The Asian Star January 15 2022

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Vol 20 - Issue 50

Saturday, January 15, 2022

PM Trudeau doesn’t rule out possibility of Canada anti-vax tax Less than a day after Quebec’s premier announced a potential charge for unvaccinated adults in his province, the prime minister is not ruling out the possibility of a national anti-vax tax.

The update from Justin Trudeau comes as provinces face increasing strains on their healthcare systems due to the Omicron COVID-19 wave.

Trudeau was asked Wednesday about the possibility of a national financial

US surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital said that he’s doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery. While it’s too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decadeslong quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection. The patient, David Bennett, a 57-year-old Maryland handyman, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work but he was dying, ineligible for a human heart transplant and had no other option, his son said. “It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” Bennett said a day before the surgery.

charge for those who continue to refuse vaccination without valid medical reasons.

“We’ve received that proposal with interest by the Quebec government, but there’s a lot more details that we have to hear on how this would work before I can make any comments on it,” the prime minister told reporters.

Continued on page 4

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Omicron ‘isn’t a regular cold,’ Quebec doctor says, urging people to avoid infection A top long-COVID researcher in Montreal who’s recovering from a recent infection herself is urging the population to get vaccinated, and beyond that, to do whatever it takes to avoid catching the virus altogether. “This isn’t like a regular cold,” infectious diseases specialist Dr. Emilia Liana Falcone said, explaining that nobody should be under the impression that catching Omicron, or any other variant, is a

The new 10-lane George Massey Bridge is finally complete!

It has been a long four years since construction began in 2017, but 2022 has come and with that the new 10-lane George Massey Bridge replacing the existing tunnel, and Highway 99 corridor improvements are now complete and fully open for public use as of

good idea. “Even individuals who have very mild symptoms or even no symptoms can develop long-term sequelae (after-effects) of COVID,” she said, adding that applies to people who are vaccinated and unvaccinated.

As the director of the Long-COVID Research Clinic at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal (IRCM), Falcone has seen patients Continued on page 7

Quebec tax on unvaccinated Canadians drives surge in vaccine appointments Quebec health officials said bookings for COVID-19 vaccine first-dose appointments have jumped — with some 7,000 residents signing up after they announced plans to tax people who are unvaccinated for non-medical reasons. The big picture: Quebec Premier François Legault said the Canadian province would impose a health tax on residents who refuse to get their first dose in the coming weeks that would be more than $100, per CBC News. 90% of Quebec’s population is already fully vaccinated against the virus. World Health Organization Continued on page 6

Continued on page 7

Binance’s Changpeng Zhao richest Canadian on Bloomberg list with US$96 billion crypto fortune The chief executive officer of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance has a net worth close to US$100 billion, making him the richest crypto entrepreneur in the world and by far the wealthiest Canadian, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Changpeng Zhao, who was born in China but was raised and educated in Canada and who has Canadian citizenship, started Binance in 2017. The Bloomberg Index, which calculated the value of his stake in the company for the first time this week, Continued on page 7

Omicron pushing Covid-19 out of pandemic phase: EU Agency The spread of the Omicron variant is pushing Covid towards being an endemic disease that humanity can live with, although it remains a pandemic for now, the EU’s drug watchdog said Tuesday. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also expressed doubts about giving a fourth vaccine shot to the general population, saying repeated boosters were not a “sustainable” strategy. “Nobody knows exactly when we will be at the end of the tunnel but we will be there,” Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccine strategy at the Amsterdam-based regulator, told journalists.

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Saturday, January 15, 2022

Metro Vancouver drivers dodge potholes popping up after extreme weather The last month of extreme weather has not been kind to drivers, and now the impacts of the snow, cold, and heavy rain are forcing more problems on the roads and highways due to huge potholes popping up on Metro Vancouver streets and highways.

While some drivers have been able to dodge them, others aren’t so lucky, and some of those tooth-rattling impacts can have quite the impact on your vehicle.

ICBC says pothole claims are covered under optional collision coverage which “covers your repair costs when you hit another vehicle, object or the surface of the road, including potholes – regardless of fault.”

In an email to CityNews, the provincial insurer says, “ICBC collision claims may impact a customer’s insurance premium if costs can’t be recovered from another liable party. The premium impact would vary from driver to driver based on how long they’ve been driving

How the Omicron variant is impacting BC’s emergency services

and how many chargeable claims they’ve made.”

New Westminster Kal Tire store manager Barrie De Boer says they have seen an increase in pothole-related damage in the last week with blown tires and bent or cracked rims.

He says sometimes it’s an easy fix but hitting a pothole could impact the alignment of the vehicle, which will require a visit to a professional. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” he said. But the repairs don’t come cheap.

“An alignment – if it needs it can be $125 dollars. But a wheel repair can varydepending on what kind of rim it is, if it’s a straightening, you could be looking at the low $200. And the tire, depending on what tire it is, can be between $100 and $500 for a tire,” De Boer says. “ICBC sometimes might be worth it.

They do prorate their tires so…sometimes your deductible can be more money than the covering of the cost,” De Boer added.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has suggested that nearly everyone in the province would get Omicron — and BC’s emergency responders aren’t immune to this reality. Henry has previously urged organizations to develop contingency plans for when staff shortages occur due to people being sick at home with COVID-19.

This has already come into play for some BC emergency services, with some police detachments, and other BC emergency responders, being impacted by a high number of cases. BC’s paramedics have been hit with job shortages, along with high levels of stress and burnout for years. When the pandemic began, however, resources became even more scarce. Just this past weekend, according to the Ambulance and Paramedics of BC (APBC), 4050 ambulances were out of service in the Lower Mainland, leaving about 70-80 on the road.

Typically, there would be closer to 120. This is because of the Omicron variant.

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In June of last year, APBC said they were in dire need of more resources.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services “Like most everyone in BC, Omicron is definitely infecting some of our staff,” Karen Fry told Daily Hive. Fry is the Fire Chief and General Manager of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.

We don’t have the exact numbers, but we have approximately 16% of our operations staffing working to backfill absences.” Fry adds that VFRS is busier than ever, and that staff are doing an amazing job under difficult conditions.

VPD: The Vancouver Police Department employs a lot of staff, and the VPD told Daily Hive that they don’t have any worries about Omicron and its potential impact on the department. “We do not currently have concerns with staffing levels or our ability to provide service to the community. We’re taking every precaution to avoid the spread of COVID in the workplace and in the community,” said VPD Constable Tania Visintin.“We’re a large organization, and we have a number of options to maintain service levels and public safety.”

RCMP: In a conversation with Daily Hive, Surrey RCMP revealed that 42 members of staff were hit with COVID-19. While that number might seem worrying, they had contingency plans in place. They also made it clear that the cases did not impact their ability to respond to community safety concerns. The other piece of good news is that, as of last week, the majority of those employees who got hit with COVID were just about ready to get back to work.

“We’ve actually been experiencing the pandemic now for two years; it has given us a lot of experience in dealing with various

Provinces ‘right’ to explore vaccination incentives, Trudeau says, as Quebec plans anti-vax tax Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says provinces are “right” to consider ways to encourage and incentivize COVID-19 vaccination.

His comments come just one day after Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced plans to impose a tax on any unvaccinated Quebecers who don’t have a valid medical exemption.

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“Different jurisdictions are making different decisions about how to encourage people to get vaccinated, and as a federal government, we will be continuing to be there to support them in those decisions and to make sure that everyone gets vaccinated,” Trudeau said.

“Vaccines are about keeping Canadians safe, continuing to get through this pandemic the best possible way, and various orders of government are right to look at different ways of encouraging and incentivizing people to get vaccinated.”

Trudeau said the federal government will wait for details on Quebec’s proposed health contribution before he’ll comment further, but he assured Canadians the province has pledged “to stand by the principles and the rules around the Canada Health Act as they move forward.”

Only 10 per cent of Quebec’s population is unvaccinated, Legault said on Tuesday, but he said they make up 50 per cent of patients in intensive care beds.

“A health contribution will be charged to all adults that don’t want to get vaccinated. We are there now,” Legault said.

“I think it’s normal that the majority of the population is asking that there be a consequence.”

3

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Popularity plummets for Dr. Bonnie Henry & Adrian Dix Dr. Bonnie Henry’s popularity has taken a hit as Omicron sweeps across the province.

According to a poll undertaken by Leger on behalf of Postmedia, the provincial health officer’s popularity is at an all-time low at 62 per cent, a drop of seven points since the last Postmedia poll in June, when she was at 69 per cent.

And it’s a bigger drop from the start of 2021 when Henry polled at 75 per cent.

The approval rating for Adrian Dix, the health minister, fell to 55 per cent, from 69 per cent in June and 75 per cent at the beginning of 2021. The poll has been taken every month for the first half of the year, then again between Dec. 31 and Jan. 2.

The two other names polled also declined: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval rate for how he’s handled the pandemic dropped to 41 per cent from 48 per cent

Langley man shot in targeted shooting Several calls came in around 4 a.m.

Tuesday reporting gun shots in the area of Good Knight Inn in the 5700-block of 200 Street in Langley.

Mounties are investigating after a man was shot in the leg in a targeted early morning shooting in Langley. Langley RCMP said several calls came in at around 4 a.m. reporting gun shots in the area of Good Knight Inn in the 5700-block of 200th Street. Police found a 45-year-old Langley man with a non-life-threatening gun shot wound to his leg. He is known to police. The investigation is still in its early stages but police say the incident isn’t believed to be related to the continuing Lower Mainland gang conflict.

No suspect has been identified.

“This activity is unacceptable in our community, and public interaction and engagement will be critical in this investigation,” said Langley RCMP Staff Sgt. Loi Ly.

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in June and 59 per cent to begin the year.

The popularity of Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, fell to 48 per cent from 57 per cent in June and 63 per cent at the start of 2021. Perhaps it was bound to happen when the same people put themselves out there to deliver bad news week after week, Heather Owen, vice-president of Leger at the firm’s Vancouver office, speculated. “There’s been a gradual decline across the board with all four of the names we tested,” Owen said.

“I think it’s a natural outcome of the fatigue we’re all feeling with COVID-19 . “I also think that in many ways this pandemic is both a (physical) health crisis and a psychological crisis. Our mental health is suffering and these negative numbers are a reflection of that.“People are tired and they want it to be over.” For the Leger poll, 1,002 people were asked the following question: Thinking about

More than 500 surgeries postponed due to COVID-19, minister says At least 530 scheduled, non-urgent surgeries were postponed in B.C. last week to help ease the burden on hospitals and healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December, Health Minister Adrian Dix announced that elective surgeries would be delayed, starting in January, as the Omicron variant drove a surge in cases throughout the province. “No one in health care, no member of any surgical team, no one who has trained and whose life’s work it is to get patients the surgery they need, wants to call a patient and tell them their surgery is postponed,” Dix said in a Tuesday briefing.

“This week, we know this is happening in significant numbers across B.C. … and

it’s happening because of COVID-19.” From Jan. 2-8, 234 elective surgeries were postponed in Island Health, 162 in Interior Health, 75 in Fraser Health, 35 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 21 at the Provincial Health Services Authority, and three in Northern Health. Each one will be rescheduled, said Dix, but the province won’t reevaluate the postponements on a caseby-case basis. “The decisions about surgical postponements or changes or when surgeries take place, are decisions made by doctors, and I think that’s the important issue here,” he explained. “So when you ask, ‘Will we change the way we do that?’, the answer is no, in the sense that we’re going to continue to support our medical teams in making appropriate

4 From page 1

OPINION

Saturday, January 15, 2022

PM Trudeau doesn’t rule out possibility of Canada anti-vax tax

“I continue to work with health experts to look at how we can encourage more and more people to get vaccinated, to get their boosters.”

He notes Quebec has assured the federal government its proposal will respect the Canada Health Act. He says his government has been clear at the federal level about how

important it is to be vaccinated.

“We brought in very strong measures to ensure that travellers across the country need to be fully vaccinated, people coming into the country need to be fully vaccinated, and that the federal public service needs to be fully vaccinated. These are things that we have continued to move forward on because the best path forward is vaccination.”

Letter to the Editor PICS Society stands strong in opposition to Quebec’s Bill 21 Dear Editor, PICS Society stands strong in opposition to Quebec’s Bill 21, as well as to the recent statements and actions of Premier Legault in upholding this legislation and its consequences. More than two years have passed since the Quebec government introduced Bill 21 restricting visible religious imagery — including head and face coverings (hijabs, turbans, crucifixes and yarmulkes)— in the public service. Despite its professed support for religious neutrality, Bill 21’s ban on religious symbols is fundamentally inconsistent with how this constitutional principle is actually understood in Canadian law.

Bill 21 is discriminatory, repugnant, antiwoman, anti-immigrant and a direct attack on the religious freedoms and the freedom of expression of many members of certain religious groups. It disproportionately impacts people who are already marginalized and prevents public institutions in Quebec to be a true reflection of the communities they are meant to serve.

Whatever one’s traditions, beliefs and practices, we have lived in this country for many years with neighbours of different faiths and traditions. People should not be forced to make the choice between their religion, their identity and their profession. The government should not be allowed to impose their beliefs on the people of Quebec, nor should they be dictating to individuals what they can and cannot wear.

Every Canadian who chooses to wear symbols such as the kippah, turban, or hijab should also have a right to freedom of expression and religion, and to make their own choices without government interference, like all people in Canada.In a pluralistic society like Canada, Bill 21 is both morally and legally offensive and would set a dangerous precedent which will significantly erode the rights of minority religious communities living in Quebec.

We strongly urge all elected officials at all levels of Government across the country and community leaders advocating for racialized communities, to band together and send a clear message that a bill like this is unacceptable in our country. This is not just a local, Quebec issue.

Sincerely, Satbir Singh Cheema CEO & President PICS Society

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Saturday, January 15, 2022 Quebec to force unvaccinated people to pay ‘significant’ financial penalty Adult Quebecers who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be forced to pay a “significant” financial penalty, Premier Francois Legault said Tuesday, one day after the sudden resignation of the province’s public health director. The penalty would be the first of its kind in Canada and would apply to unvaccinated residents who don’t have a medical exemption, Legault told reporters in Montreal. The “health contribution” is necessary, he said, because about 10 per cent of adult Quebecers aren’t vaccinated, but they represent about half of all patients in intensive care. “I think right now, it’s a question of fairness for the 90 per cent of the population who made some sacrifices - I think we owe them this kind of measure,” Legault said, adding that the unvaccinated should be forced to pay for the extra burden they are placing on the health-care system. The premier’s big news came with few details, however. The amount of the penalty is yet to be determined, as is how and when it would be applied. Liberal Opposition Leader Dominique Anglade suggested Legault rushed the announcement to distract people.

“We didn’t hear anything about a safe return

to school for our children, more rapid tests, a resumption of surgeries,” Anglade tweeted on Tuesday after the premier’s news conference. She described Legault’s announcement as a “smoke show” that lacked detail. Dr. Horacio Arruda resigned as public health director on Monday night, after the Quebec government faced weeks of criticism from the opposition and pundits for its handling of the latest wave of COVID-19.

Quebec’s health-care system is under enormous stress from the rapidly rising number of COVID-19 patients, and the latest restrictions including a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew - are some of the strictest in the country. During Tuesday’s news conference, Legault introduced Arruda’s interim replacement, Dr. Luc Boileau, the head of a government health-care research institution called the Institut national d’excellence en sante et services sociaux. Boileau, however, wouldn’t comment on the government’s plan to financially penalize the unvaccinated or on the subject of mandatory vaccination. “I was nominated this morning,” Boileau told reporters. “I have not yet had the opportunity to make a full assessment of the current situation.”

BC not pursuing mandatory vaccinations after Quebec introduces unvaxxed tax, say officials Don’t expect the West Coast to follow suit with Quebec’s efforts to impose a tax on residents who refuse a COVID-19 vaccination.

“I don’t foresee making it mandatory for vaccinations for everybody in the province,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said during a Tuesday briefing.

Health Minister Adrian Dix echoed those sentiments during the same briefing: “We’re not planning a similar measure.”

Quebec Premier François Legault announced Tuesday afternoon a “health contribution”

will be charged to adults who choose not to get vaccinated amid surging caseloads in his province.

This comes as the highly transmissible Omicron variant has brought on record numbers of COVID-19 cases across Canada.

“I think we have a very strong support for [voluntary] vaccinations,” Henry said.

“It is really important in specific professional settings, and we’ve mandated them in some and I know many other sectors have stood up to make sure that all of the workers are protected as well.”

Taiwan and Canada to begin talks on foreign investment deal, ministers announce Canada and Taiwan will begin talks on a foreign investment arrangement, their governments have announced, in what Taiwan said was a milestone for trade relations as it tries to shore up its ties around the world.

Ottawa’s international trade minister Mary Ng made the agreement with John Deng, Taiwan’s “minister without portfolio” on trade, during a call on Sunday.

Don’t ‘play with fire’: Mainland China tells US for inviting Taiwan to democracy summit A readout of the call provided by Ng’s department on Monday said that “exploratory discussions” would begin on a possible foreign investment promotion and protection arrangement (FIPA). Canada said its FIPA model was intended to provide “a stable, rules-based investment environment for

Canadian businesses investing abroad and for foreign businesses investing in Canada”. In paraphrased remarks, Ng called Taiwan “a key trade and investment partner as Canada broadens its trade links and deepens its economic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region”, according to the readout.

“The ministers discussed the need for Canada and Taiwan to continue to work together to further promote supply chain resilience and mutually beneficial commercial opportunities, as well as to increase collaboration on science, technology and innovation, education, Indigenous affairs, and the green economy,” the readout said.

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South Asian woman gives birth in hospital lobby after she says staff turned her away A woman in Surrey says she was sent home from the hospital three times in one day. On the fourth visit, she ended up having her baby on the floor of the lobby of Surrey Memorial Hospital. “She was in pain sitting and kept on waiting, waiting, waiting,” Pawandeep Samra’s husband Gagandeep Singh Bandhan says when he thinks back on December 25.

The first time the couple went to the hospital they were sent back home after being monitored for about two hours. But they went back again because Samra was in severe pain.

“We went the second time then they gave her the pain killer and then again the same thing — waiting for like two, three hours. Then we went back home again,”

Bandhan says. “Then we went there another time.”

On the fourth try, Samra’s water broke during the car ride to the hospital.

The two got out of the car near the birth unit lobby where Samra explains, she “bent over … holding my baby right there.” “There was a female security guard from our community, I waved her and asked her to call some doctor or nurse because I already delivered my baby. I don’t know whether she understood or not. She brought a wheelchair for me.” After her delivery in the lobby, Bandhan says staff came by with a stretcher. “I was sort of freaked out,” he says.

“They were freaked out too. Like they were closing their eyes and everything.”

“The entire delivery was there at the main gate.” Samra and Bandhan say their baby is healthy and doing fine.

6

Saturday, January 15, 2022 From page 1

US surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” Bennett said a day before the surgery, according to a statement provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine. On Monday, Bennett was breathing on his own while still connected to a heart-lung machine to help his new heart. The next few weeks will be critical as Bennett recovers from the surgery and doctors carefully monitor how his heart is faring.

There’s a huge shortage of human organs donated for transplant, driving scientists to try to figure out how to use animal organs instead. Last year, there were just over 3,800 heart transplants in the U.S., a record number, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation’s transplant system.

“If this works, there will be an endless supply of these organs for patients who are suffering,” said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the Maryland university’s animal-to-human transplant program.

But prior attempts at such transplants — or xenotransplantation — have failed, largely because patients’ bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ. Notably, in 1984, Baby Fae, a dying infant, lived 21 days with a baboon heart.

The difference this time: The Maryland surgeons used a heart from a pig that had undergone gene-editing to remove a sugar in its cells that’s responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection. Several biotech companies are developing pig organs for human transplant; the one used for Friday’s operation came from Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics.

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Saturday, January 15, 2022 Omicron ‘isn’t a regular cold,’ Quebec doctor says, urging people to avoid infection From page 1 months post-infection and still have lingering and sometimes serious health problems. “It’s extremely alarming. Several who were very high functioning, very healthy now find themselves in a situation where they just cannot go back to work. They’re more than a year out. And they’re basically taking early retirement in some cases,” said Falcone. “I’ve actually heard so many different accounts. And it’s just unbelievable to see the extent to which these individuals’ lives have been compromised.” And then in mid-December, the virus hit home. Falcone caught COVID-19 from one of her young children. She was double vaccinated and was about to get her booster when she got sick. The specialist began to suffer some of

the same symptoms as the patients she’s been treating for the last two years at the CHUM, where she also works. “I counted more than seven acute symptoms,” during the active phase of infection, she said, including extreme fatigue.

“The first thing and the absolute predominant concern I had was, oh my goodness, am I going to have long-COVID symptoms, how will I be able to continue my work, if I have any kind of compromise in my abilities?” Four weeks later she’s functioning and working harder than ever during this fifth wave, but she’s still battling her way back from the illness.

“You feel there’s something lingering, you do feel tired,” Falcone said, adding it’s allowed her to gain a better understanding of what her patients have been going through.

New 10-lane George Massey Bridge morning, January 13. The new 10-lane structure spans nearly three kilometres over the Fraser River, and offers a grand welcome for those travelling into the Metro Vancouver area. The official construction groundbreaking of this project was held on December 1, 2017, and this morning the ribbon was cut for the crossing’s official opening — on time, and on budget, as originally planned. The entire highway corridor improvement project, spanning 30 km from the Surrey-Delta border to Sea Island Way in North Richmond, has brought much awaited relief for drivers, commercial vehicles, transit users, and cyclists alike. The now closed and soon to be removed George Massey Tunnel was opened to traffic on May 23, 1959. George Massey originally advocated for a six-lane structure, but the government of the era insisted that a four-lane structure would be sufficient. Due to this lack of foresight, the George Massey Tunnel had been amongst the worst traffic snarls in Western Canada for decades, far too frequently taking well over 30 minutes to over an hour to cross.

It has been a long four years since construction began in 2017, but 2022 has come and with that the new 10-lane George Massey Bridge replacing the existing tunnel, and Highway 99 corridor improvements are now complete and fully open for public use as of this morning, January 13. The now closed and soon to be removed George Massey Tunnel was opened to traffic on May 23, 1959. The new 10-lane structure spans nearly three kilometres over the Fraser River, and offers a grand welcome for those travelling into the Metro Vancouver area. The official construction groundbreaking of this project was held on December 1, 2017, and this morning the ribbon was cut for the crossing’s official opening — on time, and on budget, as originally planned.

Binance’s Changpeng Zhao richest Canadian on Bloomberg list with US$96 pegged his net worth at US$96 billion but added that his fortune was likely much larger than that figure since the ranking did not take his personal crypto holdings into account.

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Saturday, January 15, 2022

Delta introducing COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public school employees The Board of Education in Delta, has taken a step that school boards in Surrey and Vancouver declined to take last fall, implementing COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its teachers and staff.

The board voted on Tuesday to direct the school district to “create, implement and amend as necessary a proof of vaccination regarding COVID-19 operations procedure.”

“We continue to hear from public health of the need for unvaccinated people to get immunized as soon as possible as vaccines reduce people’s risk of severe illness,” said board chair Val Windsor in a news release Wednesday.

“We feel very strongly about protecting our students and staff,” she added. “We believe anything we can do to reduce their risk of getting COVID, lessen the severity of their symptoms or reduce their time away from work or school is

worth doing.” Windsor said the decision - which was made in an in-camera meeting - followed a review of “many factors involved in this extremely sensitive and highly complex issue.”

Beginning January 17, district staff will have six weeks to disclose their vaccination status. Those who are unvaccinated will be required to undergo “regular rapid testing” in order to continue working, or take an unpaid leave of absence.

The six-week timeframe is intended to allow staff members who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated to get their shots.

Students are not required to show proof of vaccination to attend school.

Vaccine mandates have been implemented by various employers and industries across B.C. over the last six months.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry introduced a mandate for health-care workers, but declined to do so for the education sector, insisting that it was up to individual school boards to make the decision on whether to require vaccination for their employees.

In early November, the province’s two largest school districts - Surrey and Vancouver -

opted not to implement such a requirement, and several other districts followed suit.

Delta’s plan calls for the district to ensure it “complies with its obligation to accommodate individuals who are legally entitled to accommodation for medical reasons or under the Human Rights Code of British Columbia or Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms.”

Canadian truckers to stay exempt from COVID-19 vaccine Canadian truckers will remain exempted from COVID-19 vaccine requirements at the international border, but unvaccinated drivers from the United States will be turned back starting Jan. 15, a spokesperson at the Canada Border Services Agency said on Wednesday. Canadian truck drivers arriving at the international border will also remain exempt from pre-arrival, arrival and post-

arrival testing and quarantine requirements, Rebecca Purdy, the agency’s spokesperson, said. The decision is a change in policy to the government’s decision from November, when it asked all truck drivers to be vaccinated by Jan. 15, and from earlier this week when it asked Canadian drivers to quarantine for 14 days.

More than two-thirds of the C$650 billion ($511 billion) in goods traded annually between Canada and the United States travels on roads.

9

Saturday, January 15, 2022 Sapna Kapoor, 44, sentenced to six months in jail less one day and three years probation. A woman has been sentenced to six months less a day in jail to be followed by three years of probation for making a false statement to a Surrey passport officer and attempting to set up a falsified passport for her infant child. A jury convicted Sapna Kapoor, a 44-year-old Indian national with a master’s degree in business administration, of attempting to utter a forged passport application and making the false statement in late September and early October 2017.

She was convicted after being tried before a judge and jury in 22-day trial at B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. The court heard Kapoor had been married for 16 months before separating from her husband and in that time they had a son.

Justice Murray Blok described her marriage as “difficult and fractious.” On Sept. 27, 2017 Kapoor went to a passport

South Asian woman jailed for lying to passport officer, attempting passport fraud office in Surrey and presented a passport application for the child, containing a signature purported to be that of the father. The judge noted that this had been flagged by an alert system the father initiated with Passport Canada, “and so the application was not processed in the end, which explains the charge and ultimate conviction for attempting to utter a forged document.” A few days later, a passport officer phoned her to do a parental verification check and she told the officer the father wasn’t available because he had left the country. “Ms. Kapoor made the statement for the purpose of procuring a passport for their son; the statement was false; and Ms. Kapoor knew it was false,” Blok noted in his reasons for judgment.

The father, Sonam Makkar, provided the court with a victim impact statement.

“To summarize it very briefly,” Blok explained, “he said he has lived in constant fear that Ms. Kapoor might try to abduct their child back to India, a country which is not a signatory to the Hague Convention.” The Crown sought a jail term of six to 12 months in jail followed by probation conditions “crafted to minimize the risk of unauthorized removal of the child from Canada,” the judge noted, adding that the maximum sentence for attempting to set up a fraudulent passport is five years in prison and two years for knowingly lying to a passport officer.

Blok noted “these maximums do demonstrate the seriousness with which Parliament views these types of offences.”

The defence argued for a conditional sentence order (house arrest). The judge, however, Kapoor’s “element of planning and implementation” to be an aggravating factor.

“These offences were not the result of momentary lapses of judgment,” he determined.

“It is also an aggravating factor that Ms. Kapoor submitted this forged passport application for an infant against the express wishes of the father, the other parent, for the purposes of removing the child from this jurisdiction.” Blok found Kapoor to be “unremorseful.” Given the importance of protecting the integrity of Canada’s passport system, he said, “general deterrence is a very important factor here.” “She claims to have acted out of motherly love and that there was no risk of child abduction, but she has failed to recognize that her conduct reasonably gave rise to those very fears.” Blok concluded that “only actual jail time would meet the sentencing objective of specific deterrence.” “I have given careful thought to the length of sentence and I have given particular consideration to possible collateral immigration effects,” he said in his reasons for judgment. “”Ms. Kapoor may already have done irreparable damage to her future immigration status, but I am satisfied I can impose a sentence that meets all sentencing objectives here without creating potential immigration consequences.”

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Saturday, January 15, 2022

Inside the Toronto ICU where 70 per cent of COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated This is where the Omicron wave is starting to show its worst side: inside the ICU at Toronto General, which is filling up with critically ill COVID-19 patients, the majority of whom are unvaccinated. There are twice as many COVID-19 patients here than two weeks ago.

“Based on the pace of which we’re seeing the phone calls and referrals, we’re looking at that slope having a very steep uptick, so we are preparing ourselves for an increase in numbers of people who are seeking our support,” Dr. John Granton, head of respirology at University Health Network (UHN) and a critical care specialist at Toronto General, told CTV News.

Some hospitals are not seeing such a high percentage of unvaccinated cases — but part of this is that unvaccinated patients are more likely to have severe cases, and thus are more likely to have been transferred to hospitals like Toronto General that are equipped to care for the worst ICU cases.

And the sick patients in this ICU are younger.

“Twenties, thirties, forties — meaning the official definition of young, i.e., younger than me,” said Dr. Niall Ferguson, head of critical care medicine at the UHN and senior scientist with the Toronto General Research Institute. “And often without any significant comorbidities, any other major illnesses.”

Doctors say obesity and diabetes do appear to put people at higher risk of severe disease, but the biggest risk factor is those who have skipped getting their vaccine.

In Canada the unvaccinated make up less

than 13 per cent of the population. At Toronto General, which cares for the sickest COVID-19 patients, 70 per cent in the intensive care unit are not vaccinated. “In our units we’re seeing about two thirds of our patients are relatively young, unvaccinated and are showing up with severe disease,” Ferguson said.

It’s frustrating for health teams.

“This is happening, it’s real and we’re continuing to see it, and I’ve got to say, it is very discouraging to continue to see this,” Granton said.

While Omicron is milder for those with immunity, and is causing fewer deaths than earlier waves, it is still sending more people to hospital around the world due to its high spread. “It remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, DirectorGeneral of the World Health Organization, said. Ontario is reporting 3,448 people hospitalized with COVID-19, and 505 in the ICU, a number that experts are worried could increase over time. Among the ICU cases for which vaccination status was reported as of Jan. 12, 157 were unvaccinated, 19 were partially vaccinated and 167 were fully vaccinated. Ferguson explained that with the high case levels we’re seeing in Ontario right now, even if more of those cases are mild, there is still going to be a high number of people in the ICU. “The absolute number of severe cases is going to be a significant number, even if it’s a small proportion,” he said.

BC paramedics responded to nearly 100 drug overdoses per day in 2021, data shows Last year was the deadliest year for drug overdoses in B.C.’s history, and newly released data from B.C. Emergency Health Services shows it was also the busiest for paramedics responding to the overdose crisis, by a wide margin. BCEHS responded to 35,525 overdoses in 2021, an increase of 31 per cent compared to the previous year, and nearly triple the 12,263 it responded to in 2015. The province declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency in 2016, and the number of overdoses paramedics have responded to has risen every year since, according to BCEHS figures. “Every day in B.C., close to 100 people overdose,” BCEHS said in a news release Wednesday announcing the latest numbers. “One of the areas to see a dramatic increase in overdose call volumes is Surrey, with almost a 50 per cent increase over the previous year,” the agency said. Surrey saw a total of 3,674 overdose calls in 2021, which is more than 10 per cent of all overdose calls in the province. The largest share of overdose calls was in Vancouver, however, where paramedics responded to 9,993 overdoses, a 23-per-cent increase from 2020.

Victoria had the third-highest number of overdose calls for the year, with 1,952, up 24 per cent from the previous year. While those three cities combined to account for more than 40 per cent of overdose calls in the

province in 2021, BCEHS says every part of the province was affected.

Each of the province’s five health authorities saw thousands of overdoses in 2021, with calls breaking down as follows: Vancouver Coastal Health: 11,204 calls (up 24 per cent from last year) Fraser Health: 10,573 (up 45 per cent) Island Health: 5,917 (up 32 per cent) Interior Health: 5,417 (up 29 per cent) Northern Health: 2,414 (up 16 per cent) “Almost every community in B.C. had more overdose patients in 2021 than the previous year,” BCEHS said. Some of the largest percentage increases were seen in Courtenay (up 127 per cent to 467 overdose calls), Cranbrook (up 84 per cent to 191) and Mission (up 82 per cent to 397), according to BCEHS. Two communities that bucked the trend and saw decreases in overdose calls were Fort St. John (down 22 per cent to 97 overdoses) and Quesnel (down 25 per cent to 157). More data on 2021 overdose calls can be found on the BCEHS website.

According to the BC Coroners Service, there were 1,782 overdose deaths in the province through the end of October. That’s the most ever recorded in a calendar year, and two months of data from 2021 are still yet to be reported.

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, January 15, 2022

More Canadians moved to Alberta than any other province in 2021: Report How much would someone have to pay you to move to Alberta? For a lot of Canadians, the sum isn’t very great, apparently. Alberta welcomed more new residents in 2021 than any other province or territory in the country, according to new data released by U-Haul. The moving giant looked at one-way bookings of its moving trucks in 2021 to determine how many vehicles were rented and where they were frequently d r o p p e d off. It’s not a completely accurate representation of which cities are growing, since not everyone would’ve used a U-Haul move and since U-Haul isn’t a statistics firm, but it does give a blurry idea of where Canadians are heading. In the company’s own words: “While U-Haul migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well cities are both attracting and maintaining residents.” The spike in Alberta’s popularity probably isn’t due to a sudden interest in its annual Stampede, rather its incentivized jobs market, as U-Haul Area District VP of Western Canada Naga Chennamsetty points out.

“There are initiatives in Alberta that are creating more job opportunities and

attracting residents,” Chennamsetty said in a release. “In the last year, we have seen a lot of movement into Alberta. More communities are developing in and around major cities,” Chennamsetty said. “Not only that, but the Canadian Rockies are so accessible to residents here, and they offer a variety of recreational activities. Alberta is one of the best places to make a home.”

Ontario took third place on the list after B.C., but is host to five of the top 10 “Growth Cities” that received those who relocated during the pandemic. North Bay is the fastest growing for the second year running, according to the report, followed by Bellvelle and Subdury. “At the start of the pandemic we saw a mass exodus from Ontario to other provinces, particularly the Maritimes,” said Jake Spelic, U-Haul Area District Vice President of Eastern Canada. “People were in search of cheaper housing as they worked from home. As time has passed and things are shifting closer to normal, we are starting to see that trend reverse. Ontario is still the economic center of Canada and offers a high quality of living, thousands of job opportunities and attractive salaries.”

As the Omicron variant tears through the population with no signs of slowing, it’s safe to assume this pandemic-caused relocation of citizens hasn’t quite run its course. So if you’re happy where you are, hang on to your butt, because if you don’t, you might just end up an Albertan

11

BC health-care workers missed nearly 28,000 shifts last week due to illness British Columbia health-care workers missed nearly 28,000 shifts last week due to illness as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to gut workforces across the province. Nurses, paramedics and other health-care workers missed 27,937 shifts “due to short-term illness” between Jan. 3 and Jan. 9, B.C.’s health minister said during a live update on the province’s pandemic response on Tuesday. “This could be due to COVID-19, due to experienced symptoms of COVID-19, or due to other illnesses,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said. The minister said the province is looking for space to establish a field hospital in B.C.’s Lower Mainland if necessary to cope with the growing influx of COVID-19 patients, including potentially converting space at the Vancouver Convention Centre where there is currently a vaccination clinic. Dix stressed, however, that the move is a proactive one and the province does not require the emergency measure at this time.

“We are not moving to stand up a field hospital at this time, but of course we want to have all of the options available as we go through these difficult weeks,” Dix said. The majority of the health-care worker shifts that were missed due to illness last week were in the Fraser Health region, where staff called in sick to 7,151 shifts, Dix said. Approximately 5,183 health-care shifts were missed due to illness in the Vancouver Coastal Health region; 4,939 were missed in the Vancouver Island region; 4,713 were missed in the

Interior; and 1,308 shifts were missed due to illness in the Northern Health region.

B.C. paramedics and workers in the Provincial Health Services Authority called in sick to more than 3,100 shifts last week while Providence Health Care workers missed nearly 1,500 shifts, according to the health minister. “All health authorities are in the process of updating their contingency plans to ensure people in B.C. continue to receive quality, critical, urgent care when they need it,” Dix said.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry warned last week that all businesses and workplaces in B.C. should be prepared for up to one-third of their workforces to be sick with COVID-19 at any given time as the Omicron variant peaks in the province.

Henry is again urging all British Columbians to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as soon as possible as the current wave of COVID-19 infections is expected to last for several more weeks.

“The majority of people who are in our ICUs needing critical care right now continue to be people who don’t have that protection that vaccination gives,” Henry said Tuesday.

“If you are vaccinated, you have less risk of infection, particularly after your booster,” Henry said. “You are much more likely to have mild illness, to not need hospital care, to not need ICU care and to not die from this virus. And the risk that you’re going to pass it on to others is dramatically reduced.”

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12

Star & Style

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Sunny Leone trolled for not holding daughter’s hand?

Sunny Leone is a mother of three. She has twins Asher Singh Weber, Noah Singh Weber and daughter Nisha Kaur Weber with husband Daniel Weber. In a new interview, Daniel responded to criticism thrown Sunny’s way for allegedly not holding Nisha’s hand in public.

Sunny and her husband were spotted in Mumbai on Wednesday with the three kids. After the photos were shared by the paparazzi online, a few brutally trolled Sunny for not holding Nisha’s hand despite making sure to hold the hands of her two sons, who were

born via surrogacy. A few even said that he the actor has adopted Nisha ‘for publicity’.

Also read |Sunny Leone recalls being ‘bashed’ in infamous TV interview, says no one in the room tried to stopping it: ‘No one helped’ Daniel, in a recent interview, was asked about these trolls and the judgement around his and Sunny’s parenting. “Oh my god, this is absurd, I don’t even want to talk about it. I really don’t care about what people think. My sons are three years old and they run around as wild animals do in the park.

Kareena is back with her favourite yoga mat Kareena Kapoor Khan is happy that she is back at her favourite spot which is her yoga mat. The actress shared a picture of herself working out while sitting next to her son’s car.

Kareena is super excited to begin her new fitness regime for the year. During the New Year celebration, she enjoyed different types of foods and spent time with her loved ones. Now, the actress is back on her yoga mat and can’t wait to get back in shape.

Last year, She was tested positive for Coronavirus. The actress was under quarantine for and now She has fully recovered. The actress is now all set to up her fitness games.

Taking to Instagram, Kareena dropped a

photo of herself sitting on a yoga mat, placed beside her son Taimur’s toy car.

“Back at my most favourite spot, My yoga Mat.

Bollywood actors express grief over Bob Saget’s death In a heartbreaking news, the Full House actor and popular comedian, Bob Saget passed away.

He was found dead in his hotel room in Florida on Sunday, January 9.

Bob Saget was a global figure and the news of his demise came as a shock to the global entertainment industry.

Bollywood stars Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra,

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Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, Karisma Kapoor, Saba Ali Khan, expressed their grief over the actor, comedian’s death.

Star & Style

Saturday, January 15, 2022 Kajol celebrates Lohri at home Kajol Mukherjee, Devgan shared her pictures from Lohri celebrations with her son Yug and other members of the family at their house.

The pandemic may have stopped large-scale festivities but it hasn’t dulled the festive spirit for Kajol. On the occasion of Lohri, She shared glimpses of her homely celebrations of the festival with pictures of her with her family at home.

Kajol took to her Instagram to share some glimpses of the Lohr. She shared a picture of herself, son Yug, sister-in-law Neelam Devgan, and Neelam’s son Daanish on her Instagram.

The selfie shows Kajol and Neelam sharing

When Lara Dutta made a comeback with film ‘Bell Bottom’ and went on to be part of multiple projects.

Talking about her journey, she recently opened up about the kind of roles she is getting to play currently and said that the ‘cohort of women’ between the age of 35-55 was never talked about as nothing was made on them.

Highlighting how age has helped her to liberate herself in the 40s, Lara is happy for doing ‘age appropriate’ roles which she always wanted to potray as an actor. Asserting that the actress never entered the film industry to become a leading lady or a hero essentially, she said that all she wanted to be was an actor and went on to relate her current roles written for her. “I honestly believe

Dharmendra still young at heart

a sweet moment with their sons. “Mamas and babies and happies,” Kajol captioned the picture, adding a Lohri wish for everyone.

Hindi

remake

titled

'Selfiee!

Karan Johar announced his next home production “Selfiee”, starring Akshay and Emraan.

The film is Hindi remake of 2019’s Malayalam-comedy

Dharmendra, Dharam Singh Deol, for him, it can be said that ‘Age is just a number’.

The fitness and vivacity of Bollywood’s Veteran actor remains intact even at this young age of 86. Dharam pa ji is still young at heart. Dharmendra takes care of his health and he is very active at social media as well.

He does not let his fans miss any chance to get entertained.

By sharing the news on social media, Dharmendra fulfilled the proverb of ‘Ek Panth Do Kaaj’.

ThevideoofDharamPajishared on Instagram in which He is seen cycling and grinding wheat at the same time.

The fans are once stunned by the act of this actor.

Cycling, wearing tracksuit and

Lara Dutta shares her journey the cohort of women between the ages of 35 and 55 years was never addressed.

Nothing was made on them” she said.

Recalling typical roles of females in films previously, Lara said that one gets tired of such roles easily, much like how it happened with her once she reached her 30s. She said “And so that sabbatical when my daughter was born … was a blessing in disguise.”

She signed out by saying that she feels ‘incredibly lucky’ because only a decade ago the kind of roles she has now, didn’t exist for her predecessor.

Read Also Lara Dutta says film industry is not kind to actresses above 40; rude audience calls them ‘buddhi’

Akshay Kumar, Emraan Hashmi working together for ‘Driving License’ Selfiee is the Hindi remake of the 2019 Malayalam-language comedy-drama Driving Licence, which featured Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu.

Akshay Kumar, Emraan Hashmi collaborate for 'Driving License'

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Driving Licence, which featured Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu.

In a social media post on Twitter, KaranJohar shared a sneakpeek into the world of “Selfiee” via the title track which features Kumar and Hashmi dancing in the streets.

“P re s e nt i n g # S e l f i e e starring two absolutely smashing actors - Akshay Kumar & Emraan Hashmi, directed by Raj Mehta.

Hop into the frame and pose because shooting begins soon!” the 49-year-old producer wrote tagging Sukumaran, besides the star cast.

Lara is quite vocal about the topic of ageism in Bollywood. Earlier she had opened up about the plight of female actors of her age in the industry.

a cap, Dharmendra has reminded the fans of the past movies such as Sholay. The caption with the video read ‘Cycling, cycling, cycling and grinding mill…and grinding… and grinding.. haha’.

Seeing Dharmendra doing workouts as well as grinding wheat, the fans once again came down in praise of him. One wrote ’86 years old young boy… Yeh hai garam dharam’ and the other wrote ‘You are very down to earth’. May God give you a long life and keep inspiring us like this every day.

According to Lara, the industry is not kind to actresses of her age and they don’t allow them to age gracefully. Although there are some credible actors like Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Madhuri Dixit and herself.

14

LOCAL / NATIONAL Using vaseline to distort Covid-19 test results could actually be ‘Hazardous’ - Public Health Agency, Canada

Putting Vaseline up your nose to distort COVID-19 test results is not a good idea at all, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. In an email on January 7, PHAC responded to reports that passengers on the Sunwing party plane may have used the drugstore product in an attempt to produce a negative test result. “Petroleum products can be an inhibitor for molecular tests and would likely invalidate the test, causing an inconclusive result, and requiring that another test be performed,” a spokesperson for the agency told Narcity. “It is unlikely this would yield a negative test result,” they added. In fact, PHAC says that it could actually be “hazardous” to use Vaseline in this way, as it is “outside the scope of its recommended usage.” All travellers, regardless of their vaccination status, should expect to be tested on arrival to Canada.

According to Global News, some passengers on the controversial privately-chartered flight from Montreal used petroleum jelly in their noses to try to trick the COVID-19 tests into showing a negative result. Those involved reportedly believed that Vaseline is not soluble in water and therefore “has no pH,” meaning a positive result is impossible. The Director of McGill Office for Science and Society, Joe Schwarcz, debunked this in a post on the university’s website.

“It is extremely unlikely that this ruse would

work,” he said. “The test requires very few viral particles, and in any case, these would become embedded in the Vaseline.” However, he added that it would be impossible to confirm with absolute certainty whether or not it would actually work “without testing in a proper systematic fashion.” In an email to Narcity Quebec, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services) shared a similar response.

“Inhaling Vaseline in the hope that it will falsify a PCR test result is an zany, ineffective practice, and can potentially have harmful effects,” they said. “Don’t do it.” Not only is the practice potentially harmful, trying it could land you in big trouble too. “Providing false information to a Government of Canada official upon entry to Canada is a serious offence and may result in penalties and/or criminal charges,” PHAC told Narcity. The agency added that making a false declaration when boarding a flight to Canada — including presenting a fake test result — could result in a fine of up to $5,000.

“Violating any instructions provided when you enter Canada or putting others at risk of a serious communicable disease are offences under the Quarantine Act and could lead to up to three years in prison and/or up to $1 million in fines,” they said.

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Saturday, January 15, 2022

Ontario woman wins big lottery prize after getting ticket in ‘Secret Santa’ work gift exchange An Ontario woman is $250,000 richer after she won the top prize on a lottery scratch card given to her in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange at work. Welland, Ontaro woman Jennifer Lafleur said she scratched the ‘Merry & Bright’ lottery ticket when she got home from work on the first night of her Christmas holidays and said her heart starting pounding when she realized she had won. She texted her husband immediately and told him to come home, she said.

“I passed him the ticket and he asked if it was real, then gave me a big hug,” the 41-yearsaid. The health industry employee said she plans to pay part of her mortgage and also put money aside for her children’s education.

“I’d also like to invest and save some for a family vacation,” she said. “I have lots of

decisions to make.” The OLG says ‘Merry & Bright’ scratch cards are available during the holidays and cost $10. The top prize is $250,000.

Last week, the OLG announced two best friends, who used to be married, won the $44-million Lotto Max jackpot.

The OLG said Elizabeth Lumbo and her exhusband Arlene Lumbo will each take away $22,011,636 after winning the July 20 draw.

Omicron was in Nova Scotia wastewater before it was identified in South Africa New data from researchers at Dalhousie University show that Omicron was in Nova Scotia wastewater weeks before it was identified by the province — and even before the new COVID-19 variant was reported by South Africa. Graham Gagnon, professor, and director of the Centre for Water Resource Studies confirmed in an email that: “Our team detected Omicron , retrospectively, in Nova Scotia wastewater in mid-November and will be able to provide further information in the future.” The first case of Omicron in Nova Scotia was confirmed on Dec. 13, just a few weeks after it was reported in South Africa on Nov. 24. Gagnon’s team has been testing wastewater from Nova Scotia’s four main

treatment plants since December 2020. They have also been testing wastewater from the student residences at Dalhousie’s campus.

This type of testing will become a critical tool in tracking the spread of COVID-19 in the coming months as access to PCR testing across the country is becoming increasingly limited, said Mark Servos, professor and researcher in the biology department at the University of Waterloo. His lab is currently surveilling wastewater in the Peel, York, and Waterloo regions of Ontario. “As Omicron continues, the wastewater is going to respond by going up or going down and that’s what is going to help inform our policy people,” he said.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, January 15, 2022 Calgary real estate mogul Riaz Mamdani charged with domestic assault Well-known Calgary real estate mogul and once-victim of a near fatal shooting has been charged with domestic assault.

Mamdani was shot in 2016 as he left his Mount Royal home .

Riaz Mamdani, 53, was charged on Nov. 28 following an argument with his girlfriend at his Mount Royal home, CBC News has confirmed.

But in a statement issued by his lawyer, Mamdani calls the allegations “unfounded.”

“The complainant’s allegations against Mr. Mamdani are unfounded as part of a campaign to obtain a financial windfall from the breakdown of a casual personal relationship,” said defence lawyer Cory Wilson.

Wilson added that he has advised Mamdani not to make any further comment until the matter is resolved by the courts.

Real-estate mogul ID’d as man shot in

Rolls Royce outside Calgary mansion The Strategic Group CEO and philanthropist is a polarizing character in Calgary’s real estate market.

In 2018, Mamdani’s paid a partial settlement of more than $2 million in a class-action lawsuit which alleged a scheme involving a complex web of investments in a southeast Calgary strip mall.

There was no finding of guilt or liability against Mamdani or his companies.

As part of the settlement agreement, all of the claims against Mamdani and his companies were dismissed.

In December 2016, Mamdani was shot six times through the window of his Rolls Royce Phantom while pulling out of the driveway of his Mount Royal mansion.

Police called the targeted attack an attempted murder. A motive has never been identified.

Most new COVID-19 infections now in fully vaccinated people With nearly 90 per cent of B.C. residents aged 12 and up having had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the rapidly spreading Omicron variant is infecting vaccinated people in four out of five new cases, according to the latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. Of the 22,512 new confirmed cases the week of Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, 82.8 per cent were in fully vaccinated people, 2.5 per cent had one dose of vaccine and 14.6 per cent were not vaccinated. Adjusting for age in that week’s cases, as mostly younger people are not yet fully vaccinated, the rate per 100,000 population still shows more unvaccinated than vaccinated people catching COVID-19.

The latest hospitalization data are for the twoweek period from Dec. 23 to Jan. 5, where there were 359 people admitted to hospital with active COVID-19 infections. They show that 128 (35.7

per cent) were unvaccinated, 218 (60.7 per cent) were fully vaccinated and 13 (3.6 per cent) had one dose of an approved vaccine. B.C.’s new law is now in effect, requiring employers to provide up to five days a year of paid sick leave, and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has joined other health authorities in recommending a five-day self-isolation period for COVID-19 symptoms. With an infection rate that may be more than 10,000 a day in B.C., the shorter isolation period is an effort to keep enough health care and other essential staff on the job.

Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are also pleading with people to leave B.C.’s testing capacity for priority areas such as outbreak control.“If you are fully vaccinated, at lower risk and have mild symptoms, you don’t need a test,” Henry said in a briefing Jan. 7. “Omicron is spreading widely in our communities.

15

We need more health-care funding, premiers tell Justin Trudeau The last time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with his provincial and territorial counterparts, they discussed the “potential” for the Omicron strain of COVID-19 to lead to a rapid resurgence of cases which “could” put a strain on Canada’s health-care system.

On Monday they met again to confront the fact that their mid-December concern is now reality — and they’ve got to figure out a way through it.

The inaugural first ministers meeting of 2022 came as provincial testing capacity is overwhelmed, hospital beds are filling up, vaccines sit waiting for arms and public health restrictions threaten the economy once again.

The dire forecast saw Trudeau stress the

need for all premiers to get on board to promote vaccine uptake and also federal benefits to help the economy, two federal sources with knowledge of the call told the Star.

For their part, the premiers pressed Trudeau to speed up access and delivery of rapid tests, act more swiftly to procure COVID-19 therapeutics and also more broadly, increase health-care spending to help provinces expand their capacity to deal with the ongoing crisis.

The provinces also reiterated their request for the Liberals to increase the current Canada Health Transfer payment to 35 per cent from 22 per

Businesses can apply for BC govt’s COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant Companies that have been forced to close temporarily due to COVID-19 can now start applying for provincial grants of between $1,000 and $10,000.

The program was created as a result of December 22, 2021 provincial health orders shuttering non-meal-serving bars, nightclubs and lounges, as well as gyms, fitness and adult dance centres, and event venues.

The $10-million B.C. program supplements federal programs, including the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit and the Local Lockdown Program.

“This is not the way any of us wanted to start the new year with more strain on our

businesses, families and communities,” Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation Minister Ravi Kahlon said. “Our government will be there to help hard-hit businesses that have had to shut down and get them some necessary support to help pay their bills. We can get through this together as quickly as possible by going back to the basics—bringing back our COVID-19 safety plans for all businesses, recommitting to our daily health checks and continuing to follow all public-health measures.” The B.C. government expects more than 3,000 businesses will apply for the COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant.

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15837 WILLS BROOK WAY

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Excellent 3 level 1700SF home sits on 7900SF rectangular flat lot in the most demanding Panorama Ridge area of Surrey. Frontage 60'.House has total 4 bedrooms,2 bath, spacious living room, dining room & kitchen with new roof,24'X12' Patio,24'X19' detached garage. Lots of Parking. Easy access to all major routes. Live, rent or build your dream home.

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Welcome home! Situated in a family-friendly area of Grandview Heights in South Surrey. This 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom home features mountain views, offering a fully finished walk out basement with 2 bedroom suite and separate entry. The main floor has high ceilings, open concept layout, office, natural light, and sundeck out back with mountain views. Custom closet organizers, air conditioning, pantry.

Upstairs has 3 generously sized bedrooms that include a Master ensuite with mountain views, walk in closet. Fenced yard, double garage and extra parking space. Excellent location on a quiet street, easily walkable to shopping, recreation, parks, schools and quick HWY access. Down the street Sunnyside Elementary, New Grandview Heights Secondary school catchment.

A TRUE STUNNER! Rarely offered, this spectacularly landscaped home offers tons of privacy & tranquility. Located in the coveted subdivision of Chimney Hills, this 3 bed / 2.5 bath home is located on a HUGE 13,982 sq. foot lot. Highlights include NEWLY painted exterior, HARDWOOD floor & carpet on main, lots of NATURAL LIGHT, traditional layout with sunken living & family room, renovated kitchen with granite countertops & a nook overlooking the backyard, ONE YEAR OLD FURNACE & A/C plus Hotwater On Demand. Upstairs offers 3 bedrooms including a large master with a WI closet & ensuite fitted with a soaker tub. The beauty of this home is ac

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14103 110 AVE., N.SURREY

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Truly delightful huge basement entry app. 7200 sqft. home sits on rectangular 9965 sqft. lot. House features 11 bedrooms & 10 washrooms build by good reputation builders. Main floor has 5 bedrooms & 4 bath with huge family room,living room,kitchen,& spice kitchen.Ground level basement has 27'x15' media room with bar & washroom for upstairs use.House has 3 spacious ground level basement suites (3 bed.+3 bed & bachelor suite).Total rent of the suites is $3500/month.Very nice tenants.Easy access to Pattulo bridge, Port Mann bridge & shopping center.Motivated sellers.Easy to show.

$1,779,000

Truly delightful fully renovated 6 bedroom basement entry home sits on rectangular 7920 sf flat lot in most demanding area Aldergrove Langley.Main floor features 3 bed ,2 bath with new kitchen /island ,new flooring,new tiles , new woodwork,new fixtures,splash back,granite counters,new tiles,new cabinet, new windows,new zebra drapes,4 new washrooms & much more .Newly built 3 bedroom unauthorized basement suite with rear separate entry.Excellent renovated covered 333 sf Patio & deck.Landscape front & fully fenced back yard. Storage shed.Walking distance to both schools,shopping,community center with pools,water Park,ice arena,playing fields& to all major routes.

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This 4 bed / 4 bath executive style home on the bluff has outstanding 2nd floor views all the way to the North Shore. Above garage reno added in 2001 and larger reno in 2014 including solarium, upstairs bathroom, master bedroom with spa like ensuite. No expense spared with 2 way see through fireplace with jetted Chromotherapy/ Aromatherapy tub. Large walk in shower with rain head and body sprays. Enjoy the outdoor view in a private back yard with mature Palm and bamboo trees while you lounge around the concrete pool with attached hot tub. Pool is solar heated as well as gas and the yard is

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5843 180 STREET, CLOVERDALE 14030 GROSVENOR RD., NORTH SURREY

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Solid family home on almost 10,000 square foot rectangular lot in Cloverdale with loads of potential. Large open lot offers plenty of space for a pool, playground & trampoline; or use the extra space to build your dream home. Great central location close to shopping, transit & schools. Same owners since 1987. Three bedrooms up, one down in partially finished basement (just needs a closet). Walkout basement with its own entrance offers potential for two bedroom suite. Large covered patio off the living area overlooks the private, sunny backyard. Transform it into a modern, functional family home

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This well-maintained family home w/3-beds up, suite-potential down and a detached workshop/garage has everything you and your family needs, all located centrally. It's a 5 -10min drive to Guildford Town Centre & Hwy 1; only a 3min drive to Gateway Skytrain Station. The 2level home has a brand-new furnace, dishwasher & washing machine +plenty of other extras including a mobile accessible alarm system and a cozy living room gas fireplace for winter nights. The back deck located off the dining room is perfect for summer barbecues! In addition to the carport and the driveway that fits up to 4-5 vehicles, the 10,200sf lot (60x170) has a massive 1100sf detached workshop that will hold 3 cars, an RV or boat, and meet all of your storage needs.

16

Saturday, January 15, 2022

17

INDIA

Saturday, January 15, 2022

2.47 lakh new Covid cases reported; active cases highest in 7 months India logged 2,47,417 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 236 days, taking the total tally of Covid cases to 3,63,17,927, which includes 5,488 cases of the omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The country saw a single-day jump of 620 cases of the omicron variant, the highest so far, taking

the total tally of such cases to 5,488, out of which 2,162 people have recovered or migrated so far.

The active cases have increased to 11,17,531, the highest in 216 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,85,035 with 380 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,367 cases of omicron variant

followed by Rajasthan at 792, Delhi 549, Kerala 486 and Karnataka 479.

The active cases comprise 3.08 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate decreased to 95.59 per cent, the ministry said.

A total of 2,57,299 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day on May 21.

An increase of 1,62,212 cases has been recorded

in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The 380 new fatalities include 199 from Kerala and 40 from Delhi.

A total of 4,85,035 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,41,701 from Maharashtra, 50,076 from Kerala, 38,389 from Karnataka, 36,905 from Tamil Nadu, 25,240 from Delhi, 22,940 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,959 from West Bengal.

LEAD School becomes unicorn with new $100 million funding Despite the recent boom in consumercentric education and learning platforms in India, the majority of students in South Asian countries remain unserviced. Existing B2C products are expensive for most students and are heavily biased towards high school students preparing for competitive exams.

Lead schoolThe 9-year-old startup is working on this disconnect as follows: Utilizing infrastructure that

is already widespread throughout the country:school. And the model is working.

Existing backers West Bridge Capital and GSV Ventures said Thursday that they led Lead School’s Series E funding. A new funding round that boosts LEAD School’s previous funding to $ 170 million has doubled its startup valuation to $ 1.1 billion in nine months.

Founded by a couple of Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, the LEAD School works with

thousands of kindergarten to high school schools (most of which serve low-income families; LEAD begins a new session4. We estimate that there are over 5,000 schools a month). Has integrated a platform that helps protect books and other resources from vendors. This reduces the number of intermediaries and realizes quality assurance.

But more importantly, and why the

couple first started LEAD School. This startup helps teachers find ways to design curriculum, convey concepts to students, and evaluate learning outcomes.

Startups work closely with students to understand areas that need improvement.

LEAD School has found that the biggest challenge most students face is understanding English. This is also a factor that influences the way you understand most other subjects.

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UK launches free trade agreement negotiations with India

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UK government on Thursday announced the launch of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India, describing it as a “golden opportunity” to put British businesses at the “front of the queue” of the Indian economy.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said an FTA would take the country’s historic partnership with India to the next level, and highlighted Scotch whisky, financial services and cutting-edge renewable technology among some of the key sectors set to benefit.

The first round of negotiations is expected to start next week which, the British government said, would make it the UK’s quickest start of formal talks between negotiating teams following a launch.

“A trade deal with India’s booming economy offers huge benefits for British businesses, workers and consumers. As we take our historic partnership with India to the next level, the UK’s independent trade policy is creating jobs, increasing wages and driving innovation across the country,” Johnson said.

“The UK has world-class businesses and expertise we can rightly be proud of, from Scotch whisky distillers to financial services and cutting-edge renewable technology.

We are seizing the opportunities offered in growing economies of the Indo-Pacific to cement our place on the global stage and deliver jobs and growth at home,” he said.

Johnson’s statement came as his Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, prepared to meet with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush

Goyal in New Delhi for the 15th UK-India Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to review the progress within the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership agreed to last May

by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Johnson.

“A deal with India is a golden opportunity to put UK businesses at the front of the queue as the Indian economy continues to grow rapidly,” Trevelyan said.

“By 2050, India will be the world’s thirdlargest economy with a middle class of almost 250 million shoppers. We want to unlock this huge new market for our great British producers and manufacturers across numerous industries from food and drinks to services and automotive,” she said.

“As an independent, deal-making nation, the UK is broadening our economic horizons and forging stronger partnerships with the fastestgrowing economies of the world. India marks the start of our ambitious five-star year of UK trade and will show how the deals we negotiate will boost the economies across all nations and help level up all regions of the UK,” said the minister who is scheduled for bilateral talks with senior Indian Cabinet ministers before she concludes her two-day visit to the country on Thursday.

An India-UK FTA is billed in the UK as creating huge benefits for both countries, with the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to GBP 28 billion a year by 2035 and increase wages by up to GBP 3 billion across the UK. A deal with India is also pegged as a “big step forward” in the UK’s post-Brexit strategy to refocus trade on the Indo-Pacific, home to half of the world’s population and 50 per cent of global economic growth.

INDIA

Saturday, January 15, 2022 A key Congressional panel has voted in favour of the nomination of Los Angeles Mayor Eric M Garcetti to serve as the US Ambassador to India. US President Joe Biden nominated Garcetti as his ambassador to India in July last year. If confirmed by the Senate, Garcetti, 50, would replace Kenneth Juster, who served as the US Ambassador to India during the Trump administration. Juster was appointed as a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in July. Besides Garcetti, the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday endorsed 11 other ambassadorial nominations, including Amy Gutmann to be the

19

Key Congressional panel clears nomination of Los Angeles mayor as US envoy to India US Ambassador to Germany, Donald Armin Blome to be the Ambassador to Pakistan and Joe Donnelly to be the envoy to the Holy See. The nominations now move to the Senate floor for a final confirmation vote.

“It is bipartisan that these vacancies be filled whichever party is in control of the White House,” Ranking Member Jim Risch said.

Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, rued that over 55 nominees were still pending before the

committee and many challenges around the world are awaiting them.

After Biden’s nomination, Garcetti had said he was honoured to accept the nomination and would bring the same energy, commitment and love with which he served the sprawling city to his new role in the world’s largest democracy.

“Today, the President announced that I am his nominee to serve as US Ambassador to India. I am honoured to accept his nomination to serve in this role,” Garcetti, a Democrat, had said in a

statement soon after Biden announced his nomination.

He has travelled several times to India, most recently as a councilman. In college, he spent a year studying Hindi and Urdu.

“It’s the largest democracy in the world, soon to be the most populous country in the world, one of the top handful of superpowers in the world,” Garcetti said. “We can’t get our climate goals without India hitting its climate goals.

We can’t see the economy truly reopened to international commerce and tourism until Covid is under control.

No lockdown plan, migrants needn’t panic, says Gurugram DC Putting an end to rumours, Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Dr Yash Garg today said the Covid-19 situation in the district was under control and that there was no need to impose any lockdown.

“People should abstain from rumour mongering and make migrant workers around them aware about the real situation. We are maintaining a close watch so that there is no

been asked to update all domestic helps and other staff about the situation and ensure that containment is not confused with lockdown.

Private transporters, who run buses to Bihar and Bengal, have also been put on alert against supporting any such exodus. Dr Yash Garg, Gurugram DC, said, “We are maintaining a close watch so that there is no panic exodus.”

panic exodus. Everyone should, however, exercise Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he said.

The administration also reviewed the functioning of industrial units. Various industrial associations have appealed to the workers not to pay heed to rumours, but strictly observe Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Residents’ welfare associations have also

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INDIA

Saturday, January 15, 2022

India’s Refyne raises $82 million to help workers get faster access to wages Refyne has raised a new financing round, just seven months after securing its previous funding, as the Bengaluru-based startup scales its platform that helps workers access their earned salaries in real time.

Tiger Global led Refyne’s $82 million Series B funding, the two said Wednesday. Existing backers QED Investors, partners of DST Global, RTP Global, Jigsaw VC and XYZ Capital also participated in the new round, which takes the one-and-a-halfyear-old startup’s all-time raise to $106 million.

Refyne did not disclose how it was valued in the new round, but its co-founder and chief executive Chitresh Sharma told TechCrunch in an interview that the valuation has surged 6.5 times since the Series A in June.

Refyne is building what is known in the industry as an earned wage access platform, where a link is established between reward and work. The startup works with employers to enable their workers to access their earned salaries in real time. An employee with the partnered firm can log into Refyne and see how much they have earned in a week and withdraw

a fraction of it anytime they wish, for instance.

It’s not rare for people to run out of cash between their paychecks. In that moment, they either take a loan from friends and family, or go to a bank or, in an alarmingly high number of cases, approach loan sharks.

Refyne is serving clients who hire both white-collar and blue-collar workers, so for many of them, a bank loan is unlikely an option.The idea — which has been put to test in several markets — appears to be showing signs of a market fit in India, the world’s second-most populous nation. More than 150 firms — including Practo, TeamLease, Tenon, Shadowfax, Rebel Foods, Acko, BlackBuck, Arti Group and Cafe Coffee Day — are working with Refyne today to enable the service for their over 700,000 employees, Sharma said.

Its clients today operate in a wide range of categories, a factor that Sharma said requires Refyne to employ different strategies to best serve each.

“For manufacturing sector, we have an on-ground team that goes for orientation and induction.

Seventy percent of our effort goes before deploying.

Govt fires back at Elon Musk as He blames red tape for delay in Tesla’s entry in Indian market The world’s richest person tweeted to say the company is still working through a lot of challenges with India’s government to secure final approvals to begin selling cars in the world’s fifth-largest auto market.

Musk was responding to a Twitter query, seeking an update on when Tesla would finally begin selling its cars in India.

The development comes a month after Tesla’s V2 superchargers were spotted in India and reports that the maker of Model 3 sedan had secured approvals for a total of seven models from the country’s vehicle testing and certification agencies.

Tesla’s Model 3 and Y test cars have often been spotted on Indian roads.

The electric vehicle maker currently sells four models and their variants in the United States.

Why It Matters: An unnamed senior Indian government official, in a conversation with leading local daily ET Now, dubbed Musk’s tweets a tactic to pressurize the Indian government through social media.

“At present, Tesla can bring in the cars in CKD (completely knocked down) form with zero duty and assemble and sell them here.

India to export mangoes to USA, import cherries and pork The US has approved import of mangoes and pomegranates from India and secured New Delhi’s approval to supply of cherries, alfalfa hay, pork and pork products to India, the two governments said in separate statements.

The export of Indian mangoes and pomegranates to the US is in accordance with a recent agreement between India’s Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for implementing the “2 Vs 2 Agri market access” issues, the commerce ministry said in a statement. “Under the agreement, India and the US would follow joint protocol on irradiation for India’s mango exports and pomegranate exports

to the US and import of cherries and Alfalfa hay from the US,” it added.

The agreement was signed in pursuant to the 12th India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting held on November 23, 2021.

Meanwhile, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) also announced India’s agreement to allow US pork and pork products into India.

A statement issued by the office of USTR on Monday said: “United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today announced that the government of India has agreed to allow imports of U.S. pork and pork products into India, removing a longstanding barrier to U.S. agricultural trade.”

Jaish terrorist, cop killed in J-K encounter; 3 soldiers injured A Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist and a policeman were killed and five persons, including three soldiers, injured in an encounter in J&K’s Kulgam district on Wednesday, the police said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Pariwan area

following information on the presence of militants, officials said. The operation turned into an encounter after militants opened fire. IGP (Kashmir zone) Vijay Kumar tweeted: “A JeM terrorist was killed.

One cop, Sg Ct Rohit Chhib, attained martyrdom. Three soldiers were injured.” —

Another BJP minister resigns from Yogi govt in UP In another jolt to the ruling BJP in pollbound Uttar Pradesh, state minister Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday resigned from the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet.

Earlier on Tuesday, minister Swami Prasad Maurya quit and three MLAs announced resignation from the party. Chauhan hit out at CM Yogi and the BJP, saying oppressed, poor, backward, Dalits and youth “on whose shoulders the BJP rode to power in 2017, did not get justice, while others took all benefits”.

An OBC like Maurya, Chauhan said he

would consult his samaj before deciding the next course of action even as the SP tweeted a welcome message. Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lauded him as a “relentless fighter of the struggle for social justice”. He said, “The SP and its allies will unite and empower the movement of equality and eliminate discrimination.” Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya urged Chauhan to reconsider his decision before getting aboard a “sinking boat”. Sources claimed around 12-14 BJP MLAs, including ministers, would submit their resignations in coming days.

21

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Punjab Unlike 2017 Punjab elections, NRIs keeping low profile Unlike the previous Assembly elections when they were all over social media supporting their favourite candidates, NRIs’ interest this time is rather subdued. They are not active on social media. No politician has gone abroad and shared pictures with NRIs at fundraiser dinners. NRIs are not even making calls, sharing videos or sending WhatsApp messages to voters in

Punjab to favour any party or candidate.

Satnam Singh Chahal, executive chairman of the North American Punjabi Association, offers an explanation. “NRIs are disappointed with the Punjab leadership because it has failed to deliver on its promises,” he says.

Harinder Sandhu, a university professor in Canada, says “NRIs see no meaningful solution to the political situation in Punjab.

FIJI Ministry prioritizes staff’s well-being The Ministry of Health is delaying the deployment of the booster doses to give time for healthcare workers to rest and ensure their safety during this current wave of COVID-19.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says this is why the booster vaccination campaign was minimized over the festive season.

It’s not in procurement; we are facing challenges in deployment because I need to ensure that our staff get enough rest. They’ve been going at this for the whole year.” The Minister for

Health Doctor Ifereimi Waqainabete reassures that there is sufficient stock to ensure that every eligible Fijian gets their jab on time.

“So when they do arrive that’s made available. And certainly, as we all know we have it because of the tremendous support from multilateral partners”.

The Fiji Medical Association President, Doctor Basharat Munshi, says the booster jab is safe and people should consider taking

Punjab Congress under pressure to name CM nominee Pressure is mounting on the Congress high command to declare a CM face for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Raising the issue at different levels of the party forum over the past few days, several leaders, including some ministers, have been demanding that instead of giving the

Opposition a chance to raise the issue, the party should clearly name the chief ministerial candidate.

Charanjit Singh Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu are two main contenders for the party’s CM face.

A senior AICC leader said the Congress was waiting for AAP to declare its CM face before announcing its

Majithia quizzed for 2 hours in NDPS case, alleges plot A three-member special investigation team (SIT) led by AIG Balraj Singh questioned Bikram Majithia in a drug smuggling case. for about two hours at the state crime branch police station. The questioning began around 11 am.

Granting interim anticipatory bail to the Akali leader, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had asked him to appear before

the SIT, barred him from leaving the country till the next date of hearing and to share with the SIT his live location through WhatsApp. ‘Drugs for vote’: Notice to Punjab election panel The Punjab and Haryana High Court took cognisance of ‘drugs for vote’ incidents in Punjab It issued notice to the Election

Film on engineer Jaswant Singh Gill who saved 65 miners Bollywood is all set to make a movie on Amritsar-based Er Jaswant Singh Gill, who died on November 26, 2019. Gill had played a significant role in the rescue work of miners that got trapped inside a flooded coal mine in Raniganj of West Bengal in 1989.

Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Vicky Kaushal are under consideration for Gill’s role.

Gill was awarded “Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak” by President Ramaswamy Venkataraman in 1991. Lately, a chowk on Majitha Road was also named after him.

Pakistan New security policy seeks peace with India: Report Pakistan is “not seeking hostility with India for the next 100 years”, said an official in Islamabad while offering sneak preview to the media of its first-ever security policy. “Economic security will be the central theme of the new national security policy…. But geo-economics does not necessarily mean we overlook our geo-strategic and geo-

political interests,” Pakistani media quoted the official as commenting on the unclassified 50 pages of the policy which will be unveiled by Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Friday. Another 50 pages of the policy will remain classified. Don’t want hostility with India.

Economic security will be the central focus of the new national security policy.

Highest numbers of Covid-19 cases detected Karachi reported the highest ever daily count of confirmed Covid-19 cases during the past five months, including 40 of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, it emerged.

“Since August 2021, we have the highest number of 1,347 cases detected through 12,114 PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) tests,” a statement released by the Chief Minister House.

With more than 40% population still waiting for their first dose of Covid-19, According to health department officials, the

vaccination target has not been met as planned and 90 per cent of the patients currently being treated in the Covid-19 wards are those who did not opt for vaccination. According to official data, with 1,347 new cases in the province, 1,200 cases were detected in Karachi alone.

Strict enforcement of SOPs ordered.

Realising growing number of Covid -19 cases, Health Minister, Sindh chaired meeting to share the concern over facts that significant number of people had not received their first dose yet.

Court order 4 to death in case of blast outside Hafiz Saeed’s residence Anti-Terrorism Court sentenced four persons to death after convicting them guilty in the blast outside Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’s house here, according to a court official.

Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta also handed down five years imprisonment to a woman, identified as Ayesha Bibi, during the in-camera trial proceedings at high security Kot Lakhpat Jail here.

Three people were killed and over 20 others injured in the blast outside Saeed’s residence here on June 23, 2021 that also damaged a number of houses, shops and vehicles in the area.

“The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore awarded death sentence to Eid Gul of banned Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Peter Paul David, Sajjad Shah and Ziaullah on nine counts.

Another suspect Ayesha Bibi was handed down five years imprisonment,” a court official

Well known bowler Wahab Riaz sells ‘channa’ on street World class pace bowler Wahab Riaz, who has been away from international cricket for some time now, took to the Twitter to post a video in which he is seen selling ‘channa’.

Your “Chano wala Cha-cha” of the day!

“Your “Chano wala Cha-cha” of the day!

Send your orders ‘kia banaon aur kitnay ka

banaun?’ P.S. Loved spending some time around this special handcart reminded me of my childhood days,” Riaz captioned the post.

The video went insanely viral in no time.

The speedster hasn’t last played any ODI or T20 match since 2020. He last played Test match for the national team in 2018.

Cyclone Cody causes huge damages in Fiji Fiji has suffered huge infrastructure damages due to tropical cyclone Cody, especially in the western side of Viti Levu, the country’s main island, and some partsofthecentraldivisioncausingpowerblackouts.

Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) Chief Executive Hasmukh Patel said on Tuesday that the cyclone has brought continuous heavy rain and floods, thus causing infrastructure damages, reports Xinhua news agency.

Patel said some power lines are still down and Fijians are urged to stay away from them and alert the EFL as soon as possible to avoid accidents and death.

According to the Ministry of Education, schools will remain closed until they receive clearance from the National Disaster Management Office that it was safe to reopen, as 58 schools are being used as evacuation centres and will need to be decontaminated once the weather has improved and the situation was cleared by the Ministry of Health.

Some parts of Labasa in Vanua Levu, the second largest island in Fiji, remain flooded as a result of the heavy rain.

The National Weather Office has forecasted occasional heavy rain for the northern side as the threat of further flooding still remains.

High vaccination results in low hospitalizations The current number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is an indication that the vaccination program is effective as no one is currently in critical condition.

Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says the higher proportion of COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital had visited the facility for other reasons.

205 people are currently admitted in hospitals, of which 114 are from the Central Division. “If a higher proportion of the COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital are diagnosed incidental to the reason why they are admitted to the hospital, that’s a good indication of how strong our vaccination is.

22 Press release

Saturday, January 15, 2022 B.C. paying the price for NDP’s broken affordability promises

B.C. continues to see skyrocketing prices for food, housing, and fuel in 2022, despite the NDP government’s repeated promises to make life more affordable.

“This NDP government has twice campaigned on the promise of making life more affordable for British Columbians, and yet, after more than four years as government, the cost of living has increased by nearly every metric,” said Mike Bernier, BC Liberal Critic for Finance. “Food is more expensive, housing prices continue to climb, and gas prices are predicted to reach record highs — how is this the improved affordability that people were promised? The NDP has not just failed to improve cost of living, they’ve sat idly by as the problem has worsened, and patted themselves on the back for it.”

In 2021, B.C. experienced five straight

months of elevated inflation over 3 per cent, with the rising costs of housing, gasoline, and groceries headlining the increases.

Throughout B.C., property values have risen by astronomical amounts in the last year, with some municipalities noting average increases of more than 40 per cent.

Meanwhile, experts predict that gas prices in Metro Vancouver could soon reach a record new normal of $1.85 per litre.

“The people of B.C. have endured two of the most challenging years in recent memory, and as a result, they are desperately looking to the NDP to finally deliver on their promises to make life easier,” said Bernier.

“However, it has become increasingly clear that this government is incapable of keeping the promises they made, not once, but twice and British Columbians are paying the price.

Surrey businesses still waiting for BC COVID-19 closure Relief Grant Application Portal to open

Press release

The Provincial Government created a COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant for businesses that have been fully closed due to the December 22, 2021, Provincial Health Officer orders. It is the second week of January and this funding is still not available.

“Many businesses are operating at reduced capacity to protect the public, customers, and staff, which is eroding their bottom line,” said Anita Huberman, President & CEO, Surrey Board of Trade. “Businesses are waiting for

the grant application portal to open and for funds to be immediately disbursed. Further, there are other businesses in our membership that are not eligible for any grants or funding even though they are suffering as a result of pandemic restrictions. The BC Government needs to broaden the eligibility list.”

The Surrey Board of Trade asks the BC Government to open a communication portal for businesses that have questions or need help.

Nobby Singh’s 4th song ‘Harkheya Jatt’ under Zikki Media’s banner Press release

Punjabi singers Nobby Singh and Gurlez Akhtar knock the door of people’s playlists with another song ‘Harkheya Jatt’ featuring Sruishty Mann. This is Nobby’s third project under the banner of Zikki Media. As of

now, the audio song has been released while the video will soon be uploaded.

Nobby Singh and Gurlez Akhtar have sung ‘Harkheya Jatt’ while it is penned by Ranbir Grewal.

INDIA

Saturday, January 15, 2022

5 killed, many injured as Assam-bound train derails in West Bengal Five people were killed and at least 50 were injured after 12 coaches of the GuwahatiBikaner Express derailed on Thursday evening, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said in a statement. The train was bound for Guwahati and the accident took place in the Maynaguri region around 5 pm, the statement said, adding that 1,053 passengers on board at the time.

According to officials, the injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Jalpaiguri and Maynaguri town. The condition of 20 passengers is critical.

Railway officials who were part of rescue and relief operations said the coaches derailed

National

US man who re-entered Canada 20 minutes after being deported loses appeal, gets jail A U.S. citizen who illegally entered Canada 20 minutes after being deported has lost an appeal of the nine-month jail sentence he received from a Surrey provincial court judge in 2020.

Gabriale Rene St. Constantine, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of returning to Canada without authorization, after being deported under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and was sentenced to nine months in jail less 47 days for time served.

The sentencing judge in Surrey didn’t accept his explanation he entered Canada because of political unrest and violence in Oregon and as a “Caucasian citizen of the United States of Jewish faith” had experienced intimidation, harrassment, and threats “or violence” there.

St. Constantine also felt, given his age and medical conditions, he would be much safer from COVID-19 in Canada than in the United States but the judge concluded he “would have been well aware that COVID is a global pandemic.”

She characterized his actions as “selfish,” and found he flagrantly disregarded Canadian law by re-entering Canada only 20 minutes after being deported, and ignoring COVID-19related health restrictions and protocols.

St. Constantine appealed the sentence as demonstrably unfit, arguing the judge overemphasized deterrence and failed to consider “collateral consequences associated with COVID-19.”

Subject to two previous deportation orders, he was arrested by Canada Border Services Agency officers and taken to the Pacific Highway Processing Centre where he pursued but later abandoned a claim for refugee status.

“Nine hours after his arrest, a third deportation order was issued to Mr. St. Constantine,” Justice Leonard Marchand, of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, noted in his Jan. 11 reasons for judgment.

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in the Alipurduar section of the NFR between New Domohani and new Maynaguri stations.

The rescue operations ended on Thursday night.

Jalpaiguri: Rescue and relief operation after Guwahati-Bikaner Express got derailed at Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri district of West Benga.

The ill-fated train was running 2 hours 41 minutes late during its three -day journey. It started from Bikaner late on Wednesday night and was supposed to reach Guwahati early on Friday morning.

Dilip Kumar Singh, divisional railway manager of the Alipuarduar section of the NFR said, “Several teams have rushed to the spot.”

23

28,867 new Covid-19 cases as Delhi sees highest ever single-day tally Before this, the Capital’s highest one-day case spike was on April 20 last year, when the city registered 28,395 Covid infections -- the peak of the devastating fourth wave.

Delhi registered 28,867 cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, the city’s biggest ever singleday tally, as the third national wave of the pandemic -- the fifth wave in Delhi -- eclipsed a record set 269 days ago, even while a relatively small number of patients continue to occupy hospital beds. Before this, the Capital’s highest one-day case spike was on April 20 last year, when the city registered 28,395 infections -- the peak of the devastating fourth wave.

The data showed that Thursday’s case rise came on the back of nearly 99,000 tests, of which 29.21% returned positive results, an increase from 26.2% positive samples a day earlier. This number, known as test positivity rate, is at its highest since May 3 last year, when it touched 29.5%.

The city also added 31 deaths of the infection, showed Thursday’s state government numbers, fewer than the 40 fatalities recorded the previous day, and still far lower than the numbers recorded during the heights of the fourth surge of infections between April and May last year.