The Asian Star November 10 2018

www.theasianstar.com Vol 17 - Issue 41

Saturday, November 10, 2018

The discovery of zero India’s gift to the world Dana Mackenzie discovers why the number zero took so long to be discovered.

Entire books have been written about the concept of the number zero. This number was a latecomer to arithmetic, perhaps because it is difficult to visualize zero cubits or zero sheep. Even today, if you pick up a children’s counting book, you will probably not find a page devoted to zero. The number zero has two different interpretations, one of them a good deal more sophisticated than the other. First, in numbers like 2009 or 90,210, zero is used as a symbol to denote an empty place. That is the function of the zeros. Without the numeral zero, we would not be able to tell those numbers apart from 29 or 921.

In a place-value number system, the Continued on page 6

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Burnaby man watched live video of 2 South Asian crooks breaking into his condo Burnaby RCMP is the thieves in asking for the public’s the suite and was assaulted by one help identifying two men caught on video breaking of them. Police into a Metrotown say he suffered minor injuries. condominium.

The incident happened The two men on July 13 but police managed to flee the building before are now spreading police arrived. photos of the suspects in hopes someone Burnaby RCMP Burnaby RCMP is asking for the public’s help recognizes them. identifying two men caught on video breaking say the thieves into a Metrotown condominium. had used a fob to The owner of the access the building. condo wasn’t at home at “How they came into the time of the break-in but he alerted police while he watched live video of the crime on possession of this fob is still under his cellphone using a home surveillance app. investigation,� Burnaby RCMP Cpl. A person working in the building, who was Daniela Panesar said in a release. also made aware of the break-in, confronted Continued on page 6

22-year-old killed in shooting near Surrey elementary school A 22-year-old man is dead after a shooting in the Newton area on early Friday.

Police were called to the 14200 block of 70A Avenue in Newton after someone called 911 just before 1:30 am. Surveillance video released of suspects fleeing the deadly

shooting. Fraser Valley marks 11th targeted killing in last 6 months Officers discovered a man lying on the ground suffering from gunshot wounds.

Attempts were made to revive the victim but he was pronounced dead on scene.

UN issues special Diwali stamp India on Wednesday thanked the UN Postal Administration for issuing special postal stamps to commemorate Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. The United Nations Postal Administration issued a special event sheet on October 19 to commemorate the festival of Diwali. “The struggle between Good & Evil happens everyday @

UN. Thank you @UNStamps for portraying our common quest for the triumph of Good over Evil in your 1st set of Diwali stamps on the occasion of the auspicious Festival of Lights,� India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.

Continued on page 7

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Unit is investigating and the area around the crime scene will be cordoned off for a “significant� amount of time, according to RCMP. Continued on page 7

Canadian home sales will fall over next 2 years, CMHC forecasts like income and employment to continue to help support demand for housing starts, but these fundamentals are anticipated to slow down to a more sustainable pace.

Rising mortgage rates are also expected to affect housing demand and the resale market.

By 2020, CMHC anticipates demand will continue to shift towards relatively less expensive housing options like apartment condominiums versus higher-end singledetached homes. “Over our forecast horizon, housing starts are projected to decline from elevated levels recorded recently. Resales should also moderate while house prices are expected to reach levels that are more Continued on page 7

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www.theasianstar.com Vol 17 - Issue 41

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Surrey family wins $1 million Lotto Max prize A Surrey family who who says he works won $1 million from seven days a the Lotto Max draw last week” and is still month plans to invest absorbing the good in real estate and give news. “My wife the rest of the winnings said ‘we won’ and I to their children. “I was went blank. It hasn’t thinking if I ever won the hit me yet.” Singh lottery I would invest with and his wife are Ram & Sushil Singh won $1 million Lotto Max my kids and get them a the 27th Lotto Max townhouse,” Ram Singh said in a statement Maxmillions winners in B.C. of 2018. Their released by the B.C. Lottery Corporation. ticket matched all seven numbers to win on Singh is described as a “business owner October 5.

Priyanka goes pantless in Bachelorette party Priyanka Chopra is enjoying a fun-filled bachelorette weekend in Amsterdam. The “Quantico” star shared photos from the weekend with her 29.3 million Instagram followers on Saturday.

In one set of pictures, the 36-year-old opted to go pantsfree in a cream-colored sweater with feathered detailing on it.

She draped a beige coat over the sweater. For footwear, Chopra selected high-heeled snake-print boots, which she wore over a pair of tall off-white socks. he completed her look with oversized sunglasses, captioning the post, “Setting sail… #bachelorette #Squad.”

The Miss World 2000 pageant winner is set to marry “Jealous” singer Nick Jonas. Sophie Turner, the “Game of Thrones” actress who is engaged to Jonas’ older brother, Joe, was among the bachelorette party’s attendees.

Chopra showed off another outfit from the weekend in a second Instagram post. In the shot, she sports a two-toned sweater and a plaid pencil skirt, dressing her look down with trendy Western boots. The People’s Choice Award winner also shared a funny video to her Instagram stories in which she gives Turner a piggy back ride. “In heels, ugh.

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Diwali celebrated at BC Legislature

Premier John Horgan (third from left) with his fellow MLAs, and members of the South Asian

community celebrated the auspicious occasion of Diwali at BC legislature in Victoria this past week.

US Vice President to meet PM Modi next week U.S. Vice President Mike Pence would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his four-nation trip next week, during which he will also attend the U.S.Asean Summit and the East Asia Summit in Singapore, the White House said.

Generally, the summit is attended by the U.S. President. This time, however, Pence would be representing the country at the request of President Donald Trump.

Pence will travel to Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Papua New Guinea between Nov. 11 and Nov. 18 to attend the U.S.Asean Summit and the East Asia Summit in Singapore as well as the Asia Pacific Economic

Cooperation meetings in Papua New Guinea.

Pence will also participate in meetings with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Singapore premier Lee Hsien Loong, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in addition to other bilateral meetings, the White House said.

National Security Advisor John Bolton will join Pence for the U.S.-Asean Summit and the East Asia Summit in Singapore and APEC meetings in Papua New Guinea.

“The vice president is honoured to represent President Donald Trump at Continued on page 7

Canada in talks to protect persecuted Pakistani Christian woman Canada is engaged in secret talks with allies over how to protect Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who spent eight years on death row for blasphemy.

Liberal MP Andrew Leslie, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of Foreign Affairs, confirmed the multilateral discussions during today’s question period in the House of Commons, but provided no details.

“With like-minded friends and allies, there are discreet and delicate discussions

underway and I will not say anything further at this time,” he said. Earlier today, the Conservatives held a news conference to call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to grant asylum to Bibi and her family.

Asia Bibi, 47, was convicted of the charges in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. Continued on page 7

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OPINION

By Lee Harding

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Marijuana’s medical attributes vastly overstated

Marijuana users want society to believe the very thing they’ve told themselves for years that the highs of marijuana far outweigh its lows when it comes to health and the effect on the masses. Informed minds that remain sober and less tainted by personal bias realize that’s probably not the case. Cannabis is demonstrably helpful for a limited number of conditions and even then may not be the best clinical first choice. Meanwhile, those damned downsides remain. In Canada, medical marijuana use has grown dramatically from just 7,914 registered users in 2014 to 201,398 in 2017. This prevalence varies widely, from just 0.07 per cent of the population in Quebec to 1.7 per cent in Alberta. But as popularity has grown, many doctors have wanted more guidance as to when cannabis is an appropriate option. From a public relations perspective, medicinal marijuana was a nobrainer for pot enthusiasts. Once society conceded an upside to marijuana, it became

difficult to argue for its prohibition to prevent harm. It should surprise no one if marijuana’s benefits have been overhyped or overstated, not only by political advocates but also by researchers whose bias may have helped them find what they wanted to see. Perhaps some were blinded by the haze of their own consumption. Researchers at the University of Alberta found the positive case for pot was weaker than many have been led to believe. G. Michael Allan and 18 colleagues looked at 31 systematic reviews of the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids, which altogether encompassed 1,085 studies. Allan’s team found that while studies were plentiful, quality was rare.

Randomized clinical trials were limited or absent. Small sample sizes and short durations were common, making false positives more likely. Important quality markers were often absent, undermining the reliability of the results, if not creating outright bias. Earlier this year, the Canadian Family Physician

published Allan’s “Simplified guideline for prescribing medical cannabinoids in primary care.” Copies were sent to 30,000 doctors, recommending that cannabinoids be prescribed solely for “neuropathic pain, palliative and end-of-life pain, chemotherapyinduced nausea and vomiting, and spasticity due to multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.”

Only the synthetic cannabinoid of nabilone or nabiximols is recommended, and even then only after two other options have been tried.

These options exclude actual pot-smoking, partly because the chemical composition of an individual plant always varies - sometimes substantially. Cannabis has more than 500 compounds and over 100 cannabinoids have been identified. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive component.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is also significant and seems to prevent some of the adverse effects of THC. Marijuana has grown in potency in both America and Europe. One study of American pot showed that in the 20 years following 1995, THC content had tripled while CBD dropped. Whereas THC content had been 14 times that of CBD, by the end of 2014, that number was 80. Allan prefers that doctors prescribe cannabis as a third option at best, due to such potential harms as brain damage. Endocannabinoids help synapses (which connect neurons) form properly as brains develop, a process often incomplete until age 25. Regular marijuana use in adolescence alters brain connectivity and reduces volume, inhibiting memory, learning and impulse control. One 25year study of 4,000 young adults found that marijuana lowered verbal memory. A study in New Zealand found that frequent marijuana use in adolescence led to a loss of six IQ points in mid-adulthood, even if consumption stopped in adulthood. High cannabis use also correlates with mental health problems. Use in adolescence increases the risk of schizophrenia-like psychoses and can actually trigger them.

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

The discovery of zero - India’s gift to the world From page 1 the meaning of “2” depends on where it is; in the number 29 it denotes two tens, but in the number 2009 it denotes two thousands.

Of course cultures that did not use a placevalue system, such as ancient Egypt or Rome, did not have this problem and did not need a symbol for an empty place. The Roman numeral MMIX (2009) is easy to distinguish from XXIX (29). Thus it is not surprising that the notion of zero did not arise in those societies. The Babylonians, however, did use a place-value number system, and yet for many centuries it did not occur to them to employ a mark to denote an empty place.

Apparently the ambiguity between 2009 and 29 did not trouble them—perhaps because it is usually apparent from context which number is intended. Even today the same thing is true.

If someone is telling you what year it is, you expect a number like 2009; if they are telling you how old they are, 29 is more reasonable (the Babylonians actually used a number system based on powers of 60, rather than powers of 10. This does not alter the basic problem of ambiguity. For example, a Babylonian scribe would not be able to distinguish 1,501 (i.e., 25 × 60 + 1) from 90,001 (i.e., 25 × 602 + 1). Both numbers would be written as 25, 1).

Only around 400 BC, near the end of Babylonia’s independent existence and some 1,500 years after the cuneiform number system had first come into use, did scribes start to use two vertical wedges to denote an empty place. This was the first appearance in history of a symbol that meant zero,but it is clear that the Babylonians thought of it only as a placeholder and not as a number itself. The

second, more subtle, concept of zero as an actual entity (as implied by the equation 1 – 1 = 0) arose in India. It appears for the first time in 628 AD, in a book called Corrected Treatise of Brahma, by.

As is the case for many ancient mathematicians, little information is available about Brahmagupta’s life. He was born in 598 in north central India, and was a member of a mathematical school (in the sense of a loosely knit community of scholars) in Ujjain. He lived not long after the end of the Gupta dynasty (ca. 320–550), a period of prosperity that is often considered a golden age of Indian culture, when much classical Sanskrit literature was written and when astronomers developed very accurate predictions of eclipses and planetary motions. Brahmagupta’s mathematical achievements included contributions to the field of astronomy, such as his observation that the Earth was spherical.

Brahmagupta’s mathematical achievements included contributions to the field of astronomy, such as his observation that the Earth was spherical.

One thing that stands out clearly in Brahmagupta’s work is his derisory attitude toward his rivals. The very title, Corrected Treatise of Brahma, is an implicit criticism of an earlier astronomical work. Brahmagupta makes comments such as this about his predecessors: “One is not a master through the treatises of Aryabhata, Visnucandra, etc., even when [they are] known [by heart]. But one who knows the calculations of Brahma [attains] mastery.” (Brackets inserted by mathematical historian Kim Plofker, who translated the work)

Burnaby man watched live video of 2 South Asian crooks breaking into his condo From page 1 One suspect is described as a South Asian man with a beard. He was wearing a grey sweater with black tie strings and a green t-shirt underneath, a black baseball cap, blue shoes with white soles and he was carrying a dark duffel bag.

The second suspect was a South Asian man in all black clothing with a black baseball cap. He was carrying a black duffel bag with roller wheels on the front.

If you recognize either of these men you can contact Burnaby RCMP at 604-6469999 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

B.C. woman who assaulted boy, faces deportation can re-appeal her sentence Pressure mounts in Canada and U.S. to ban whale-watchers from southern...

Megan Lawrence said she expects it will take about 20 minutes to carefully glue four new feathers into the owl’s broken feather shafts.

UN issues special Diwali stamp From page 1 The special event sheet in the denomination of $1.15 contains 10 stamps and tabs featuring festive lights and the symbolic lamps known as diyas.

The background of the sheet features the United Nations Headquarters building illuminated with the message of “Happy Diwali” to celebrate the spirit of the festival.

“Diwali, also known as Deepawali is the joyous and popular festival of lights, which is celebrated in India and by followers of many faiths across the world,” the UN agency had said in its description accompanying information about the stamps.

During the celebration clay lamps known as diyas are lit to signify the victory of good over evil. The festival also symbolises the start of a New year for many communities, it said.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) had in October 2016 launched a commemorative stamp in honour of the festival of Diwali.

The USPS Diwali stamp became a reality after seven-year long efforts and advocacy by the Indian-American community and several Congressional resolutions by influential American lawmakers such as Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. -

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

US Vice President to meet PM Modi next week From page 3 the U.S.-Asean Summit and APEC next week, where he will highlight American leadership in the region and reaffirm our commitment to freedom, economic prosperity, and security in the Indo-Pacific,” Alyssa Farah, press secretary for the vice president, said.

This will be Pence’s third trip to the region as the vice president and he

will reaffirm President Trump’s commitment to the final, fully verified denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, she said.

Pence will will travel to Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Papua New Guinea between November 11 and 18 to attend the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit in Singapore.

Canadian home sales will fall over next 2 years, CMHC forecasts From page 1 support demand for housing starts, but condominiums versus higher-end singlethese fundamentals are anticipated to slow detached homes. “Over our forecast horizon, housing starts are projected to decline from down to a more sustainable pace.

Rising mortgage rates are also expected to elevated levels recorded recently. Resales affect housing demand and the resale market. should also moderate while house prices are By 2020, CMHC anticipates demand expected to reach levels that are more in line will continue to shift towards relatively less with the fundamentals,” Bob Dugan, chief expensive housing options like apartment economist at the CMHC, said in a statement.

22-year-old killed in shooting near Surrey elementary school From page 1

Canada in talks to protect persecuted Christian woman from Pakistan From page 3 The case has divided Pakistan, with her conviction outraging Christians and her subsequent acquittal infuriating hardline Islamists.

Court overturns woman’s death sentence for blasphemy She was acquitted on Wednesday — prompting the ultra-right Tehreeke-Labaik (TLP) party to block major roads in Pakistan’s largest cities and call for the murder of the Supreme Court judges who acquitted her.

The protests were called off late Friday after the TLP struck a deal with the government that would see Bibi placed on an “exit control list” to prevent her from leaving the country. A review of the verdict is planned as well.

Ferry de Kerckhove, a former Canadian high commissioner to Pakistan, said the federal government must press the Pakistani government to let Bibi flee the country. If she isn’t permitted to leave, he warned, “she’s going to be murdered.

“There’s absolutely no doubt about that. It’s as simple as that — plead with the Pakistani government to allow her to find refuge elsewhere.”

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel said Canada’s humanitarian immigration system should prioritize helping the world’s most vulnerable people.

“Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are calling on the Trudeau government to use every mechanism at their disposal to offer the Bibi family asylum, and to encourage the Pakistani government to allow Asia Bibi to travel freely in light of recent negotiations with the extremist TLP party which could see authorities bar her from leaving the country,” she said.

Rempel said that while the Supreme Court decision in Pakistan to overturn the case was “heartening,” Asia’s life is still at risk as angry mobs have been protesting and calling for her death.

“We know that these are not empty threats as the Federal Minister for Minorities in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti, was murdered in 2011 simply for calling for Bibi’s release from prison,” she said.

“If action is not immediately taken to ensure the safety of the Bibi family, I fear that their lives will also be in danger.”

De Kerchove agreed, adding Canada should “absolutely” offer to give her refuge.

Asia Bibi’s husband, Aashiq Masih, has appealed to the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada for refuge shelter and assistance.

Asia Bibi’s recently has

lawyer, Saif al-Mulook, left for Netherlands.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team was on scene overnight. The taped-off home is less than a block from Georges Vanier Elementary School and across the street from a daycare. Another man, Sumeet Randhawa, was shot and killed near another school in Surrey on Oct. 11. The 30-year-old’s body was

found about 200 metres from Martha Jane Norris Elementary.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-4448 or email ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

How an Indian sportswear brand turns plastic bottles into T-shirts Until two years ago, Roshan Baid did not know that eight PET bottles of fizzy drinks can be turned into one sports t-shirt.

His company, Paragon Apparels, had been producing sportswear for international brands such as Reebok and Adidas since 2001.

But it was in 2016 that the idea of using plastic struck the 46-year-old National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) graduate. So he established a sub-brand, Alcis Sports.

Today, up to 50% of Paragon’s entire apparel line is made of recycled plastic PET bottles. The company produces over 4,000 pieces of such garments every day and sells more than 50,000 units every month. In 2017, the recycled line earned a turnover of Rs25

crore ($250 million); Baid hopes to close 2018 at more than double that figure. Paragon has a combined capacity of nine million pieces per year at its three plants in Noida, near New Delhi, and one at Una, Himachal Pradesh. Alcis Sports retails its products through 150 outlets of Globus, Shoppers Stop, Sports Station, and Central. “We are already present in over 700 retail outlets in India. We are looking at reaching tier II and III towns also.

We also have exclusive outlets in five cities:

Kochi, Guwahati, Mumbai, Delhi, and Jaipur,” Baid told Quartz. The licensed manufacturer of apparel merchandise for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Paragon secured $4 million in funding in April 2017 from Singapore-based RB Investments.

It is now looking for up to Rs60 crore more to expand.

After graduating from NIFT in 1995, Baid worked with some garment manufacturers

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for a few years. Dealing with suppliers and distributors on a regular basis, he was left bewildered by the industry’s unorganised nature. A chance meeting with a friend, who worked with Reebok, then prompted him to turn entrepreneur himself in 2001.

He leveraged his savings to invest in machinery.

Thus was born Paragon Apparels, with 50 machine units. In 2015-16, it got its first breakthrough with a deal with Reebok to manufacture sportswear in India.

However, all this while, Baid was troubled by frequent reports of water bodies, cities, and oceans getting filled up with plastic. For instance, India alone produces over 15,342 tonnes of plastic waste every day (pdf), according to the research institute The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The country’s annual per capita consumption of plastic is estimated to be 20 kg by 2022, according to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

So Baid decided to turn to yarns that were more sustainable than polyester.

The answer lay in recycled plastic. “It’s an attractive idea for a country that produces loads of plastic waste and banning it hasn’t been very effective,” Baid said. The trend is already quite popular in technologically mature markets such as the US and the UK, with well-known brands like Adidas and Nike latching on to it. Baid began to explore and aimed to make 90% of his apparel line out of recycled plastic over the next two years.

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When Modi was elected prime minister of India in 2014, his plan was to revive its GDP growth rate back to the near-double-digit figures seen in the mid-2000s. Few would have guessed that the biggest threat to that goal was the financial industry. For several years staterun banks have failed to get to grips with a $100bn mountain of dud loans. Now panic has seized parts of the privately run system. One bank boss says the situation is as bad as the Asian crisis of 1998 or the global crash of 2008.

In September IL&FS, a financial firm that owns and finances roads and power plants, defaulted on some of its $13bn of debt. The contagion has struck India’s shadow banks, which rely on $250bn-300bn of borrowing to fund themselves. Their market value has collapsed by a median of 40% this year. A bitter row about how to respond has erupted between the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the largely independent central bank. Over a billion people depend on an emergency being avoided.

India’s financial system has both Chinese and American characteristics; it faces a blend of a slow-motion banking crisis at government-run lenders, plus a high-speed liquidity run of the kind that hit Wall Street in 2008. That the industry has taken on a hybrid character over time reflects the conflicting aims of the forces that shaped it. The state wants pliant banks, ready to lend to the rural poor and to infrastructure projects, and that will buy government bonds. The RBI emphasises stability, so is paranoid about wheeler-dealers taking risks or ripping off the vulnerable. Entrepreneurs want capital and to start financial-services firms themselves. And consumers want loans and whizzy new banking technologies. About half the system, measured by loans, consists of state-run banks. They are usually listed but the government appoints their top brass and often influences them to disastrous effect.

Another 25% comes from private banks;

Continued on next page

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Shooting emphasizes need for Surrey to have own police force, Mayor Doug McCallum A 22-year-old man is dead after an early morning shooting in Newton.

Surrey RCMP say the shooting happened just before 1:30 a.m. in the 14200 block of 70A Avenue.

The victim, who is not known to police, was pronounced dead at the scene and police say he was found “on the ground outside of a residence.”

RCMP say the area will be cordoned off for a “significant amount of time.”

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has been called.

On Friday morning, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum issued a statement, saying the shooting “is yet another example of the ongoing trauma and fear that are being inflicted on the communities, residents and families of Surrey.”

It further emphasizes the need for Surrey to have its own city police force, McCallum added.

In the period of July 1 – Sept 30 this year there were 7 incidents of shots fired in the City of Surrey, 4 of these occurred in Newton.

“The people of Surrey have been abundantly clear that such a move is a top priority, which is why Council and I have moved immediately to establish a Surrey Police Department and terminate the city’s contract with the RCMP,” the statement read.

“While Surrey City Council is moving rapidly on this front, I am dismayed by the resistance that is being encountered at the Provincial level. The overwhelming mandate that we have been given by the people is to complete the transition to a Surrey Police Department as quickly as possible.

RCMP looking for witnesses to assault in Guildford area Surrey RCMP say they are looking for witnesses to an assault on Oct. 21 in the Guildford area.

A man was assaulted in a parking lot in the 1500-block of 144A Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. on Oct. 21, according to a news release from Surrey RCMP. Police said the man had “non-life threatening injuries” from the assault, adding people involved “were

seen fleeing in a silver 4-door sedan.”

Surrey RCMP said investigators believe there may be witnesses who have not yet come forward to police to provide information for the investigation.

Witnesses to the assault or “any suspicious activity at that time,” are asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.

India’s banking system is flirting with a Lehman moment From page 8 some of which are among Asia’s best-run In February PNB, the second-biggest state lenders—HDFC Bank and Kotak trade on lender, disclosed a $2bn fraud involving about four times their book value, compared diamond merchants. A second phase began with below one times for the zombie state after 2012. Between 2012 and 2017 more banks. The other quarter is from a motley capital flowed into India than flowed out. crew of 50-odd shadow banks that have In 2015 interest rates began to fall and in expanded quickly. They are less heavily November 2016 the government replaced regulated and lend in particular areas such the stock of bank notes overnight, leading as housing. They are usually prohibited from savers to switch from physical money into taking deposits so fund themselves with debt. deposits with banks, and into debt mutual Last, there are innovative digital firms, such as funds. Flush with cash, and with rates low, Paytm, a mobile-payments firm. Overall, the they looked for ways to lend the money out system straddles the 19th and 21st centuries, again and part of the answer was to fund the featuring subsiding bank branches protected shadow banks, which went on a binge—the from the monsoon by tarpaulins, but also top 50 have doubled their debts and assets in virtual mobile chatbots. the past five years. Perhaps as much as $50bnThe present troubles have their roots in 100bn of their debts comes due within 12 2005-12, when state banks went on a lending months. Borrowing short and lending long is bender, extending credit to dubious tycoons a high-stakes game. After the IL&FS collapse, and to infrastructure projects. Net bad confidence has evaporated. The group has 348 debts are 9% of state banks’ loan books. The opaque subsidiaries, including India’s longest government has not properly recapitalised tunnel. It has now been taken over by the these zombies and the flow of credit from government, which indirectly owned 40% of them has slowed. Accidents keep happening. it.

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

High-risk sex offender living in Vancouver prompts warning from police A convicted sex offender living in Vancouver poses a threat to the safety of young boys, according to the Vancouver police.

The VPD issued a public safety warning on Thursday, advising Vancouver residents that Randall Peter Hopley is living in the city and is considered a high risk to reoffend.

The 53-year-old was previously convicted of abducting a B.C. toddler in 2011. He has also been charged and convicted of sexual assault, assault and multiple break and enters in the past.

Hopley was released after serving a six year sentence on the abduction charges.

Despite having served his full sentence, Hopley is considered a high risk to reoffend either violently or sexually, according to corrections officials. He is currently under a supervision order that orders him to stay away from children. He must also abide by a curfew.

Hopley is white, five feet nine inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. Police say he often sports a beard.

They’re asking anyone who sees him violating his supervision order to contact them.

4 questions to be answered as Surrey forms its own police After an election campaign fought on the issue, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum did what he said he would do — put forward a motion at his very first council meeting that would pave the way for Surrey to create its own independent police force.

Now comes the tricky part: making it happen on time and on budget. Here are four big questions about Surrey getting rid of the RCMP and setting up its own force that still need to be answered. 1.

Will it happen in 2 years?

McCallum has continually said that an independent police force could be up and running by the beginning of 2021. “We’ll be able to be up and running efficiently ... within two years. It is fast, but we’re on a fast track in the city,” he said at a news conference following council’s vote.

What kind of salesman is Surrey mayor-elect Doug McCallum?

We’re about to find out The RCMP need at least two years formal notice from a city to leave a detachment, and Monday’s motion only asks staff to start that process. More to the point, moving to an independent police force requires provincial government approval — and there’s no guarantee it would approve such an aggressive timeline. Surrey RCMP not participating in process to change police force “They have to have a transitional plan in place, in terms of how long it takes, in many ways that’s up to them, in terms of getting the necessary information and put the plan together,” said Solicitor General Mike Farnworth. “It will take however long it takes, but until such time as a plan has been approved, and there’s a lot that has to be dealt with, the current plan stays in place.”

Doug McCallum is sworn in as Surrey’s mayor at a ceremony at city hall on Nov. 5, 2018.

2. Where will the officers come from?

There are 835 RCMP officers in Surrey, and all of them will need to be replaced when an

independent police force is created. But McCallum believes that will be relatively straightforward, claiming about 50 per cent of Surrey officers have indicated they would leave the RCMP and go with the new local force, with the rest coming from other Metro Vancouver police forces. “A lot of people that work, especially in Vancouver and West Vancouver, have indicated they’d like to work with the Surrey police department, because their families live in Surrey, and they want to be a lot closer to their families,” he said. 3. How much will it cost? In 2016, the total costs for policing in Surrey were $147 million, according to the provincial government.

That’s the second highest figure in British Columbia — but on a per capita basis, it’s much lower than any large B.C. city that has an independent police force. Part of the reason for the discrepancy in costs is that salaries with independent police forces are generally higher. In addition, the federal government provides 10 per cent of the costs for a municipality wishing to have an RCMP detachment. “I’m a realist. There have to be other costs,” said McCallum. He believes Surrey will save on administration costs, and that the RCMP will unionize in the next two years, making questions of salary increases irrelevant.

But many policing experts are skeptical Surrey will be able to keep its policing budget within 10 to 15 per cent of what it was under the RCMP. “Are they understaffed in Surrey? Absolutely.

Are they underpaid? Absolutely. So they’re going ot have to look at those two things in particular, which is going to mean dollars. I don’t know where Doug McCallum is coming from on costs,” said Eddie MacDonald, co-chair of the National Police Federation. 4. What will the transition period look like? This is the area where McCallum has provided the fewest details to date: who will manage the transition, how much community consultation will happen and what values will guide the process.

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

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ICBC execs made tens of thousands in bonuses last year, but David Eby says amount decreasing Despite the financial mess at ICBC, several top executives have received tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses.

The public auto insurer lost more than $1 billion last year, leading Attorney General David Eby to call the situation a “dumpster fire.� On Thursday, he acknowledged that executive compensation is a concern but laid the blame at the feet of the previous government.

Drivers with bad driving records to face higher fines. starting from November. “When you inherit the situation like we

did at ICBC, you inherit contracts that were signed previously, contracts that included bonuses, contracts that included additional compensation,� Eby said.

The corporation’s chief investment officer received a bonus of nearly $50,000 in the last fiscal year.

David Eby said that bonus was paid because the corporation’s investments were a bright spot in its

Fraser Health authority warns of possible measles exposure at a Surrey high school Fraser Health is urging students and staff of Fleetwood Park Secondary School to check their vaccination records after a person with measles came to the Surrey school.

A health authority spokesperson told CBC in an email the exposure comes from a single person who visited three Surrey locations, including the school.

The spokesperson said Fraser Health is not issuing a wider public alert. Rather it is notifying people at the three Surrey locations the person visited. The spokesperson did not identify the other two locations that may have been exposed.

Surrey Schools spokesperson Doug Strachan said it’s not clear if the person with measles is a student.

The district, he said, was made aware of the situation within the last day or two. He said in his 15 years working at the district, he has

not heard of a measles scare like this before.

In a letter posted on the school’s website, the Fraser Health said free immunization clinics will be held for students and staff Thursday and Friday if their vaccination status is unclear or incomplete. Measles is highly contagious.

Fraser Health says any student or staff member born since 1970 who has not been given any doses of the MMR vaccine (which protects against mumps, measles and rubella) will not be allowed to return to Fleetwood Park until Nov. 26 without proof of immunity.

otherwise dismal finances.

Wait times for ICBC road tests soar as new drivers show up unprepared Several other ICBC executives received bonuses that exceeded $40,000 on top of salaries of at least $250,000.

Eby said the government has reduced the number of executives and taken aim at bonuses in new contracts.

“I can tell you that executive compensation is now lower than it was in 2016,� he said. “The executive complement is smaller than it was.�

ICBC proposes annual $50 fee for unlisted drivers Executive salaries only make up a small portion of ICBC’s costs. The massive shortfall has been largely attributed to a rise in injury and accident claims.

Complete information on ICBC executive pay and bonuses are posted online.

Remembrance Day

129 Č?

Teachers and students honour

the past and work for peace in the future.

A message from the Surrey Teachers’ Association

Visit our Website

www.theasianstar.com

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Robust BC economy results in pay raise for public sector workers Unionized government employees are about to the reap the benefits of a robust B.C. economy.

Statistics Canada says B.C. economy grew 3.8 per cent in 2017, exceeding the provincial budget forecast of 2.3 per cent provided by the Economic Forecast Council (EFC). The Ministry of Finance says that has triggered an economic growth-sharing clause, officially known as the Economic Stability Dividend (ESD), in government contracts which will result in public sector workers receiving a 0.75 per cent wage increase beginning in February.

Economic Stability Dividend was negotiated in 2014 as part of B.C.’s Economic Stability Mandate. To activate the ESD clause,

real gross domestic product growth for B.C. must exceed the forecast provided by the independent EFC for the calendar year. “The wage increase is calculated based on 50 per cent of the positive difference between the EFC forecast for real GDP growth and actual growth as reported

by Statistics Canada,� the ministry said.

The ESD clause has been triggered every year since the deal was reached, resulting in a pay raise of 1.95 per cent for unionized workers, that is on top of the baseline 5.5 per cent wage increase that was included in the mandate.

Wages are not rolled back if B.C.’s economic growth falls short of the budget forecast.

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Liberals promise to cut poverty by 20 per cent with new law The federal Liberals have unveiled a longpromised anti-poverty law, saying it will force future governments to meet ambitious targets to lift more than two million people above the poverty line in the coming years.

These targets would lower poverty rates by 20 per cent from 2015 levels by the end of the decade and a further 50 per cent reduction by 2030.

The law will also establish the country’s first official poverty line using the “market basket measure,� which tests whether a family’s income will mean they can afford a set of basic goods and services.

But the new law doesn’t include any new spending for programs meant to help Canada’s poor today.

Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos acknowledged that in his announcement at an Ottawa food bank, but pointed to previously announced investments totalling $22 billion since 2015 for lowincome families and the middle class, hinting that more could be coming in the 2019 budget.

Volunteers at the food bank listened to the announcement with skepticism however, saying they had hoped to see more tangible commitments from government to help the homeless and the poor.

Horgan, Wilkinson spar in debate as fate of BC’s electoral system hangs in the balance British Columbia’s Premier and Opposition Leader sparred in a feisty broadcast debate Thursday about whether or not British Columbia should proceed to proportional representation in electing members of the legislature, a clash that came as voters are casting ballots in a referendum on the issue.

Through much of the 30-minute debate, NDP Premier John Horgan and BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson were talking loudly over each other, with the Premier asking voters to endorse change and Mr. Wilkinson raising concerns about the fine details of the proposals.

The Premier suggested that if voters tuned in to see the pair of them yelling at each other, they would change the channel to watch the game show, Wheel of Fortune.

“Let’s get modern. Let’s get hip,� Mr. Horgan saidatonepointduringthebriskdebate,declaring that the shift would increase engagement in politics because each vote cast would count.

To Mr. Wilkinson, he said, “I don’t understand why you’re frightened about trying something new.�

But the provincial Liberal Leader said voters are confused by their choices in the mail-in ballots they have been sent, and that the NDP has not been clear about how the proposed choices would transpose into the actual province. “We’re not asking to experiment with our democracy,� said Mr. Wilkinson, noting that the government chose three systems for voters to consider, two of which have yet to be used anywhere.

LOCAL

Saturday, November 10, 2018

City of Vancouver expects $30 million in first year of empty homes tax The City of Vancouver says it has collected $18 million from the first year of its empty homes tax and another $12 million could still flow into its coffers.

The city says in a news release that it expects to generate a total of $30 million from the first year of the tax, which is applied to vacant residential properties in a bid to ease Vancouver’s near-zero vacancy rate.

The city says $8 million raised by the tax in 2017 has already been earmarked by council for specific affordable housing initiatives.

More details of the first year of the empty homes tax are due to be released Dec. 1 in the city’s first annual report on the levy.

Owners of residential properties are also being advised they must submit a property status declaration by Feb. 4, 2019, in order to meet the provisions of the tax for 2018.

Owners who don’t declare that status will be taxed, which amounts to one per cent of a property’s assessed value, and owners who miss the due date by even a day will also face a $250 penalty.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart says the tax is an important strategy in managing Vancouver’s unaffordable housing market.

“Housing affordability is the most important issue in our city, and the empty homes tax is helping to free up more potential rental units that should be available as homes for Vancouver residents,” Stewart says in the release.

The tax does not apply to principal residences, properties rented for at least six months of the year or properties that are eligible for one of eight exemptions.

Man jailed for repeated sexual extortion of girls and women A man who sexually extorted, harassed and threatened women and girls across BC has been sentenced to 18 months jail.

Seamus Martin Weeks (pictured) was just 18 attending university in Kamloops when he contacted 15 females demanding nude photos and explicit videos and threatening to post real or photoshopped images online if they didn’t comply.

His victims were as young as 12 years old, according to a sentencing decision from BC provincial court.

Judge Carmen Rogers sentenced Seamus Martin Weeks to a year and a half behind bars, to be followed by three years of probation.

She rejected the defence’s arguments for a short, intermittent jail term followed by house arrest, writing “I ... find that a conditional sentence would not be proportionate to the moral responsibility of Mr. Weeks for these grave offences.” But Rogers said she also needed to impose “the least restrictive sentence appropriate and must not lose sight of Mr. Weeks’ young age and future prospects.” Weeks was arrested

by Central Saanich Police in June 2016, and charged with 29 criminal counts. He later pleaded guilty to 10 of those charges, including three counts of extortion, one count of luring,

one count of possession of child pornography, one count of invitation to sexual touching, three counts of criminal harassment and one count of threatening. ‘I can’t take it anymore’ Weeks’s crimes began in November 2015 with a 14-year-old girl who was living in the U.S. He was a stranger when he reached out to her through social media and began demanding nude photographs, later threatening to post them online if she didn’t send him videos of herself performing painful sex acts, according to the sentencing decision.

When she resisted, he replied, “I hope this hurts you. Mabey itl teach you to talk back or not give me wht I want.” He also threatened to travel to her home and sexually assault her. ‘30 minutes.

One second late, I got some ammo’: Sextortion texts read in court as lawyers seek jail term She begged Weeks to leave her alone, telling him, “I can’t take it anymore” and saying she felt like killing herself.

After the girl contacted police and an investigation began, Weeks contacted another 13 young women and girls, including one who was just 12 years old, according to the sentencing decision.

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Only 1.4% of British Columbians have returned their electoral reform referendum ballots so far As of Wednesday, only 47,000 British Columbians or 1.4 per cent of eligible voters, had returned their completed ballots to Elections B.C. in the provincewide mail-in referendum on electoral reform. Rebecca Penz, the director of communications with Elections B.C., says the low turnout is partly because it’s still early in the voting period.

“It is very early days ... Many people only received their voting packages late last week,” Penz said. “We did see an overnight increase [Tuesday] in returned ballots of over 11,000.”

Penz noted, however, B.C.’s Referendum Act does not have a minimum threshold of participation for binding results.

Important deadlinesIf you haven’t received an electoral reform referendum package in

the mail yet, Penz says you still have until Nov. 23 at midnight to request a voting package either online, on the phone or in person at a Service B.C. centre. The deadline to return a completed voting package to Elections BC is Nov. 30 at 4:30 p.m. Penz says she encourages people to return their voting package earlier rather than later so that if there are any issues with the ballot, Elections B.C. officials can contact you and get it corrected. “If people are cutting it close, they might want to return it in person to a Service B.C. centre or a Referendum Service office,” she said. This fall, B.C. will choose whether to keep its current first-past-the-post electoral system or change to a proportional representation model.

Supreme Court ruling clears the way for national markets watchdog Supreme Court of Canada has cleared the way for the creation of a cooperative federalprovincial securities regulator to govern the country’s capital markets. Quebec challenged the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System, several years in the making and supported by five jurisdictions including Ottawa, British Columbia, and Ontario, at Canada’s highest court, on the grounds that it exceeded the federal government’s authority over trade and commerce. On Friday morning, the Supreme Court ruled that the draft legislation to create the regulator did not exceed Ottawa’s authority, trumping an earlier Quebec court ruling that was appealed by Ottawa, as

well as the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec.

The court challenges stalled the progress of the CCMR, but proponents believed the idea of a more unified regulatory body for Canada would move ahead. Quebec and Alberta have been the strongest opponents to bringing together Canada’s patchwork of 13 provincial and territorial capital markets watchdogs, a unification that has been contemplated in several forms and forums over the past 50 years. In 2011, the two provinces led a challenge of an earlier attempt by Ottawa to create a single national regulator to govern securities regulation across the entire country.

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

25-year-old charged in weekend traffic death A 25-year-old man has been charged with one count of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with a fatal car crash over the weekend.

Surrey resident Nicolas Karvouniaris was the lone occupant of a 2016 Jeep Cherokee that crossed the centre median and hit a Ford Escape head on just after midnight on Nov. 4 on 88 Avenue.

The driver of the Ford Escape was pronounced

dead at the scene and two passengers remain in hospital with life threatening injuries.

A third passenger suffered minor injuries and has since been released from hospital.

Karvouniaris has been released under conditions and is awaiting a court date.

Investigators are asking that anyone with relevant dash-cam or cell phone video or who witnessed the crash, contact them at 604-599-0502, or at Crime Stoppers.

BC gov’t introduces legislation to end contract flipping in health care BC’s health minister has moved to repeal legislation that has long allowed healthcare providers to lay off unionized workers and then hire them back at lower wages.

The practice known as contract flipping at seniors care homes and health-care facilities isn’t fair to workers and has pushed people away from seeking employment in the sector, Adrian Dix said Thursday at the legislature.

“Sending the message that this work is precarious at the time when we absolutely need to recruit a new generation of heath-care workers is the wrong public policy for today,” he said.

Contract flipping has been used as a costcutting measure by health-care providers since the previous Liberal government brought in Bill 29 and Bill 94 in the early 2000s.

Health care workers hurt by Bill 29 to receive compensation by Christmas That legislation gave health-care employees fewer rights than other B.C. workers and led to more contracting out and thousands of layoffs, which largely affected women, Dix said.

The result is a fragmented health-care system with poor continuity of care, especially for vulnerable seniors, he said.

Under the new legislation, pay and

benefits workers have negotiated would transfer, even if a new contractor takes over at the facility where they are employed.

Currently, they can been let go and rehired with different wages and benefits.

The change affects care aids and workers in areas such as food service, housekeeping and laundry.

“Repealing these laws is an absolutely giant step toward restoring justice and fairness for healthcare workers and starting to repair the damage that has been done to health-care delivery,” said Jennifer Whiteside, secretary business manager for the B.C. Hospital Employees’ Union.

B.C. and health care unions settle 6-year dispute “Prior to 2002, we had a standard for the wages and working conditions across our health-care system, and that standard was deliberately taken apart piece by piece by Bill 29 and Bill 94.”

The changes are also needed to attract more people to work at B.C.’s seniors care homes, Dix said, noting 900 more care aids will be required, even before retirements in the sector are taken into account.

Cop deserves most of blame for crash that destroyed two vehicles, judge says A Langley Mountie who crashed his cruiser into a family’s camper van while driving 85 km/h over the speed limit holds the lion’s share of responsibility for what happened, a B.C. judge has ruled.

RCMP Const. Chad Steven Gorman was travelling at 145 km/h when his cruiser collided with the van at the intersection of 268 Street and the Fraser Highway on July 22, 2014. The speed limit at the busy crossing was just 60 km/h.

Both vehicles were destroyed, but somehow e v e r y o n e involved walked away from the crash.

On Tuesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Butler said Gorman should be held 80-per-cent liable for the collision, despite the fact that he was responding to a high-priority 911 call. The driver of the camper van, Shiraz Meghji, is liable for the remaining 20 per cent.

“The majority of the fault must

be apportioned to Const. Gorman because of the degree of risk created by his breach of the standard of care of a reasonable police officer, and the extent to which his actions departed from that standard,” Butler wrote.

Both vehicles were destroyed in the crash. The judge said the officer was driving “at a speed that was excessive and inconsistent with reasonable care for the public safety” and that he’d b r e a c h e d the standard of care for a police officer.

“His actions created the serious risk of harm that materialized when Mr. Meghji entered the intersection. Mr. Meghji’s departure from a reasonable standard of care was much less; he failed to proceed with sufficient care as he drove through the intersection,” Butler wrote.

The judgment comes in response to multiple personal injury lawsuits concerning the crash.

Children’s advocate investigating 14 files on social worker’s alleged theft from teens BC’s representative for children and youth says her office has opened 14 files relating to teenagers who claim they were victims of a social worker accused of siphoning funds from vulnerable First Nations youth.

Jennifer Charlesworth says her office has been aware of allegations against Robert Riley Saunders for several months and has been in constant contact with the Ministry of Children and Family Development about its concerns.

BC social worker stole from dozens of First Nations teens, lawsuit alleges

The issue became public Tuesday with the filing of a proposed class action lawsuit claiming Saunders rendered a teenage girl homeless by moving her out of stable care, helping her open a joint bank account and then stealing money provided by the ministry.

The notice of civil claim — which was filed by the Public Guardian and Trustee — says dozens of mostly Aboriginal teens may be affected.

But she says communication with the ministry has been frustrated by a sweeping publication ban and sealing order on a related B.C. Supreme Court file initiated earlier this year.

Charlesworth says she can’t comment on the details of that case. She says the ministry sought the publication ban in order to protect the children involved, but her office and the public guardian and trustee are now seeking to have it lifted.

“We want to understand what’s the period of time that this has gone on, how have they identified the young people, how are they reaching out to these people and really assessing the fulsome impact,” she said.

“We need to get information on the scope and impact in order for us to figure out how best to support these young people and advocate on their behalf.”

The proposed class action was one of two suits filed against the ministry, Saunders, and Interior Savings Financial on Tuesday.

The other involves a young Kelowna man who also claims Saunders stole money from him while he was in ministry care. Both involve alleged thefts said to have taken place in 2016.

The ministry has declined to comment on the allegations while they are before the courts. A spokesperson for Interior Savings Financial said they are aware of the “ongoing investigation” and are co-operating with authorities.

Saunders could not be reached for comment. He has taken his Facebook page down in the past 24 hours.

B.C. Métis to ‘reclaim authority’ over their children in government care

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, November 10, 2018 Va n c o u v e r- Ke n s i n g t o n NDP MLA to pay back $244 MLA Mable Elmore says she will refund $244 in food expense November during money she received last year while the challenge, but participating in a welfare food challenge she didn’t spend that involved her living on $19 a week. the money on food.

MLA Mable The Opposition Liberals released expense documents Wednesday that show Elmore Elmore looks on received a meal subsidy for four days while she as as media ask about was in Victoria as the legislature was in session. questions Elmore says she received a meal per diem details of an advisory payment of $61 a day for four days last forum on poverty

in food money received during welfare challenge after being caught by Liberals

Suspect arrested after gay couple assaulted on SkyTrain Transit police say a suspect has been arrested for an assault on a gay couple inside a SkyTrain car in Vancouver earlier this fall.

The young victims were kicked, hit in the face and spat on by a man yelling obscenities and homophobic slurs on Sept. 28, according to a police statement. Officers say they are liaising with the provincial hate crime unit as the investigation moves forward.

The couple boarded the train at Waterfront Station at about 2:30pm on the day of the attack, police say. As they stepped inside, a suspect allegedly kicked one of them in the foot, then got up from his seat and approached the victim aggressively.

Police say the victim crouched down while the suspect raised his hand, yelling vulgar terms, but a bystander pulled the suspect away before he could hit anyone.

Meanwhile, the victim’s husband pushed the train’s yellow emergency strip. When the suspect again became aggressive toward the first man, the husband grabbed

the suspect and pulled him away, according to the police statement.

Police say the suspect then struck the husband in the face, knocking off his glasses.

When the train pulled into Granville Station, the suspect allegedly tried to kick one of the men in the stomach, stepped off the train and then spat in the other man’s face.

The suspect then walked away, but “continued to hurl profanities and homophobic remarks toward the couple,” the news release says.

Police announced the arrest of a suspect but provided no other details.

In a statement, they said anyone who witnessed the assault is asked to contact them.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 604-516-7419 or text using the code 87-77-77.

Trudeau apologizes for 1939 refusal of ship of Jewish refugees That was the commitment Justin Trudeau made in the House of Commons as he made an official federal apology to Jewish refugees who were turned away from Canada 79 years ago.

Trudeau says the decision to turn the country’s back on European Jews was “unacceptable then and it is unacceptable now.” The apology coincides with the 80th anniversary of what is known as “Kristallnacht” and the start of the Holocaust.

In a solemn House of Commons, the prime minister addressed the wrongs Canada made in turning away the MS St. Louis and its more than 900 Jewish asylum seekers as it sailed near the port in Halifax.

They were forced back across the ocean to Europe, where more than 250 of them died in the Holocaust. Trudeau is pointing to more recent incidents of anti-Semitism, such as the shooting last month in a Pittsburgh synagogue where 11 worshippers died.

Trudeau has been under pressure to improve security around places at risk of hate-motivated time, and in his apology, he promised to do more.

reduction during a press conference from the Rose Garden at Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, October 30, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito She says she was living on boiled eggs and homemade bean casserole during the challenge.

Elmore says she was the only member

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of the B.C. legislature last year to participate in the 6th Annual Welfare Food Challenge that ran for seven days, starting November 1.

She says she and members of her staff did not notice the expenses were credited to her salary package, which includes expenses while in Victoria.

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

Diwali celebrations in Calgary continue to grow, official says Candles were lit and bells rang out in a Hindu temple crowded with people wearing colourful fabrics for Diwali on Wednesday evening.

The festival of lights was held at the Hindu

Society of Calgary.

“It’s a big festival that we celebrate in India and it’s a main religious function,” said Neena Obhrai, vice-president of religion at the society.

BC gov’t rolling back speed limits on 15 highway stretches in the province The BC gov’t is rolling back speed limit increases on 15 stretches of road in British Columbia, including between Squamish and Whistler, and between Cowichan Bay and Nanaimo. The changes come after the province reviewed the impacts of speed limit changes made by the previous government in 2014. The speed limits will go down by 10 kilometres per hour. Speed safety engineers found there was an increase in the collision rate on 14 highway segments where the speed limits were increased. Serious collisions went up by 11.2 per cent on those same roads.

The province spent three years reviewing the impact of the speed limit changes. “The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is taking serious actions to improve safety on segments where the speed limits were changed,” states the Rural Highway Safety and Speed Review. “This is why the ministry is rolling back speed limits on segments which were impacted by the speed limits changes.”

The are 16 corridors where the study did

not find higher accident rates and the speed limits will remain the same, including the Coquihalla, where variable speed limits are in operation. The RCMP are now being tasked with strategic enforcement efforts in areas where collisions have gone up and vehicles are going “well over” the posted limit. “We know people want to get where they’re going quickly. Our job is to help make sure they also get there safely,” said transportation minister Claire Trevena. “Since the former government raised speed limits in 2014, serious crashes have been on the rise. By rolling back speed limits slightly, our goal is to reduce accidents, keep roads open and protect the lives of British Columbians.”

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has thoroughly reviewed three years’ worth of data on 33 segments and 1,300 kilometres of highway, where speed limits were increased as part of the 2014 Rural Safety and Speed Review.

Man faces 13 charges following two days of havoc in Castlegar A 28-year-old Lake Country man is in custody and facing 13 charges in connection with two days of havoc, including dangerous driving and a carjacking, on the streets of Castlegar. The trouble started on Nov. 6 when Castlegar RCMP attempted to pull over a pickup truck with a burnt out headlight.

Police say the driver refused to pull over and fled at a high rate of speed, but was not pursued by the RCMP. During his flight from police, the truck’s driver collided with an RCMP cruiser and avoided a spike belt. Police managed to make the arrest after the truck crashed into — and became lodged on top of — a cement barrier. Police found more than $10,000 in cash along with a small amount of suspected methamphetamine and cannabis inside the truck.The driver was processed that night and then released.But, police say,

he was just getting started. Once back on the street, the man is alleged to have assaulted and attempted to rob a woman who had given him a ride. The woman got away, but police say the man stole her car and took off at great speed through a construction zone, almost hitting a flagger and several workers, before being slowed by a flat tire on Highway 3. Police say the man attempted to run a pickup truck off the road, assaulted the driver of the pickup truck and tried to steal the vehicle before a passing semi-truck driver intervened and subdued the man. “The male negotiated his release and then attempted to steal the semi-truck.

Eventually the semi-truck driver was able to gain control of the male and held him for police,” Castlegar RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk

The day symbolizes new beginnings and is very important to the faith, she added.

“Every year it’s getting bigger and bigger because our community is growing rapidly,”

Obhrai said.

Her husband, Calgary Forest Lawn MP Deepak Obhrai, celebrated the 18th National Diwali on Parliament Hill on Oct. 30.

Slain Abbotsford police Const. John Davidson remembered with plaque one year after death One year after the community of Abbotsford was devastated following the violent death of a popular police officer, a new plaque has been unveiled outside city hall in his honour.

Const. John Davidson was killed on Nov. 6, 2017, after he responded to a call about a stolen vehicle. He was shot and died just moments after he arrived at the scene.

A private service was held Tuesday for Abbotsford Police Department (APD) members, city officials and Davidson’s family.

“I want you to remember John as dedicated father, husband, son and brother who was devoted to his amazing family who we are so fortunate to have gotten to know and who will always be part of the Abby PD family,” said Chief Mike Serr. Davidson was a police officer for 24 years in Abbotsford and the United Kingdom. He was also well-

known for his community service in several schools, and fundraising rides including the Cops for Cancer Tour. “As a member of Cops for Cancer in 2017 he passionately gave of himself to support a cause and help raise money for childhood cancer and to support families. My last conversation with John was shortly after the ride and he told me how honoured and humbled he was to have been part of this amazing journey. John truly gave of himself,” said Chief Serr. Since his death, the APD has been selling T-shirts as a fundraiser for the Davidson family. I want you to remember Constable John Davidson as a dedicated officer who was committed to protecting and educating youth from the dangers of drugs,” added Serr. “Who was committed to enriching the lives of our youth in this community every day.”

Marco Muzzo, drunk driver involved in death of four denied parole A scion of billionaire developers who killed four people while driving drunk three years ago was denied parole on Wednesday, when a panel concluded he was hesitant to accept the seriousness of his alcohol problem.

Marco Muzzo is serving a 10-year prison sentence for causing a collision on Sept. 27, 2015, in Vaughan, north of Toronto, that ended the lives of three siblings, ages 9, 5 and 2, and their 65-year-old grandfather. He applied for release to a halfway house, on day parole, effective as early as this week, and full parole, beginning next May. He seemed a good candidate for early release – a well-behaved inmate, with a supportive family and a job to go home to. Corrections authorities didn’t feel he had a serious enough drinking problem to allow him entry into one of their high-intensity substance-abuse programs. They said he was a low risk to reoffend and recommended he be granted parole. And yet, after an emotional threehour hearing, his application was rejected.

Parole board member Kevin Corcoran, after

questioning Mr. Muzzo at length about his alcohol use, said Mr. Muzzo seemed hesitant to acknowledge the extent of his impairment the day of the collision. He also had not told prison authorities about an incident in which police arrested him outside a strip club in 2012, when he, while in the police car in a drunken state, tried to kick out its windows. “In our view, from the outset of your sentence, you sabotaged the progress you might have otherwise had by understating the seriousness of your problem,” Mr. Corcoran told Mr. Muzzo, in explaining why the twoperson panel who heard his request turned him down for early release.

While Mr. Muzzo has the right to apply again after one year, the parole board is under no obligation to hear his case again before five years have passed, under changes to federal law brought in by the former Conservative government aimed at reducing the impact of frequent hearings on victims. By then, he would have been released at the two-thirds point, which is near automatic in federal prisons. Mr. Muzzo has the right to appeal the decision to the parole board’s appeal division. The mother of three kids who were killed along with their grandfather by a drunk driver in 2015 says Marco Muzzo’s parole denial doesn’t feel like ‘a victory.’ Jennifer Neville-Lake says she doesn’t believe Muzzo has accepted responsibility. The Canadian Press Jennifer Neville-Lake, whose three children, Daniel, Harry and Milly, and father, Gary Neville, died in the crash on Sept. 27, 2015, told reporters after the hearing that her life has been destroyed and the denial of parole doesn’t change that. “There’s no win.

It’s not a victory,” she said. “It doesn’t change a single thing for me, other than knowing that if it happens again, they have our case as a precedent.” The hearing at Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst, Ont., began with emotional testimony from the father, mother and aunt of the three children who died in the crash. Edward Lake said he suffers night terrors, breathing difficulties and no longer works because his job put him among children and families. “I miss being a dad,” he told Mr. Corcoran and a second board member, Christopher Sullivan.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

DREAM CARPET

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, November 10, 2018

CRA and RCMP to crack down call centres over phone call scammers The Canada Revenue Agency says so many Canadians get calls from scammers pretending to be tax enforcers that real tax agents are having trouble reaching people.

The CRA and the RCMP say in a press briefing in Ottawa on Wednesday that they are trying to crack down on call centres loaded with fraudsters who phone Canadians, say they owe back taxes, and threaten they better pay the money back. Some people are so used to receiving the fraudulent calls that they assume any communication from the tax-collection agency is bogus.

Tammy Branch, a director-general at the tax agency, says the CRA will never call or leave voice mails using

aggressive language or threatening arrest.

Tammy Branch, a director-general at the tax agency, says the CRA will never call or leave voice mails using aggressive language or threatening arrest.

With help from police in India, the Mounties say they have dismantled three major operations there and arrested a dozen people here in Canada who are involved in the scheme. The RCMP has counted 4,000 victims who have lost $15 million. Virtually none of the money has been recovered.

Tammy Branch, a director-general at the tax agency, says the CRA will never call or leave voice mails using aggressive language or threatening arrest.

BC gov’t to introduce legislation to restrict size of farmhouses and mansions on farmlands BC gov’t introduced a legislation to ban mega-mansions on agricultural farmland by overriding local zoning in cities like Richmond.

Agriculture Minister Lana Popham’s bill introduced Monday would restrict the maximum size of a home on agricultural land reserve property to 5,400 square feet.

That size is already the standard under current ministry guidelines, but until now the province has allowed municipalities to set their own bylaws on the issue. Richmond, where the problem of mansions on farmland is most acute, set in 2017 the maximum house size of 10,743 sq. ft. on agricultural land.

Popham told the legislature the changes were made because the public has told her government that it supports a much

stronger approach to protecting farmland.

“The old government let wealthy speculators drive the price of farmland out of reach for young farmers and allowed some of our most valuable agricultural land to be damaged,” Popham said in a news release.

“We are protecting farmland in B.C. to ensure land is available now and for future generations of farmers, so people in British Columbia have a safe, secure supply of locally grown food on their tables for years to come.”

Larger homes could still be allowed if they receive an exemption from the agricultural land commission as necessary for farming, and municipalities would be allowed to restrict home sizes even further if they’re below the provincial maximum. Existing construction projects over the maximum size will be grandfathered if the legislation passes.

The issue has been a divisive one in the farming community, with some saying speculators are buying cheaper farmland to build large homes that are flipped for profit, while others say large homes are necessary to house the multi-generational families that are increasingly used to operate a farm.

Sextortion scheme targets minors through popular online game Fortnite in Quebec Police in the Montreal-area are warning parents about online predators using the popular video game Fortnite to lure minors into a sextortion scheme.

Four cases have been reported in the past few weeks, according to police.

In three of those cases, minors were threatened, and in one, the victim sent personal photos to the cyber-predator.

Sgt. Jean-Luc Tremblay with the Richelieu Saint-Laurent police said the predator, or predators, tried to infiltrate groups of friends by offering them a chance to advance their game in exchange for providing revealing photos.

Those messages happen over the social media platform Instagram.

Then the predator threatened to share the images unless the teen sent even more intimate material.

Fortnite has become the most popular game of 2018, thanks to its surreal mix of first-person shooter action and dance moves.

Levelling up in the popular video game Fortnite has become the basis of a scheme to get teenage boys to send personal photos to predators online. (Fortnite/Screengrab) Police are working with school boards in the area to disseminate information about the sextortion. “[Police] communicated with us asking us to transmit a communiqué to inform parents and help them,” said Lynne Arcand, an administrator with the Commission Scolaire des Patriotes, a French-language school board representing more than 30,000 students on Montreal’s South Shore.

Arcand added that the school board regularly works to build awareness about social media safety.

“Our role is education for the kids.

Adopting good behaviours on social media. Not to give up their passwords.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Asylum seekers will wait up to two years for refugee claims to be processed: IRB The arm’s-length agency that processes refugee claims says asylum seekers who cross into Canada today will have to wait almost two years before learning whether they can stay.

The Immigration and Refugee Board says wait times are currently at 21 months, but could have climbed even higher without a cash infusion from the federal government.

The Liberals set aside $74 million over two years in this the 2018 budget to address a major backlog of asylum claims at the IRB. The board has used the money to hire more than 60 new staff to adjudicate refugee claims and appeals, many of which are coming from an influx of tens of thousands of “irregular” border crossers who have come from the United States through non-official entry points.

But the board warns wait times could grow as it deals with a projected 60,000 new claims this fiscal year.

Even with the additional staff, the board estimates it will complete work on almost half of its current inventory of 65,000 claims by the end of March 2019. Without the new

resources from Ottawa, the board estimated it would have completed 24,000 claims instead of the 32,000 it expects to finalize this year.

A year-long review of the IRB released earlier this year found persistent and systemic problems that have undermined the efficiency of the asylum system in Canada.

The report’s author, former immigration deputy minister Neil Yeates, recommended fundamental changes to the way the board operates, including a new management structure under the authority of the immigration minister.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the government has continually starved the IRB of resources, creating a history of problems managing spikes in asylum claims, which the review highlighted.

“It is absolutely unconscionable. People’s lives are held in limbo when they’re waiting for these cases to be processed,” she said.

The new federal money for the board doesn’t go far enough, she added.

Alberta NDP backbencher refuses to sit in legislature, claims party has ‘toxic culture’ A backbencher with Alberta’s governing NDP says she won’t take her seat in the legislature to protest what she calls a “toxic culture” in the party caucus.

Robyn Luff, a first-term legislature member for Calgary-East, says she can’t do her job representing her constituents because of strict controls placed on her by officials in Premier Rachel Notley’s government.

“I have felt bullied by the NDP leadership for over 3 1/2 years and it must stop,”

Ms. Luff said in a letter released Monday.

“Under Rachel Notley’s leadership, every power that MLAs are supposed to have to be able to represent their constituents in the legislature has been taken away or denied from the start.”

In her letter, Ms. Luff said questions backbenchers ask of ministers in the house, designed to address issues of importance to constituents, are instead written by the ministries for the backbencher to deliver.

Driver gets 2 speeding tickets in 2 different cars in same morning from same RCMP officer It was a rough Tuesday morning for a 30-year-old driver, who was pulled over for speeding in two different vehicles by the same RCMP officer.

The woman was clocked at 124 km/h – resulting in a $364 fine – on the west

Perimeter at 8:27 a.m.

She was nailed with a further $299 fine at 11:55 a.m. while travelling 119 km/h in another vehicle.

That’s a total of $663 in fines in a single morning.

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South Asian man accused of advocating genocide, promoting hate online A Toronto judge has reserved his decision in the case of a former paralegal accused of advocating genocide and promoting hatred in email and on the internet, including an open Twitter account.

Rupen Balaram-Sivaram has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, including the rare charge of advocating genocide. The charges stem in part from a series of hateful social media posts and emails he allegedly sent to public figures and media organizations that call for death to Jews, homosexuals, Westerners and Christians.

Rupen BalaramSivaram has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, including the rare charge of advocating genocide.

Rupen Balaram-Sivaram has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, including the rare charge of advocating genocide.

(SUPPLIED PHOTO) He testified this past summer he did not create the social media accounts, including some under his own name, and denies putting out any information to the public to incite hatred.

Last week in court, defence lawyer Jason Rabinovitch reiterated his client’s position that he did not commit any of the alleged offences. Alternatively, Rabinovitch told Superior Court Justice

Michael Brown if he rejects BalaramSivaram’s testimony and finds he is behind the emails and social media postings, he should consider them “personal opinions” that are a reaction to news events.

The postings in evidence are simply people having discussions in an open forum, as distasteful and disturbing as that may be, he said in court. In Canada, people are allowed to express contrary opinions, Rabinovitch said during final arguments.

“He can hate the Jewish people,” Crown attorney Kim Motyl said in reply. But his comments take a “great leap” from engaging in political discourse to actively encouraging others to carry out violent acts.

In her written submissions, Motyl wrote that Balaram-Sivaram’s “entire social media footprint is riddled with evidence of his belief that those of Jewish descent and homosexuals should be exterminated.

Further, his hard devices — his computer, two USB drives and his cellphone are likewise full of such sentiment.”

The prosecution cited several examples of how Balaram-Sivaram allegedly committed the offence of advocating or promoting genocide in emails sent to public officials and media outlets.

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NATIONAL

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Lowe’s closing 31 locations in Canada Home improvement retailer Lowe’s is closing 31 locations in Canada, including 27 underperforming Lowe’s and Rona stores in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, along with 20 Lowe’s locations in USA. The North Carolina-based chain said on Monday morning that the closures are “part of its ongoing strategic reassessment” of its business.

Only two of the closing locations are currently branded as Lowe’s, and both are in Ontario. One in Calgary is a Reno-Depot. The rest are Ronas, the Quebec chain that Lowe’s bought in 2016.

Across all of its brands, Lowe’s currently has 2,390 stores across North America, including 630 in Canada. Other Lowe’sowned brands include Dick’s Lumber,

Contractor First and Ace Hardware.

“The decision to close stores is never one that we make lightly. However, following a detailed business review, we believe that this is the right path for the organization’s future,” Lowe’s Canada’s president Sylvain Prud’homme said.

“Everything will be done to ensure a smooth transition until the stores are closed, and Lowe’s Canada will support impacted employees, including by transferring eligible employees to other locations within our network whenever possible.”

ThesearethestoresinCanadathatwillbeshut: The chain is also closing 20 Lowe’s locations across the U.S. immediately.

The Canadian locations will stay open for a bit longer, before being shuttered for good by the end of February 2019.

PM Trudeau talks trade, LNG and pipelines at Vancouver Board of Trade Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to members of Vancouver’s business community Thursday afternoon and his message was clear — Canada is looking to trade.

“Through trade we can create new opportunities for people to build real, lasting success for themselves and for their families,” he said in a speech to members of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.

“Canada is in a very good position to make that happen.”

Trudeau referenced the government’s recently reached agreements on NAFTA, now known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which goes into effect at the end of the year and links Canada to 10 other nations, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union, which was signed in .

“We now have preferred market access to two-thirds of the global economy,” Trudeau said. “We’re the only G7 country with preferential access to European, Asia Pacific and North American markets.

Simply put, we’re the only G7 country with a free-trade deal with every other G7 country.” Trudeau referenced a visit to the Board of Trade back in 2014 after he was first elected Liberal Party leader.

“I remember saying that trade is our way forward… four years later I’m more convinced than ever that expanding access to new markets with modern, progressive trade agreements is the ticket to our success.”

He added that international trade diversification is a top priority for the Liberal government and talked about an upcoming trip to Singapore and Papua New Guinea to talk trade.

“This trip to Asia is part of our plan to keep building prosperity for people in B.C.,” he said. “Vancouver isn’t just the gateway to the Pacific, it’s the AsiaCanada hub for trade and business.”

After his speech, Trudeau sat down for a Q&A with Iain Black, board of trade president and CEO, who questioned the prime minister on a number of subjects, including the challenges of trading between provinces within Canada.

Federal government spent millions on 631 new cars for G7 summit. Now, it’s trying to sell most of them The federal government spent $23 million buying more than 600 brand-new cars for use at this year’s G7 summit — and is now struggling to sell them off second-hand.

According to figures the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provided to the National Post, 431 vehicles were to purchased to be used for “motorcade” purposes, and another 200 for “administrative” purposes at the Group of Seven summit last June in Charlevoix, Que., where the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Italy met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Only 51 are being repurposed for use within the government.

According to the RCMP, buying the automobiles outright was considered the most affordable choice. “The RCMP conducted an analysis prior to acquiring the vehicles and concluded it would be more cost-effective to purchase rather than lease,” said Sgt. Marie Damian. “The analysis

compared the cost to lease a vehicle over a one-year period versus the depreciation amount of a vehicle over a one-year period.”

Purchasing also made it easier to transport, register and outfit the vehicles with “the appropriate equipment” months in advance of the conference, she said. The RCMP did not address a question about why vehicles from its existing fleet, or borrowed from other police forces, could not be used.

“For security reasons, the RCMP does not provide details on the specific use of the vehicles; however, they were purchased based on the operational requirements,” Damian said.

For “motorcade” purposes the government bought 154 Chevrolet Suburbans, 140 Touring-model Chrysler 300s, 109 Toyota Siennas and 28 Dodge Chargers. It acquired 88 Ford Escapes, 43 Mitsubishi Outlanders, 32 Nissan Rogues, 30 Dodge Journeys and seven Ford Explorers for “administrative” reasons.

Canada apologizes for turning away Jewish refugees in 1939 — why that matters Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized Wednesday on behalf of Canada for turning away Jewish refugees who were fleeing persecution in Europe.

In 1939, the MS St. Louis was carrying 907 German Jewish passengers fleeing Nazi violence. Its captain tried in vain to find homes for his passengers, looking for refuge in Cuba and the United States. But they were turned away.

The ship then tried to dock in Halifax, but then-prime minister Mackenzie King didn’t allow it.

In the years leading up to and including the Second World War, the Canadian government heeded anti-Semitic sentiment by severely restricting Jewish immigration.

From 1933 to 1945, only about 5,000 Jewish refugees were accepted due to what Trudeau called “our discriminatory ‘none is too many’ immigration policy” in place at the time.

The Jewish refugees on the ship were forced to return to Europe, where 254 of those aboard eventually died in the

slaughter that became the Holocaust.

Now, roughly 79 years later, Trudeau stood in the House of Commons and apologized to those refugees.

“We apologize to the 907 German Jews aboard the St. Louis, as well as their families,” Trudeau said.

“We are sorry for the callousness of Canada’s response.

We are sorry for not apologizing sooner.”

Politics professor Rhoda HowardHassmann, who teaches at Wilfrid Laurier University and tracks political apologies, told Global News that this apology is largely symbolic.

But she explained that not all official apologies are equal — some include compensation to those affected, while others further political agendas.

“In the case of the apology to the Jewish people, it could be that Prime Minister Trudeau honestly feels that this is a travesty,” she said.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Trudeau to visit Vimy Ridge, for First World War anniversary More than 60 world leaders will take part in the commemoration, including French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will join world leaders in France this weekend to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Trudeau’s office says the prime minister will visit the Canadian National Vimy Ridge Memorial in northern France on Saturday before attending Armistice Day ceremonies in Paris on Sunday to mark the end of the “war to end all wars.”

Royal Canadian Mounted Police parade by the Canadian National Vimy Memorial during a Vimy centenary commemorative service on

April 9, 2017 in Vimy, France.

During the three-day visit to France, Trudeau will also attend the Paris Peace Forum, a new initiative modelled after the Paris climateaccord meetings three years ago, and speak at a summit exploring ways to use technology to improve public services.

The Prime Minister’s Office says Trudeau will also have a one-onone meeting with Macron. Some 60,000 Canadians died and 172,000 were injured during the First World War between 1914 and 1918.

About 10,500 of those deaths happened at Vimy Ridge as Canadian troops captured the strategically important spot from the Germans.

Canadian multiculturalism conceals a power struggle waiting to happen When Maxime Bernier launched a new political party in September fueled by resentment of immigration, few backers of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seemed worried. It is an article of faith among Canadian progressives that campaigning against diversity doesn’t work in Canada, a country said to be at peace with its multicultural identity. Yet even if Bernier’s quixotic bid to be prime minister fizzles, prolonged Liberal rule does not mean racial and cultural tensions will be absent from Canadian political life. Trudeau’s party is buoyed by a diverse coalition of voters with conflicting interests and priorities, and its ability to retain cohesion beyond next year’s general election can’t be taken for granted. It’s a situation comparable to the state of the Democratic Party in the United States, which, as the Atlantic’s Reihan Salam recently documented, relies on a similarly uneasy coalition whose triumphalist rhetoric masks fragility.

Canada’s progressive coalition looks even shakier, given its reliance on a more explicit hierarchy of peoples. At the top of the Canadian progressive pyramid remains a white elite pulled from the affluent and proximate urban centers of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. This group considers itself the most aware of Canadian history, law, economics and political institutions, and thus the natural holders of the country’s leadership positions, which they

disproportionately occupy. This elite is “bicultural” — equally comfortable around Canada’s so-called two founding peoples, the French and English. Fluency in both languages, a rare skill that’s often the byproduct of a bicultural upbringing or a privileged education, is their exclusionary standard for upward mobility. Below are monocultural French Canadians, the understood first-among-equals in Canada’s multicultural mosaic. The notion that accommodating the distinctions of the French Canadians should be Canada’s essential demonstration of liberal tolerance stretches back centuries. Liberals erected much of Canada’s modern political architecture around the goal of French Canadian accommodation, including the aforementioned bilingual, bicultural ruling class. Correspondingly, every Liberal administration since Confederation has had a large Quebec parliamentary delegation as its backbone.

A tier lower are Canada’s indigenous peoples, whose importance to Canadian liberalism has grown rapidly in recent decades. While the prime minister’s father once preached that aboriginal ambitions were best realized through an inclusive Canadian citizenship, his successors champion a less integrationist ideal. Under a new postcolonial frame, aboriginals are not considered subjects of the Canadian state but a community equal to it.

Tony Clement resigns as justice critic over sexting scandal Longtime Conservative MP Tony Clement is resigning his post as his party’s justice critic after admitting to sharing sexually explicit images and a video with an individual online.

“Over the last three weeks, I have shared sexually explicit images and a video of myself to someone who I believed was a consenting female recipient. The recipient was, in fact, an individual or party who targeted me for the purpose of financial extortion,” Clement said in a statement. “The RCMP are currently investigating the matter to determine the identity of the party responsible for the extortion attempt.”

Clement, who has twice vied for the leadership of the federal party and served in senior cabinet positions in the former Conservative government, said in a statement late Tuesday he will be resigning his position on a number of Commons committees.

“I recognize now that I have gone down a wrong path and have exercised very poor judgment. First and foremost, I apologize to my family for the needless pain and humiliation my actions have caused,” he said

in the statement. “I also apologize to my colleagues and my constituents for letting them down. I am committed to seeking the help and treatment I need in my personal life to make sure this will not happen again while also continuing to discharge my duties as a Member of Parliament.”

The scandal is a blow to Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who had tapped Clement to serve as the party’s justice critic in the House — an important role, given the many changes to legislation Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has tabled in recent months.

In a follow-up statement sent shortly after Clement released his statement, Scheer said he had accepted Clement’s resignation from his party duties. “While I’m greatly disappointed with Mr. Clement’s actions, I am encouraged that he has decided to seek help and I wish him all the best in doing so,” Scheer said.

Lisa Raitt, the deputy leader of the Conservative Party, will assume the justice role effective immediately, Scheer said.

NATIONAL

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INDIA

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Gov’t to keep pressure on central bank to relax lending curbs The Indian government intends to keep pressing demands for the country’s central bank to relax lending curbs and hand over surplus reserves even if it risks provoking a resignation by the bank’s governor, three sources familiar with the government’s thinking told Reuters. While there appeared to be a partial truce last week when the government said it respected the autonomy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the sources said the government will turn up the heat at the bank’s central board of directors meeting on Nov. 19.

And RBI Governor Urjit Patel will be a key focus of the pressure from a group of directors who support the government’s position, according to the New Delhi-based sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“We want the RBI governor to accept the priorities of the economy and to discuss these with board members,” said one of the sources, a senior government official with direct knowledge of deliberations. “If he wants to take decisions unilaterally, it will be better for him to quit.”

Investors and traders warn that if Patel quits it will create uncertainty and undermine India’s alreadyweak financial markets. They have been hurt in recent weeks because of defaults by a major financing company. A Finance Ministry spokesman declined to comment for this story. The online financial publication Moneylife reported on Wednesday that Patel could resign at the central bank’s next board meeting on Nov. 19, citing sources in touch with the governor.

Trucks barred from entering into Delhi causing pollution The Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority or EPCA on Tuesday banned the entry of trucks into Delhi between November 8 and November 10 amid projections of further rise in pollution level in the national capital post Diwali.

The trucks carrying essential commodities, will, however be exempt from the ban, the EPCA said in the directive issued to the Chief Secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi.

In a letter to the states, the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) directed all authorities, particularly the police,

apart from the transporters, to coordinate action on its order so that “trucks are turned around before they enter Delhi”.

It has also asked the authorities concerned in the states to request people to desist from using diesel cars during this period.

“The air quality forecast from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) says that the period post Diwali -- November 8 onwards, could see a sharp deterioration in air quality because of low dispersion and winds from the northwest, which will bring emissions to the region.

Modi keeps on lifting India up Financial services isn’t ordinarily what anyone would consider a trend-driven industry. But it’s a data-intensive industry, and that puts it directly in the path of disruption from artificial intelligence (AI).

Wherever their strategies take them, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that financial institutions will have to come to grips with AI–along with the implications AI has for safety, inclusion, employment, and the financial services value chain. Let’s begin with safety. AI exposes the industry to broader

risks of contagion as it demands ever-tighter connections across domestic and crossborder systems. Even in today’s environment, financial markets are vulnerable to herd behavior. So imagine the kind of stampede we might see from a herd of software robots if, for example, an investment fund were to fail.

A single shared algorithm is all it could take to spread a trading decision across multiple institutions, threatening global economies in the blink of an eye. But that’s not the only type of contagion that could take hold.

PM Modi celebrates Diwali with army jawans in Uttarakhand Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with jawans of Indian Army and ITBP at Harsil district near the India-China border in Uttarakhand. Modi arrived at Kedarnath to offer prayers and review the progress of the Kedarpuri reconstruction projects. Ahead of his visit, 5,100 earthen lamps were lit to decorate the Himalayan shrine Tuesday evening for the first time in its history. Greeting the jawans on Diwali, the Prime Minister said that their devotion to duty in the remote icy heights, is enabling the strength of the nation, and securing the future and the dreams of 125 crore Indians.

Modi also spoke of various measures being taken for the welfare of ex-servicemen, including One Rank, One Pension, adding that the Indian Armed Forces

draw admiration and appreciation across the world, in UN peacekeeping operations.

After becoming the prime minister in 2014, Modi has spent Diwali with the armed forces every year. “Every year, I visit our border areas and surprise our troops. This year, too, I will spend Diwali with our brave troops. Spending time with them is special,” he had said on Tuesday. In 2015, Modi visited the Punjab border on Diwali. His visit had coincided with 50 years of the 1965 Indo-Pak war. The next year, Modi was in Himachal Pradesh, where he spent time with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel at a border outpost.

He had spent his fourth Diwali as prime minister with soldiers at Gurez in Jammu and Kashmir last year.

Chabahar port is the centre of Washington’s South Asia strategy USA has taken a well-thought-out decision to exempt India from sanctions regarding the development of the strategically-located Chabahar port in Iran. The construction of the railway line connecting Afghanistan with Iran will also remain exempt from Washington’s punitive sanctions. This significant decision by the Donald Trump administration is a clear vindication of the role India has been playing in developing Chabahar, and its strategic value for Afghan reconstruction and development. Trump’s decision will undeniably go a long way in safeguarding both Indian and American interests in Afghanistan.

According to a US state department spokesman, “(T)he president’s South Asia strategy underscores our ongoing support

of Afghanistan’s economic growth and development as well as our close partnership with India... This exception relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan.

These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan’s growth and humanitarian relief.”

This is certainly welcome news for India that has already committed significant political and diplomatic resources to the Chabahar project.

Kabul, New Delhi and Tehran have been making concerted efforts to improve energy security and regional connectivity by developing the Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman. It may be recalled that in 2003, New Delhi signed a deal with Tehran to renew the Chabahar port project.

Air quality turns hazardous again as India celebrates Diwali Toxic smog shrouded the Indian capital as air quality plummeted to hazardous levels Thursday after tens of thousands of people set off a multitude of firecrackers to celebrate the major Hindu festival of Diwali.

With schools closed for holidays, many young children stayed indoors to escape the pollution levels in New Delhi that shot up to 681, as reported by the U.S. Embassy Thursday morning from 200 a day earlier. That measurement of small particulate matter in the air is 20 times higher than what’s considered safe

by the World Health Organization and could seriously aggravate heart or lung diseases.

Gov’t blames the toxic stew on a combination of burning of stubble in agricultural fields and firecrackers. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology said an increasing surface wind speed is expected to disperse pollutants in two to three days.

Many revelers flouted the Supreme Court order that firecrackers could be exploded only between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Indian teen threatens to blow up Miami airport to avenge A high school student has been charged by authorities in India for threatening to blow up the Miami airport. The eighteen year old boy was unhappy with the US investigation agency FBI for not helping him recover a sum of Bitcoin $BTC1.41% he lost to a US-based fraudster. The boy, who has not been named, called the FBI at least 50 times over the last month. Failing to get any satisfactory response, he then called Miami airport authorities threatening to attack the airport by “barging into it with an AK-47 assault rifle, grenades, and a suicide belt,” local daily Hindustan Times reports. The threats were made from multiple email IDs and phone numbers acquired using fake identities. FBI reached out to India’s

National Investigation Agency (NIA) to help track down the caller, which traced the calls to a small town in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The authorities have charged the boy with multiple crimes under the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act for impersonation and issuing terror threats over internet/calls. The boy was earlier detained and interrogated by the authorities but hasn’t been formally arrested.

The case is pending further investigation as the perpetrator is too young to be tried as an adult. After interrogating his school authorities and family members, police concluded the boy to be “studious” and judged his threats to be naive and unintentional.

PUNJAB

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Demand for NRI sabha election gaining momentum It has been more than three years since the post of president of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, is lying vacant. With NRIs beginning to visit home, they have begun demanding that the elections be held by January next year.

It was in April 2015 that the last president, Jasvir Singh Shergill, got relieved from the post after completing his term. Ever since, the nearly 23,000 members of the sabha are eagerly waiting for the polls to be held.

Almost all the past presidents are keen on contesting for the lucrative post. They have been visiting the sabha office frequently, continuing to strengthen their relations with the visiting NRIs and helping them with works at government offices here.

Pritam Singh Narangpuri, who was the president of the sabha in 2004, said

he would certainly contest. “I have met officials of the NRI Affairs Department and they have assured that the polls will be held in two months or so. So, I have started preparing for them too,” he maintained.

Sabha members have alleged that owing to the president’s post remaining vacant, even the IAS officials are misusing the machinery and funds of the body. Former president Shergill has alleged that an official car belonging to the NRI Sabha has been taken along by an officer to the next place of his posting. “Its fuel is being brought by using the funds of the sabha. Another official used Rs 3 lakh from the sabha’s account for giving a loan to a family member at 4 per cent interest rate. Still another used funds for refurbishing his office.

Punjab govt ‘cashless’ as pensioners & employees wait DA allowances Over 3.5 lakh state government employees and 2.5 lakh pensioners in Punjab have upped their ante against the cash-strapped Punjab gov’t to claim four instalments of their dearness allowance (DA) and arrears.

The government owes them around Rs 3,500 crore. There is also little hope for the Sixth Pay Commission, set up in February 2016, to give its recommendations to the government this year, leading to employees getting restive.

Setting the ball rolling for the agitation, the employees on Tuesday held protests in the Punjab Civil Secretariat and Sector 17.

Officials in the state Finance Department told The Tribune that they were trying to rein in the expenditure, and at least the tax revenue was looking up. The financial indicators of the first two quarters (April-September) showed that tax revenue this year was 35.50 per cent

Man dies under mysterious circumstances in Chandigarh A 30-year-old man reportedly died after falling from the third floor of a house under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday.

The victim’s relatives alleged that he was pushed by a cop from the rooftop.

The victim has been identified as Rohit, a native of Bihar, who had come to Chandigarh at his relative’s house.

The victim’s uncle, Bablu Kumar, said that Rohit and his friends were playing cards when cops came.

“The victim got scared and tried to leave when he was pushed by the cops,” he alleged.

He was immediately rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, where doctors declared him brought dead.

The police was informed about the incident after which they rushed to the spot.

Teachers suspended for ordering students to strip Kuldeep Kaur, who was serving as head teacher at Gov’t Girls Elementary (Middle) School, Kundal village, and science mistress Jyoti Chugh have been suspended for allegedly making students strip to check who was wearing a sanitary pad after a used one was found in the school toilet last week. Kuldeep Kaur had been given an extension in service by the Education Department after she reached the retirement age of 58 years. Jyoti was serving under the 5178 Master Cadre Teacher Scheme. The teachers had been temporarily shifted to government schools in Balluana and Khuikhera, respectively, pending an inquiry. The suspension order was issued on Monday night after Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh received the inquiry report, which found “gross negligence, indifference and insensitivity”

of the total targeted receipts (Rs 18990.04 crore), while non-tax revenue was just 20.89 per cent of the targeted receipts for this year

23

Political parties will face legal action if protests become violent Heads of political parties will face criminal action in case a protest by their party turns violent. These are part of the new guidelines for Deputy Commissioners and SSPs in Punjab for giving permission for a function or protests and to take action in case something goes wrong. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had asked Home Secretary NS Kalsi to prepare detailed guidelines in the wake of the Amritsar train tragedy.

A spokesperson said under the guidelines, permission for a function would also be required from Central departments if their space was to be used, adding that permission should be taken at least a week before the event or five days in case of urgency. The Punjab Assembling and Procession Guidelines/Advisories 2018, provide that the authority to which an application for permission has been submitted may obtain permission or

comments from other departments.

The authorities shall also ensure that the organisers and participants do not indulge in destruction of public and private property.

It shall ensure there is no violation of the Explosives Act, especially in case of sale, storage, transportation and use of firecrackers and inflammable material. The Fire Officer will be required to ensure all safety measures are taken. The entire event should be videographed at the cost of the organisers.

24

INDIA

Saturday, November 10, 2018

RBI kick-starts process to set up public credit registry for capturing details of borrowers The Reserve Bank has initiated steps to set up a digital Public Credit Registry to capture details of all borrowers, including wilful defaulters and also the pending legal suits in order to check financial delinquencies.

The PCR will also include data from entities like Securities and Exchange Board of India, the corporate affairs ministry, Goods and Service Tax Network and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to enable banks and financial institutions to get 360-degree profile of existing and prospective borrowers on a real-time basis. The Reserve Bank has invited expression of interest for developing the registry from companies with a turnover of over Rs 100 crore in the last three years.

In June this year, the RBI had announced its intent to set up a PCR for India to address information asymmetry, foster access to credit and strengthen the credit culture in the

economy. Earlier, a high-level task force was constituted by the RBI to review the current availability of information on credit, the adequacy of the existing information utilities, and identify gaps that could be filled by a PCR. In essence, PCR will be a digital registry of authenticated granular credit information and will work as a financial information infrastructure providing access to various stakeholders and enrich the existing credit information ecosystem. The PCR would be the single point of mandatory reporting for all material events for each loan, notwithstanding any threshold in the loan amount or type of borrower. Currently, there are multiple granular credit information repositories in India, with each having somewhat distinct objectives and coverage. Within the RBI, Central Repository of Information on Large Credits is a borrower level supervisory dataset

Virat Kohli criticised for telling fan to leave the country if he doesn’t like Indian cricket batsmen Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli found “Overrated batsman and personally I himself in a spot on Friday after a video on see nothing special in his batting. I enjoy social media during the launch of his app watching English and Australian batsmen saw him criticising a fan who more than these Indians,” said he preferred watching Kohli read out the tweet.

Kohli, in turn, took a dig at English and Australian batsmen instead of Indians. a fan and said, “Okay, I don’t Kohli was recording a session think you should live in India then… you should go and live for his official app and while scrolling through his social somewhere else no. Why are media feed, came across a you living in our country and comment in which a certain loving other countries? I don’t mind you not liking me but I user is criticising Kohli and Virat Kohli calling him overrated while don’t think you should live in admiring the Australian and English batsmen. our country and like other things. Get your Is #Kohli asking his non-Indian fans to priorities right.” leave their country and come to India.. Or Virat Kohli “I don’t think you should live to sort their priorities? #WTF pic.twitter. in India, go and live somewhere else. Why are com/tRAX4QbuZI — H (@Hramblings) you living in our country and loving other countries” November 6, 2018

CIC issues show-cause notice to RBI Governor Urjit Patel for non-disclosure of wilful defaulters’ list The Central Information Commission has issued a show-cause notice to Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel for “dishonouring” a Supreme Court judgment on disclosure of wilful defaulters’ list.

The CIC has also asked the Prime Minister’s Office, the Finance Ministry, and the RBI to make public, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s letter on bad loans. Irked over the denial of information on the disclosure of the names of wilful defaulters who have taken bank loans of Rs 50 crore and above by the RBI in spite of a Supreme Court order, the CIC has asked Patel to explain why a maximum penalty not be imposed on him for “dishonouring” the verdict, which had upheld a decision taken by the then Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, calling for disclosure of names of wilful defaulters.

Also read: RBI Defends Its Capital Regulations Amid Differences With The Government Patel, speaking on Sept. 20 at the Central Vigilance Commission, had said the guidelines on vigilance, issued by the CVC, were aimed at achieving greater transparency, promoting a culture of honesty and probity in public life and improving the overall vigilance administration in the organisations within its purview, the CIC pointed out. “The Commission feels that there is a mismatch between what RBI Governor and Deputy Governor say and their website regarding their RTI policy,” Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said. “Great secrecy of vigilance reports and inspection reports is being maintained with impunity in spite of the Supreme Court confirming the orders of the CIC in the Jayantilal case,” he added.

How a $3 trillion Indian economy is hurting the country’s textile exports The central government might consider more incentives for textile exporters, to bridge the gap between costing of products originating from the world’s least developed countries and India.

The industry has given a representation. Under the global preferential treatment rules in this regard, textiles imported from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam are preferred over those from India.

The earlier extension to Indian exporters of lower import duty in developed countries, including America, is no longer available.

The reason is the growing size of the Indian economy — it has crossed the threshold size in this context, of $3 trillion in Gross Domestic Product. We had become the world’s six

largest on this measure in 2017.

The total in differential duty works out to nearly nine per cent s between products from India and the other smaller economies.

With all the present incentives offered by the government and the rupee’s recent depreciation, the total duty differential works out to five per cent, on which the government recently announced a two per cent export incentive under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme. The US government has complained about the INdian incentives at the World Trade Organization (WTO), as legally unsustainable. WTO has set up a committee on the issue. “We want this MEIS incentive to be doubled to at least four per cent.

Air quality in India is horrendously bad right now Apocalyptically horrendous air has descended upon India’s sprawling capital territory, Delhi. According to November 4 measurements taken by the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, the Air Quality Index (AQI) hit 534. For perspective, the scale only goes up to 500, wherein levels are described as “Hazardous.” “534 is higher than your highest value — which is insane,” Anthony Wexler, the director of the Air Quality Research Center at the University of California, said in an interview. But, come early November, terrible air quality becomes the norm in northern India. This time of year, farmers burn off bounties of crop waste to clear fields.

Combined with other pollutants emitted from the over 18 million people living in the Delhi area, this means the air becomes laden with microscopic bits of pollution

smaller than the width of a human hair, known as Particulate Matter 2.5, or PM 2.5.

Commonly, Beijing, China, is looked to as a place with ridiculously poor air quality, as the smog forces its residents and soldiers to wear masks. But India might now be worse.

“India has pretty much surpassed China in regards to air pollution problems,” Gabriele Pfister, deputy director of the National Center of Atmospheric Research’s atmospheric chemistry lab, said in an interview. Air quality in India — or anywhere — can become unhealthy or harmful when pollution combines with the right weather conditions, noted Wexler. For instance, pollution from fires or normal city-life can become trapped under a layer of warm air, known as an inversion layer. This traps the cooler air below.

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SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, November 10, 2018 Militant leader killed in encoutner with Bangladesh police

China defends mass detention of Uighur Muslims

Bangladesh police killed chief of banned millitant outfut for several deadly attacks on foreigners, bloggers, rights activists and 2016 Dhaka cafe siege that killed 20 people including one Indian girl. Khorshed Alam alias Shamil, chief of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh killed in gun fight in Bogra. “We raided his secret abode at Shibganj area (of Bogra) overnight. When the militants tried to resist us firing gunshots Khorshed was killed as we retaliated,” a police officer said.

Passenger train from India to Nepal starts soon First India-Nepal Passenger Train On Broad Gauge Likely From December.

The first passenger train to run on broad gauge between India and Nepal is likely to run from December this year, sources in the railways said. The train will run from Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Dhanusa district in Janakpur Zone of south-eastern Nepal, which is a 34 km stretch.

An immigration check-post is likely to be established at Jayanagar station manned by either the Bureau of Immigration or the state

government.

No visa will be required for Indian and Nepalese nationals crossing the border through this stretch, a source said.

The Nepalese authorities have informed the railways that the section will be opened with four trips and will ply in eight to 16 hour shifts. While the first train is to be a passenger train, the Nepalese have stated that they want to run both passenger and freight trains on this section.

The dirty legacy of China’s and India’s growth The sixth-biggest cause of death globally is small-particle pollution, chemical specks that enter the lungs and can contribute to cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, and infections. It led to more than 4 million deaths in 2016. Ninety-nine percent of children 5 years old and younger in South and East Asia breathe unhealthy air. Much of China’s particulate pollution comes from industrial facilities, especially coal-burning power plants. In India, PM2.5 comes not only from

cars and coal-fired power stations, but also from widely used domestic cookstoves and the common agricultural practice of burning to clear fields.

India’s minister for environment, forest, and climate change has shut down a coalburning power plant, increased the number of street sweepers in the capital region to combat dust, and started an initiative to mechanize the clearing of fields.

China faced calls on Tuesday from Western government to end its mass detention of Uighur Muslims, but brusquely rebuffed the concerns as “not factual” and “politically driven.” “China is here to seek cooperation,” said its vice foreign minister, Le Yucheng, at the opening of a review by the United Nations Human Rights Council. He pointed to China’s achievements in lifting millions of people from poverty, largely skirting its treatment of ethnic minorities. The focus and tone changed after North American and European diplomats expressed concern over deteriorating human rights and a crackdown in the western region of Xinjiang that has swept upwards of a million people into indefinite detention in re-education camps.

The Muslim detainees are told that they are

infected with an “ideological virus,” and are indoctrinated in devotion to the state and the Communist Party. Representatives of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and other countries called for an end to the detention of Uighurs and members of other minority groups, and urged respect for freedom of religion, expression and association.

The issue has emerged as a point of tension in Chinese-American relations, with tough statements by Nikki R. Haley, the outgoing ambassador to the United Nations, and more recently by Vice President Mike Pence.

Congress increased the pressure last month by threatening sanctions against those involved in the program.

China to boost Pakistan defence ties, pats Islamabad on disputes with India China and Pakistan agreed to further develop their military cooperation after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan completed his official visit to China where he met with the Chinese leadership. A joint statement released as PM Khan flew to China also came out in support of efforts for improvement of Pakistan-India relations and for settlement of outstanding disputes between the two countries”. Islamabad and Beijing also “dismissed the growing negative propaganda” against China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which New Delhi opposes, “and expressed determination to safeguard the CPEC projects from all threats”. On defence, security and counter-terrorism cooperation, both sides agreed to further enhance defence cooperation and maintain high-level visits and exchanges at various levels between the

two armed forces.

The statement said the two countries had decided to “make full use of the ChinaPakistan Defence and Security Consultation mechanism, deepen cooperation in areas such as military exercises, training cooperation, personnel exchanges, and equipment and technology cooperation”.

Calling for a peaceful and stable South Asia, the statement underlined the importance of pursuit of dialogue and resolution of all outstanding disputes to promote regional cooperation. “China appreciates Pakistan’s quest for peace through dialogue, cooperation and negotiation, on the basis of mutual respect and equality, and supports Pakistan’s efforts for improvement of Pakistan-India relations and for settlement of outstanding disputes between the two countries,” it said.

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FIJI

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Mahendra Chaudhry tells Prime Minister to ‘prove your claim” FIJI Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry challenged PM Bainimarama to prove his claim that the Ghai draft constitution was racist.

Chaudhry said Bainimarama should tell the people in precise terms just what he saw as racist Mahendra Chaudhry there. “Or else he should stop trying to misinform people with such lies. Regrettably, the PM has made it a habit to hurl accusations at his critics without providing any evidence to support his claims,” he claimed.

“The trashed Ghai constitution was a good charter for Fiji, even better than the 1997 Constitution because it had recommended removal of communal voting which was highly divisive.

“The draft also had the support of an overwhelming number of Fijian people including that of all opposition political parties,” Mr Chaudhry claimed.

He said the Ghai draft constitution upheld the principles of good governance,

providing for an open, transparent and accountable government.

“It provided a code of conduct for holders of high public office, freedom of information legislation and the separation of PM Voreqe Bainimarama powers between the various arms of government. “None of these provisions for good governance are contained in the imposed 2013 Constitution.

“Most importantly, the Ghai draft was trashed because of its immunity provisions.

Under a Section for Reconciliation and Allegiance, all persons who were complicit in overthrowing a legitimate government had to renounce such actions and take an oath to bear true allegiance to the country and to uphold the Constitution of the land.”

Speaking at a FijiFirst family fun day in Labasa over the weekend, Mr Bainimarama said the Ghai draft constitution had to be burnt because its contents were rife with racial discrimination.

One third of Fiji’s population has turned into spies for the current government - Datt Former Senior Minister of the Fiji Labour Party who is now with the National Federation Party Krishna Datt has claimed one third of Fiji’s population has turned into spies for the current government.

While speaking in the NFP’s campaign meeting in Natabua, Datt told

the people that if one raises a question regarding issues, he or she will be on the blacklist of the current government.

Datt says the National Federation Party has again strengthened its roots to free everyone from slavery just as they had got rid of the colonial government.

China shuns rivalry in Pacific as Australia says “this is our patch” Beijing and Canberra should be cooperating in the South Pacific and not be cast as strategic rivals, China’s top diplomat said on Thursday, after Australia launched a multi-billion dollar fund to counter China’s rising influence in the region. Standing alongside Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi made the conciliatory remarks after a meeting in Beijing widely billed as a step towards resetting bilateral ties after a lengthy diplomatic chill. Wang said that he had agreed with Payne that the two countries could combine their respective strengths and embark on trilateral cooperation with Pacific island countries.

“We are not rivals, and we can absolutely become cooperation partners,” Wang told reporters, describing the meeting as

important after the recent “ups and downs” in the relationship. Payne said the discussions were “valuable, full and candid”. “We’ve realistically acknowledged today that in a relationship as dynamic as ours ... there will be from time to time differences,” she said later at a separate news briefing. “But what is important about that is how we manage those and we are focussed on managing them respectfully, mindful of the tremendous opportunities the relationship presents to both our nations.” Ties became strained late last year, when the previous Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, accused China of interfering in its domestic affairs. The two countries have also been vying for influence in sparsely populated Pacific island countries that control vast swathes of resource-rich ocean.

Australia reveals $1.5bn Pacific fund to counter China Australia will set up a 2 billion Australian dollar ($1.46 billion) infrastructure fund for projects in the Pacific, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday, as the country looks to curb China’s rising influence across the strategically important islands.

“Australia will step up in the Pacific and take our engagement with the region to a new level,” Morrison said. “While we have natural advantages in terms of history, proximity and shared values, Australia cannot take its

influence in the Southwest Pacific for granted -- and sadly, I think, too often we have.”

Australia is wary of China’s prominent role in funding infrastructure in the South Pacific, and concerned that island nations are struggling under the burden of Chinese debt taken on to build ports, roads and buildings.

China is now the second-largest donor in the region behind Australia, having poured in $1.26 billion of aid since 2011.

Our manifesto has sent shock waves into the FijiFirst Party - Prasad National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad has said that their manifesto has sent shockwaves into the FijiFirst Party.

He made this comment in response to the statements made about their manifesto after its launch. Professor Prasad says when he became the leader of the party in 2014, he used to write papers about poverty, the economy and the high cost of living however his real understanding of the way a family runs their expenses has come after travelling around the country in the past 4 years and speaking to the people. He says when he went around

the country talking to the people trying to formulate the NFP manifesto, he found that one of the biggest concerns for the people was the high cost of living. Professor Prasad has talked about two different stories done by a media outlet. In one he says a woman speaks of her struggles and how she copes with the high cost of living. He shared another story written about a course facilitator following the story about the woman with struggles which says the course facilitator does not have a problem with the high cost of living and the Attorney General.

Lawyer found guilty of professional misconduct Trials of pregnant woman’s killer to start soon The trial of a man who allegedly murdered his pregnant de-facto partner in 2010 started in the Suva High Court today before Justice Riyaz Hamza. While opening their case today, State Prosecutor Sujata Lodhia said that on 4th February 2010 in Samabula, Nikasio Tupou struck the de-facto partner with a cane knife a couple of times. She said the woman had been in a de-facto relationship with the man since 2009. The State Prosecutor said in

2010 the deceased told Tupou that she wanted to return to her ex-husband. On 4th February 2010, the woman returned to Samabula to pick up her clothes and was allegedly stabbed by Nikasio Tupou. She was pregnant during the time of the incident. The body of the woman was found by the mother of the accused.

Tupou is represented by Abhay Singh.

The trial has been fixed for two weeks.

A lawyer Aman RavindraSingh has been found guilty of one count of professional misconduct by the Independent Legal Service Commission.

Commissioner Dr Thomas Hickie said Mr Ravindra-Singh failed to respond to the Chief Registrar within 14 days to a notice from the Legal Practitioners Unit with the office of the Chief Registrar. He adds that RavindraSingh was to respond to a complaint lodged

by Shailesh Kumar on October 20, 2017.The Commission noted that Ravindra-Singh did not deny that he failed to respond but alleged that he had a reasonable explanation for such failure.

Ravindra-Singh told the commission that he did not hold a valid practising certificate during the first half of 2018 and had also instructed his staff to not undertake any legal work during that period.

PAKISTAN

Saturday, November 10, 2018

29

IMF team reaches Pakistan as China also pledges economic aid

International Monetary Fund team arrived in Islamabad Wednesday for talks on a possible IMF bailout, even as Pakistan insisted it had solved its immediate balance of payments crisis. Speaking shortly after Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from Beijing, Pakistan’s finance minister said Tuesday that assurances from China -- combined with a pledge made

by Saudi Arabia last month -- meant that Pakistan’s immediate fiscal woes were “over”.

“We had a gap of $12 billion and in that

$12 billion, six billion came from Saudi Arabia and the rest came from China,” Asad Umar told reporters, without specifying the nature of the Chinese assistance.

The finance secretary and the governor of the state bank will attend a meeting in Beijing on Friday to finalise the terms of the assistance,

he added.

Pakistan secured $6 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia and struck a 12-month deal for a balance of payments lifeline during Khan’s visit in October.

Despite the pledges, the ministry of finance said the Pakistan would still seek broader IMF

Asia Bibi released from jail some local Muslim women who had Asia Bibi, a woman who spent eight alleged that she committed blasphemy years on death row but was acquitted against Prophet Muhammad (Peace

by Supreme Court of Pakistan last Be Upon Him). week in blasphemy case against her, Asia Bibi was convicted of she was freed from the prison here blasphemy and sentenced to death in the city, her lawyer said. Asia Bibi in 2010 despite her advocates is believed to have already flown maintaining her innocence and out of the city of Multan where she insisting the accusers held grudges Asia Bibi was being held in a women’s prison, against her. heading for an unknown destination, Her release comes a week after her acquittal the lawyer said. in a landmark case that triggered angry protests Allegations against Asia Bibi, 53, dated back in the country and following appeals from her to June 2009 when she was labouring in fields husband, Ashiq Masih, for Britain or the United in Punjab, Pakistan, and a row broke out with States to grant the family asylum.

UN denies forcing lawyer to leave Pakistan after defending blasphemy case UN has rejected a claim that it forced a Pakistani lawyer to leave the country after successfully defending the Christian woman convicted of blasphemy. The lawyer, Saiful Mulook, flew to the Netherlands amid protests across Pakistan by hard-liners demanding the execution of Asia Bibi, whose conviction was overturned by Supreme Court on October 31.

In a deal with the hard-line Tehreek-eLabbaik (TLP) party that ended the protests but came under criticism from Western countries and human rights groups, the Pakistani gov’t

on November 3 indicated that it will bar Bibi from traveling abroad pending a “review” of the Supreme Court’s decision to acquit her.

Asia Bibi had spent eight years on death row for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad before being acquitted. She has denied the charges.

Mulook told a news conference in The Hague on November 5 that he was “put on a plane against my wishes” even though he had refused to leave the country without ensuring that his client was out of prison.

support for the government’s long term economic planning. Since taking power in August, former cricketer Khan has been searching for ways to rally a struggling economy hit by inflation and shore up the country’s dwindling foreign currency reserves. As well as a highly-publicised austerity drive, including auctioning off government-owned luxury automobiles and buffaloes, the new prime minister has also made overtures to the IMF -- which has bailed Pakistan out repeatedly since the 1980s.

Pakistan Television (PTV) chief removed Ministry of Information & Broadcasting removes Managing Director of Pakistan Televesion (PTV) with immediate effect.

The move came after a day as state-run TV broadcaster issued an apology for running wrong stip on tv by saying ‘Begging’ instead of ‘Beijing’ on the tv screens during Prime Minister’s address to Central Party School of the Communist Party of China.

The removal of the acting MD came right after Prime Minister’s address in China.

It also drew attention on social media of millions as PTV trolls th Prime Minister’s visit to China as begger. A notification was issued by the ministry stating “the charge of Hassan Immad Mohammdi (Colonel, retd.) as MD PTV is withdrawn with immediate effect untill the further notice”. In apology, PTV termed the mistake “a typographical error” and assured of strict action against those responsible.

During a live address of the Prime Minister during his ongoing visit to China, a typographical error took place, which remained on screen for 20 seconds & later removed. This incident is regrettable. And strict action has been initiated under rules against concerned officials.

Banks hacked, customer data stolen In a security breach, data of most of the banks operating in Pakistan has been hacked, a media report said Tuesday quoting a senior cyber crime official. The disclosure comes days after around 10 banks blocked all international transactions on their cards, following concerns raised about a breach of credit and debit card

data. In a shocking revelation, Director of cyber crime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Capt Mohammad Shoaib said: “According to a recent report we have received, data from almost all Pakistani banks has been reportedly hacked”.

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NRI

Saturday, November 10, 2018 NRI couple arrested for keeping a slave in UK

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NRI couple have been arrested in UK on suspicion of slavery and claims that they kept a Polish man in their garden shed for four years.

Man walked into an NHS centre and told the staff that he had been forced to work in exchange for food only. Pritpal Binning, 56, and her spouse Palvinder, 54, suspects holding him against his will and forcing him to work on their house near Southampton, Pritpal Binning The shed where the man was living.

Hampshire in UK. The couple human trafficking are given the help and was arrested on Tuesday following a raid support that they need. The suspects have at their home. Gangmasters and Labour been released under investigation pending Abuse Authority s(GLAA) spokesman said: further inquiries. Tony Byrne, GLAA senior “The potential victim told the GLAA that he investigating officer, said: “We are pleased had been sleeping on a plastic sun lounger that the man is now receiving the help and in the shed at the bottom of the garden and support he so desperately needs. In the 21st was given out-of-date food to eat. “He also century, no one should be forced to live in said that he had no flushing toilet and that such degrading and disgusting conditions. his kitchen was a fridge and barbecue.” The “Following the two arrests we made, our spokesman added that the man, who is in his investigation is ongoing as we examine and 40s, has been accepted into the government’s assess the evidence we collected from the national referral mechanism - a process for property.” ensuring victims of modern slavery and

‘Samosa Caucus’ fails to grow after US mid-term election The so-called ‘Samosa Caucus’ – an informal group of the Indian-Americans in the US Congress – has failed to bolster its strength, though its all four incumbent members got re-elected to the House of Representatives in the crucial midterm elections. Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi all won in landslides, while Ami Bera, the longtime US representative in California’s 7th Congressional District, won in a more closely-contested race.

In the eighth Congressional District of Illinois, 45-yearold Krishnamoorthi was re-elected for the second term by a comfortable margin of more than 30 percentage points. He defeated his Indian American Republican opponent J D Diganvker. Three-term lawmaker 53-year-old Bera was re-elected for a record

fourth consecutive time from the seventh Congressional District of California. Unlike the previous three elections, Bera did not had to wait for weeks for recounting of votes. He defeated Andrew Grant of the Republican party by a small five percentage margin. “It’s been an honor serving the 7th Congressional District as your congressman and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve again,” he said in a statement after responding to the news of his victory. Bera added that the election was about the values held by Americans. “If we are truly going to heal this country, we must start by rebuilding trust in government, working across party lines, and putting people before politics,” he said, adding that “Whether it’s protecting health care or improving Social Security and Medicare.

NRI arrested over visa fraud in Silicon Valley An Indian-origin man charged in USA with H-1B visa and mail fraud, US officials said. Kishore Kumar Kavuru, 46, was arrested on Friday and was presented before US Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.

He was charged with 10 counts of visa fraud and 10 counts of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to maintain a pool of foreign workers for the clients of Kavuru’s consulting companies. If convicted, Kavuru faces the sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count of visa fraud.

The defendant also faces up to 20 years in jail and $250,000 for each count of mail fraud, the federal prosecutors said. According to the

indictment, Kavuru, a resident of Sunnyvale, California, held himself out as a staffing specialist for technology firms based in Santa Clara County and elsewhere seeking to fill temporary positions with foreign workers.

Since at least as early as 2007, Kavuru was the owner and Chief Executive Officer of four consulting companies -- Scopus Consulting Group, Inc.; ITECH Analyst Corp; Infinity Methods Corp; and Orian Engineers Incorporated. The indictment described how Kavuru used the consulting companies to process and submit fraudulent applications for foreign workers to obtain permission to work in the US under the H-1B visa programme.

Two convicted killers, including one NRI die in apparent suicides

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Two convicted killers awaiting execution in California apparently killed themselves over the weekend, San Quentin State Prison officials say.

Andrew Urdiales, 54, was found unresponsive during a security check about 11:15 p.m. Friday, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

Then, about 10:15 p.m. Sunday, Virendra Govin, 51, was found unresponsive in his cell.

An armed officer stands guard at death row in San Quentin, California. An armed officer stands guard at death row in San Quentin, California. Guards tried CPR on both men, but the inmates were pronounced dead. Each was kept alone in his cell, and the state said their deaths do not appear related.

Urdiales was sentenced to death last month.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, he killed five women

while stationed with the US Marine Corps in various Southern California locations.

He was arrested in Illinois and sentenced to die there in 1996 for killing three women in four months. That sentence was commuted to life in prison when Illinois outlawed capital punishment, CNN affiliate KTLA reported.

Urdiales was then extradited to California to stand trial for the earlier string of murders.

“Urdiales was a monster who did not deserve to breathe the same air we all enjoy,” Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said. “He remained a callous coward until the end as he robbed the victims’ families of the right to be present when the state put him to death.” Govin was sentenced in December 2004 for killing four people.

He, his brother and another man then set the family’s home on fire.

31

Saturday, November 10, 2018

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Saturday, November 10, 2018

Sonali celebrates Diwali metastatic cancer.

Sonali Bendre is The 43-year-old undergoing medical actress disclosed the treatment here in New news on twitter also York, had a Diwali and Instagram where celebration with her she wrote a long post husband Goldie Behl and on how unexpected son Ranveer. it was for her. The Sharing few pictures actress is currently from Diwali puja, Sonali u n d e r g o i n g Bendre wished everyone a treatment in New “Happy Diwali” and wrote York and is supported on: “ Diwali in New York by her friends and happens much later than family. In the long in Mumbai... Hence, the statement, Sonali late wish! It was quite an wrote, “Sometimes, unconventional one... We when you least didn’t have Indian clothes, expect it, life throws we had a small puja... But it Sonali Bendre celebrates Diwali in you a curveball. I was all heart.

“Happy Diwali everyone! New York with husband and son. have recently been diagnosed with a May this year bring you high grade cancer that has metastised, good health, wealth and prosperity... Hope which we frankly did not see coming. A you celebrated this festival with your niggling pain led to some tests, which family and friends, and hope you cherish led to this unexpected diagnosis. My every moment of happiness with them!” family and close friends have rallied Sonali Bendre lighting candles and offering around me, providing the best support prayers. The 43- year-old was diagnosed system that anyone can ask for. I am with metastatic cancer in July. She has been very blessed and thankful for each of in New York since then. In a heart-breaking them.” news she revealed that she is battling with

Saif launches fashion brand ‘House of Pataudi’ Saif Ali Khan, who has launched his own ethnic fashion brand ‘House of Pataudi’ with Flipkart-owned online fashion retailer Myntra, wants to bring the idea of old heritage through his clothing line. “I just love clothes. I have a certain sense of ethnic style in clothes. I feel there is a gap in the

market and there are more people looking for Indian clothes online. So I talked to Myntra’s CEO, and we came up with the idea of ‘House of Pataudi,’” Khan said.

While on the subject of fashion, Khan could not resist complimenting wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, considered a fashion icon.

2

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Punjabi Literary & Cultural Summit of North America in Punjab Bhawan, Surrey The two-day mega conclave, 2nd Punjabi Literary and Cultural Summit of North America concluded in Punjab Bhawan, Surrey, BC on Oct 28th. The main agenda of this year’s summit was “Adverse impacts of harmful drugs” The summit was opened on Saturday, October 27th with a strong message from Sergeant Jag Khosa, The Provincial AntiGang Agency (C.F.S.E.U) about how parents can be a better role model to their kids. He was followed by famous Punjabi singer, Sarabjit Cheema and few other prominent

speakers like Jordan Buna and Maya Bhogal who spoke about the pressure kids face from the society and what matters the most when they are planning their career path. Sergeant Mike Sanchez and Sergeant Gary Sidhu also educated the students and their parents about the subject.

On the second day, Five students from various schools were awarded scholarships for their participation in this program. The students who won these scholarships were Tanvir Phagura- from LA Matheson School, Kiran

Grewal and Priya Neg from Sullivan Heights School, Gurleen Sohi, Guru Angad Dev School and Navtej kaur kang, Khalsa School.

Later the students took over the stage to share their problems and concerns with teachers, parents and the authorities. On the occasion, a short play “Balde-Birkh” on drugs and gang violence was also organised by writer & director Ms Parminder Swaich & her team. The evening was concluded with some amazing poems, thoughts and Shayris

in Kavi darbar (gathering of poets) from various parts of North Amercia. Mr Sukhi Bath, Chairman Punjab Bhawan said that this was just a beginning and he would take this initiative forward by organising small workshops in schools and Punjab Bhawan to not just educate students but also provide them a platform to share their concerns with everyone. He also appreciated the support from Surrey RCMP and Surrey School board in making this event a success.

MP John Aldag becomes new Team Trudeau 2019 candidate for Cloverdale-Langley John Aldag, a devoted community leader and current Member of Parliament, has been nominated as the Team Trudeau 2019 candidate in Cloverdale-Langley City for the upcoming federal election.

“We are extremely proud to welcome John Aldag again as the Team Trudeau 2019 candidate,” said Suzanne Cowan, President of the Liberal Party of Canada. “John has shown passionately over the last 3 years how he wants to improve the lives of families in his community and, through his leadership, he will ensure that Cloverdale-Langley City continues

to be at the heart of decisions made in Ottawa.” John Aldag was born and raised in rural Saskatchewan where he began a Parks Canada career leading programs and Historic Sites in six provinces and two territories over 32 years.

John and his family have lived in Langley since 2005 where he continues to live with his wife, Dr. Elaine St. John, a physician at Surrey Memorial Hospital and their three children today.

John was elected Member of Parliament for Cloverdale-Langley City in October 2015. In addition to representing the people of Cloverdale - Langley City in the House of Commons, John served on the Special Joint Continued on page 7

MLA & former Haisla Nation Chief Ellis Ross message on Aboriginal Veterans Day VICTORIA (November 8, 2018) – Former Haisla Nation Chief Councillor and Skeena MLA Ellis Ross released the following statement today for National Aboriginal Veterans Day: “Today, on Aboriginal Veterans Day, we honour and recognize the dedication, contributions, and sacrifices of all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit veterans.

“This year marks 25 years of our country commemorating Indigenous peoples’ contributions to Canadian military efforts.

“Veterans Affairs Canada estimates that of 12,000 aboriginal veterans who have served, over 500 have lost their lives. Their greatest sacrifice cannot ever be forgotten.

“On behalf of the entire BC Liberal Caucus, we offer our heartfelt gratitude for the heroic service of all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit veterans.

“We will never forget. “Thank you.”

Saturday, November 10, 2018

3

Bollywood

Kapoor Clan celebrating 40 years of Prithvi Theatre As Mumbai’s Mecca of performing arts Prithvi Theatre turned 40 years old, Bollywood’s famed Kapoor clan organized a grand celebration to commemorate the day.

Prithvi Theatre was founded by late actor

Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jennifer Kendal in 1978. Shashi’s son Kunal Kapoor, who handles operations of Prithvi Theatre, hosted a special star-studded party night along with his children Zahaan and Shaira Laura.

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Press release

Divyanka Tripathi

Divyanka Tripathi appears to be confused while returning from a Diwali bash, when she got into another car by mistake.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Press release

Founders of Metro Vancouver crime stoppers honoured for their vision It was back in the mid-1980s when former Vancouver Police Chief Bob Stewart and wellknown broadcaster Shirley Stocker founded - what was then called - Greater Vancouver Crime Stoppers.

At the time, neither likely realized that what they were starting would be still going strong, and growing, decades later thanks in large part to their longstanding commitment to the program.

Bob and Shirley’s vision of establishing a Crime Stoppers program in the Lower Mainland was realized in 1984, and with the unwavering support of Bob’s wife Barbara Stewart, Crime Stoppers soon flourished. Bob and Barbara were longstanding directors on the Crime Stoppers board in the years that followed.

Today, they and Shirley remain Honourary Directors of the organization. In addition to her work supporting Crime Stoppers, Shirley has also devoted herself to working in the community. Perhaps her most notable service has been with Variety’s Show of Hearts Telethon. Known today as Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers (MVCS), the non-profit society collects almost 6,000 anonymous crime tips per year by telephone, via a new mobile phone app, and online. Since 1984, Crime Stoppers in the Lower Mainland has received well over 114,000 tips, resulting in more than 8,000 arrests, and the seizure of $513 million in illegal drugs and stolen property.

The Stewarts and Ms. Stocker were thanked for their service and support of Crime Stoppers over the past 34 years at a special recognition ceremony Thursday evening in Vancouver

attended by the Honourable LieutenantGovernor of British Columbia Janet Austin.

Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers is not the police - but offers rewards for anonymous tips and passes the information to crime investigators. Anonymity is guaranteed by the Supreme Court of Canada. Today, its work also includes crime prevention, initiatives to collect information on gangrelated crime and illegal weapons, teaching school students how they can report crime, encouraging the reporting of elder abuse, and reaching out to First Nations to work together on helping to solve crime.

About Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers is a non-profit society and registered charity that offers rewards for anonymous tip information about criminal activity and provides it to investigators across the Lower Mainland.

Anonymous tips may be reported in a variety of ways including Crime Stoppers’ new downloadable “P3” app for Apple and Android phones, by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, online at solvecrime.ca, or by following the link on the Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers Facebook page.

Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers accepts tips in 115 different languages and will pay a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to the arrest of a suspected criminal or an activity that is a major risk to public safety. http://www.solvecrime.ca.

Horgan dodges questions as Wilkinson defends voters at PR debate BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson and NDP Premier John Horgan faced off this evening in a public debate that proved the NDP just can’t explain their reckless referendum on electoral reform. Wilkinson repeatedly pressed Horgan to provide missing details that British Columbians need to make an informed decision. “There are 29 details about PR that John Horgan refuses to make public. How many ridings there will be, how many MLAs we’ll have? We don’t know, because he won’t, or can’t, say. He wants you to vote first

and he will answer those questions later,” said Wilkinson. “Let’s remember, these are your voting rights. Our democracy belongs to you. It should not be left to political parties to monkey around with something as important as how we vote.” The Premier failed to explain how Mixed-Member Proportional, the voting system he personally prefers, would benefit British Columbians even though it would increase the power and influence of political parties over voters.

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Saturday, November 10, 2018 Simon Fraser University hosted its 11th annual Diwali Gala on Thursday, November 1 at Aria Banquet Hall in Surrey. The event celebrates the festival of Diwali along with the university’s initiatives in India and engagement with B.C.’s South Asian Community.

The Festival of lights is celebrated in India

11th Annual SFU Diwali Gala and around the world annually, and happens this year on Nov. 7. SFU’s event draws over 300 business and community leaders, along with SFU students, faculty, staff and alumni. The evening features South Asian cuisine and performances.

MP John Aldag becomes new Team Trudeau 2019 candidate for Cloverdale-Langley From page 2 Committee on Physician-Assisted been done to help Canadians move forward, Dying, Special Committee on Electoral but there is a lot more to do and I will continue Reform and was recently elected Chair of the fighting for Cloverdale-Langley City everyday” Standing Committee of the Environment and said Aldag. The Liberal Party of Canada is Sustainable Development, where he continues committed to building the most open and to promote a stronger, more sustainable future inclusive movement in Canadian politics for all Canadians. “I am honoured to have once and to use the next election as a tool to have again earned the trust of our local Liberals to unprecedented new engagement with Canadians. represent our community on Parliament Hill, The 43rd Canadian Federal Election is and to work with Justin Trudeau to create good scheduled for Monday, October 21, 2019. new jobs and strengthen our middle class,” said For more information on John Aldag please Aldag. “I look forward to working hard to earn visit: http://cloverdalelangleycity.liberal.ca or the support of families throughout Cloverdalehttp://johnaldagmp.ca. For more information, Langley City, one conversation at a time.” please contact: Gunraj Gill 604.245.0000 “In the last three years, significant work has

Funds raised from the event go toward SFU student awards to support opportunities for students to work, study and volunteer in India, through the university’s mobility initiative. Over the years nearly 150 students

have benefited from their experiences in India.

This event also recognizes the work of the SFU-India Advisory Council, which was created over a decade ago and has been integral to the university’s success in engaging with India, and in furthering relationships within B.C.’s South Asian community.

8

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Vol. 9 No. 41

Saturday - November 10, 2018

Tel: 604-591-5423

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

Real estate prices may be Prices easing but Canada’s housing market still ‘highly vulnerable’: showing signs of easing but market, like what happened in the 1980s and Canada’s housing market remains “highly Vancouver, Victoria and Hamilton are still early 1990s in Toronto when a housing bubble vulnerable,� according to the Canadian considered to have a “high degree of overall caused real estate prices to skyrocket in a short vulnerability� even though house prices Mortgage and Housing Corporation. span of time. The agency’s report noted that there The federal agency says that stricter are getting more in line with housing market continues to be overbuilding — where rental fundamentals such as income, mortgage rates mortgage rules, rising interest rates and and population. CMHC says it sees vulnerability vacancy rates or inventory of unsold newsmaller growth in inflation-adjusted as imbalances in the housing market, attributed builds are higher than normal — in Edmonton, disposable income has led to less demand to overbuilding, overvaluation, overheating and Calgary, Saskatoon, and Regina. for housing and a decline in prices.

It says Winnipeg is particularly concerning, price acceleration.

Despite these factors, markets in Toronto, It gives an example of a vulnerable housing as inventory of newly completed but

CMHC

unsold units have been accumulating for the past two quarters. Meanwhile, housing prices in Montreal continue to be at levels equal to economic and demographic activity, but nevertheless the resale market “close to overheating� as demand begins to outstrip supply. The agency made the findings in its quarterly Housing Market Assessment report, which is meant to gauge the stability of the national real estate market.

Vancouver housing sales fall to six-year low Housing sales in the Vancouver region have fallen to their lowest level in six years as price declines extend beyond singlefamily detached properties to condos and townhouses. “The affordability situation is improving across all segments of the market,� said Josh Gordon, assistant professor at Simon Fraser University’s school of public policy. Greater Vancouver home sales in October Sales volume for detached houses, condos and townhomes While the Vancouver region remains by far the most expensive housing market in Canada, prices for condos and townhomes have slid over the past four months after a five-year rally.

By contrast, prices for detached houses

started their descent in mid-2016, before recovering in early 2017 and then heading down again in October, 2017.

Factors influencing the market include the B.C. government’s plan, unveiled in February, for what it calls a speculation and vacancy tax targeted primarily at out-of-province residents. “That tax announcement has curtailed speculative

buying, as we see in the lower sales totals.

Flipping activity has dropped off,�

Prof.

Gordon said in an interview on Friday.

Phil Moore, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, said the number of listings has increased to a fouryear high. With 12,984 properties for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, that’s up 42.1 per cent from a year earlier. “For

home buyers, this means you have more selection to choose from,� Mr. Moore said in a statement. “For sellers, it means your home may face more competition, from other listings, in the marketplace.� Sales volume for all housing types in October decreased to 1,966 transactions, down 34.9 per cent from 3,022 sales in the same month of 2017.

Last month’s sales, the lowest for October since 2012, were 26.8 per cent under the 10year average for the month, according to the board. In Greater Vancouver, the monthover-month benchmark price (an industry representation of the typical home sold in an area) for all residential types has declined for five consecutive months, hitting $1,062,100 in October.

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Home sales will fall over next 2 years, CMHC

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Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the country’s real estate market is expected to moderate over the next two years as the growth in housing prices is expected to slow to more in line with economic fundamentals.In its 2018 housing market outlook released today, the national housing agency projects housing starts and sales are both expected to decline

in 2019 and 2020.It predicts housing starts for single and multi-unit starts will fall to between 193,700 and 204,500 in 2019, while sales are anticipated to be between 478,400 and 497,400 units. Prices are anticipated to range between $501,400 and $521,600.

CMHC says it expects economic indicators

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Classifieds / Jobs Change Of Name

I,Nandani Mudaliar presently residing at 9990 124 A Street Surrey BC V3V 4W5 changed my name from Nandani Mudaliar to Nandani Nand

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Workers required

Meat shop in Surrey requires full time / part time worker immediately.

Punjbi and English speaking must. Good wages.

Please call: 604-362-6194

11

Saturday, November 10, 2018

South Asian Seniors - Wishing Happy Diwali to All of You & to Your Family Vedic Seniors Parivar Center of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey wishes a very happy The Festival of Lights ( Diwali ) to you all and to your family.

Please remember we are going to celebrate Diwali get together and group birthday of our 41 senior members on November 18th 2018 (Sunday) at Ultimate Banquet hall 8072 - 120th street Surrey BC at 6.00 pm. There will

be live entertainment program with hilarious jokes, Bollywood music, cake cutting ceremony, mouth watering dinner and desserts. We have invited prominent community Musicians Tejaswita Mohan, Raj Toora & Swaran Dhaliwal and also talented singer members Dr. Birendra Sahu, Mohan Bhojwani and Harmesh Sidher will entertain you all. Prior registration required for participation, please call Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 507 - 9945 for registration.

For more Updates, Visit our Website

Contact Brent or Wayne

604-377-5429 www.theasianstar.com

Email: fraservalleygolf@shaw.ca Video link: www.cotala.com/28804

12

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