JORVJSZ XBT PSEFSFE after the CEO prima facie found that liquor was served at the poll meeting on March 13 in violation of the poll code. The DEOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report IBT OBNFE UPQ MFBEFST PG UIF 4"% QSFTFOU in the meeting, including Bikram Singh Majithia, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Virsa Singh Valhota, "MXJOEFS 1BM 4JOHI 1BLIPLF )BSNFFU 4JOHI Sandhu and Manjeet Singh Manna.

The report says these leaders also participated in the unauthorised political rally, used loud speakers in an unauthorised manner and violated the model code of conduct.

Bibi Jagir Kaur claimed that the allegations were baseless and levelled by their political rivals to harm their poll prospects.

In response to the notices by the DEO,

SGPC fumes at university anthem Guru Nanak Dev Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move to adopt a song written by Padma Shree Surjit Patar as its official anthem has not gone down well with the SGPC. Reason: This song, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nanak naam da taj ilahi... sheesh sajan walaâ&#x20AC;?, appeared to have gained prominence in the recent events organised by GNDU. Traditionally, most celebrated and widely quoted hymn â&#x20AC;&#x153;Deh Shiva Bar Mohe Ehaâ&#x20AC;? of Guru Gobind Singh in Dasam Granth used to be recited at university events. Defending it, GNDU VC Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu said the shabad, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Deh Shiva Bar Mohe Ehaâ&#x20AC;?, would be recited in the university as earlier with the same reverence.

He clarified that the university anthem was an additional feature and a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;kul-geetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (specific anthem as a mark of respect and inculcating a sense of identity to the institution).

The SGPCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief secretary, Dr Roop Singh, demanded GNDU to roll back its decision.

35

US Sikhs collect $1 lakh for documentary on Guru Nanak Sikhs from various parts of New York City area have raised $1,00,000 for the firstever documentary on Guru Nanak Dev. The documentary will be shown on 200 TV stations BMM PWFS "NFSJDB EVSJOH XIFO the Sikhs will be celebrating the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism.

"T QFS B SFMFBTF members of Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana in New York showed their enthusiasm for this cause and they backed the plan presented by the National Sikh Campaign (NSC). The NSC is spearheading this national QSPKFDU PG UIF 4JLIT JO "NFSJDB BOE XJMM CF organising premier shows of this film in the US BOE PUIFS QBSUT PG UIF XPSME *U IBT IJSFE "VUFVS

Productions to make this documentary to be shown on TV stations.

The fund raising event started with a gatka show by children. Second generation US-born Sikh youth expressed their enthusiasm and support for this project.

Tarlok Singh Chugh, an internet sensation on Punjabi jokes, came from Calgary, Canada, and made every one laugh. Over 20 youth members displayed their gatka skills.

Dr Rajwant Singh, senior adviser, NSC, who gave a detailed presentation on the documentaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan, said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The goal is to reach PVU UP "NFSJDBOT 8F BSF USZJOH UP NBLF sure that we go beyond the traditional way of celebrating this important occasion.â&#x20AC;?

36

ELECTIONS 2019

Saturday, March 23, 2019

When will broadband reach all the villages? ndiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants more than a billion Indians connected to the internet - and his BJP government is counting on a project taking cheap high-speed broadband to rural areas to achieve this.

The project, to build a nationwide optical fibre network, was launched in 2014 and is the flagship scheme of the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Digital India programme. In the run-up to the Indian FMFDUJPO XIJDI HFUT VOEFS XBZ PO "QSJM BBC Reality Check is examining claims and pledges made by the main political parties.

So has the project been a success?

India has the second highest number of internet users in the world but the penetration JT RVJUF MPX GPS JUT TJ[F BOE QPQVMBUJPO The BharatNet scheme aims to connect more than 600,000 villages in India with a minimum broadband speed of 100Mbps.

It would enable local service providers to offer internet access to the local population,

primarily through mobile phones and other portable devices.

Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s telecom regulator says there were 560 million internet connections in India in September last year. But the pace of internet adoption is lower in rural areas, where most Indians live.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been achieved so far?

The governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall target is to connect 250,000 village councils covering more than 600,000 individual villages across the country. The work of laying cables and installing equipment to connect 100,000 of them was finally completed in December 2017 after significant delays.

This milestone was hailed a success but there were also critical voices, especially from government opponents about whether the cables were actually operational.

Political biopics ahead of polls in India From Prime Minister Narendra Modiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biopic to a film on Congress president Rahul Gandhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mysterious death, filmmakers are trying to look through the political prism for their celluloid projects. " IPTU PG Ä&#x2022;MNT BOE XFC TFSJFT inspired by the lives of political personalities, are likely to be SFMFBTFE BIFBE PG UIF General Election.

PM Narendra Modi )FMNFE CZ /BUJPOBM "XBSE winning filmmaker Omung Kumar, â&#x20AC;&#x153;PM Narendra Modiâ&#x20AC;? will showcase the journey of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his humble beginnings to his years as the Gujarat Chief Minister, his landmark victory in the 2014 general elections, to finally becoming the Prime Minister. The film is set to be released PO "QSJM Ä&#x2021;F NPWJF XJMM TFF BDUPS 7JWFL "OBOE 0CFSPJ QPSUSBZJOH .PEJ *U BMTP features Boman Irani, Darshan Kumaar, Waheeda Rahman, Manoj Joshi and Barkha Bisht-Sengupta.

Modi: The journey of a common man â&#x20AC;&#x153;102 Not Outâ&#x20AC;? director Umesh Shukla

is making a web series on Modi, which will showcase his life as an inspiring and influential leader. The 10-part series will CF SFMFBTFE JO "QSJM "DDPSEJOH UP B TPVSDF JU XJMM QSFNJFSF PO "QSJM Ä&#x2022;WF EBZT CFGPSF the first phase of voting. The series will begin with a 12-year-old Modi, and present his life journey from teenage to youth to becoming the Prime Minister.

Tashkent Files 5P CF SFMFBTFE PO "QSJM â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tashkent Filesâ&#x20AC;? revolves around former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mysterious death. The investigative thriller, EJSFDUFE CZ 7JWFL "HOJIPUSJ GFBUVSFT WFUFSBO actors Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty, and will have two sides to the narrative. Shastri died in Tashkent, then in 4PWJFU 6OJPO T 6[CFLJTUBO TPPO BÄ&#x2122;FS TJHOJOH B QFBDF QBDU XJUI 1BLJTUBO UP FOE UIF India-Pakistan war.

My Name RaGa Ä&#x2021;F Ä&#x2022;MN UP CF SFMFBTFE JO "QSJM GPDVTFT PO Congress president Rahul Gandhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. The movie, helmed by Rupesh Paul, will allow a glimpse into the inner life of the Congress party president.

Venezuela suspends oil exports to India 7FOF[VFMB IBT TVTQFOEFE JUT PJM FYQPSUT to India and views Russia and China as its NBJO FYQPSU EFTUJOBUJPOT UIF "[FSJ FOFSHZ NJOJTUSZ TBJE PO 5VFTEBZ DJUJOH 7FOF[VFMB T PJM NJOJTUFS Ä&#x2021;F "[FSJ NJOJTUSZ JTTVFE UIF statement on Tuesday following talks in #BLV CFUXFFO "[FSCBJKBO T FOFSHZ NJOJTUFS BOE 7FOF[VFMBO PJM NJOJTUFS BOE QSFTJEFOU PG TUBUF SVO PJM DPNQBOZ 1%74" .BOVFM 2VFWFEP i"U UIF NFFUJOH 2VFWFEP TBJE in order to prevent a sharp reduction, various measures are being implemented and diversification of the export market is underway,â&#x20AC;? the statement said.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Russia and China are seen as the main destinations because of the suspension of oil exports to India,â&#x20AC;? the statement said.

The Indian market has been crucial GPS 7FOF[VFMB T FDPOPNZ CFDBVTF JU IBT historically been the second-largest cashpaying customer for the OPEC countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crude, behind the United States.

Earlier this year, the United States JNQPTFE IFBWZ TBODUJPOT PO 7FOF[VFMB T oil industry and has pressed India to stop CVZJOH 7FOF[VFMBO PJM 01&$ BOE PUIFS oil ministers met in Baku in talks over the weekend that ended on Monday.

All four accused acquitted in Samjhauta express train blast case Ä&#x2021;F /BUJPOBM *OWFTUJHBUJPO "HFODZ /*"

special court acquitted all four accused, JODMVEJOH 4XBNJ "TFFNBOBOE JO UIF Samjhauta blasts case that killed 68 persons and left 12 injured. Two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had exploded aboard the train on February 18, 2007, near Dewana railway station in Panipat. The case,

BOE "NJU BMJBT "TIXBOJ $IBVIBO XFSF never traced. The trial went on for over five years but all key witnesses turned hostile.

8IJMF "TTFNBOBOE BDDVTFE PG CFJOH UIF JEFPMPHVF BOE Ä&#x2022;OBODJFS HPU CBJM PO "VHVTU 28, 2014, Sharma, Chauhan and Chaudhary â&#x20AC;&#x201D; facing charges of planting bombs on board the train â&#x20AC;&#x201D; stayed in jail.

synonymous with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hindu terrorâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;saffron terrorâ&#x20AC;?, had remained a bone of contention between India and Pakistan as most of the victims on board the special train between the two countries were Pakistanis. #FTJEFT "TFFNBOBOE -PLFTI 4IBSNB Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary were put on trial for murder, attempt to NVSEFS BOE DIBSHFT VOEFS UIF 3BJMXBZT "DU &YQMPTJWF 4VCTUBODFT "DU BOE 1SFWFOUJPO PG Damage to Public Property and Unlawful "DUJWJUJFT 1SFWFOUJPO "DU 0G UIF GPVS other accused in the case, Sunil Joshi was NVSEFSFE PO %FDFNCFS XIJMF Sandeep Dange, Ramchandra Kalsangre

/*" T TQFDJBM QSPTFDVUPS 3BKBO .BMIPUSB said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We will first go through the judgment and then give our opinion on filing an BQQFBM w Ä&#x2021;F /*" IBE UPME UIF DPVSU UIBU JU probed all possible links of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;jihadiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; groups, iJODMVEJOH -F5 "M 2BJEB 4*.* FUD BOE suspected persons associated with them F H "SJG 2BTNBOJ 4BGEBS /BHPSJ %BWJE Headly, etcâ&#x20AC;?. The first major breakthrough came during the 2008 Malegaon blast JOWFTUJHBUJPO CZ "54 .BIBSBTIUSB iXIJDI hinted towards the possible involvement of Sunil Joshi, Col Purohit, Ramchandra Kalsangra, Dange and others in the Samjhauta blastsâ&#x20AC;?.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

37

38

SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Bangladesh to relocate Rohingya to remote island despite warnings

Why India will boycott a bigger China led BRF for second time

Bangladesh to relocate 100,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote islet by mid "QSJM B HPWFSONFOU NJOJTUFS DPOÄ&#x2022;SNFE PO Sunday, but there are fears the chosen site is less than ideal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last week instructed the completion of the relocation of 23,000 Rohingya GBNJMJFT UP #IBTIBO $IBS CZ "QSJM w local media quoted Md Enamur Rahman, the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minister for disaster and relief management. He made the remarks after meeting with Earl Robert Miller, the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh.

To make the islet livable, all facilities, including housing, power, communication, healthcare, storm surge protection, and cyclone shelter centers, have been provided, Rahman added. international Eight shot dead in latest wave of political violence in Bangladesh aidHowever, groups and rights Two shooting incidents in the restive in Bilaichhari subdistrict in Rangamati. bodies including the U.N., Human Rights Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of No one has claimed responsibility for the 8BUDI BOE "NOFTUZ *OUFSOBUJPOBM southeast Bangladesh have left eight people attacks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No case has been filed yet over however, have repeatedly warned the move dead. Unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets the attacks, but we are investigating who could be risky and urged Bangladesh to on two jeeps carrying polling officials QFSQFUSBUFE UIF WJPMFODF w "CEVM .POKVS go through the project with Rohingya FTDPSUFE CZ B NFNCFS PG "OTBS B QBSBNJMJUBSZ officer in charge of Baghaichhari police refugees on a voluntary basis and with security force, in Baghaichhari subdistrict of station, told ucanews.com. However, the due clarification.Under the government Rangamati district on March 18. latest attacks are seen as a continuation of the plan, he said, over 103,000 Rohingya out Four people died on the spot, another three bloodletting rivalry between armed ethnic of over a million who fled Myanmar will died in a local hospital and several others are indigenous political parties in the CHT that be moved to Bhashan Char at an estimated TUJMM IPTQJUBMJ[FE Ä&#x2021;F WJDUJNT XFSF BNCVTIFE has seen 58 people murdered in 15 months cost of over $275.3 million, fully managed while returning to the district headquarters since December 2017. The violence is a result by Bangladeshâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s government. Until the in Rangamati after voting ended for a of political instability and grievances among Rohingya resettlement project began subdistrict council election. ethnic groups, said Holy Cross Father Liton one year ago, the islet was apparently In the second attack on the morning of Hubert Gomes, secretary of the Catholic VOJOIBCJUFE NPTUMZ VTFE GPS DBUUMF HSB[JOH .BSDI VOLOPXO HVONFO TIPU EFBE B Bishopsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Justice and Peace Commission. and as a hub for pirates. The islet emerged top leader from the local unit of the ruling from the Bay of Bengal in 2006 and is "XBNJ -FBHVF QBSUZ JO GSPOU PG IJT SFTJEFODF

India on Wednesday signalled that it will boycott Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second Belt and Road Forum for a second time, saying no country can participate in an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity. Why India will boycott a bigger China led BRF for the second time India boycotted the first Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in 2017 after protesting to Beijing over the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) overriding New Delhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sovereignty concerns. Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently said that next month China plans

to hold a much bigger, second BRF which will also be attended by Pakistan Prime Minster Imran Khan.

Speculation is rife whether India would attend the second BRF as China has deepened its commitment to expand the USD 60 billion CPEC, which aims to connect Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Xinjiang province with Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gwadar port with a host of road, rail, gas and oil pipelines. China has also undertaken a host of energy projects under the aegis of the CPEC. Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s "NCBTTBEPS UP $IJOB 7JLSBN .JTSJ UPME the state-run Global Times that â&#x20AC;&#x153;above all, connectivity initiatives must be pursued in

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about 30 kilometers from the mainland, and 52 kilometers from the southern Noakhali district. In 2013, the area was declared a forest reserve. Motorboats are the only mode of travel to the island. The humanitarian conditions on the islet have MPOH CFFO DSJUJDJ[FE CZ UIF BJE HSPVQT The Myanmar government has long been blamed for genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya community in western Rakhine State. The huge exodus PG 3PIJOHZB CFHBO JO "VHVTU MBTU ZFBS

Rohingya refugees

after Myanmar security forces launched a brutal crackdown following attacks by an insurgent group on guard posts. The scale, PSHBOJ[BUJPO BOE GFSPDJUZ PG UIF PQFSBUJPO led to accusations from the international community, including the U.N., of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Rohingya Muslims are the most persecuted minority in the world according to U.N. figures and continue to suffer from oppression under the Myanmar government, the army and Buddhist extremists. Over the past decade, thousands of Rohingya have been killed since violence broke out in 2008, causing hundreds of thousands to flee their homeland for Bangladesh, Malaysia and other countries in the region.

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SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, March 23, 2019 India acquires third Russian nuclear submarine In January, the US announced sanctions " OVNCFS PG NFNCFST PG UIF 64 Congress raised with Foreign Secretary against Russia, under which Washington Vijay Gokhale the issue of India signing a can punish countries and entities engaged deal with Russia for a nuclear submarine in transactions with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.

The sanctions were imposed for Moscowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s alleged meddling in the US presidential election in 2016.

On March 7, India sealed a $3 billion deal with Russia for leasing a nuclearpowered attack submarine for the Indian Navy for a period of 10 years.

In October last year, India inked an agreement with Russia to procure a batch of the missile systems at a cost of last week, official sources said on Saturday. Rs 40,000 crore. India went ahead with the deal Gokhale clarified that India finalised notwithstanding the US warnings against it.

Under the deal for the nuclear the deal for leasing a nuclear-powered attack submarine from Russia and it was submarine, Russia will have to deliver not an acquisition or a purchase, they said. BO "LVMB DMBTT TVCNBSJOF UP CF LOPXO However, the issue was not raised as Chakra III, to the Indian Navy by by the Donald Trump administration 2025. It will be the third Russian nuclear during Gokhaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three-day visit submarine to be leased to the Indian Navy.

The first Russian nuclear-powered to Washington earlier this week.

Some members of the Congress raised submarineâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;christened INS Chakraâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the issue as they have some misconception XBT UBLFO JO VOEFS B UISFF ZFBS about it, the sources said, adding Gokhale MFBTF " TFDPOE */4 $IBLSB XBT UBLFO also explained to them that the submarine on lease in 2012 for a period of 10 years. will only have conventional weapons.

Teenagerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death ignite anti-govâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t protests in Bangladesh in Bangladesh on allegedly trumped up cases of political violence. demonstrations last "VHVTU UIBU MBTUFE B XFFL BOE FSVQUFE BÄ&#x2122;FS two students were killed in a road accident.

Tens of thousands took to the streets as the marches grew into a broad challenge against Prime Minister Bangladeshâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest anti-government Sheikh Hasina, who has been accused of waging a crackdown on dissent under a protests in decades.

Students chanting â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want justice!â&#x20AC;? rule. Police responded then by firing tear blocked several major intersections in the gas and rounding up scores of students bustling capital of 20 million, demanding the and prominent government critics who government take road safety seriously a day joined the marches, with some beaten. after a teenage pedestrian was mowed down. The heavy-handed response to a peaceful â&#x20AC;&#x153;We request all students to return to demonstration attracted international their classrooms. Let us do our work,â&#x20AC;? said criticism. Hasina, whose chief rival is Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner behind bars, was elected in December for a "TBEV[[BNBO .JB "O PQQPTJUJPO #/1 third consecutive term in a poll marred by activist is being arrested by plainclothes rigging allegations and the mass detention policemen in Dhaka. In 2018, thousands of of opposition figures. opposition leaders and activists were arrested Hundreds of students demonstrated in Dhaka Wednesday after a teenager was struck and killed by a speeding bus, just months after a similar accident sparked

Iran warns Pakistan not to join Saudi proxy war *SBO T .BK (FO 2BTFN 4PMFJNBOJ commander of the Islamic Revolutionary (VBSE $PSQT 2VET 'PSDF BOE PUIFS TFOJPST JO UIF BÄ&#x2122;FSNBUI PG UIF 'FCSVBSZ BUUBDL on their forces by Iranian Baluch militants in the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restive Sistan and Baluchistan province bordering Pakistan.

The new tone from Tehran is a response to 1BLJTUBO T SFDFOU UJMU CBDL UPXBSE 4BVEJ "SBCJB since Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office six months ago.

Tehran is the deeply concerned over its vulnerability to the threat posed by a Saudi "SBCJB BOE 6OJUFE "SBC &NJSBUFT TQPOTPSFE proxy war conducted across Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eastern border from Pakistan. Tehranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s messaging through the Guard Corps commandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remarks were intended to deter this development by putting Pakistan on notice

that it would pay a severe cost for joining any 4BVEJ 6"& FÄ&#x152;PSU BHBJOTU *SBO 'JWF EBZT BÄ&#x2122;FS the attack in Iranian Baluchistan conducted CZ +BJTI BM "EM i"SNZ PG +VTUJDFw XIPN UIF *SBOJBOT DMBJN JT TVQQPSUFE CZ 4BVEJ "SBCJB Prime Minister Imran Khan rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Prince Mohammad Bin Salman on the occasion of his historic twoday visit. The timing of Imran Khanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fivestar treatment of MBS, as the crown prince is commonly known, was a telling sign for Iran â&#x20AC;&#x201C; indicating a sharp break from the PSJFOUBUJPO TFU CZ ,IBO T QSFEFDFTTPS /BXB[ Sharif. During his third, non-consecutive tenure as Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prime minister from UP UIFO QSJNF NJOJTUFS /BXB[ Sharif attempted to tilt Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign policy away from its dependence on Saudi "SBCJB BOE TUSJLF B NPSF CBMBODFE QPTJUJPO between Riyadh and Tehran.

39

Indian traders burn Chinese goods in protest over blacklisting veto, trade Hundreds of Indian traders burned Chinese goods on Tuesday and urged the government to raise import taxes on them to protest against Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trade and foreign policies. The traders, who also urged consumers to boycott Chinese imports, are concerned that Chinese products are hurting Indian manufacturers. But there is also anger in India after China used its veto to block the U.N. Security Council from blacklisting a Pakistan-based Islamist leader. .BTPPE "[IBS JT UIF founder of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack that killed 40 paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir in February.

China prevented a U.N. Security Council committee last Wednesday from blacklisting Masood. It said it had done so to give more time for the committee to have consultations and study the issue. China is Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second biggest trading partner and a trade deficit has widened in favor of Beijing by nearly 75 percent to $63 billion since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. Modi, who is seeking a second term in a general election beginning next month, faces criticism from both opposition parties and groups affiliated with his party for what they see as his failure to take steps to contain

the growing influence of Chinese companies on the Indian economy. Ä&#x2021;F $POGFEFSBUJPO PG "MM *OEJB 5SBEFST which represents millions of traders, said their action against Chinese goods was aimed at teaching it a lesson, after it used its veto to block Masoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blacklisting.

In capital New Delhi, traders burned

Chinese goods including laptops, mobile phones, computers, fax machines and toys BU UIF 4BEBS #B[BS UIF DJUZ T NBJO NBSLFU GPS Chinese goods. Chinese good were burned in similar protests in several other cities.

Demonstrators also urged people to boycott Chinese goods, and asked the government to increase import tariffs on Chinese imports that they said were hurting small Indian manufacturers and costing millions of jobs.

Such protests have usually been ineffective in the past.

40

FIJI

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Australia cuts immigrant cap, puts key cities off-limits to some immigrants "VTUSBMJBO 1SJNF .JOJTUFS 4DPUU .PSSJTPO is trailing badly in the polls ahead of a federal FMFDUJPO JO .BZ IPQFT UP UBQ JOUP SJTJOH voter frustration over house prices and congestion, which some see as a consequence of population growth. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a practical QSPCMFN UIBU "VTUSBMJBOT XBOUFE BEESFTTFE w Morrison told reporters in Canberra, the capital, after announcing the annual immigration intake would be cut to 160,000 QFPQMF XJUI FÄ&#x152;FDU GSPN +VMZ WFSTVT before. The policy change comes at a time of OBUJPOBM SFÄ&#x2DC;FDUJPO PWFS "VTUSBMJB T BUUJUVEF towards migrants after the shooting of at least 50 people at two mosques in New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DJUZ PG $ISJTUDIVSDI "VTUSBMJBO #SFOUPO Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with murder on Saturday after a lone gunman opened fire at the two

mosques during Friday prayers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My great frustration is that, in addressing these issues of population and immigration programs, these debates often get hijacked by those of competing views who seek to exploit them for other causes,â&#x20AC;? Morrison added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I reject all of UIBU BCTPMVUFMZ w " 3FBDI5FM QPMM QVCMJTIFE JO September showed that 63 percent of Sydney residents supported curbs on the number of NJHSBOUT NPWJOH UP "VTUSBMJB T CJHHFTU DJUZ Morrison said the cap would include places for up to 23,000 people who could migrate UP "VTUSBMJB VOEFS B OFX TLJMMFE WJTB 4VDI arrivals could gain permanent residency after MJWJOH PVUTJEF PG "VTUSBMJB T MBSHFTU DJUJFT GPS three years, he added. They will be barred from living in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney or the Gold Coast, where infrastructure is overutilised, said immigration minister.

32 air traffic controllers to be disciplined if they do not return to work - Singh "T 'JKJ 1VCMJD 4FSWJDF "TTPDJBUJPO (FOFSBM 4FDSFUBSZ Rajeshwar Singh gets ready to meet with the Employment Minister 1BSWFFO #BMB BOE 'JKJ "JSQPSUT on the current dispute between 'JKJ "JSQPSUT BOE UIFJS BJS USBÄ?D controllers this afternoon, Singh says they will move out of the talks if the

The two-way trade between Fiji and New ;FBMBOE JO XBT PWFS NJMMJPO Minister for Trade and Tourism Premila Kumar says New Zealand has been one of Fijiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top 10 export destinations over the past five years, with exports to New Zealand valued at $110 million on average. She says New Zealand has been one of Fijiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top five import markets over the years and in 2017, the highest number of imports was from New Zealand, valued at $858.1 million.

Kumar made these comments while speaking at the reception to mark the first anniversary of the opening of the Fiji Trade $PNNJTTJPO JO "VDLMBOE /FX ;FBMBOE Kumar says the Fijian Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pro-growth policies and the first year-anniversary of the opening of the Fijian 5SBEF $PNNJTTJPO JO "VDLMBOE JT B UFTUJNPOZ of their commitment to take their private sector engagement and people to people links to the next level.

FICAC charges two former Sales and Marketing officers of Fiji Forest Industries '*$"$ IBT DIBSHFE UXP GPSNFS 4BMFT BOE Marketing officers of Fiji Forest Industries, Manwar Buksh and Salend Chetty who allegedly operated a side business within Fiji Forest and obtained financial advantages.

The two allegedly operated a private business, Tropex Marketing, from within the Fiji Forest Industries premises and diverted commercial business to Tropex Marketing.

They allegedly informed potential Fiji Forest Industries customers that there were no timber stocks so that the customers would purchase it from their side business at inflated QSJDFT BMMPXJOH UIF UXP UP PCUBJO between October 2014 and June 2016.

Labasa Magistrate Cama Tuberi released both the accused on bail and issued a Stop Departure Order.

The matter has been BEKPVSOFE UP UI +VMZ

workers are disciplined.

Singh says the 32 air traffic Raralevu Cemetery to still have firewood cremation when controllers who are staying away from work received letters last gas crematorium starts operating OJHIU BOE XFSF UPME CZ 'JKJ "JSQPSUT The Raralevu Cemetery Committee says they have already built a new dual that they will be disciplined if they confirms that they will also have firewood firewood cremation facility. do not return to work.

He has clarified this after some people had Ä&#x2021;F '14" (FOFSBM 4FDSFUBSZ cremation available once the new gas said that they may not be able to afford over crematorium in Raralevu starts operating. says they want the letters withdrawn. $PNNJUUFF 1SPKFDU .BOBHFS "KBZ 1SBTBE $500 for their loved ones to be cremated in the gas crematorium.

Father of Canadian man charged with $30 million cocaine bust held in custody in New Zealand The father of the man who was allegedly found in possession of 30 million dollars worth of cocaine in Caubati last month, is now held in custody in New Zealand. *U JT BMMFHFE UIBU ZFBS PME +PTIVB "[J[ 3BINBO XBT GPVOE JO QPTTFTTJPO PG LH PG cocaine in Caubati on the 14th of February.

3BINBO T MBXZFS "TIOJFM /BEBO UPME UIF Suva High Court that Rahman is a business consultant by profession and came to visit his father from Canada on the 31st of December last year.

Nadan says that the house in which the cocaine was allegedly found is rented by Rahmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father.

Nadan told Justice Daniel Goundar that Rahman was arrested in Nadi on the 12th of February and the search was conducted at

Two-way trade between Fiji and New Zealand in 2017 over $992.2 million

the house in Caubati on the 14th of February.

He also says that the cocaine was found in the fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bedroom adding that Rahman did not know about the drugs.

Nadan added that when Rahman was arrested, his father was in New Zealand.

"TTJTUBOU %11 %S "OESFX +BDL IBT objected to bail saying that Rahman has limited ties to Fiji and travels frequently.

Justice Goundar then asked Jack as to how Rahman became a person of interest in the case to which Jack said it was based on information received from international agencies. Jack says that Rahman told police that in his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absence, he was the caretaker of the property.

Justice Goundar will deliver his bail ruling JO UIF DBTF PG +PTIVB "[J[ 3BINBO OFYU Wednesday.

Man jailed for 11 years and 10 months for raping 51-year-old woman " ZFBS PME man who broke into a 51-year-old womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house and raped her in July 2016, has been sentenced to 11 years and 10 months imprisonment.

It was heard in the Suva High Court that Kitione Vakadranu entered the house of the woman with a knife, while she was sleeping in her bedroom in the early hours of the morning.

Vakadranu placed a knife on her neck, threatened to kill her and then raped her.

He then threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident.

W h i l e sentencing Vakadranu, High Court Judge, Justice Thushara Rajasinghe said that this was a pre-planned crime, committed at a time where the woman had no prospect of escaping or seeking help.

He says Vakadranu also used substantial amount of physical and psychological violence on the victim. " OPO QBSPMF QFSJPE PG ZFBST BOE months has been set.

PAKISTAN

Saturday, March 23, 2019

41

China has responsibility to not shield Pakistan, says Trump official China has responsibility not to shield Pakistan, and should urge to take action against terrorists, a senior Trump administration official said, expressing disappointment over Beijingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to block a bid in the UN to designate Masood "[IBS BT B iHMPCBM UFSSPSJTUw +BJTI F .PIBNNFE +F. MFE CZ "[IBS DMBJNFE responsibility for the February 14 terrorist attack in Kashmirâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pulwama district which

killed 40 Indian security personnel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We think China has a responsibility to not shield Pakistan and join the international community in calling on Pakistan to take action against terrorists operating on its soil,â&#x20AC;? the senior Trump administration official TBJE PO 8FEOFTEBZ "Ä&#x2122; FS UIF 1VMXBNB attack, the US, France and Britain moved a resolution in the UN Sanctions Committee of

Suprem Court appoints seven-member bench to define the word terrorism Every case is not related to terrorism, said $IJFG +VTUJDF PG 1BLJTUBO +VTUJDF "TJG 4BFFE Khosa on Wednesday. The countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top court has decided to determine the definition of terrorism. The Supreme Court has formed a seven-member larger bench, headed by CJP Khosa, to outline the definition of terrorism.

The bench has been tasked to specify as to which cases fall under the category of terrorism.

In the meantime, the apex court issued a 31page detailed judgment, elaborating the legal standing on false testimony. The three-member bench, headed by the CJP and comprising

+VTUJDF .B[IBS "MBN ,IBO .JBOLIFM BOE +VTUJDF 4BKKBE "MJ 4IBI QBTTFE UIF SVMJOH JO B DBTF PG GBMTF UFTUJNPOZ HJWFO CZ "TTJTUBOU 4VC *OTQFDUPS ,IJ[BS )BZBU BHBJOTU .PIBNNBE Ilyas who was accused of murder. The ruling, written by CJP Khosa, states that trust on a witness is complete, it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be partial. If a statement by a witness comprises an untruth, the entire testimony will stand rejected, the ruling says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We declare that the rule falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus [false in one thing, false in everything] shall henceforth be an integral part of our jurisprudence in criminal cases.

Hindus are our enemy, says Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s party lawmaker Members representing the minorities in KPK Provincial Legislature walked out of the assembly session after Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s party (PPP) member of UIF "TTFNCMZ TBJE UIBU i)JOEVT are our enemyâ&#x20AC;? in the wake of Pulwama attack. His remark was criticised by minority members Ravi Kumar & Ranjeet Singh who walked out of the assembly.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MFBEFS 4IFS "[BN 8B[JS JO IJT speech in the assembly, said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hindus are our enemyâ&#x20AC;?. Sher "[BN 8B[JS IPXFWFS BQPMPHJTFE PWFS IJT choice of words and said that he should have

used the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hindustanâ&#x20AC;? (India) instead.

Later, the assembly members took both the protesting Members of Provincial "TTFNCMZ JOUP DPOÄ&#x2022; EFODF and brought them back to the session.

Kumar said that though India is hostile towards Pakistan, the Hindu community is not. Speaker Mushtaq Ghani expunged SFNBSLT PG 8B[JS GSPN UIF assembly proceedings. There are three minority members in the provincial assembly of KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.)

UIF 4FDVSJUZ $PVODJM UP EFTJHOBUF "[IBS BT B â&#x20AC;&#x153;global terroristâ&#x20AC;?.

The move suffered a setback as China put a â&#x20AC;&#x153;technical holdâ&#x20AC;? on the proposal for the fourth time, a move India termed as disappointing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We believe that China and the US share a mutual interest in achieving regional stability BOE QFBDF "OE UIBU BOZ GBJMVSF PO UIF 4FDVSJUZ $PVODJM BT QBSU UP EFTJHOBUF .BTPPE "[IBS BT

a terrorist would run counter to this mutual goal that China and the United States have,â&#x20AC;? the official said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really understand this. China should not be shielding Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support for known terrorist organisations.

So, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re hoping that we can work together on a mutual goal in terms of countering terrorism and upholding our security council responsibility,â&#x20AC;? the official said.

Pakistan likely to sign $900 million investment deals during Malaysian Prime Ministerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad arrives in Islamabad on threeday official visit to Pakistan. Mahathir Mohamad received a red carpet welcome at /VS ,IBO "JSCBTF OFBS *TMBNBCBE XIFSF Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister 4IBI .FINPPE 2VSFTIJ PUIFS NJOJTUFST and officials received The Malaysian PM. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir was accorded 21-gun-salute upon his arrival in Islamabad Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is visiting Pakistan at the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Malaysian Prime Minister will

be accompanied by a high-level delegation including several leading businessmen.

During his stay, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad will be the Guest of Honour at the Pakistan Day Parade on 23rd March, Radio Pakistan SFQPSUFE 1BLJTUBO JT FYQFDUFE UP TJHO million deals with the Malaysian investors EVSJOH UIF WJTJU PG .BMBZTJBO 1. "EWJTPS UP 1. *NSBO ,IBO 3B[[BR %BXPPE SFQPSUFE that Memoranda of Understanding worth UP NJMMJPO PG JOWFTUNFOU XPVME be signed with the Malaysian investors in Islamabad on Friday.

Pakistan condemns acquittal of Samjhauta train blast suspects Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; summoned Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad to lodge protest and condemnation of the acquittal of all f accused in Samjhauta train balstas killed 68 passengers coming from Delhi to Lahor in 2007.

On Wednesday, the National Investigation "HFODZ /*" DPVSU BDRVJUUFE BMM GPVS BDDVTFE JODMVEJOH 4XBNJ "TFFNBOBOE GPS the deadly fire bombing of the Samjhauta Express train in 2007. In the attack, 68

people, including 42 Pakistani passengers died. The attacks took place on February 18, 2007.

Lodging Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s condemnation against acquittal of four accused, the acting foreign secretary of Pakistan â&#x20AC;&#x153;stressed that govâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t of Pakistan had consistently raised the lack of progress and the subsequent, concerted attempts by India to exonerate the perpetrators of this heinous terrorist act in which 44 innocent lost their livesâ&#x20AC;?, a statement issued by foreign ministry.

42

NRI

Saturday, March 23, 2019 Indian-American Neomi Rao sworn in as judge of powerful DC court

NRI Uber driver pleads guilty to charges of kidnapping female passenger in USA "O *OEJBO PSJHJO man running as a driver for ridesharing company Uber in the United States has pleaded to blame to kidnapping a drowsing passenger and riding her greater than 60 miles from her vacation spot to spice up his fare.

Harbir Parmar, 25 of New York pled to blame in White Plains federal court to kidnapping and cord fraud. He was arrested in October last year. Parmar pleaded to blame to at least one count of kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of lifestyles in jail, and one count of twine fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail. He will be sentenced in June.

64 "UUPSOFZ Geoffrey Berman mentioned Parmar took benefit of a prone girl who utilised a ride-sharing service via kidnapping and terrorising her. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In addition, he charged many of his ridesharing customers with fraudulent fees,â&#x20AC;? he mentioned including that Parmar will OPX CF IFME BOTXFSBCMF GPS IJT CSB[FO DSJNFT "DDPSEJOH UP UIF JOEJDUNFOU BOE statements made all the way through the plea proceedings, Parmar, who labored as a driver for Uber, picked up the girl passenger in February 2018 touring from Manhattan to White Plains in upstate New York.

Neomi Jehangir Rao, a prominent Indian"NFSJDBO MBXZFS IBT CFFO TXPSO JO BT 64 Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia $JSDVJU $PVSU PG "QQFBMT CFDPNJOH UIF second from the community to be a part of the powerful court considered next only to the US Supreme Court. Neomi Jehangir Rao, 45, was sworn in by US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. She will replace US Supreme Court Judge Justice Brett Kavanaugh who was nominated by President Donald Trump for the top post. Before being sworn in as the US Supreme Court Judge, Mr.

Kavanaugh, whose confirmation process was marred by sexual misconduct allegations, was a judge at the United States Circuit Judge of UIF 6OJUFE 4UBUFT $PVSU PG "QQFBMT GPS UIF District of Columbia Circuit. Joined by her IVTCBOE "MBO -FÄ&#x2014;PXJU[ .T 3BP UPPL UIF PBUI PO UIF #JCMF "DDPSEJOH UP B 8IJUF House schedule, Mr. Trump participated in the swearing-in ceremony. Born in Detroit to Parsi physicians from India â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Zerin Rao and Jehangir Narioshang â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ms. Rao is the second *OEJBO "NFSJDBO BÄ&#x2122;FS 4SJ 4SJOJWBTBO UP CF part of the powerful court said to be next only to the US Supreme Court.

Two NRI children killed in car crash in UK

Two minor Indian-origin brothers were on suspicion of causing death by dangerous named by the British police driving and has been released on Saturday as the victims on bail pending further of a fatal car crash in investigation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would appeal Wolverhampton involving UP UIF "VEJ ESJWFS UP DPOUBDU speeding vehicles. us. You may not be aware of NRI arrested for running fake marriage racket for US visa The brothers, 10-year-old the tragic circumstances but Sanjay and 23-month-old you now need to speak to us,â&#x20AC;? $PVOUZ UIBU SFDSVJUFE 64 DJUJ[FOT UP "O *OEJBO NBO JO 64" IBT Pawanveer Singh, were in said Detective Sergeant Paul marry Indian foreign nationals to gain pleaded guilty to the charges of a BMW with their mother Hughes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would also ask the immigration benefits, prosecutors said running a fake marriage racket XIFO UIFZ XFSF TUSVDL CZ BO "VEJ 4 PO public who have any information regarding Ä&#x2021;VSTEBZ "O JOWFTUJHBUJPO JEFOUJÄ&#x2022;FE Thursday evening, the West Midlands Police UIF ESJWFS PS SFDBMM TFFJOH B CMVF "VEJ 4 through which he helped illegal over 80 fraudulent marriages that TBJE Ä&#x2021;F ESJWFS PG UIF "VEJ CFMJFWFE UP CF and a white Bentley Continental convertible immigrants from India, to get XFSF QFSGPSNFE JO "MBCBNB BT QBSU racing with a Bentley, fled. travelling along the Birmingham New Road to NBSSJFE UP "NFSJDBO DJUJ[FOT of Ravi Babu Kollaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scheme, the " ZFBS PME NBO XBT BSSFTUFE BU UIF TDFOF make contact,â&#x20AC;? he said. and helping them stay in the %FQBSUNFOU PG +VTUJDF TBJE

"Ä&#x2122;FS country. The man identified Bear â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wear & tearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of married life: court tells NRI couple as 47-year-old Ravi Babu Kolla, living in entering a fraudulent marriage in October Giving a word of recommendation Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Panama city, has been arrested. His $MPVE CFHBO SFDSVJUJOH 64 DJUJ[FOT UP which typically exists in each and every marry Indian nationals. to an estranged married couple to keep sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 22 at marriage, moderately than magnifying She directly recruited or participated in away from criminal combat for divorce US Courthouse in Tallahassee. it with impulsive needs and passions.

UIF SFDSVJUNFOU PG

PS NPSF 64 DJUJ[FOT and custody of children, the Supreme His co-conspirator Krystal Cloud, 40, was Parents arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t only caretakers, however from Panama city and rural Calhoun and Court on Friday said each husband and sentenced to two years of imprisonment for they are instrumental within the wife must attempt to endure the â&#x20AC;&#x153;strange marriage and visa fraud conspiracy after he Jackson Counties, the prosecutors alleged. construction of their childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social, Ravi Babu Kolla faces a maximum of five wear and tear of married lifestylesâ&#x20AC;? pleaded guilty on December 28, 2018. She emotional, cognitive and physical wellJT B 64 DJUJ[FO #FUXFFO 'FCSVBSZ BOE years in prison for conspiracy to commit for the larger hobby of their offspring being and paintings harmoniously to "VHVTU 3BWJ #BCV ,PMMB PQFSBUFE BO marriage and visa frauds and a maximum as such fights adversely impact their offer their youngsters a contented house immigration marriage fraud business in Bay of 20 years in prison for money laundering thoughts and psychology. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spouses to which they are justly entitled to,â&#x20AC;? a bench of conspiracy. triumph over the temperamental disharmony +VTUJDFT " . ,IBOXJMLBS BOE "KBZ 3BTUPHJ TBJE

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