The Asian Star February 29 2020

www.theasianstar.com

Vol 19 - Issue 5

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Tel:604-591-5423

NDP gov’t allows Surrey to have its own Police Force BC’s solicitor general has formally authorized the City of Surrey to establish its own municipal police force, which will replace the Surrey RCMP, and start hiring a police board. Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum announced the decision on Thursday, saying it was Day 1 of the new police department.

“The time has come, and some would say it’s

municipal campaign platform, and council voted at its first meeting in November 2018 to proceed with the transition.

In May 2019, the city submitted a policing transition report to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, which was prepared by the cities of Surrey and Vancouver and the Vancouver Police

long overdue, for Surrey to have a police of its own, where accountability begins and stays within our city,” McCallum said.

Setting up a Surrey police force was one of the key pillars of McCallum’s

Continued on page 6

Chinese-Canadian Doctors urge everyone returning from China to be quarantined

India, US committed to defending people from radical Islamic terrorism: Trump A visibly overwhelmed US President Donald Trump on Monday said “from this day on India will hold a very special place in our hearts” as he faced a wildly cheering, packed-to-the-rafters crowd of over one lakh at the “Namaste Trump” rally at the Motera cricket stadium here while millions watched the proceedings live on TV. Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose address preceded Trump’s speech, also said the visit will start a new chapter in India-US ties that will usher shared prosperity to both Continued on page 9 Harvinder Sandhu

A group of 23 Chinese-Canadian doctors have signed an open letter urging that everyone returning from China enter a voluntary, 14-day quarantine, a surprising counterpoint to the softer approach espoused by public-health officials. Dr. Stanley Zheng, the Toronto family physician who drafted the missive, went further in an interview Wednesday. He said he believes “unequivocally” the federal government should make such isolation Continued on page 7

Sukhi Bath Motors celebrating 40th Anniversary!

It’s 40 years since Sukhi Bath took a leap of faith to open his own dealership. Having worked for a major franchise dealership for 10 years, Sukhi Bath decided to go into business for himself despite his family’s misgivings and caution.

“It was a shock to my family when I left the General Manager position at that dealership. I mean, I had a great pay, new car every year, great benefits, company credit card and I was managing 130 employees!

My family couldn’t believe I was walking away from all that.

Especially my dad,” states Mr. Bath. He continued sharing that he explained to his father he was doing all the work as general manager helping the company make huge profits off his efforts and knowledge. He was now ready to help himself. “I realized I had enough experience to handle and manage the pressure of running a dealership, and with my product knowledge, I felt it was time to start my own business. The only thing I didn’t have was the funds.”

Before becoming a car salesperson, Mr. Bath had not owned a car of his own, or for that matter, “I did not even Continued on page 8

Hindu man battling for his life after saving 6 Muslim neighbours from mob which burned their house The national capital witnessed extremely horrific communal riots over the past few days, which initially started as a clash between pro and anti CAA groups. The clashes took an ugly turn and soon took a communal colour leaving more than 27 dead and close to 200 injured. Amid violence, there were many who whole-heartedly came out in support of those in need and offered help in every capacity. Delhi Gurdwaras opened their doors to Muslim Continued on page 8

Trump says CAA is India’s internal issue not for others to interfere

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3

www.theasianstar.com

Vol 19 - Issue 5

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Tel:604-591-5423

David Eby calls on BC Liberals to stop withholding money laundering documents

T

he BC Liberals are refusing to release all relevant cabinet documents to the Cullen Commission into money laundering, Attorney General David Eby disclosed.

Speaking on day one of the commission, Eby said the BC Liberals have now received the documents relating to money laundering under their government. However, former Finance Minister Mike de Jong is trying to pick and choose which documents are provided, even though he and other BC Liberals may be called into the inquiry as witnesses.

“He is in a profound conflict of interest,” Eby said. “My expectation, and I think the expectation of all British Columbians, would be that the BC Liberals would instruct the public service to disclose, without qualification, without censorship, the entire package of relevant cabinet records about money

laundering directly to the Commission of Inquiry.” David Eby is calling on Andrew Wilkinson and de Jong to agree to send all the documents to the commission.

“I will be responding to MLA de Jong and advising

both him and Mr. Wilkinson of what their clear obligation to British Columbians is,” said Eby. “It is simple. Instruct the public servants who compile these cabinet documents to send the full package of records. No pages cut out, no reports left out, to the commission. Full stop.”

19 months have passed since Eby first requested that the BC Liberals provide access to the documents to assist efforts to fight money laundering.

4

OPINION

By Lee Harding Research Associate Frontier Centre for Public Policy

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Socialism doesn’t help community, it destroys it

“God giveth and the government taketh away,” goes the old, wry saying. God aside, it’s people who won’t or can’t give when the government takes away.

A recent survey of generosity in the United States and Canada gives proof. The more centralist and socialist a society becomes, the less voluntary giving occurs. Socialism doesn’t help community, it destroys it.

The Fraser Institute’s 2019 Generosity Index examined charitable giving in Canadian provinces and American states in 2017. Among provinces, Manitoba had the highest percentage of tax filers who gave to charity at 23.4 per cent; New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador had the least at 17.9.

In dollar amounts, Albertans gave the most at $2,703 each and Quebec the least at $746. In percentages of income, Manitobans gave the most at 1.02 per cent, and Quebecers the least at 0.32 per cent. Over the past 10 years, all of these percentages have dropped for every single province.

When it comes to charity, the United States puts Canada to shame. Only 19.9 per cent of Canadians give and the average donates C$1,800, or 0.54 per cent of their income. In the U.S., 24.9 per cent of Americans give, with the average donating US$6,751 or 1.52 per cent of their income. People in every state but West Virginia give a higher percentage to charity than Canada’s leading province, Manitoba.

Total donations were US$256.3 billion in the United States and C$9.8 billion in Canada. If Canadians gave as high a percentage of their income to charity as Americans, they would have given $27.1 billion.

Are Americans inherently more selfless than Canadians or are other factors at play?

The state with the highest percentage of income given is Utah at 3.15 per cent. It seems more people in the Mormon state take seriously the religious obligation of paying tithes to the church. It’s possible that more Americans give because more of them are religious than Canadians.

Another possibility is that Canada’s welfare state has made its people less able or willing to give. The government can only give what it has taken from someone else. A comparison of tax levels on both sides of the border also shows sharp differences.

According to the Tax Foundation, Americans in 2017 paid 30.1 per cent of their income to national, state and local taxes. The Fraser Institute reports that the average Canadian in 2017 paid 43.4 per cent of their income to taxes.

Charitable giving plus taxes still leaves 68.4 per cent of income in the American’s pocket, but just 56.1 per cent in the Canadian’s pocket. Canadians had less in their pocket than Americans without giving a single cent.

Socialists may talk about care for one’s neighbour, but the reality is that people are less likely to care for one’s neighbour the more socialist a system is. This is for two reasons.

For one, they have less money and time to help their neighbour. They’re working too hard and to long and are left with too little to offer the help. Secondly, when people believe it’s the government’s job to help someone, they stop doing it themselves. Progressive tax brackets ensure the more someone works, the more the government takes, so why would they work harder? Collectivism undermines personal initiative so severely that even starvation can’t motivate people enough. The pilgrims who founded Plymouth, Mass., in 1621 nearly starved for the first two years because of communal living. William Bradford wrote about in his History of Plimoth Plantation: “The experience … may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato and other ancients … that [the] taking away of property, and bringing in community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort.”

Lee Harding is a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

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Saturday, February 29, 2020 From page 1

NDP gov’t allows Surrey to have its own Police Force Department, and provided an overview of what Surrey’s force is expected to look like, including staffing numbers and costs. Three months later, Solicitor General Mike Farnworth gave the city to continue the process, and set up a joint project team led by former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal to conduct the research and analysis to fill in the gaps. The team began its work in September, and submitted its 450page report to the provincial government in January. That report has not yet been released to the public. The areas the committee examined included pensions and collective agreement, recruitment, training, information management, information technology, investigative file continuity and business impacts. As previously announced by the city, RCMP members will be able to transfer their pension to the municipal pension plan after they are hired. Salary and benefits will be in keeping with other municipal departments, and

the collective agreements will also be similar.

A detailed recruitment plan has been developed and will be presented to the police board upon its formation for review and authorization. It outlines the process to recruit the chief constable and executive team, plus a transitional recruitment unit.

It’s expected a number of experienced officers will be hired, along with new recruits. The city is working with the Justice Institute of B.C. to make sure enough people can be trained to work for the police department.

Although extensive work has been done on information technology, there is more to be done and a cross-agency team has been struck to complete that work. A key issue is maintaining continuity of investigative files, and it’s expected investigations and criminal proceedings will not be adversely affected. Surrey RCMP and the new department will work together on the transfer of responsibilities.

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Saturday, February 29, 2020 From page 1

Everyone returning from China to be quarantined

mandatory for all people arriving here from China and the world’s other COVID-19 “hot spots.” South Korea, Iran and Italy have also had significant outbreaks recently. Current government protocols for dealing with the novel coronavirus are not tough enough to hold off the emerging infection, suggests the letter from the Toronto-area doctors.

“We are a step ahead of the policy … but we believe it’s the right thing to do,” said Zheng, who noted he and his colleagues are on the “front lines,” serving patients daily who have just returned from China. “This is about containing the virus, this is about isolation of the virus, not isolation of people,” he said.

“It has nothing to do with discrimination whatsoever. It’s a global fight against this virus. Let’s contain it if we can.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) requires people who have been in Wuhan — the Chinese city at the epicentre of the new epidemic — to isolate themselves for 14 days after landing in Canada.

Others who come from China are urged to monitor their symptoms and report any that could be signs of COVID-19 to local publichealth authorities, but not to automatically self-quarantine. Zheng said the letter was written Tuesday night after public-health officials warned that the new coronavirus could soon turn into a pandemic, potentially spreading widely between people in Canada.

Those comments prompted panic in the Chinese-Canadian community, with many people stockpiling food and medication, actions he said will do little to protect them.

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8 From page 1 touch cars before coming here,” states Mr. Bath. Like everyone else who migrates to a new country Mr. Bath took on whatever jobs he could to feed his family, from driving a

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Sukhi Bath Motors celebrating 40th Anniversary! taxi to other manual labour related jobs. His one burning desire was to have a job where he could wear a tie and suit to go to work.

Once he got his Permanent Residency visa, he walked into a dealership to work as a car salesperson.

Being able to speak English was what helped him.

“In fact, they hired me because I could speak both Punjabi and English. I was the only Punjabi worker among 130 employees of that dealership.”

He progressed from salesperson to Sales Manager to eventually becoming General Manager at that dealership within 10 years.

Mr. Bath shares how he started his dealership with 5 cars. “In this business you

have to have money to be in business because you have to buy the cars first to sell them.” He rented a small corner and started, and month by month his business grew to now he is carrying an inventory of 400 cars between 8 million to 9 million dollars worth. At the beginning he did everything, including washing the cars himself.

Mr. Bath shares he’s philosophy on being a successful business owner, “Don’t be negative, and have goals. That’s the most important. I found having solid, well-planned goals helps guide a person to what they need to do to be successful.

I am also a strong believer in being punctual and disciplined. Even today after 40 years, I still come to work with a tie on.”

Quoting a Punjabi saying, “Your word is your bond”, Mr. Bath states this has helped him build his business in Surrey with over 68% repeat clientele, in fact, 3rd generation family members have come to his dealership to buy their cars.

To celebrate it’s 40th Anniversary, Sukhi Bath Motors is inviting everyone to come into the dealership and entre a chance to win a 2019 Toyota Corolla on Feb 29th.

The grand celebration starts at 1 p.m.

From page 1

Hindu man battling for his life after saving 6 Muslim neighbours families who were forced to flee their homes. There were several warm stories of people saving lives of those targeted. In one such case, a Hindu man saved lives of his six Muslim neighbours when an unruly mob set their house on fire. When Premkant Baghel saw his Muslim neighbour’s house being set ablaze he stepped out to help them.

He said the Hindu-Muslim communities live in harmony in Shiv Vihar but the riots brought out a different side. Miscreants threw petrol bombs and set Muslim homes on fire. As soon as Baghel got to know about the incident, he ventured out to save the lives of people trapped inside the burning house. Baghel put his own life in danger and saved the lives of six of his neighbours.

Baghel suffered severe burns while saving his friend’s aged mother who was trapped inside in fire. Even as Baghel saved several lives, no one offered a vehicle to take him to a hospital. The neighbours called an ambulance but the medical vehicle never reached them. Baghel spent the entire night at his house with 70 per cent burns. His friends and family had given up hope. In the morning, he was taken to GTB Hospital, where he was given immediate medical attention.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

The WHO and China: Dereliction of Duty The World Health Organization (WHO) was founded in 1948 with the lofty goal of ensuring the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all people. In the years since, the organization has been instrumental in controlling or eradicating communicable diseases and investing in healthcare capacity across the globe. However, the WHO is now facing rising international criticism over outsized Chinese influence in the organization’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

The WHO Director-General (DG) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been an outspoken advocate for the Chinese government’s COVID-19 response. On January 28, Tedros met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Following the meeting, Tedros commended China for “setting a new standard for outbreak control” and praised the country’s top leadership for its “openness to sharing information” with the WHO and other countries. Yet in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese officials were busy arresting and punishing citizens for “spreading rumors” about the disease, while online censors controlled the flow of information. Despite growing evidence of China’s mishandling of the outbreak and rising domestic Chinese outrage over the government’s censorship, Tedros remains unmoved. On February 20 at the Munich Security Conference, Tedros doubled down on his praise for China

stating that “China has bought the world time.”

In contrast to his effusive praise for China, Tedros has been quick to criticize other countries for their responses to the outbreak. He called upon nations not to limit travel with China and warned against the “recrimination or politicization” of the outbreak. Domestic Chinese news coverage prominently features Tedros’ praise of Xi Jinping and criticism of foreign governments.

More concerning is Tedros’ delay in declaring COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). On January 23, the WHO’s emergency committee was split on whether to declare a PHEIC. With final authority resting with the DG, Tedros decided to wait despite admitting that “this is an emergency in China.” A week later, he declared a PHEIC. By that point, confirmed cases of COVID-19 had increased tenfold with 7,781 cases across 18 countries. John Mackenzie, a member of the WHO executive committee, publicly stated that international action would have been different if not for China’s “reprehensible” obfuscation of outbreak’s extent.

China’s influence in the WHO is also evident in the organization’s treatment of Taiwan. Since China acceded to the UN in 1971, it has periodically blocked Taiwan’s WHO membership on the grounds that the democratically governed island is part of China.

BC Liberals call for ban on foreign funds to pipeline protesters As a gas pipeline protest camp continued to grow in front of the B.C. legislature Wednesday, Skeena MLA Ellis Ross called on the NDP government to end a “coordinated assault on the Canadian economy” financed by U.S. charitable foundations.

The B.C. Liberal opposition compiled contributions to protest groups including the Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club B.C., West Coast Environmental Law, Dogwood B.C. and Stand.Earth (formerly ForestEthics), questioning the NDP government as police began dealing with railway and roadblocks opposing the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northern B.C.

Ross has been a vocal critic of efforts to stop the LNG Canada natural gas export facility under construction at Kitimat, where Ross worked on the proposal as chief of the Haisla Nation before being elected MLA for the region “The Haisla Nation chief and council have been working hard for 15 years to bring an end to the social issues that plague not only our own band but bands all across B.C. and Canada,” Ross told the legislature.

“We’ve been successful over the last 15 years.

Through hard work, we now have jobs. We have training programs.

Talks between Wet’suwet’en Nation and provincial and federal governments break down “They asked us to tell them to step down and basically bring down the barricades. I can use Mohawk as an example, they are a sovereign nation, you can’t tell a sovereign nation what to do,” he says. “They have to make their own decisions. But if these meetings would have continued, they would have voluntarily taken them down anyway. So this is on British Columbia and Canada right now.”

Chief Na’Moks says the willingness to speak to federal and provincial governments was always there, adding there will be no progress made unless both sides come to a resolution.

“The situation across Canada wouldn’t be

From page 1

where it is right now if they came and spoke to us earlier, because our willingness to talk was always there,” he says. “There always seemed to be an obstacle in the way on their part. And we thought for sure was happening, because we’re all ready for it. The agenda set everything is set for tomorrow morning.”

Meantime Premier John Horgan has released a statement about talks breaking down.

He says while ‘it’s unfortunate’ they’ve been unable to come to an agreement when it comes to meeting with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, they remain interested in meeting in the near future.

India, US committed to defending people from radical Islamic terrorism: Trump

nations. “With this visit, India-US relations are no longer just another partnership. It is a far greater closer relationship,” he declared.

Trump delivered his customary platitudes, terming the pageantry as a “stunning display” of Indian culture and appreciating the “spectacular welcome” to a “magnificent country” whose hospitality his family will “remember forever”. Turning to PM Modi, Trump borrowed from daughter Ivanka’s speech during her Hyderabad visit two years back, to recall how he started as a “chai wallah’’ to evolve into a tough negotiator for his country’s interests as prime minister. But Trump also underlined what makes India

standout among a group of large and powerful nations. “Here is all the difference between a nation that coerces and intimidates its people and one that rises by letting its people free to chase their dreams that is India,” he said in comments that went unappreciated as compared to his account about the defeat of the ISIS or the resolve to defeat Islamic radicalism. Before coming to the business end of his trip — more defence deals and a mega trade deal — Trump reiterated this point further down his speech delivered under a late winter sun that had become uncomfortable. “India’s rise as a prosperous and independent nation is an example to every nation in the world and one of the most

LOCAL

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Overcome by compassion, NRI from Canada marries slum dweller of Barnala Setting an example, an NRI from Canada has got married with Manjit Kaur (36), daughter of a slum dweller from Bhadaur town of Barnala district.

Manjit Kaur had participated in a nationallevel competition of badminton, but had to leave sports due to lack of money for her treatment while Mahinder Singh Bhullar (40) learnt about her from a newspaper in Canada.

Both got married on January 12 and today visited the Barnala Deputy Commissioner’s office for the registration of their marriage.

Kaur belongs to an SC family, does not even have a house and stays in a hut, while Bhullar, who belongs to Dhapali village of Bathinda district, has been in Canada since 1990 with his family and running a business of selling plants.

“After participating in a national-level competition, I suddenly started suffering from fever and pain in joints. The pain continued from 2009 till 2019. My father died in 1998 while my mother had to sell even utensils for my treatment,” Kaur said while showing her certificates in sports.

She has three sisters and two brothers and all married and live separately while she resides with her mother.

Things took a turn for her when Bhullar read about her in a newspaper in Canada in December 2018. Since he did not have any contact number of her, he sent his cousin Gurmail Singh from Dhapali village to find her.

“After I got her number, I started calling her and proposed to marry her because I

want to help her permanently rather than giving some money. She accepted my proposal and I came to India on January 7.

We got married on January 12,” Bhullar said

From page 1

while sitting with Kaur in her house.

He said earlier, he did not disclose his plan to marry Kaur to his family members, but told them later in the last week of December.

Trump says CAA is India’s internal issue not for others to interfere

I don’t want to blow the two days plus two days of travel on one answer, one little answer, like John will ask me one simple question and you will blow it out and that will be the end of the trip. You won’t even talk about the trip. So I will be very conservative in my answers if you don’t mind,” Trump said at a press conference.

Describing the Kashmir issue as a “big problem” between India and Pakistan, he said it is “a thorn in a lot of people’s sides” and reiterated his offer to mediate between the two countries to ease the tension. “If anything I can do to mediate, I will do,” he said, adding that Pakistan figured in his talks with Modi.

Canada will not pay for Prince Harry & Meghan’s security after March 2020 Canada has been providing RCMP security to Prince Harry and Meghan since November, Public Safety Canada has confirmed to CBC News, after weeks of speculation about whether Canadians would have to pay for the couple’s security bills while they are in this country.

But the Government of Canada intends to cease contributing to those costs “in the coming weeks,” says the office of Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex cease their activities as working members of the Royal Family on March 31. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex choosing to relocate to Canada on a part-time basis presented our government with a unique and unprecedented set of circumstances. The RCMP has been engaged with officials in the U.K. from

the very beginning regarding security considerations.

“As the Duke and Duchess are currently recognized as Internationally Protected Persons, Canada has an obligation to provide security assistance on an as-needed basis.

At the request of the Metropolitan Police, the RCMP has been providing assistance to the Met since the arrival of the Duke and Duchess to Canada intermittently since November 2019. The assistance will cease in the coming weeks, in keeping with their change in status.”

British media, citing British sources, said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had already given the U.K. a commitment that the Canadian government will contribute to the costs.

11

Saturday, February 29, 2020

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12

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, February 29, 2020

BC residents in Wet’suwet’en territory have right to police presence: Public Safety Minister Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the Mounties have left an outpost on the road to a disputed natural-gas pipeline project in B.C. but he appears to dismiss the notion that police will move completely out of the vast Wet’suwet’en territory. The hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation at the heart of countrywide rail and road disruptions have said they will not meet with federal and provincial officials to discuss their opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline until the RCMP

leave their traditional territory entirely and the pipeline company ceases work in the area.

Blair said this morning the RCMP, which is under contract to police provincially in B.C., has removed its officers from an access road to a work site for the pipeline and stationed them in the nearby town of Houston, about 300 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C. But when it comes to the hereditary chiefs’ demand that the RCMP leave the 22,000 square kilometres of the Wet’suwet’en traditional territory —

BC child poverty rate falling, according to StatsCan data B.C’s child poverty rate appears to be significantly declining, according to a new Statistics Canada report titled “the 2018 Canadian Income Survey,” which shows the rate decreasing to 6.9 per cent in 2018 from 12 per cent in 2016.

For the B.C. government, the sharp decline is evidence its policies are working, but according to a child poverty advocate, the statistics aren’t using up-to-date numbers for things like housing costs — which have increased considerably.

ShaneSimpson,ministerofsocialdevelopment and poverty reduction, said minimum wage increases, child care and housing policies, including rent supplements, along with a strong economy have all contributed to the decrease in child poverty reflected in the StatsCan data.

Simpson also acknowledged that the federal Canada Child Benefit, which was launched as part of the 2016 budget, has helped.

Taxpayers’ watchdog launches probe of child benefit rules, program “There’s no doubt it’s truly a combination of federal and provincial initiatives that are making a difference,” he said.

Simpson said the success of the federal scheme demonstrates that a similar provincial plan — which will reach 290,000 families — will also help kids get out of poverty.

“The Child Opportunity Benefit, a very significant piece of our child poverty strategy will kick in in October, and that will put significant money into

UBC faculty to receive 2% wage increases for next three years The University of British Columbia (UBC) and its faculty association have ratified a new agreement set to last the next three school years.

The new mandate will see wage increases and modest funding increases for professional development for the nearly 4,200 faculty members at both UBC Vancouver and

UBC Okanagan over the next three years.

Wages of all faculty members will increase by two per cent each year the agreement is in effect between July, 1 2019 and June 30, 2022.

The funding increases will provide faculty and sessional lecturers the resources to further enhance learning for students, research innovations and productivity.

Boy, 5, will donate organs after crash that killed his father & brother near Kamloops The five-year-old boy whose dad and older brother died in crash that gravely injured him was scheduled to donate his organs on Wednesday, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the family.

“Quinn [the younger child] will be donating his heart, liver and kidneys tonight.

He is a hero. The family appreciates, and is thankful for, all of the love and offers of support. In the near future there will be a time to celebrate the lives of Mike, Liam and Quinn.”

The victims of the single-vehicle crash south of Kamloops on Sunday — in which a father and son were killed and another young boy left in hospital in grave condition — have been identified through an online fundraising site.

Mike Cochlin and sons Liam and Quinn were travelling northbound on Highway 5A near Stump Lake when their vehicle left the road and plunged down an embankment.

Emergency crews were called to a stretch of Highway 5A 30 kilometres south of Kamloops at about 5:45 p.m., when they found the Alberta family’s vehicle heavily damaged down a steep embankment.

Mike, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene, while Liam, 8, and Quinn, 5, were rushed to Royal Inland Hospital, where Liam later died. Quinn remains in critical condition at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.

The fundraiser on GoFundMe was

created on Tuesday night and had raised more than $23,000 toward a $100,000 goal as of Wednesday morning. The post identifies the Erin Cochlin as Mike’s widow and the mother of Liam and Quinn.

The fundraiser can be found by going

online to gofundme.com and searching “Cochlin Family Support Fund.”

Police issued a press release on Monday morning stating that each of the three occupants of the vehicle had died, then sent out a correction by email on Tuesday afternoon, saying one of the boys was alive, but in grave condition in a Vancouver hospital.

RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie also said she would not be providing any further updates on the child’s status.

Snow was falling in the Kamloops area on Sunday night, but it’s not yet known whether weather played a role in the crash.

Nevertheless, Shelkie said the incident should serve as a reminder to drive safe.

“The RCMP would like to remind motorists to always drive defensively and cautiously,” she said.

LOCAL

Saturday, February 29, 2020 An aviation fuel company has pleaded guilty to spilling fuel into a mountain stream in the Slocan Valley seven years ago and handed a hefty fine by a provincial court judge.

Calgary-based Executive Flight Centre Fuel Services Ltd pleaded guilty last Friday to one count of a deleterious deposit into waters frequented by fish, under the Fisheries Act. The company made the plea in Nelson Provincial Court and has been fined $175,000.

The majority of the fine – $165,000 – will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund to be used for fish habitat conservation efforts

Trucking company fined $175K for Kootenay creek fuel spill in the Slocan Valley, according to a release from the province’s conservation officers service.

The maximum fine at the time of the offence was $300,000 The ruling came after 35,000 litres of jet fuel was spilled into Lemon Creek in the Slocan Valley, northwest of Nelson, in 2013.

The spill contaminated the waterway that is a tributary of the Slocan River, led to residential evacuations and cost the trucking company approximately $5 million in clean-up costs.

Family of missing South Asian mother makes public plea Family and friends of Nirla Sharma, a New Westminster woman who disappeared from her home early Monday morning, are placing posters in the community in the hopes someone with information on her whereabouts will come forward.

The New Westminster Police Department’s Major Crime Unit is involved in the search for Sharma, 44, a mother of two. Police say her case is considered high risk because her disappearance is out of character.

Sharma’s 20-year-old daughter, Vanessa Sharma, wants her mother to know that her family is desperate to find her.

“We just want her to come home, or if she could just call us and let us know that she’s safe, that we love her,” she said.

Nirla Sharma has been missing since early Monday morning from her family home on Lawrence Street in the Queensborough neighbourhood. She was last seen at 9 p.m. Sunday when she went to bed.

Nirla Sharma has a tattoo on her left arm of an OM symbol and tattoos of a crown on her right wrist, a rose on her tailbone and a design on her left ankle.

(New Westminster Police Department) Family members heard their front door chime at 4 a.m. Monday morning, but thought it was their mom letting the dogs outside.

She did not show up for work at BC Hydro, Vanessa Sharma said.

Her mother had left the house without her debit and credit cards, Vanessa Sharma said, adding she didn’t take her work and personal cellphones.

Mother-of-two’s unusual disappearance investigated by major crime unit in New Westminster, B.C. She said the only thing missing from the house was her mother’s Apple watch, which police have used to try to locate her.

Vanessa Sharma believes her mother was wearing pink pyjamas from the night before. Also missing were a pair of running shoes and a black-hooded jacket.

Police have released photos of the type of clothing that Sharma could be wearing.

New Westminster police released photos of the type of clothing Nirla Sharma may have been wearing when she disappeared overnight on Feb. 23.

Pedestrian killed on Surrey’s Highway 17 Surrey RCMP say one person is dead following a collision Wednesday evening involving a pedestrian.

According to a news release, the incident occurred at approximately 6 p.m., in the 10200-block of Highway 17.

The pedestrian died at the scene, and the driver of the vehicle involved was co-operative, police say.

No further information regarding the pedestrian was shared.

Highway 17 was closed to

13

traffic between Nordel Way and Tannery Road for “several” hours.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or with information that could assist investigators is asked to call the Surrey detachment at 604-599-0502. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or solvecrime.ca, quoting file number 2020-30155.

The tanker truck full of fuel was destined for helicopters fighting a forest fire in the area.

The fuel truck driver, Danny Lasante, was earlier convicted of one count of introducing waste into environment causing pollution, contrary to section 6(4) under the Environmental Management Act and fined $20,000. Half of that fine is directed to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, and due in 2021.

The multi-jurisdictional investigation into the spill included the B.C. Conservation Officer Service and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The Province of B.C. was acquitted of all charges related to the spill.

The spill cause widespread concern in the rural Slocan Valley that the fuel had contaminated local drinking water supplies.

Walter Popoff, a local politician, says the event hit the community hard.

“Initally it was a major impact,” says Popoff. “There were concerns about the water, effect on crops, health effects, so it had a major, major impact.

“But as we worked through it, most of the issues were resolved, and the concerns were addressed. We moved forward.”

The justice was served a month too late for one of the principal activists who pushed for criminal prosecutions in the case.

Man wanted on six warrants allegedly assaults cop, sparking chase across Lower Mainland A police chase crossing multiple Lower Mainland cities ended with a man being arrested on the Capilano Bridge in West Vancouver Wednesday afternoon.

According to RCMP, the chaotic incident first began shortly after 1 p.m., when a police officer pulled over a vehicle bearing Ontario licence plates during a routine traffic stop on Highway 1 near Bradner Road in Abbotsford.

The vehicle was uninsured, police said, and an identification check on the driver revealed he was wanted on six warrants from another province.

Police do not release the name of an individual unless they have been charged.

“When the officer attempted to take the man into a custody, the driver

allegedly assaulted the officer and an altercation ensued, resulting in the driver taking the officer’s police vehicle keys and fleeing the scene in a small black car,” Mounties said in a statement.

Police from multiple detachments followed the vehicle “from a distance” through several Lower Mainland cities, “while seeking opportunities with partnering police to stop the vehicle safely,” police said.

Police were able to stop the vehicle along the congested Capilano River Bridge in West Vancouver, and the man was taken into custody.

The initial traffic cop suffered only minor injuries, according to Insp. Todd Balaban with E-Division Traffic Services.

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LOCAL

Saturday, February 29, 2020

VPD search for sex offender who cut off ankle bracelet A sex offender who has been convicted of multiple crimes against children cut his ankle bracelet and has not been seen since leaving his Downtown Eastside home Friday around midnight, according to Vancouver Police.

38-year-old Kristjon Olson served an 8-yearand-one-month sentence in federal prison for crimes including: sexual interference, sexual assault, publishing child pornography, and possessing child pornography.

Sgt. Aaron Roed with the Vancouver Police Department says Olson’s sentence has expired, but he remains bound by 27 conditions including a curfew and electronic monitoring.

“He did remove his bracelet and leave the residence which is a breach of that recognizance, so those are the offences that we are looking at right now,” Roed says.

“He is deemed by the courts to be a high-risk sex offender. This is why we’re letting the public

know he is wanted by us. The public needs to be aware that he’s out there.”

When Olson was

released from prison in 2017 the VPD issued a warning.

“The Correctional Services of Canada has assessed Olson at a very high risk of sexually reoffending. At risk are female and male children and teenagers, including strangers, acquaintances, intimate partners, and the general public,” it read.

Olson is described as Indigenous, 5’8” tall, and 245 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes, with a light complexion. When he left his home he was caught by surveillance video.

Anyone who sees him is urged to call 911

Fisherman charged after throwing explosive into crowd of sea lions A commercial fisherman from B.C. has been charged with throwing an explosive device toward a group of sea lions in the Strait of Georgia last year.

Allen Marsden is facing three counts under the Fisheries Act and Explosives Act for tossing a small, explosive device known as a “bear banger” from his boat toward the crowd of animals on March 4, 2019.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)

confirmed the charges Wednesday but declined to comment further.

A video of the explosion posted to Facebook last year shows Marsden lighting the fuse of the bear banger before throwing it into the water. (The devices are typically used to scare away bears or other animals on land.)

After the blast, the sea lions can be seen swimming away. Marsden can be heard laughing in the video.

Surrey couple return to Canada after boarding COVID-19 stricken cruise ship in Japan A couple from Surrey is one step closer to finally being home after they were taken off that COVID-19 stricken cruise ship in Japan this week. Surrey’s Marichu Torrijos and her husband Ding were on board the Diamond Princess ship, which was the site of the largest outbreak of COVID-19 outside of China. Now the couple is in quarantine in Cornwall, Ontario, and will stay there for another two weeks. The couple is trying to stay positive and pointing out their new accommodation in Ontario has a window to

look out of, something their spot on the cruise ship did not. “Something good can come out of this, stronger character, stronger will,” she says. “We know there are a lot of people who care for us.”

Marichu and Ding have both tested negative for COVID-19, and they say they are both happy.

“In our lives, we always believed that anything that is out of your control, you don’t really worry about it,” Ding says.

Alberta tourist dies after fall from 70 metre cliff in Vancouver’s Stanley Park A 26-year-old tourist from Alberta has fallen to his death while climbing a fence at a popular lookout point in Vancouver’s Stanley Park late Sunday.

A statement from Vancouver police confirms the man had hopped a chesthigh fence at Prospect Point at around 8:30 p.m. PT Sunday and plunged about 70 metres before hitting the ground.

“He [...] lost his footing on the cliffs above the seawall and tragically fell to his death,” said Sgt. Aaron Roed.

“The information we have right now is he’s the one who climbed over the fence. They were there with him, but they don’t have any correlation to why he fell.”

A 26-year-old Alberta man is dead

after falling onto Vancouver’s seawall from Prospect Point in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020.

A similar deadly accident occurred in 2014 when 22-year-old Abbotsford, B.C., resident David Huynh climbed over the fence in almost the same place.

Then UBC student David Huynh, 22, died after falling 70 metres from Prospect Point in Stanley Park while visiting with friends in 2014. (Facebook) A police investigation is continuing into Sunday’s fall and Roed says it may never be known why the man jumped the fence.

The B.C. Coroners Service is also investigating the death.

Man arrested after police chase from Abbotsford to West Vancouver A man who allegedly assaulted a police officer and stole the officer’s car keys has been arrested following a police chase that started in Abbotsford and ended in

West Vancouver Wednesday afternoon.

Shorlty after 1 p.m., RCMP say an officer with Fraser Valley Traffic Services pulled over a small black car with Ontario licence plates for driving without insurance on Highway 1, near Bradner Road in Abbotsford.

When police ran the driver through their computer, they found he was wanted on six warrants from another province. RCMP say the officer was assaulted while trying to take the man into custody and during the tussle, the man managed to steal the officer’s keys and flee the scene in the man’s own small black car.

‘I felt really stranded’: B.C. woman says she struggled to access care after miscarriage Police from neighbouring agencies worked together to safely follow the car from a distance, looking for opportunities to safely stop the vehicle, according to RCMP. As the car approached the Capilano River Bridge in West Vancouver, two police officers managed to stop it and take the man into custody.

“A call like this really demonstrates the ability of policing agencies across the Lower Mainland to work together to thwart criminals and ensure public safety,” said RCMP Insp.

Todd Balaban. Plea flip-flop in West Kelowna murder trial stuns courtroom “Thankfully, our officer suffered only minor injuries,” said Balaban.

“It also goes to show there really

LOCAL

Saturday, February 29, 2020

15

Fraser Health advises local school districts about contacts of latest BC Coronavirus case Health officials in B.C.’s Fraser Valley say contacts of the latest presumptive case of coronavirus in the province may have attended school in the area, but that there is no public health risk in the region.

Fraser Health sent a letter to the school district for Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver, on Friday, to explain that students had contact with the latest case. It also sent the letter to School District 43, which serves Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and the villages of Anmore and Belcarra.

The letter came a day after provincial officials announced a woman in her 30s, who had returned from a trip to Iran, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The case surprised officials when they

learned she had only visited Iran, and not China or neighbouring countries that have had the bulk of COVID-19 cases.

The latest report from the World Health Organization said that Iran has reported 18 cases and four deaths from the virus.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said on Thursday that she expected an international investigation into how the woman, who visited Iran, picked up the coronavirus.

She said health officials are looking into when the patient’s symptoms started, to help determine if they need to notify those who travelled with her on the same aircraft. The patient is recovering in isolation at home.

BC landlord ordered to pay $11K for pressuring new mother to move The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a Lower Mainland landlord to pay $11,000 to a family she pressured to move out after they had a baby.

In a decision dated Feb. 19, the tribunal ruled Germaine Valdez was discriminated against on the basis of her sex and family status by landlord Meltem Bahcheli.

Germaine Valdez moved to Canada from the Philippines with her son in 2010. She lived with her parents and worked towards sponsoring her husband to join them in Canada. He did, and in 2017, the family started looking for their first apartment.

“The Valdezes were originally interested in a two-bedroom apartment,” the decision reads. “At this point, their first son was

nine years old and Mrs. Valdez was about five months pregnant with their second.”

When they went to view the apartment, Bahcheli told them the two-bedroom unit was not available right away and offered them a one-bedroom instead.

The Valdezes took the one-bedroom unit, happy it was more affordable.

When Valdez gave birth to her second child months later, she texted Bahcheli from the hospital to inquire if there would be any changes to the tenancy agreement.

Bahcheli’s response was “not positive,” saying she was not OK with four people living in a one-bedroom apartment.

“That’s not what I signed up for,” Bahcheli texted Valdez. “You will need

Surge in Fraser Health home-care complaints concerns seniors advocate A steadily increasing number of complaints about home health care in Fraser Health and across British Columbia has the province’s senior’s advocate concerned.

More than 30,000 people in the Fraser Health region receive home care, but while that number has only been slowly growing, the number of clients filing official complaints about home care has nearly doubled over the last three years.

Last year, the Patient Care Quality Office received 356 complaints in Fraser Health, according to a report issued in December by the province’s Office of the Seniors Advocate. That figure is up 25 per cent from the previous year and more than double the number of complaints in 2015/16.

A similar story can be seen across the province, where the number of complaints has risen by triple digits each year since 2015.

Those increases can’t be explained away by a similar jump in the number of people receiving home care, which was increasing at the same rate. Despite B.C.’s aging population and the desire by health authorities to treat more patients outside of hospitals, the number of home care visits grew by less than one per cent.

“There are more complaints relative to the number of hours and number of clients,” Isobel Mackenzie, the province’s Seniors Advocate told The News.

Mackenzie said many of the complaints relate to dissatisfaction about both access to services, and

the actual services received by clients.

“I think that part of it is people are not getting as much services as they have in the past.”

Her diagnosis is considered presumptive until confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

There are five confirmed cases in B.C. and one presumptive case. There have been no deaths, and the first confirmed patient in B.C. has fully recovered. n Friday, a letter from Fraser Health Medical Health

Officer Dr. Ingrid Tyler said that officials were monitoring the patient and speaking with anyone who had contact with her.

The letter said that some contacts, “may have attended school in the region and are currently isolated.” It did not say how many people attended school or if the contacts were the woman’s family members.

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Saturday, February 29, 2020

Manitoba people with criminal records can’t be discriminated against: Human Rights Panel A new decision from an adjudication panel for the Manitoba Human Rights Commission has said Manitobans are now protected from experiencing discrimination based on a criminal record.

This decision comes after a man said he was discriminated against based on his criminal record.

Chief Adjudicator Michael Werier found that criminal records are not specifically listed in the Human Rights Code, but they should be protected by the code.

“Many individuals in Canada with criminal records are individuals who come from certain backgrounds and/or

Pictures, video of suspect wanted in attempted theft of seaplane in Vancouver released Vancouver police have released images of the person they believe broke into the Harbour Air seaplane terminal last week and tried to steal a seaplane.

Three planes were damaged after the suspect managed to get into a Seair float plane early Friday morning after breaking into the facility at the harbour around 3:30 a.m.. No one was hurt, but a number of passengers were forced to head to Vancouver International Airport due to damage. “This was a very unique scenario and one our members don’t see every day,” VPD Constable Tania Visintin said in a release. “This was a very dangerous situation and we are thankful that no one was injured.” The man apparently tried to take off

while in the float plane, but was unsuccessful and instead crashed into several other aircraft that were docked at the terminal. Witnesses have said they spotted a man running away from the area at the time.

The suspect is described as a man in his 40s who is about 5’10” tall with an average build. He has short brown hair, a slightly receding hairline, and what police describe as a pronounced brow ridge.

He was wearing a long-sleeved red zipup sweater at the time of the incident, along with dark pants and dress shoes.

suffer from addiction or mental disabilities and can be subject to stereotyping and discrimination for the rest of their life,” Werier said in a news release.

He added the code looks to address the stereotyping and discrimination.

The Manitoba Human Rights

Commission said it hopes it is now clear that people who have criminal records cannot experience unreasonable discrimination.

“This decision is an important step toward removing barriers to equality and ensuring every person can live in dignity and rights in Manitoba,” said Karen Sharma, executive director of the Commission.

Plea flip-flop in West Kelowna murder trial stuns courtroom Surrey Realtor Tejwant Danjou wants to repeal surprise guilty plea to 2nd degree murder of Rama Gauravarapu.

Rama Gauravarapu, 56, (pictured) was found dead in a West Kelowna hotel room in 2018.

For the second day in a row, Tejwant Danjou dropped a bombshell during his second-degree murder trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna that would drastically alter the course of the proceedings.

Danjou, 70, is accused of second-degree murder in the death of his common-law partner, Rama Gauravarapu, in a West Kelowna hotel room in July 2018.

On Wednesday, Danjou’s lawyer, Donna Turko, instructed Justice Alison Beames her client wanted to withdraw his guilty plea.

Surprise guilty plea The move came just 24 hours after Danjou surprised the court with a sudden guilty plea at the onset of his five week trial — an admission of guilt that took both defence and Crown lawyers by surprise.

Danjou, a real estate agent from Surrey, stood in the prisoners box on Tuesday and was adamant about his decision to enter the guilty plea.

“I’ve decided,” he said. “I’ve made up my mind that I am guilty.” Beames repeatedly informed Danjou of the implications of entering a guilty plea to a second-degree murder charge, including accepting the Crown’s position of the factual circumstances of the crime and understanding that he would be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. “I need to be sure that you know what you are doing,” Beames said.

After a break in the court proceedings where Danjou spoke to his defence counsel, he remained determined to plead guilty to the charge.

On Wednesday, however, Turko told the court her client had changed his mind and announced she would be making

an application to revoke his guilty plea.

“When I went in with a set of admissions to sign ... he refused to sign the admissions —

particular with the part that says he intended to kill the victim,” Turko told the court.

Beames instructed Turko to prepare the application for a court hearing on Friday after which Beames will either accept the application and return the matter to trial or reject it and proceed with sentencing.

BC Supreme Court Justice Alison Beames will hear on Friday Tejwant Danjou’s application to withdraw his guilty plea for second degree murder in the death of his common law partner, Rama Gauravarapu.

In July 2018, police were called to the Best Western Hotel in West Kelowna where they found Gauravarapu’s body in a hotel room.

Danjou was arrested a short distance away and charged with second-degree murder.

Poornima Gauravarapu, the victim’s daughter, said, her mother was in a common-law relationship with Danjou, and the couple had lived together for a few years prior to her death.

She said there were signs of trouble in the relationship, and she believed her mother was planning on ending it.

“She was hiding it for a long time. She didn’t tell anyone until one day that she came running to our house,” Gauravarapu said.

Danjou has been in custody since his arrest in 2018.

Vancouver teacher receives reprimand for ‘insulting’ comments about Islam A Vancouver teacher has been reprimanded for posting insulting comments about religion on Facebook. According to a B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation ruling released Tuesday, John William Yetman, a high school teacher with 31 years’ experience, used his open Facebook page to write “intemperate and insulting comments about religion” on Feb. 25, 2019, in response to a public ad for Open Mosque Day B.C. “Members of the public saw Yetman’s post, and some reported feeling concerned that a teacher would display this level of intolerance,” the ruling stated.

Yetman, whose Facebook profile identified him as a teacher with the Vancouver school board, later removed the post as well as other similar Facebook posts that were insulting to other major religions.

Earlier this month, Yetman entered a consent resolution agreement with the commissioner for teacher regulation in which he agreed his conduct constituted professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a teacher.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Ritu Arya joins cast of Netflix heist thriller ‘Red Notice’ “Red Notice,” Netflix’s globetrotting action-thriller starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, has added a new member to the cast. Deadline reports that British Indian actress Ritu Arya, best known for her role in the Netflix series, “The Umbrella Academy,” is the newest actor to join the film.

Production is underway on the film centered around the pursuit of the most wanted art thief in the

Productions.

Arya, who plays Lila Pitts in the Emmynominated series, “The Umbrella Academy,” is described as a chameleon who

world.

The film is written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who is also producing the film alongside Beau Flynn for FlynnPictureCo and Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia for Seven Bucks

can be as brilliant or as clinically insane as the situation requires. The superhero series, starring Ellen Page and Tom Hopper, among others, has been renewed for a second season. She was most recently seen in the Universal rom com, “Last Christmas.” Her previous credits include “The Good Karma Hospital,” “Humans” and “Doctors.”

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Bollywood

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Neeru Bajwa makes the news of her twin girls Aalia & Aakira Insta official

Shilpa Shetty & Raj Kundra welcome daughter Samisha Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra recently surprised everyone by announcing new addition to their family - baby daughter named Samisha. The couple announced the arrival of their baby girl through an Instagram post, which stated that baby Samisha Shetty Kundra was born on February 15th, 2020. The congratulatory messages and blessings started pouring in the comments soon after. The couple already has a son named Viaan Raj Kundra. Post the big announcement, the couple had a party with their closed ones to celebrate the

arrival of the baby girl and their friends made sure to make it special for the family.

Shilpa shared some inside pictures from the celebration and we cannot get over the beautiful cakes that the couple’s

friends got them. In a picture posted by Shilpa Shetty on her Instagram stories, we can see two giant cakes that their friends, Akanksha Malhotra and Rohit Aggarwal, got for the new parents.

In the picture, Shilpa thanked her friends and wrote, “Thankyou Akanksha Malhotra and Rohit Aggarwal for your unconditional love and impeccable hospitality. Love you guys. #celebration #samisha #friendslikefamily.”

One was a beautiful heart-shaped white cake that seemed to be of vanilla flavour. Decorated gorgeously with edible flowers on top, it sure looked irresistible. The second cake stole the limelight with its chocolatey goodness as the base and cutesy customised baby stuff such as clothes, shoes, milk bottle and toys made with fondant on top. Akanksha even posted a picture of the cake on her Instagram handle. Just have a look at the precious cake here: Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra with their friends who threw a party for them to welcome the couple’s new born daughter Samisha Shetty Kundra.

The close-knit party had many of the couple’s friends, including Riddhima Kapoor Sahni. Here’s wishing the couple life full of happiness with the new bundle of joy.

Gauri Khan turns host Maison & Objet, a trade fair with a global reputation for its displays of the creative lifestyle and interior décor, is hosting its 25th-anniversary celebrations in India at Gauri Khan Designs. Architecture and design stalwarts Pritesh Modi of Vita Moderna, Yogesh Chaudhary of Jaipur

Rugs and Vivek Talwar of Nitco Tiles are joining Raj Anand and Caroline Biros of Maison & Objet in hosting leaders of India’s design community.

Gauri’s own association with trade fair goes back many years. She has not only visited the show, but also showcased collection.

Estranged couple Ranvir and Konkona Sen file for divorce Estranged Bollywood couple Ranvir Shorey and Konkana Sen Sharma who got separated in 2005 has officially filed for a divorce. The duo had confirmed their separation five years ago when Ranvir had ‘blamed’ himself for the split and now the couple is heading for a legal separation.

According to reports, the legal separation has been put forth by mutualconsent. All the formalities are

over and the decree will come through in the next six months.

Both underwent detailed counselling but failed toagree that they should give their marriage another shot.

Both are parents to sixyear-old son Haroon, and reportedly there was no fight on custody of the child and both have been given joint custody. Ranvir-Konkana at their wedding in 2010.

A source closed to the couple told an entertainment portal that, “this is

The reports of Neeru Bajwa being blessed with twin girls Aalia and Aakria were doing the rounds for quite some time now.

However, Neeru Bajwa didn’t comment the same. But ending the suspense today, Neeru Bajwa has taken to her social media handle to confirm the news. The ‘Jatt & Juliet’ fame actress took to her social media handle to post a picture of a beautiful cake with two soft toys. And in the caption she wrote, “Wahe Guru di mehar ah ... we have been blessed with 2 more princesses thank you everyone for your well wishes .. Aalia and Aakira Kaur Jawandha... thank you for choosing us my loves ... thank you Aunty Soraya for our cute bunnies @mrs.shamji” Neeru Bajwa was born on 26 August 1980.

Neeru, an actress, director and producer associated with Punjabi cinema. She started her career in 1998 with Dev Anand’s

Bollywood film Main Solah Baras Ki and then moved on to working in Indian soap operas and Punjabi films.[4] She has appeared in Punjabi as well as few Hindi films and television serials.

Neeru started her career in Indian soap opera’s in 2005 with Hari Mirchi Lal Mirchi on DD1 before moving on to Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani on Zee TV followed by Jeet on Star Plus and then Guns and Roses on Star One. She also appeared in the television series CID (CID Special Bureau) as fiancé of ACP Ajatshatru and was also seen in the drama Bone Marrow. In January 2013, Neeru appeared in the multi-starer Punjabi film Saadi Love Story, produced by Jimmy Sheirgill productions, directed by Dheeraj Rattan and starring Diljit Dosanjh, Amrinder Gill, and Surveen Chawla. She paired up opposite Diljit Dosanjh again in the film Jatt and Juliet 2 which broke all the previous opening day collection records for Punjabi cinema.

Deepika’s ‘Chhapaak’ shoot

D

eepika Padukone started shooting for her upcoming film, Chhapaak, in which she plays an acid-attack survivor. We hear that post the shoot, at the end of the day, the actress makes sure that she unwinds by watching one episode of the TV series, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, a comedy-drama. Says a source, “Deepika’s role is very demanding and getting into the skin of the character takes a toll when you live the fierce journey of the survivor.

So, to relax and divert her mind, she watches the series.

It has now become a routine for her.” Padukone was born on 5 January 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark to Konkani-speaking parents. Her father, Prakash Padukone, a former badminton player, and her mother, Ujjala, is travel agent. Her younger sister, Anisha, a golfer.Her paternal grandfather, Ramesh, was a secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association.

The family relocated to Bangalore, India when Padukone was a year old.[6] She was educated at Bangalore’s Sophia High School and completed her pre-university education at Mount Carmel College.

She subsequently enrolled at the Indira Gandhi National Open University for a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology but later quit it due to scheduling conflicts with her modelling career. Padukone has admitted to being socially awkward as a child and did not have many friends. The focus of her

life was badminton, which she played competitively from a young age.

Describing her daily routine in a 2012 interview, Padukone said, “I would wake up at five in the morning, go for physical training, go to school, again go for playing badminton, finish my homework, and go to sleep.”

P a d u k o n e continued to pursue a career in badminton throughout her school years and played the sport in national level championships.

She also played baseball in a few state level tournaments.

While concentrating on her education and sporting career, Padukone also worked as a child model, first appearing in a couple of advertising campaigns at the age of eight.

In the tenth grade, she changed focus and decided to become a fashion model. She later explained, “I realised that I was playing the game only because it ran in the family.

So, I asked my father if I could give up the game and he wasn’t upset at all.” In 2004, she began a full-time career as a model under the tutelage of Prasad Bidapa.

Early in her career, Padukone gained recognition with a television commercial for the soap Liril and modelled for various other brands and products.

Saturday, February 29, 2020 The Shah Rukh Khan La Trobe University PhD Scholarship, which was named after the superstar last year, has been awarded to a young female researcher from Kerala.

The actor says he is a staunch believer in education. It has gone to researcher Gopika Kottantharayil Bhasi from Thrissur (Kerala), working on farming practices through animal science, ecology and molecular studies. Chosen from over 800 Indian women, she was awarded the fouryear scholarship at a ceremony here Feb. 26. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a staunch believer in education and I would like to congratulate Gopika. Way forward for everyone is educate and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s never an end to education,â&#x20AC;? Shah Rukh said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Empowering and educating women is key and the world goes forward with educating women. I think education in India or anywhere else in the world is a step

SRKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scholarship supports young female agricultural researcher forward.â&#x20AC;?

He feels that Gopika is lucky as sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soon going to be studying at La Trobe which is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;fantastic university and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m glad sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting this opportunity to do this PhD on her research.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I admire Gopikaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dedication and determination. This scholarship will enable her to travel to La Trobe in Melbourne, Australia where she will pursue her dreams of helping to improve Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agriculture sector,â&#x20AC;? he added. This

Annu Kapoor starts in first Bollywood concert of 2020 Bollywood Talkies with Annu Kapoor. A Musical Journey of Past & Present at Bell Centre, Surrey on Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 6 pm.

Popular Actor of Theatre, TV & Films and renowned host of Antakshri fame, Radio host of Suhana Safar on 92.7 Big FM and one of the most knowledgeable & admired film personalities from hit films such as Vicky Donor, Jolly LLB, Dream Girl, and Mr. India- Annu Kapoor brings Bollywood Talkies to Vancouver with popular singers Anubhav Suman of FameGurukul AbhigyanDas of

SaReGaMaPaLittleChamp SupriyaJoshi of RisingStar TheVoice & playback singer Gyanita Dwivedi for a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Musical Journey of Past & Present â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; and a musical experience to cherish forever.

Tickets: $25, $35, $45, $55, $65, $75, $100 & VIP + $2 F.C. available at KamalsVideo Palace, Surrey, BC, or online through www. vtixonline.com For more information regarding tickets and / or sponsorship, please call Kamal Sharma at 604-592-9777 or 604-833-1977

19

Bollywood

comes before the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne will enter its eleventh year.

The team had organized a prelude event in Mumbai before their main event in Melbourne. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It has been an overwhelming journey that has gathered strength from all quarters in the past 10 years.

The content landscape has changed and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heartening to see lines between commercial and independent cinema blurring. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the celebration of great stories now,â&#x20AC;? said festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange. â&#x20AC;&#x153;IFFM continues its dedicated work towards supporting diverse voices and cinema. I am ecstatic about the initiatives we have taken, especially our association with La Trobe University, which takes us beyond what is covered under the purview of a standard film festival.

HOROSCOPE Aries March 21 - April 20 On the one hand, you may be eager to forge ahead with goals and key plans, while on the

can help you combine both qualities to make

combining them with practical know-how means you could accomplish something

a shorter time than you imagined.

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adopt a practical approach and take care of the details.

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mediocrity.

Libra Sept. 24 - Oct 22 3

on your mind, and this coming week could see you putting ideas into action. With the sun and

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your home to accommodate some changes.

These could include setting up a home gym &

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can cook more healthful meals.

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 22 4 opportunities can be yours around the start of

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Sagitarius Nov 23 - Dec 22

5 $ %

see you eager to work out the costs and start. +

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can add new features or a refreshing ambience

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Leo June 24 - August 23 %

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eager to explore business ideas where you can +

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such as inner strength, powerful guidance from dreams, psychic abilities, and a rich imagination contribute to your ability to make money and perhaps enhance your income. #

helpful in this regard. Making time to register

big-ticket item? Be sure to keep the receipts, because with articulate Mercury rewinding in

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uplifting interactions with friends. You may collaborate with them on all kinds of ideas and 5

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20

Bollywood

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Acid-attack survivor presents best debut actress to Ananya Pandey Joy Personal Care partnered with 65th Filmfare Awards to empower acid-attack survivors. Pragya Prasun Singh, an acidattack survivor, presented the Best Debut Actress to Ananya Pandey at the recent awards ceremony.

The collaboration was aimed to create awareness about their initiative #JustHireOne, which urges companies to hire at least one acid-attack survivor in their

workforce. This initiative was a part of their larger campaign #SkinOfCourage, which was curated for the launch of Joy Sensitive, a special range of products crafted for the hypersensitive skin of acid-attack survivors.

Singh, the face of #JustHireOne, urged to extend the support by joining hands with the novel initiative. As a part of the integration, Sunil Agarwal, chairman, RSH Global, along

with Poulomi Roy, CMO, RSH Global (which is the owner of Joy), and Singh presented the best debut actress to Ananya Pandey.

Roy said: “This is the first purpose-led marketing endeavor

by RSH Global and we couldn’t think of a better platform than the Filmfare awards to talk about the initiative in front of the popular opinion leaders of the country.” “The company’s endeavor has always been to deliver quality products at an affordable price and this has been the genesis behind the launch of our new skincare range. During the R&D of the product, we realized that employment is a serious concern for them and hence, we started off a nationwide employment drive

with an aim to support their livelihood by associating with Pragya Singh and her NGO Atijeevan Foundation.”

S i n g h added, “Acidattack victims often receive sympathies, but seldom has a brand made the effort to empower them. I am happy to be associated with such a great initiative.”

For Pandey, this was another emotional high after a great year in which she was admired for her work in two films, neither of which smashed the box office. Her debut film “Student of the Year 2” was a dud, while her next, “Pati Patni Aur Woh” did average business. Her biggest success was her #BePositive initiative on Twitter.

Raghubir Yadav’s wife accuses him of having affair with Sanjay Mishra’s wife, fathering child Purnima has now filed a divorce at the Bandra Family Court after 32 yearsof marriage demanding an alimony of 10 crore INR and a maintenance of 1lakh INR every month. Purnima said, “Raghubir is currently living-in with Sanjay Mishra’s wife Roshni Achreja. He himself has admitted in Court. They have a 14-year old son.

Things started going wrong after seven years of our shaadi.” While talking about how Raghubir got in a relationship with Roshni, Purnima added that Raghubir and Sanjay Mishra were staying in the same building.

Raghbir started getting friendly with Sanjay’s wife, Roshni and she got pregnant with Raghubir and told Sanjay that she wanted to Raghubir Yadav’s Wife Claims He Had An Affair With Nandita Das; Demands Divorce After 32-Years Of Marriage In a shocking turn of events, Lagaan fame senior Bollywood actor Raghubir Yadav has been

accused of having an affair outside marriage by his estranged wife Purnima Kharga. The actor & his wife have been staying separately since 1995.

The duo tied the knot in 1988 but their marital life went on a rocky road after seven years of marriage. Purnima has now filed a divorce at the Bandra Family Court after 32 years of marriage demanding an alimony of 10 crore INR and a maintenance of 1 lakh INR every month.

According to various online reports, she has also accused him of adultery and desertion. She claimed that she quit her career as an internationalKathak dancer to support Raghubir during his struggling period in the industry. On the other hand, he deserted her for other women after becoming a successful actor. Raghuvir Yadav-Nandita Das in a still from 2000 released movie Bawandar Also in a tell all interview with SpotboyE, Poornima has also accused the Lagaan actor of having an affair with acclaimed director Nandita Das.

Sanjay Mishra praises SRK Shah Rukh Khan has always liked backing quality cinema under his banner. Now, the actor is again bringing the Sanjay Mishra and Deepak Dobriyal film “Kaamyaab” to the mainstream audience.

Life has come to a full circle for Sanjay Mishra, where he started his career with Khan’s “O Darling Yeh Hai India” (1995) film to now, with the superstar producing “Kaamyaab,” his first lead role, 25 years later. Having worked with Khan in some films, Mishra says that it’s a big deal that someone like Shah Rukh is supporting a small film.

Says the actor, “Neither Manish Mundra (producer) nor I had dreamed of having someone like him on board. A lot of other actors should step in to support small films. The budget of “Kaamyaab” is lower than the cost of vanity vans parked on the sets of big-budget films!”

“Shah Rukh lives in people’s hearts and the level of energy he brings to the table is unrivalled,” he adds. Khan has come on board as one of the producers. The film chronicles the struggles of actors who play supporting roles in the Hindi film industry, rather the journey of “extra (junior artistes are called “extras” here) extraordinary.”

The trailer of “Kaamyaab” is already garnering appreciation for its impactful storyline that highlights the journey of character artistes. Recently, the makers also shared a video wherein Sanjay Mishra brings to the fore the trials and tribulations an actor endures in his pursuit to find success.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Stunning Sunny Leone

S

unny Leone has been doing it all from her films to TV shows, and even promoting her makeup business.

When not neck deep in work commitments, the star makes it a point to jet out on relaxing holidays with her hubby Daniel Weber and their three kids.

This time around, the beauty headed over to Jaipur for a short break and surprised fans with a stunning photo to assure all that she is having a swell time there. Posting a mirror selfie in a floral bikini, the star not only showed off her curves but also gave everyone a good look at her sculpted abs.

“Pulled this bikini after a long time! Time for a swim in my private villa pool here in Jaipur! Gorgeous resort!” she captioned the photo.

While shooting for her TV show, Sunny also ventured South and starred in ‘Madhuraja’ featuring superstar Mammootty in the lead. known by the name Sunny Leone a Canadian-born Indian-American star and actress, model, currently in Indian film industry, Bollywood. She has American citizenship. She has also used the stage name Karen Malhotra.[8][9] She was

named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003, was a contract performer for Vivid Entertainment, and was named

by Maxim as one of the 12 top porn stars in 2010. She has played roles in independent mainstream events, films and television series. Her first mainstream appearance was in 2005, when she worked as a red carpet reporter for the MTV Video Music Awards on MTV India. In 2011, she participated in the Indian reality television series Bigg Boss. She also has hosted the Indian reality show Splitsvilla.

In 2012, she made her Bollywood debut in Pooja Bhatt’s erotic thriller Jism 2 (2012) and shifted her focus to mainstream acting which was followed up with Jackpot (2013), Ragini MMS 2 (2014), Ek Paheli Leela (2015) and Tera Intezaar (2017).

Apart from her acting career she has been part of activism campaigns including the Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles Half-Marathon to raise money for the American Cancer

Bollywood

21

Radhika Apte

She was recently nominated as best actress at the Emmy Awards for the web series “Lust Stories.” The nomination is another feather in the cap for her after her movies “Andhadhun” and “Pad Man” won diverse National awards.

In a media release, the actor spilled the beans on how easily she steps into multiple characters while working on different projects.

“Every character requires a different type of preparation,” she said. “A lot of it has to do with your collaboration with

the director and your co-actors. Some characters require a lot of research to be done, while others require a lot of practice.”

“So the process may differ each time. I’m not someone who gets attached — I detach myself from my character with a lot of ease and it almost happens automatically when I’m done shooting.”

In the international space, the actress will be seen as a spy in “Liberte: A Call to Spy,” based on real incidents from World War II. She will be playing the role of Noor Inayat Khan a.k.a. Nora Baker, who was the first female wireless operator to parachute into Nazi-occupied France to help the French resistance.

22

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Did you know?

Canada has the second-fastest wireless networks in the world.

Canada ranks #2 in the world for Download Speed Experience, second only to South Korea (a country 100 times smaller).

TELUS breaks a new speed record and ranks #1 in Canada for the sixth time in a row for this Award.* — Opensignal

Know the facts at ConnectingCanadaForGood.ca *Opensignal – Canada: Mobile Network Experience Report February 2020. © 2020 TELUS.

23

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Vol. 11 No. 5 Saturday - February 29, 2020

Tel: 604-591-5423

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

Vancouver & Toronto median incomes are falling

S

tatistics Canada’s latest dive into the money Canadians are making has some seemingly bad news for residents of Toronto and Vancouver: The median incomes in

these cities fell in 2018.

That doesn’t necessarily mean people there are seeing their paycheques shrink: Rather, the vast flow of migrants in and out of these cities is changing who lives and works there. But it does mean that these cities’ high and rising costs of living are becoming an even bigger burden for the people living there. Watch: It’s easier to get rich in Canada than in the U.S., but that comes at a price.

Story continues below. What’s going on with incomes? According to Statistics Canada’s latest Canadian income survey, released this week, after-tax incomes of families and unattached individuals rose 2.7 per cent in 2018, to a median of $57,100. “Market incomes” meaning what people earn in the job market, not including taxes and government transfers rose 0.8 per cent.

But in Greater Toronto, both market incomes and after-tax incomes fell, by 0.9 per cent and

Congratulations !!!

MEDALLION CLUB QUALIFIERS Fraser Valley Real Estate Board

Parveen Khan Sutton Premier Realy

604-723-2470

2.9 per cent, respectively. In Greater Vancouver, market incomes fell 8.8 per cent, while after-tax incomes declined 4.4 per cent. Why is this happening?

The Toronto and Vancouver job markets have been strong recently, with the number

of people employed in Toronto up a massive 5.2 per cent in the past year, and up 0.4 per cent in Vancouver. Clearly, these are not bad job markets, or bad economies. The answer may lie in migration, and in our changing lifestyles. In Vancouver, it seems more people are living alone

The data suggests “the population is shifting to include more (people living alone) this could reflect population aging and/or increased numbers of students and other younger, unattached people,”

24

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Licences suspended, accounts frozen for realtor and 2 firms over ‘potential misuse’ of clients’ cash he Real Estate Council of B.C. has suspended the real estate licence of a Vancouver realtor and frozen the bank a c c o u n t s of two brokerages he runs because of suspected misconduct in his bookkeeping. The RECBC issued suspension and freezing orders for Stephen Lam, Regent

Park Pinnacle Realty of Vancouver and Coral Property Management of Richmond on Feb. 6. That comes after an investigation found “systemic books and records issues, shortages in the rental trust accounts and general trust account ledgers, and potential misuse of

client trust funds” in the accounts of Regent Park Pinnacle, according to a decision from the council’s discipline committee. “Mr. Lam’s history of his treatment of the pooled and trust accounts of both brokerages puts his clients in current and future financial risks that their

monies will be wrongfully removed.”

Mandatory anti-money laundering course rolls out for B.C. realtors Lam and the two brokerages remain under investigation and allegations of misconduct have not been proven.

Anti-money-laundering course mandatory for real estate agents and property managers Real estate professionals will learn how to recognize red flags and be instructed on their obligations if they’re involved in a suspicious transaction. The regulatory agency for B.C.’s real estate professionals is launching a mandatory anti-money-laundering course to show real estate agents and strata and property managers how to recognize red flags and what steps they’re obligated to take to report suspected cases.

The course will provide “the information you need to understand why real estate is attractive to money launderers,” said the course outline on the website of the Real Estate Council of B.C., the self-regulatory body of the province’s 26,000 licensed real estate pros. Members will learn “how to recognize the risk signs and red flags associated with money laundering (and) review your obligations and the steps to take to report suspicious transactions,” it said.

The self-paced online course will “empower them (real estate pros) to actively contribute

to preventing criminal activity in B.C. real estate markets” and support them to “comply with their federal reporting obligations,” spokesman Warren Mirko said in an emailed statement. “Real estate professionals work closely with their clients, so they are well positioned to identify suspicious transactions,” he said.

The announcement of the course requirement comes two months after the provincial government unveiled plans to create a new regulator for B.C.’s real estate sector by spring 2021. A single regulator for the sector was a key recommendation of recent reports aimed at cracking down on money laundering.

The three reports into money laundering since 2018 have revealed billions in proceeds-of-crime, and other questionable sources of income have been laundered for years through the real estate industry, as well as through other luxury purchases and through casinos.

The latest report, by Maureen Maloney in May, estimated up to $5 billion was funnelled through the B.C. property market in 2018

alone, likely increasing housing prices that year by five per cent.

Retired B.C. Supreme Court associate chief Justice Austin Cullen is in the middle of a yearlong public inquiry to investigate the causes, scope and impact of money laundering in the province.

Registration will open when the course is launched next week and it will be required for licence renewal beginning April 1.

“It will become part of the mandatory education that real estate professionals must take in order to maintain their licence to practise in B.C.,” said Mirko.

The B.C. Real Estate Association announced this week a new requirement of 18 hours of professional training every two years for its realtors (who make up 90 per cent of all real estate agents), but there was no reference to money laundering

Reasons why Canada’s apartment building owners are happy

R

ental apartment building market in Canada is trongest it’s ever been, especially from the perspective of apartment building owners.

Buildings are practically full across the country, rental rates are at or near 10-year highs in nearly every market, and average national rents have climbed 4.4 per cent annually over the last two years, according to a new report by commercial property brokerage house CBRE. This rapid rise of rental rates is earning more money for building owners. Total annualized returns for the Canadian multifamily sector were 9.8 per cent as of the first quarter of this year, just behind the industrial sector.

Canada’s national average rental apartment vacancy rate ended 2018 at 2.4 per cent, below the 10-year average of 2.6, CBRE said in its national multifamily mid-year update.

Investors are lining up to get into the market in most cities. Multifamily investment volume reached record levels for four consecutive years, including an alltime high of $8.3 billion in 2018.

Apartments are traditionally viewed as stable and defensive assets to own, said CBRE Canada vice-chairman Paul Morassutti. “(The asset class) never displays great amounts of volatility,” he told Postmedia

last week. “Very rarely would you have declines in rental rates or net operating income. Typically, things would go up in a slow and steady fashion and it was always a favoured asset class for all those reasons.”

Here are other main drivers that Morassutti and his firm believe will continue to stoke demand for apartment buildings in Canada.

Population growth: Canada’s population is expected to grow by nearly one per cent annually over the next four years, surpassing

growth in all other G7 countries, the report said. Much of this momentum is being fuelled by immigration, which accounted for 80.5 per cent of the country’s population growth last year. The government has a plan to welcome one million new immigrants between 2019 and 2021. Much of that new population is settling in the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver regions, with Toronto and Vancouver experiencing the sharpest annual apartment rental price growth of 5.0 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively, over the past four years.

Shortage of new supply Canada’s big cities are not building enough new rental apartments to keep up with demand, when compared to global peers, the report said.

The largest rental market in Canada is Montreal with just under 600,000 units.

Toronto follows well behind with 313,000 units, and Vancouver trails with just 109,000 units. Units on the secondary market, including privately rented condos, do close the gap, but it’s clear that renters across the country need more options, or else rents will continue to climb.

While we are seeing increased construction of rental units more recently, the overall number remains relatively low, Morassutti said.

Rising cost of home ownership An expanding proportion of Canada’s big-city dwellers can’t afford to buy a home. This factor, above all others, is probably having the greatest effect on stoking apartment rental prices, while spurring investors to buy buildings, Morassutti said. “In Toronto, if you want to buy a detached house or semi-detached house, you need to have a household income of close to $200,000,” he said. “The average household income in Toronto I believe is something like $100,000.”

(According to the last Canadian census, the average household in the Greater Toronto Area earned $87,993 after tax.) That leaves residents with only a couple of choices.

25

Saturday, February 29, 2020

The mortgage stress test is making housing supply issues worse — and making homes even more unaffordable

C

anada is experiencing sustained economic and population growth.

Millennials and new Canadians are forming households and their desire for home ownership is very strong. Interest rates are low. In this environment, home sales should thrive and supply should rise alongside demand, keeping prices in check. Instead, our housing supply is lagging and prices have risen dramatically in key markets.

Governments bear much of the blame for this undesirable market imbalance, as a narrow focus on suppressing household debt has dominated the policy mix while the root causes of undersupply — including excessive red tape, fees, taxes and nimbyism — have gone largely unaddressed.

If we want to address housing affordability in Canada, governments need to redesign the policy mix to confront these factors. For its part, the federal government could start by developing a more nuanced mortgage “stress test.”

Ottawa’s stress test is demolishing Canadians’ housing dreams. Which party will rebuild them?

Why Ottawa’s attempts to help young Canadians afford housing simply won’t work The mortgage ‘stress test’ has started harming Canadians more than it helps

First, consider mortgage debt in the Canadian context.

Canadians have some of the highest rates of home ownership and mortgage borrowing in the world.

Evidence shows that Canadians use mortgage debt responsibly; in the majority of cases, we make additional payments or otherwise accelerate our repayments.

Equifax credit scores for first-time Canadian homebuyers are in the upper half of the range considered “very good,” and they typically continue to improve in the first, second and third years of home ownership.

Second, we have the indisputable finding, reproduced in dozens of independent surveys, that Canadians strongly value home ownership. It is overwhelmingly identified as a top priority across the age

spectrum, from millennials to baby boomers.

And the opportunity for home ownership here is a key attraction for immigrants, many of whom leave behind societies where it is rare.

Unfortunately, despite all the evidence that Canadians are committed and responsible

borrowers, would-be homebuyers are today restricted by a number of government policies that need redesign, most notably the mortgage stress test. To be clear: when applied selectively on mortgagors who are attempting to borrow significantly more than their annual income or who are carrying a heavy load of non-mortgage debt already, the stress test can be a useful tool. But there is reason to be concerned about the scope and duration of the test’s current application in Canada. While the government’s one-size-fits-all approach has helped cool overheated markets, it has also destabilized Prairie housing markets, which were already suffering from that region’s economic slowdown.

It has now been 23 months since the stress test was implemented. At that time, policy-makers wanted to ensure borrowers could service their debts when their mortgages came up for renewal — mainly because it was widely presumed rates would rise in the near term. But now, if anything, interest rates are expected to ease amid weakening economic growth, trade tensions and other factors. Given the current environment, we must ask if the marginal improvement in mortgage credit quality created by the stress test is worth the many unintended consequences it causes.

Condos, the ‘future of our communities,’ now cost more per square foot than a detached home Condominiums may be the “future of our communities” but per square foot, they are hardly a bargain. According to a Royal LePage report released today, aside from Vancouver and Calgary, every major city’s condo price per square foot has increased. With the exception of Vancouver, the median price per square foot of a condo is now higher than that of a single family detached home nationwide. Canadian home prices are up — but by the smallest amount in

a decade. Seven reasons Canada’s housing market is stronger than it looks Vancouver’s housing market is dismal — but you still need six-figure income to get your foot in the door “While condo units are smaller, they are the present and future of our communities. With more development opportunities, they can meet both the growing need for housing and lifestyle expectations of homebuyers,” said Phil Soper, the president of Royal LePage in a

press release. The Greater Ottawa condo price per square foot appreciated the fastest among the cities that were measured, rising 17.9 per cent year-over-year to $395, while the Greater Vancouver price actually declined the most by 8.3 per cent to $764. “We are seeing significant interest in Ottawa’s south and west ends from residents working in the nearby military and technology hubs,” said Kent Browne, broker

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

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

The information is contained in a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation housing market insight report which also found that non-residents — defined as someone who

doesn’t have their principal residence in Canada — tend to own more expensive properties than residents, especially in Vancouver.

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

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and owner of Royal LePage TEAM Realty. The city of Vancouver remains the most expensive condo market in the country, with homebuyers paying $1,044 per square foot for a condo and $1,279 per square foot for a single-family detached home. Greater Calgary offers the lowest condo price per square foot, with a fall of 6.7 per cent to $313.“For the fourth consecutive month, condo inventory in the region declined compared to last year.

26

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From March 1st 2020 (Sunday) to April 30th 2020 (Thursday).

Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey informs South Asian Seniors that during the Tax filing period we can help you to file your Income Tax Returns for the year 2019, free of cost, through the community volunteer program of Canada Revenue Agency ( CVITP ), from March 1st. 2020 (Sunday) to April 30th 2020 (Thursday). If you are living in Surrey / Delta. The eligibility Criteria are as follows 1.Single individual with annual income limit up to $ 35,000. 2. Couples with annual income up to $ 45,000. 3. Three persons income $. 47,500, 4. Four persons income $. 50,000 , 5. Five persons or more, add $ 2500 for additional members. Interest income not over $ 1,000.00 and this income will be included as total eligibility. With no investment income, no rental income , no business or partnership income and no capital gain or loss. Sin# card and photo identity will be required to prove the documents. If you are eligible then please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 for further information.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

MLA Jane Thornthwaite on updated illicit drug overdose numbers BC Liberal Critic for Mental Health and Addictions, Jane Thornthwaite released the following statement on the latest update on illicit drug overdoses in British Columbia: “It is heartening to see that measures implemented in 2016 when the crisis first began are starting to effectively reduce the number of people dying from illicit drug overdoses in British Columbia.

“However, saving lives alone is not enough.

“The crisis is ongoing — the rate of people

Real estate A funny thing happened in Vancouver’s housing market in 2019: for the first time in many years, not much happened.

“Condo prices have slowed down. The fear of missing out madness at open houses has gone away. So there’s been a pause in the market,” said Tom Davidoff, an associate professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. One way to measure the relative calm of the market is by looking at the average sale price for detached homes, townhouses and apartments in the area overseen by Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Wild fluctuations were once common, as luxury properties were traded like hotcakes. But in 2019, the average value for any type of property never went up or down by more than 17 per cent compared to the previous year.

overdosing is constant, if not rising.

British Columbia needs to invest in a continuum of care that addresses prevention, treatment and recovery.

“While it is important to continue to work to save lives, there is much more work to be done. Only when we are able to stop the cycle of addiction can we expect to see an end to the opioid crisis.”

That might not seem significant — but it’s the first time that’s happened since 2014.

After a taxing year for real estate, housing market expected to remain cool in 2019 In between, a massive surge in housing prices created both a windfall for existing homeowners and a backlash that contributed to the fall of provincial and local governments.

But with a host of taxation and antispeculation measures now in place, and new supply continuing to come on the market, prices for all types of housing stabilized in 2019, with small declines generally seen across the board.

“We wound up in a pretty balanced place,” said Davidoff. “I think it’s a pretty good

luxury house in Greater Vancouver decreased 1.3% year-over-year, while the median price of a condominium was relatively flat, posting a 0.2% year-over-year increase.”

Jason Soprovich, a West Vancouver realtor with Royal LePage Sussex, said, “Metro Vancouver’s residential real estate market is shifting towards a balanced market and this trend has been moving upward through the luxury market. There is healthy demand for homes priced between $3 million and $5 million, and this segment is starting to stabilize. It will take more time for the upperend segment to move into a balanced market, but it is expected.”

The report added that luxury home prices in the region were expected to continue their decline, but with relatively “modest” drops, over the coming year.

27

Andrew Wilkinson on Moose Hide Campaign Day Leader of the Official Opposition, Andrew Wilkinson, released the following statement today in support of the Moose Hide Campaign’s Provincial Gathering and Day of Fasting: “Today, people will be gathering across the province to demonstrate their commitment to ending violence against First Nations, Metis, and Inuit women and children. The incredible Moose Hide Campaign brings awareness to the tragic epidemic of physical and sexual violence faced by Indigenous women here in British Columbia and throughout Canada.

“No one should ever face violence because of who they are. It is absolutely vital that all men speak out, hold one another accountable, and take the pledge to end gender-based violence.

“I invite all British Columbians to join

What Vancouver’s housing market could hold in 2020

Metro Vancouver’s luxury home prices forecast to slip further The national brokerage issued a forecast in February, reporting that the median price of a luxury house in Metro Vancouver at the end of January 2020 was $5,394,594, which is 6.7% year-over-year decline. Luxury condos in the region dropped 4.4% to $2,411,773 over the same period, it added.

However, Royal LePage said that recent signs of recovery in the market will eventually trickle up to push up prices in the luxury sector, albeit at a slower pace than the lower end of the market.

The report said, “While luxury real estate in Greater Vancouver is showing year-overyear declines in median prices for both houses and condominiums over the twelve-month period, a significant boost in luxury unit sales since October 2019 is moving the market towards stabilization. From October 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020, the median price of a

Press release

outcome in that way and I think you’ve probably seen ... a calming of the public discourse around housing.” Too soon to predict 2020 Whether a stable 2019 will continue into 2020 is another question. Multiple housing experts told CBC News it is difficult to predict what direction the housing market will go next year.

me in reflecting on what we can all do to end gender-based violence and close the gaps in services for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit women.

“Today, members of the BC Liberal Caucus will wear moose hide pins, recognize the important work being done by the Moose Hide Campaign, and support those colleagues taking part in a day of fasting.

“The BC Liberal Caucus strongly believes in the empowerment of women and the participation of men as vital steps to effectively tackle and end genderbased violence. In doing so, we can make homes and communities across British Columbia safer for everyone.”

Market adjustments to the new taxes are one factor, but so are trade war concerns, continued low interest rates, and the effect of new mortgage rules. “The big picture is actually watching how mortgages, and the availability of mortgages and cheap money, will or will not become available,” said Andy Yan, director of the City Program at

28

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Economy grew at 0.3% pace in fourth quarter

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The increase matched both the forecast of analysts in a Reuters poll as well as the Bank of Canada’s prediction. Statscan also revised the third quarter annualized growth down to 1.1 per cent from an initial 1.3 per cent.

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Statscan cited pipeline shutdowns, bad harvest conditions, an eight-day railway strike in Canada, the spillover effect of a U.S. auto workers’ strike and global trade tensions. The growth figure was the worst since a 2.0 per cent drop in the second quarter of 2016, when fire ripped through an oil-producing region.

Household spending on services jumped by 0.8 per cent over the third quarter while business investment in machinery and equipment fell by 3.6 per cent, the third consecutive decline.

Export volumes dropped by 1.3 per cent.

The Bank of Canada’s next interest rate decision is on March 4 and market expectations of a cut have jumped as the economy faces challenges from rail blockades and a coronavirus outbreak. The central bank has left rates unchanged since October 2018.

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, February 29, 2020

BC Liberals call for assistance on soaring strata insurance rates The BC NDP government is hearing stories of huge jumps in strata condominium insurance costs, and calls from the opposition B.C. Liberals to provide assistance.

B.C. Liberal housing critic Todd Stone called on the province Tuesday to deal with “massive spikes in strata insurance premiums, deductibles and fees.” He proposed legislation that would require more disclosure from strata councils on their insurance and notice of when insurance is coming up for renewal.

The City of Surrey is taking the Hells Angels to B.C. Supreme Court in an effort to shut down one of the group’s clubhouses.

The building is located on nearly two acres of land in the Anniedale neighbourhood near 180th Street and 96th Avenue.

The rancher-style house is covered in

He noted that there are 30,000 strata corporations in B.C. and nearly half of Metro Vancouver residents live in strata housing.

“One strata has informed me that their premium has gone up by 335 per cent year over year,” Stone told the B.C. legislature. “Their deductible for water damage has gone up from $5,000 to $250,000. What this means for he folks who live in this strata building is that there is going to be a one-time assessment of $1,000 per strata unit owner, and their monthly strata fees

are going to go up $100 per month.” Finance Minister Carole James said strata corporations across the country are affected, and the province is working with strata associations and the insurance industry. Part of it is the soaring values of urban properties, and part of it is the effects of climate change, she said. ony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of B.C., gave a statement supporting Stone’s proposed legislation.

“This isnt’ just about large corporate

Surrey using courts to go after Hells Angels clubhouse security cameras and sits behind a locked metal gate with a “No Trespassing” sign.

Surrey filed a lawsuit on Jan. 31 claiming the clubhouse violates city bylaws and that renovations were done without proper permits.

The notice of civil claim names Gurbinder Singh Johal and Kulwant Kaur Johal as the the property’s owners, and Shannon Rennie as a tenant on a five-year lease.

“The city was advised by the RCMP and

interests and risks,” Gioventu said. “The individual homeowners are feeling the effects deep in their pocketbooks and increased exposure to high rates and deductibles.”

Stone also urged the government to create an assistance program for water protection projects.

“This would be a program that would provide incentives for retrofits that would help mitigate the risk of extensive and costly water damage,” Stone said. “This would help to prevent the water damage from happening in the first place, but it would also have the effect

verily believes that Mr. Rennie is a full patch member of the Hells Angels, an outlaw motorcycle gang,” read the court documents.

The building has been occupied by the group’s Hardside Chapter since 2017, according to the suit.

The city claims there has been gatherings of HA members, public drinking and increased traffic in the neighbourhood since that time.

Driver caught using flashlights as headlights fined nearly $2K, has vehicle towed Vancouver police have fined the driver of a pickup truck nearly $2,000 for several violations.

Officers were doing traffic enforcement on Knight Street near East 41st Avenue the night of Feb. 23 when officers pulled over a Ford pickup truck for having an insecure load.

Police said after they’d pulled the vehicle over, other violations were “immediately apparent,” which included flashlights being used as headlights and tail lights and driving with an obscured licence plate. The driver was fined $598 for having no insurance, $109 for failing to display their current plate, $288 for having an insecure load in a commercial vehicle, $598 for failing to comply with an order and $327 for three other equipment offences.

In total, the driver was fined $1,920, and their vehicle was taken to Busters Towing, according to Vancouver police.

“Officers are working with ICBC to see if there is something more they can do to prevent his person from driving,” Const.

Tania Visintin said in an emailed statement.

Police said the driver has nine previous convictions for driving without insurance as well as multiple equipment-related offences.

Search launched for 14-yearold male last seen in Surrey on February 21 Family and police are worried about the health and well-being of a male teenager who hasn’t been seen since Friday.

In appeal for help from the public, Surrey RCMP issued a news release today (February 25) stating that Brayden Ritchat was last seen at 7 p.m. on February 21 in the 108 block of 141th Street in Surrey, and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

He is described as a 14-year-old Indigenous male who is 152 centimetres (fivefeet) tall with a slim build and has a light, fair complexion. He has brown hair and green eyes.

Anyone with information about his whereaboutsis asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, or Crime Stoppers, to remain anonymous, at 1-800-222-8477

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Arrests made in BC & Ontario blockades, as anti-pipeline protests spread A new wave of protests in support of those opposed to a pipeline project in B.C. hit the country Tuesday, dashing hopes that rail service would return to normal after police dismantled a blockade that had paralyzed much of the country’s rail traffic for weeks.

Blockades and protests took place across Canada, including in Toronto, where thousands of commuters were stymied during rush hour.

Canadian National Railway Co. served an injunction Monday night and again on Tuesday to protesters encamped on a railway in Hamilton. The protesters left late Tuesday evening. The encampment blocked GO train commuter traffic and CN freight trains as the dispute over the $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline showed no signs of abating.

The regional transit agency Metrolinx said disruptions took place on or near three separate GO rail lines in Toronto during rush hour. Two of the incidents ended relatively quickly, but a third was being watched by staff to see whether it would be necessary to adjust service.

A handful of new blockades at Vancouver’s port and elsewhere also sprang up this week, after police on Monday arrested protesters and cleared a rail blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville, Ont. CN restarted freight traffic hours after police arrested 10 people protesting

in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the B.C. pipeline.

CN declined to say whether trains were running through the area on Tuesday.

Police line the fence to keep others from joining a blockade along railway tracks in Toronto on Tuesday, February 25, 2020.

Police arrested 14 people beginning late Monday night who were blocking rail tracks near New Hazelton, B.C., the same line that was obstructed earlier this month, stopping trains in and out of the port of Prince Rupert.

Those arrested included Norman Stephens, a hereditary chief of the Gitxsan Nation, which neighbours Wet’suwet’en Nation.

“I was prepared to get arrested to show how Canada treats Indigenous people – that they [police] would come on to our unceded land and arrest us,” said Mr. Stephens, who is also known as Spookwx.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., faced with a two-week-old blockade south of Montreal on tracks that lead to the United States, said it has obtained a Quebec-wide injunction against all such rail protests after other attempted solutions failed.

“The blockade at Kahnawake has severed vital rail connections and severely impacted CP’s operations, customers and the broader economy. Outside of this blockade other ‘copycat’ blockades, including some not involving Indigenous peoples, have developed,” CP said.

Notorious South Surrey fugitive captured in California to face murder trial in Canada Brandon Nathan Teixeira – the subject of an intensive manhunt in connection with a 2017 South Surrey killing – will return to Canada to face multiple charges, including first-degree murder.

Teixeira, who was arrested in California in December, submitted to extradition during court proceedings Thursday afternoon in Sacramento, Lauren Horwood, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s office, confirmed.

“The next step is to send (the extradition request) to the U.S. State Department for approval, which could take up to 60 days. Teixeira will be held in custody until he is transferred to Canadian custody.”

Teixeira is charged with firstdegree murder in the Oct. 23, 2017 shooting death of Nicholas Khabra in the 14300-block of Crescent Road in South Surrey. He is also charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm with intent to wound or disfigure, in connection with an offence on the same date, which U.S. court documents obtained in December state relate to the shooting of Khabra’s girlfriend.

A ‘memorandum in support of extradition’ filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in California describes a total of eight charges stemming from three separate incidents that occurred between 2015 and 2017. In addition to the charges connected to South Surrey, Teixeira is wanted for trial on attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and uttering threats.

The additional charges, according to the court document, are related to an incident in June 2016, in which a bouncer at a bar in Surrey suffered multiple stab wounds, and one in August 2015, in which two people suffered stab wounds in an incident at a Maple Ridge public house.

Following Teixeira’s “dynamic” arrest at a home in Oroville, Calif. – U.S. officials at the time described violent efforts to elude capture, including the ramming of an armoured vehicle – Canadian authorities submitted a formal request for his extradition on Jan. 21.

According to the U.S. court document, the crimes which Teixeira is accused of, if committed in the U.S., come with maximum penalties ranging from four years’ imprisonment to life in jail.

In Canada, a conviction of first-degree murder comes with a mandatory life sentence.

Canada’s evidence, the court document submits, “establish probable cause that Teixeira committed the eight offenses for which extradition is sought.”

The determination of probable cause, the document adds, is “not a finding of fact.” It “serves only the narrow function of indicating those items of submitted evidence on which the decision to certify extradition is based.”

Horwood noted that Teixeira’s case is one of two involving Canadians who are currently in federal custody in Sacramento awaiting extradition. They are also the first two such defendants in her 12 years with the U.S. Attorney’s office, she said.

The second, according to the Sacramento Bee, involves a man arrested Wednesday (Feb. 26), who is alleged to have stolen the identity of two-and-a-half-year-old American boy, Thomas Carl Coy – who died in July 1949.

Jean-Paul Halleux escaped from a prison in Manitoba in 1973, while serving a two-year sentence for break-and-enter, the Bee states, adding his history with the name Coy appears to begin in 1977.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

31 19

Quebec monitoring 30 possible cases of COVID-19 as worry mounts over international spread Quebec health officials are monitoring 30 people who may have contracted the novel coronavirus, now known as COVID-19.

The number, which is updated daily by the provincial health ministry, is the highest it has been since the start of the outbreak. The spike in the number of people being evaluated has grown because on Tuesday Quebec added five countries to a watch list that had previously only included mainland China and Hong Kong.

Now travellers who show symptoms of respiratory illness who had recently travelled to South Korea, Iran, Italy, Japan and Singapore, will be tested for the new coronavirus.

So far, 53 people have been tested for the disease in Quebec. None of them had it. There have, however, been 12 confirmed cases of the disease in Canada.

In recent days, concern has grown among global health officials as, for the

first time, more cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed outside of China -- where it originated -- than inside.

Italy has scrambled to respond to dozens of cases just as Iran has done the same.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. People most at risk of complications are those with a weakened immune system or chronic disease and the elderly.

All Quebecers who have returned from Hubei province in China are asked to self-isolate and monitor themselves for 14 days after leaving the province. In addition, they are requested to call Info-Santé at 811 to alert public health authorities within 24 hours of their return.

There has not yet been a positive COVID-19 case in Quebec, although Quebecers travelling on the Diamond Princess cruise ship have caught it overseas.

Trial of Surrey man accused in West Kelowna murder moving forward A Surrey man accused of murdering a woman in West Kelowna in 2018 has been allowed to withdraw his guilty plea that shocked the court on Tuesday.

Tejwant Danjou appeared in BC Supreme Court on Friday, where his application to have his impromptu plea in the second-degree murder of Rama Guaravarapu removed was accepted by the court.The trial will begin as soon as possible. Danjou was arrested on July 22, 2018, after police were called to the Best Western hotel in the 3400-block of Carrington Road following a report of

a woman in need of assistance. Police said the woman, later identified as Gauravarapu, died that night. Danjou, who was 69 years old at the time, was charged with killing her.

According to the RCMP, the two were known to each other and a code used on Danjou’s court file is reserved for cases where the victim and accused are in, or were previously in, a personal or intimate relationship.

Gauravarapu was a financial planner at Surrey Royal Bank branch for 20 years.

Danjou was a real estate agent and after he was charged his real estate licence was suspended by the Real Estate Council of British Columbia.

Dubai based company buys fraser surrey dock Announced Monday (Feb. 24), DP World and its partner Caisse de dépôt et placement de Québec (CDPQ) had finalized purchasing Fraser Surrey Docks from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners.

A news release from DP World states that Fraser Surrey Docks “complements DP World’s footprint in Canada, which also includes terminal operations in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Prince Rupert and Saint John. The integrated coast-to-coast platform provides customers with bulk, breakbulk and general cargo.”

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO, said Fraser Surrey Docks “bolsters” their footprint on Canada’s west coast.

“DP World has been seeing growing demand from our customers for multi-purpose facilities in the region and we believe Fraser Surrey Docks has the relevant infrastructure and is in the right location to service this demand,” he said in a release. “We are confident that our innovative approach will bring DP World’s best-in-class terminal operations to Fraser Surrey Docks.”

Matt Leech, the CEO and managing director of DP World Americas, said the company looks forward “to helping Fraser Surrey reach its full potential and generating value over the long-term for DP World and its customers.”

According to Fraser Surrey Docks’ website, it is the “largest modern, multi-purpose terminal

20 32

National / Finance

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Luxury home prices fall in Vancouver & Calgary, rise in other big cities Luxury homes in Vancouver and Calgary keep getting cheaper -- relatively speaking.

Still out of reach for most Canadians, high-end houses and apartments in both Western Canadian cities saw drops in their median prices over a recent 12-month period, according to a new report from Royal LePage. Meanwhile, markets in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal saw modest increases.

“The last couple years have been trending in a pretty dramatic reduction of value across the board,” said Jason Soprovich, a Royal LePage Sussex realtor in Vancouver. Luxury houses dipped 6.7 per cent to under $5.4 million in the B.C. city, while condo prices decreased 4.4 per cent to just over $2.4 million. Prices in the Vancouver market in general have decreased over the last year as well, according to reports. But still, the city is one of the most expensive in the

world. In January, it was ranked the second least affordable housing market on the planet in the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.

Luxury properties are generally considered to be three times the cost of an average home, but the figure can be four times higher in the major cities of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. While the latter two cities have seen declines in luxury prices, most other markets have been on the rise. Nationally, there has been a widening gap between supply and demand -too many buyers and too few homes have pushed prices higher and higher in many regions.

For luxury homeowners in declining markets, the price drops represent large sums

of wealth. Soprovich has been seeing more luxury homes sell at what he called “anomaly drops,” sale prices as much as 40 per cent under the listing price. For owners whose homes are their “largest asset base,” these drops represent a decline in wealth.

The news isn’t bad for everyone.

People looking to “upsize” or move into the luxury market have a unique opportunity. “It’s an excellent time for buyers to reinvest,” said Soprovich.

In Calgary, the drops in luxury home costs were less dramatic, with houses falling just $15,000 from the previous 12-month period to $1.95 million and condos dropping 2 per cent to $887,000.

Royal LePage Benchmark realtor John

Hripko considers the dip to be “negligible” in the Alberta city. He would characterize the luxury housing market to be relatively “flat” in Calgary, but economic concerns could be playing into the lack of growth. The city hasn’t seen a “seller’s market,” in which scarce supply means prices can stay high, since 2013.

“This marketplace will turn around,” he said, noting that it likely won’t see substantial improvement for a couple more years and until the city diversifies away from the energy sector.

“The overall economic scenario in Alberta and Calgary has to improve dramatically.”

Until then, sellers who can’t afford to wait could be taking major losses. “When they have to suck it up, they suck it up big,” he said.

Recently, he knows of a seller who bought their home for $3.7 million and sold it for $2.9 million.

In other major cities, median luxury home prices are steadily rising.

Money laundering has warped economy and fuelled opioid crisis, BC tells inquiry The B.C. government says money laundering has distorted the economy, fuelled the opioid crisis and overheated the real estate market as a provincial inquiry into the criminal activity began Monday.

Jacqueline Hughes, a lawyer for the province, says the past cannot be undone but the government can take steps to make B.C. the most difficult jurisdiction to launder money.

B.C.’s NDP government called the independent inquiry last year after three reports revealed that casinos and horse racing as well as the real estate and luxury car markets had become laundromats for the proceeds of crime.

Commissioner Austin Cullen is hearing opening remarks this week, with Hughes the first to speak on behalf of the province’s Finance Ministry and gaming policy enforcement branch.

Hughes says B.C. has earned an international reputation as a haven for money laundering and the public deserves to know if there was wilful blindness to what was going on.

She says the government has taken steps including creating a beneficial ownership registry to try and block those buying real estate from hiding behind numbered companies, but it is looking forward to the inquiry’s recommendations.

StatCan says 3.2 million living in poverty, including 566,000 children Statistics Canada says 3.2 million Canadians are living below the poverty line. The agency is releasing an updated portrait of poverty in Canada today based on 2018 income tax returns, However it also is proposing changing how poverty is determined which would likely increase the overall number of Canadians who are considered poor.

The review shows using the existing formula shows the national poverty rate dropped to 8.7 per cent in 2018 compared to 9.5 per cent a year earlier.

The child poverty rate of 8.2 per cent however is little changed from 2017 but has almost been cut in half since it

peaked at 15 per cent in 2012. Overall 566,000 children were living in poverty in Canada compared to one million children six years earlier. The results are being closely watched today by the federal Liberals, who have touted their work on reducing the number of people living in poverty since 2015. The poverty figures for 2018 are key benchmarks to track the government’s anti-poverty strategy. Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen is scheduled to speak about the results at an event in the national capital this morning.

Statistics Canada says its proposed new formula for calculating poverty would increase the rate from 8.2 per cent to 11 per cent in 2018.

How nearly $150 billion worth of energy projects have been shelved in Canada Canadian and international investors have had a hard time getting shovels in the ground on their projects, even after securing regulatory approval. The reasons have been many: pure economics, political divisions, Indigenous disapproval and environmental concerns. All of the above factors have left a slew of projects stranded as Canadians are unable to agree on our need to develop resources and at the same time fight climate change. Together, they make up around $150 billion of lost investment opportunity that would have generated taxes, jobs and businesses for the domestic economy.

Here are some of the major energy projects over the past few years that never saw the light of day: Project: Frontier Oilsands Mine Cost: $20.6 billion Company: Teck Resources Ltd.

The proposed oilsands mine in northern Alberta was expected to produce 260,000 barrels of oil per day. It was cancelled by the proponent over the weekend amid a major fight between Ottawa and Alberta over climate change issues, a lack of pipeline capacity and low oil prices. The project was expected to push up Canadian carbon emissions and was opposed by environmental groups, but enjoyed the support of many First Nations in the region.

The proposed pipeline to bring oil from northern Alberta to a port in Kitimat B.C. was approved by Stephen Harper’s government in 2014, but was quashed by a Federal Court of Appeal two years later. It was rejected by the Liberal government in 2016.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Canada must expose hidden company owners to end ‘snow washing,’ inquiry hears Canada must urgently create public registries that reveal the true owners of corporations in order to shed its international reputation as a destination for laundering the proceeds of crime, an inquiry has heard.

A coalition of tax fairness groups told British Columbia’s money laundering inquiry Wednesday that hiding ill-gotten cash behind shell companies is so widespread in Canada it’s known globally as “snow washing.”

“It is no wonder criminals set their sights on Canada, which has some of the weakest corporate transparency laws in the world,” said James Cohen, representing Transparency International Canada, Canadians For Tax Fairness and Publish What You Pay Canada.

“There are more rigorous checks to obtain a library card than there are to set up a shell company.” B.C. launched the provincial inquiry amid growing concern that illegal cash was helping to fuel its real estate, luxury car and gambling sectors. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is participating and says it is committed to tackling the national problem. Three days of opening arguments concluded Wednesday. The inquiry will reconvene in May to quantify

the extent of money laundering in B.C. before main hearings in September through December delve into specific industries.

Cohen, executive director of Transparency International Canada, said it joined forces with the other two groups in 2016 after the Panama Papers shed new light on wealthy individuals’ use of offshore companies to evade taxes. The leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca also revealed that Canada was being marketed as a location to bring dirty money and have it cleaned like the “pure white snow,” he said.

There are a number of gaps in Canada’s anti-money laundering law but a key problem is its weak beneficial ownership regime, which allows company owners to remain anonymous, Cohen said. He proposed adding owner information to existing business registries already in place in provinces and territories. This addition would deter money laundering while still respecting privacy rights, he argued. Cohen noted that the United Kingdom gathers information about owners that is available to authorities but limits the details that are posted publicly on its registry.

‘Not interested in politics’ top reason Canadians didn’t vote in 2019, StatCan says Being uninterested in politics was the top reason Canadians gave as to why they didn’t cast a ballot in the 2019 federal election.

According to a new release from Statistics Canada based on data derived from questions asked in the November 2019 Labour Force Survey, of those who were eligible to vote but didn’t, 35 per cent said it was because they were “not interested in politics.” Of the 23 per cent of eligible Canadians who reported that they did not vote, this was the most common reason across most age groups.

Other “political reasons” cited by those surveyed were a lack of information about campaign issues and parties’ positions, they did not like any candidates, parties, or campaigns, they felt that their vote would not make a difference, and that they did not know who to vote for.

Overall, men more often reported political reasons as what was behind their decision to not participate. Women were more likely to

cite illness or disability as the reason behind why they didn’t vote.

Voters between the ages of 35 and 64 cited being “not interested in politics” more often than voters between the ages of 18 and 34, the survey found. Across the country, the lack of interest was cited most often in Quebec.

As well, Canadian citizens by birth who didn’t vote were more likely to report a lack of interest in politics than naturalized citizens or immigrants who have been in Canada for more than 10 years. Another five per cent cited electoral process issues as the reason they didn’t vote, such as they could not prove their identity or address, were not on the voters list, encountered a transportation problem or their polling station was too far away, had a lack of information about the voting process, the lines were too long at their polling place, or issues with the voter information card.

Lynn Beyak has been suspended from the Senate for a second time With little fanfare, the Senate of Canada voted today to suspend Sen. Lynn Beyak for the remainder of this parliamentary session because she failed to complete the anti-racism training she was directed to undergo the last time she was temporarily kicked out of the Red Chamber.

The Senate agreed, on a voice vote, to adopt the ethics committee’s latest report on Beyak, which calls for her suspension from the chamber so she can complete the prescribed training and take time to think about the harm she did to Indigenous people by posting racist letters on her website.

There was no standing vote; the report was adopted “on division,” meaning there was some opposition in the chamber.

This latest suspension comes two days after the senator formally apologized in the upper house. For years, Beyak has insisted she did nothing wrong in posting the letters to her Senate webpage, but she conceded Tuesday

that her actions were “ill-considered.”

“I would like to unreservedly apologize for my actions,” she said. “Because of my belief in free speech, my initial instincts were to leave the letters on the website.

After long and careful consideration, I now regret not insisting on their removal.”

‘Disrespectful, divisive and unacceptable’ After insisting for years that she did nothing wrong, Ontario Sen. Lynn Beyak told her colleagues in the upper house she ‘unreservedly’ apologizes for posting racist letters to her Senate website. 3:28 The Senate’s internal economy committee will meet this afternoon to formally remove her from the Senate payroll.

The ethics committee stipulated that, for the duration of her suspension, Beyak should not receive any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses, including any sessional or living allowances, and that she be denied access to Senate resources — including office space.

NATIONAL

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INDIA

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Can’t have repeat of ’84, says High Court Cautioning the police authorities to remain alert to ensure that the carnage caused during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was not repeated, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday wondered why the police didn’t register FIRs against BJP leaders for making inflammatory speeches.

“Take a conscious decision with respect to the registration of FIRs and report back tomorrow,” said a Bench headed by Justice S Muralidhar as it posted activist Harsh Mader’s petition for hearing on Thursday. The matter is likely to come up for hearing before a Bench headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel on Thursday.

During the hearing, the video clips of alleged hate speeches of BJP leaders, including that of Kapil Mishra, were played in the court and the Bench repeatedly asked Solicitor General Tushar Mishra to explain why no FIRs were registered against them.

Leaders of the BJP against whom FIRs have been demanded also included Union Minister Anurag Thakur, Abhay Verma and Parvesh Verma. “Are you saying even the Police Commissioner has not seen the videos?

This is too serious a matter. I am amazed at the state of affairs”, the Bench said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested the court to await the response of the authorities.

India’s economy likely grew 4.7% in December quarter Reuters poll Indian economic growth likely accelerated a touch in the October-December period after its weakest expansion in over six years in the previous quarter, a Reuters poll showed, with a small rebound in rural demand and private consumption expected.

Annual gross domestic product growth likely rose to 4.7% in the last quarter of 2019 from 4.5% the previous quarter, when the growth rate appears to have bottomed out, a Feb. 18-24 Reuters poll found.

About 90% of economists in the poll forecast growth for the OctoberDecember quarter at 5% or below.

“A modest recovery in the agriculture sector, coupled with a normalisation in weather conditions amid elevated government spending likely pushed growth higher,” noted economists

at Barclays in their latest weekly report.

However, the momentum could be hurt by high retail inflation, which rose to 7.59% in January, potentially constraining consumption and demand.

“Overall the economy is way below potential. Even the lead indicators don’t seem to be entering a more sustainable phase of economic recovery right now, or at least in the near future,” said Sakshi Gupta, senior India economist at HDFC Bank.

Policymakers at the Reserve Bank of India are considering more interest rate cuts to prop up economic growth as soon as inflation moderates to its mandated medium-term target of 4%, minutes from their meeting showed this month.

PM Modi appeals for calm as riot toll rises Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm on Wednesday after days of clashes between Hindus and minority Muslims over a controversial citizenship law in some of the worst sectarian violence in the capital in decades.

Twenty people were killed and nearly 200 wounded in the violence, a doctor said, with many suffering gunshot wounds amid looting and arson attacks that coincided with a visit to India by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Police and paramilitary forces patrolled the streets in far greater numbers on Wednesday.

Parts of the riot-hit areas were deserted.

“Peace and harmony are central to our ethos.

I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times,” Modi said in a tweet. Modi’s appeal came after a storm of criticism from opposition parties of the government’s failure to control the violence, despite the use of tear gas, pellets and smoke grenades.

Sonia Gandhi, president of the opposition Congress party, called for the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah, who is directly responsible for law and order in the capital.

The violence erupted between thousands demonstrating for and against the new citizenship law introduced by Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.

The Citizenship Amendment Act makes it easier for nonMuslims from some neighbouring Muslim-dominated countries to gain Indian citizenship.

Critics say the law is biased against Muslims and undermines India’s secular constitution.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has denied it has any bias against India’s more than 180 million Muslims. Reuters witnesses saw mobs wielding sticks and pipes walking down streets in parts of northeast Delhi on Tuesday, amid arson attacks and looting. Thick clouds of black smoke billowed from a tyre market that was set ablaze. Many of the wounded had suffered gunshot injuries, hospital officials said. At least two mosques in northeast Delhi were set on fire. On Wednesday, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a tweet that it was alarmed by the violence and it urged the Indian government “to rein in mobs and protect religious minorities and others who have been targeted”.

Indians have friends in USA, says National Security Advisor US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has thanked the people of India who came out in support of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania during their maiden visit to the country, underlining that they have friends in America and the White House. “You have friends in the

US and in the White House,” the NSA said.

Separately, the White House in a tweet thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for their incredible hospitality.

The White House tweet said Trump and Modi talked about the India-Pakistan relationship.

India wants UK museum to return stolen ancient idol London: India has made a request for the return of a 15th century bronze idol of a Tamil saint believed to be stolen from a Tamil Nadu temple and found its way to a UK museum at Oxford University through auction. The statue

of Saint Tirumankai Alvar was acquired by the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford from Sotheby’s auction house in 1967 from one JR Belmont (1886-1981).

India fines jewellery firm Gitanjali Gems for withholding information in $2 billion bank fraud India’s securities regulator on Thursday fined jewellery retailer Gitanjali Gems Ltd and its executives 50 million rupees ($695,700) for failing to disclose key information related to a $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB). Gitanjali’s promoter and managing director, Mehul Choksi; his nephew, billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, and others were accused of being involved in fraudulent transactions that led to losses of roughly $2 billion for PNB.

PNB, India’s second-biggest state-run bank, in 2018 alleged that a few rogue employees had issued fake bank guarantees over several years to help jewellery groups - controlled

by Modi and Choksi - raise funds in foreign credit. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

Gitanjali failed to properly disclose the withdrawal of the credit limit by PNB, actions by various enforcement agencies relating to the case and the resignation of key executives, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said in an order.

Justice Muralidhar transferred on SC collegium’s recommendation: Prasad Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said Justice S Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court was transferred on the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium and accused the Congress of politicising a routine transfer. He said a “wellsettled process” was followed in the transfer of Justice Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “By politicising a routine transfer, the Congress has yet again displayed its scant

regard for the judiciary,” Prasad said in a series of tweets. His reaction came after the Congress alleged that Justice Muralidhar was transferred by the government to save the BJP leaders in the Delhi violence case. “Transfer of Hon’ble Justice Muralidhar was done pursuant to the recommendation dated February 12 of the Supreme Court collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India,” the minister said.

PUNJAB

Saturday, February 29, 2020 Will give up life, but not Punjab’s water: Chief Minister Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he was ready to give up his life but not the state’s “scarce” water resources to other states. Wrapping up the debate on the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address, the Chief Minister declared that Punjab did not have surplus water and, in line with the internationally accepted riparian principles, would not allow transfer of water from basin to nonbasin areas. He said his government would continue to work on protecting the water rights of Punjab to safeguard the livelihood of millions of Punjabi farmers and landless farm labourers. Punjab was not given its

due when all resources were divided in 60:40 ratio between Punjab and Haryana under the Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966, the Chief Minister claimed, adding that water of Punjab’s three rivers was taken away but the state was not given any share from the Yamuna. Referring to the various measures taken by his government for saving the state’s precious water resources, the Chief Minister said that apart from enactment of the Punjab Water Resources (Management and Regulation) Act 2020, the government had also piloted a unique project, ‘Pani Bachao Paisa Kamao’, aimed at incentivising farmers to save water.

Over 53K Punjab farmers yet to get relief for not burning straw Highly orchestrated campaign against stubble burning, under which the state government was paying a relief of Rs 2,500 per acre to farmers who had desisted from the practice, seems to have fizzled out. Many dubious and fake entries uploaded on the portal in Sangrur and Fazilka districts in last November had raised alarm as the relief amount was transferred in the bank accounts of farmers who are landlords and had burnt stubble After getting a clue of the ‘scam’, the state had suspended the portal for two days and resumed it with caution About four months after as many as 1,15,835 farmers submitted their applications for compensation to the state government, 42,466 were approved. While 53,279 applications are still pending with patwaris (47,416), kanungos (2,234), tehsildar (352) and SDMs (3,277) for verification and 19,790 have been rejected, said highly placed sources in the Agriculture Department.

About two weeks after the Supreme Court

CM: Kept word on curbing drug trade in Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday claimed that his government’s comprehensive campaign against drugs had broken the backbone of the drug mafia in the state. The government had adopted a comprehensive EDP — enforcement, de-addiction and prevention — strategy to rid the state of drugs, he said. Citing figures, Capt Amarinder said 34,373 NDPS cases had been registered during the last three years, with the arrest of 42,571 persons and seizure of 974.15 kg of heroin by the state police.

Illicit sale of liquor eating into revenue, claims AAP Legislators of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) attacked the Punjab Government over the issue of liquor mafia, both inside and outside the House. When AAP MLA Aman Arora raised the issue during the Zero Hour seeking reasons for the rejection of a private member Bill in this regard by Speaker Rana KP Singh, all party MLAs, led by LoP Harpal Singh Cheema, staged a walkout from the House amid sloganeering. Later addressing the media, Arora accused Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh of patronising the Rs10,000-crore liquor mafia in the state. Others present were Cheema, Prof Baljinder Kaur, Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, Principal Budh Ram, Meet Hayer, Kulwant Singh Panduri (all MLAs), party spokesman Navdeep Sangha, Neel Garg, Govinder Mittal and state media head Manjit Singh Sidhu.

ordered the state to compensate the farmers who did not burn stubble in their fields and the latter invited the applications, the government suspended the payment after receiving complaints that some ineligible people had received the amount.

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Govt to grant illegal squatters ownership rights soon The Cabinet offered a slew of incentives to thousands of illegal squatters on commercial and residential properties in municipal bodies and improvement trusts across the state. The Congress government is set to bring a legislation — the Punjab Management and Transfer of Municipal Properties Act, 2020 — to vest property rights to tenants, who have been occupying such properties for more than 12 years within the MC limits.

A draft of the proposed legislation was approved in the Cabinet meeting chaired

by CM Capt Amarinder Singh. Local Government Department officials said that over the years, a majority of such properties were leased out to tenants by municipal bodies

for a fixed time period. But tenants continued to hold on to the properties on one pretext or the other, with a large number attracting litigations. As a result, municipal bodies were unable to generate revenue from the properties. The department does not have the correct figure of such properties, but the number is high, it has been learnt. A huge chunk of property in this category is stuck with poor or no returns to the government. Depending on the size and location, the rent was as low as Rs50 a month, whereas there were many who were not even paying a rupee. There were certain cases where the tenant was long dead. The legislation allows transfer of commercial properties through auction and residential properties through allotment or draw of lots.

36

INDIA

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Tata Motors, two group finance firms accused of antitrust violations in India - sources India’s competition regulator is examining allegations that Tata Motors and two finance firms of its $100 billion parent group abused their market position while selling commercial vehicles, according to three sources and legal documents seen by Reuters.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is reviewing a complaint which alleges the country’s biggest seller of trucks dictated terms around the quantity and type of vehicles its former dealer in northern India - Varanasi Auto Sales - should stock.

More than a dozen lawyers representing the three Tata companies attended a private hearing at the CCI in January and argued there was no malpractice by the group’s firms, said the three sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter.

The Tata Group has faced antitrust reviews in the past. A CCI investigation last year found units of Tata Steel and other firms colluded on prices of bearings. A final ruling on that case is pending.

The latest complaint, filed last year by a family member of the dealer, alleged Tata Motors broke rules by working in concert with Tata Motors Finance and Tata Capital Financial Services while advancing dealer credit. The automaker would stop supplying vehicles to the dealer if repayment of loans advanced by the two finance firms was delayed, indicating they were colluding, said one of the sources privy to the complaint. “(The) model of business adopted by Tata Group helped in sustaining and retaining the market share,” the complaint document said.

Supreme Court raps police for absence of professionalism As violence over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) continued in northeast Delhi, the Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Delhi Police for lack of professionalism and failing to take timely action to control it.

“The real problem is lack of professionalisation of the police and lack of independence. If the police act completely in accordance with the law, many of these problems will not arise,” a Bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice KM Joseph said even as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta tried to defend the handling of the communal violence by the Delhi Police.

The violence in northeast Delhi killed 27 people, including a cop and an Intelligence Bureau man, and left around 200 people injured till Wednesday evening.

The top court rebuked the Delhi Police

for allowing the “instigators of violence” to get away, saying they should act “independently” as per the law without waiting for somebody’s permission.

However, it refused to entertain a plea filed by Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, former CIC Wajahat Habibullah and one Bahadur Abbas Naqvi seeking a courtmonitored SIT probe into the violence, saying the Delhi HC was already looking into it. Justice Joseph cited the example of police in the UK for their swift handling of such situations, saying, no permission was required to act upon. Meanwhile, Mehta said the Bench should not make comments. “Let’s not demoralise the police,” he said. Justice Joseph replied, “ Don’t misunderstand me, my remarks are being made keeping in mind larger perspective.”

Shah must go over colossal failure: Sonia Congress president Sonia Gandhi today lashed out at the government for its “colossal failure” in containing Delhi violence and demanded immediate resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah. In a rare press conference, a first in years, Gandhi flanked by former PM Manmohan Singh and top party leaders asked where Home Minister was since last Sunday when the first clashes broke out.

Gandhi was speaking at AICC headquarters

after chairing a three-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee. She accused the BJP and AAP dispensations of “deliberate inaction” and said inflammatory speeches by BJP leaders triggered violence “The CWC is of firm opinion that what happened in Delhi is a colossal failure of duty for which the responsibility must be borne by the Centre, particularly the Home Minister.

He should quit immediately,” Sonia Gandhi said.

Daughter joins Navy as pilot’s pyre lit Group Captain Gurpreet Singh Cheema (50), who lost his life in the Patiala air crash on February 24, nurtured a dream of seeing his daughter getting commissioned into one of the three Services — the Indian Army, Navy or Air Force. We salute Kunjdeep. She has put the nation before her father. This is precisely what her father wanted her to do. It is true patriotism. Like father, like daughter!

Kunjdeep Kaur (22), an engineering graduate, did not let her father down.

However, as luck would have it, she joined the Navy the day he was cremated. As Bhav Gurmeet Singh, Cheema’s 13-yearold son, saluted his father before lighting the pyre today, his sister was being formally commissioned into the Navy after clearing her medical examination in New Delhi. The

daughter, knowing well she could not be present at the cremation, paid her last respects at Patiala yesterday before the body was taken to his native village in Gurdaspur in the evening. The mourners were led by Air Commodore Joy Thomas Kurien, who heads the Pathankot Air Force Station, from the defence side, while Gurdaspur DC Mohammad Ishfaq and SDM Sakattar Singh Bal represented the civil administration. All roads led to the village cremation ground as hundreds paid respect to Group Captain. The political class, however, was conspicuous by its absence. Alowal falls in the Assembly segment of Qadian represented

by Congress MLA Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa.

37 central Acts applicable to J&K, Cabinet gives nod The government today gave its nod to an order to adopt 37 central laws in Concurrent List to make them applicable in the newly carved out Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

Talking to mediapersons after the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Modi, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the decision was taken with an aim to ensure administrative effectiveness and smooth transition in the UT. “All Central laws that are applicable to whole of India except

the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir before the appointed date of October 31, 2019, are now applicable to Union Territory of J&K,” said Javadekar.

The adaptation of these central laws will be under Section 96 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, which reorganised the erstwhile state into two UTs — Jammu and Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one — and got President Ram Nath Kovind’s assent on August 9, 2019, four days after Parliament passed it. —

Himachal ambulance services marred by prank calls The efficiency of the 108 Emergency Response Centre (ERC), which provides ambulances to patients needing immediate assistance, has been severely marred with 23 callers making a number of abusive and obscene calls ranging from 100 to over 700 in the last six months. The staff of the 108

ambulance services has identified these callers over the six-month period from August 2019 to January 2020. A girl tops the list with 746 calls, which includes 538 calls which were disconnected on being received, three nuisance calls and 205 which turned to be blank on being received by the centre.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

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PAKISTAN

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Anyone targeting minorities would be dealt with strictly: PM Khan Prime Minister Imran Khan warned that anyone targeting minorities in the country would be dealt with strictly, as he condemned the ongoing violence in India. At least 20 people have been killed since Sunday in violence in Northeast Delhi, triggered after clashes between pro and antiprotestors over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). “I want to warn our people that anyone in Pakistan targeting our non-Muslim citizens

or their places of worship will be dealt with strictly. Our minorities are equal citizens of this country,” he said. Khan also condemned the violence in India and said the world community “must act” now. “Now 200 million Muslims in India are being targeted. The world community must act now,” he tweeted.

“Whenever a racist ideology based on hatred takes over, it leads to bloodshed,” he said.

Pakistan response mature: Imran Khan Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the manner in which Islamabad responded to Indian aggression in February 2019 was indicative of the nation’s maturity. Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad to commemorate ‘Pakistan’s Responsible and Resolute Response to Indian Aggression’ of

February 26 last year, he said that the country was prepared for India’s violations. “I was very proud of how the Pakistani people dealt with the crisis,” Dawn quoted him as saying. “The fact that the crisis did not aggravate and the situation didn’t worsen only shows the maturity of the Pakistani nation.” Imran said that Pakistan was aware through intelligence reports that India planned to show some belligerence following the Pulwama attack.

Greta Thunberg meets Malala Yousafzai at Oxford University Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg met Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai at Britain’s University of Oxford on Tuesday and posed for a photo together. Yousafzai, widely known by her first name, Malala, is a student at the University of Oxford. The 22-year-old posted a photo on Instagram of herself and Thunberg sitting on a bench with their arms around each other, with a caption “Thank you, @gretathunberg” and a heart emoji.

Thunberg, 17, is in the United Kingdom to join a school strike in Bristol on Friday. Both women shot to worldwide fame after standing up for major global issues: climate change and women’s education.

Former disqualified PM Sharif declared absconder Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been declared an “absconder” by the government for violating the bail requirements by not presenting his medical report from his doctors in London, according to a media report on Wednesday.

Likely to get tag of proclaimed offender Nawaz Sharif ’s failure to return to Pakistan may result in his declaration as proclaimed offender, a senior official has said. He has been in London since November 19 for treatment after he was granted permission on humanitarian grounds by the Lahore High Court. Sharif, 70, left for London in November last for treatment after the Lahore High Court allowed him on medical grounds for four weeks.

Pakistan confirms its first two cases of Coronavirus Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed its first two cases of the novel coronavirus as the deadly infection reached the country despite all out efforts to keep it away. “I can confirm first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan. Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols & both of them are stable,” Dr Zafar Mirza, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, tweeted.

He said there was “no need to panic” as the “things are under control”.

Mirza said he was currently at the country’s Taftan border crossing with Iran and would return to Islamabad on Thursday and address a press conference. His tweet came moments after the Sindh health department said a 22-year young man had tested positive for the coronavirus in Karachi.

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FIJI

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Man appears for allegedly murdering his girlfriend’s 2-year-old brother The case of Josaia Vuetimaibose who allegedly murdered a two-year-old baby on the 15th of this month has been transferred to the Suva High Court. Magistrate Deepika Prakash has ruled that it is an indictable offence and has also denied bail for the 25-year-old man.

It is alleged that the man, who is the boyfriend of the victim’s older sister, punched the child twice in the stomach.

He is charged with one count of murder.

Vuetimaibose’s Legal Aid lawyer, Lorina Filipe had applied for bail on the basis that he was a first time offender. However Police Prosecutor, Kula Nainoca objected to bail as it is an indictable offence. Magistrate Prakash denied him bail due to the nature of the offence and the relationship between Vuetimaibose and the child’s older sister.

PM announces new range of measures at our borders to reduce the risk of coronavirus outbreak in Fiji Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama says given the rapid increase in global cases of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19, the government is announcing a new range of measures at our borders to reduce the risk of an outbreak in Fiji. Bainimarama says following the closure of Fijian borders to all visitors from Mainland China, from 28th February, Fiji will also be denying access to any foreign nationals who have been present in the nations of Italy and Iran or in Cheongdo county and Daegu city in South Korea within 14 days of their intended travel to Fiji. The UAE and Singapore have just announced similar measures. The Prime

Minister says in cooperation with Fiji Airways and other carriers, the previously announced stringent border screening measures will remain in place for all inbound passengers to Fiji. From next Monday, Fiji will also screen all international air passengers with handheld temperature scanners and in two to three weeks time we will have thermal scanners installed at our international airports. At sea, from 28th February, all cruise ships entering Fijian waters will be required to make first berth at ports in Suva or Lautoka, where all passengers on board will undergo the earlier-announced medical and travel history checks.

NZ PM remembers fallen Fijians of Christchurch massacre The New Zealand Prime Minister while commemorating the fallen victims of the Christchurch massacre said March 14th will always be a dark day for many. Addressing the guests, teachers, and students at Lautoka Muslim Primary School this morning, Jacinda Ardern says that many families in New Zealand and Fiji suffered painful losses that would be hard to heal.

NZ Prime Minister Ardern again publicly thanked the people of Fiji for their support in

the aftermath of the Christchurch shooting “I wanna place on record our deep appreciation for the many messages of support we received following the March 15th attacks.

It gave us strength and to know that you stood in solidarity with us and you sent the messages so swiftly you were the first but it was especially moving to receive those messages knowing that you faced your own grief.” The New Zealand Prime Minister said she remains ever confident, ever optimistic, ever hopeful .

It costs $52 to care for an inmate each day It costs $52 each day to take care of an inmate in Fiji.

Fiji Corrections Service Commissioner Francis Kean told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights today they currently have 1,934 inmates under their care.

While making submissions on the Fiji

Corrections Service Annual Report August 2016 to 31 July 2017, Kean says they are also looking after 608 remandees.

Kean says they currently have three detainees who were referred to them from the Immigration Department.

He also highlighted that 10 inmates under their care are bedridden.

Fiji’s 1st diplomat to UN Satya Nandan passes away iji’s first diplomat to the United Nations Satya Nandan has passed away.

Nandan was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)(Fiji)in 1978.

In 1996 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Nandan was awarded the Companion

of the Order of Fiji (CF)in 2001. While paying tribute to Nandan via a tweet, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says Fiji has lost a titan of diplomacy with the passing of his friend.

Bainimarama says Nandan’s legacy is tied directly to Fiji’s independent history adding he will be remembered as a true global citizen, a wise mentor, and a proud son of the Pacific.

Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission to open new office in Lautoka The Fiji Human Rights and AntiDiscrimination Commission will be opening a new office in Lautoka within the next few months. Commission Director Ashwin Raj told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights this was one of the priorities since his appointment in 2016. He says they are mindful of the fact that it costs a lot of money for some people to come to Suva if they have any complaints.

Raj says recently a person with a disability

had to pay a $100 to come to the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission to first lodge a complaint and secondly, to pick up those documents. Raj says they are also making sure that their buildings are disability accessible to ensure everyone can easily access their services. He says the new office will be closer to the Lautoka Market which makes it easily accessible to the ordinary people. He also says that resources permitting, they will be opening an office in Labasa in the future.

SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, February 29, 2020

NRI US citizens warned to be cautious in India The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi urged its citizens bit.ly/2VpoJlS on Wednesday to be cautious after violent clashes broke out between Hindus and minority Muslims in parts of the city this week.

The violence erupted between thousands demonstrating for and against the new citizenship law introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.

NRI woman in judicial remand A local court sent Manjita Kaur Dhillon, a US-based NRI, on the 14-day judicial remand. She was held by the CISF with 25 live cartridges, which were found in her hand bag during checking at Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport, here yesterday. The city police have registered a case under the Arms Act against her. She was going to board a Jet Airways flight for New Delhi from where she was to take another flight for Pune. She had

a return flight for Los Angles from Mumbai.

Manjita was born in Indonesia while her husband and son live in Los Angeles (USA). She owns construction business in the US. She had come to India along with an Indonesian group on February 7 and had visa till March 8. She feigned ignorance about how live bullets found their way in her hand bag.

She had come to attend a marriage function at Nawanshahr.

4 file papers for NRI Sabha poll Four nominations were received on the last day of the filing papers for the NRI Sabha Punjab president election in the district, scheduled to be held on March 7. Returning Officercum-Additional Deputy Commissioner (G) Jasbir Singh said four nominations of Jasvir Singh Gill, his wife Gurvinder Jit Kaur Gill, Pritam Singh Narangpuri and Kirpal Singh Sahota were received today. Both Jasvir and Narangpuri have been former presidents of the sabha. Jasvir said his agenda would be to accomplish some incomplete works. “The time-bound division of property had been

approved by the government but it is yet to be notified. I will first get this done before working on any other pro-NRI related project,” he said.

He added that his wife had filed nomination like a covering candidate and would withdraw her papers if required. Narangpuri said he was campaigning and reaching out to NRIs across the length and breadth of the state, appealing them to cast vote in his favour. The scrutiny of the papers will be held on February 17. He said the nominations could be withdrawn by February 24. There were about 23,500 NRIs who were members of the sabha and have voting rights.

NRI panel seeks status report from Punjab DGP The Punjab State Commission for NRIs has summoned the Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, and sought a status report related to a case of Punjabi singer Elly Mangat before March 18. The probe was completed in November 2019 and the report was submitted to the DGP by Ropar Inspector General of Police (IGP) Amit Parsad. Harkirat Singh Mangat, alias Elly Mangat, had filed a petition in the commission against the DGP, Ropar

IGP and Mohali SSP on February 18. The singer complained that neither did he receive a copy of inquiry report, nor any action has been initiated against the cops who subjected him to third-degree torture in the police custody. Mangat’s counsel GS Ghuman and GPS Ghuman said they failed to understand why the DGP has not issued the status report of inquiry.

NRI tests negative for coronavirus A 28-year-old NRI, who was admitted to the PGI last evening as a suspected case of coronavirus, has tested negative for it. His samples were sent to AIIMS, New Delhi, yesterday.The man had returned from Singapore on February 10 and reported to the PGI with symptoms of cold and cough.

Suspecting it to be a case of coronavirus, doctors admitted him to the communicable

disease isolation ward at the PGI.The patient is an NRI and had come to his in-laws’ house at Sector 37. On January 27, a suspected case of novel coronavirus was admitted to the PGI. However, his samples had tested negative at the National Institute of Virology, Pune. The patient was admitted with fever and some coronavirus-like symptoms. He had recently been to China.

41

Trump heaps praise on India’s Modi in packed stadium President Trump and PM Modi cemented a budding friendship Monday with a joint rally in India attended by more than 110,000 people. The two men held hands and heaped praise on each other in front of a noisy, enthusiastic crowd in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Modi’s home state, in what’s

claimed to be the largest cricket stadium in the world. The event is part of a twoday visit to India by Trump as Washington courts New Delhi in a bid to crack its strongly protectionist markets, woo Indian American voters in the United States and develop a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.

India, USA finalised defence deals worth USD 3 billion: Trump India and the US on Tuesday finalised defence deals worth USD 3 billion, and signed three MoUs, including one in energy sector, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the two countries have decided to take Indo-US ties to comprehensive

global partnership level. The unprecedented and historic welcome given to Trump in India will be remembered, said Modi at a joint press meet with Trump and added that the relations between the two countries are not merely confined to governments.

Nepal PM’s b’day cake carries map, triggers controversy Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli’s birthday celebrations were marred by controversy after pictures of him cutting a 15-kg-cake with the country’s map drawn on it went viral. Oli’s wife Radhika Shakya, along

with others, attended his 69th birthday in Terhathum district on Sunday. In the pictures circulated online, Oli is seen cutting the cake and distributing it to the children present there.

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Saturday, February 29, 2020