The Asian Star December 16 2017

Vol 16 - Issue 46

After much campaign rhetoric, NDP gov’t will continue to build Site C dam

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DP gov’t will continue building the Site C dam, choosing to finish the contentious project started by the previous Liberal government rather than pull the plug during midconstruction. Premier John Horgan made the announcement in the legislature’s library Monday, the same location almost three years earlier that Liberal premier Christy Clark first announced the province would proceed with the $8.9-billion dam.

At the same time, Horgan revealed the estimated cost of Site C would increase by $1.657 billion, because several contracts are already over budget and more financial risks face the dam in the future. The new project cost is now estimated at $10.7 billion, factoring in an increased risk contingency fund. “I know many of us would wish the circumstances were different but I and my colleagues have to accept the situation as we find it, not how we wish it would be,” Horgan said, while admitting many of his friends and family members will be deeply disappointed with his decision. “At the end of the day we’ve come to the conclusion although Site C is not the project we would have favoured or started, it must be completed to meet the

Continued on page 6

Saturday, December 16, 2017

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“Red flags” that BC real estate purchases are used to launder illegal money - Attorney General Eby

By Umendra Singh

BC Attorney General David Eby said while there may not be a “smoking gun” of money being laundered by purchasing of real estate in Metro Vancouver but there are definitely lots of “red flags.”

Eby spoke exclusively to The Asian Star on Thursday after Premier Horgan, answering a question from The AsianStar last week said that his government was very concerned that money was being laundered through purchase of residential real estate.

Eby said one of the bigger red flags was in the BC’s land title registry system because it is really difficult to determine who actually

owns a property and who actually purchased a property.

The transactions are usually done by a lawyer with a lawyer’s name and address available but “no one knows who owns the property or who purchased it.”

There are also other major issues.

Eby said that Transparency International looked at Vancouver’s 100 most expensive properties last year and they could not determine who are the owners of 46 of those properties because ownership is hidden behind numbered companies and offshore trust funds used to buy the properties.

Continued on page 4

NDP has dismal showing under Jagmeet Singh

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ederal NDP received a punch in the gut on last Monday’s for by-elections in Canada, including one in South Surrey. In all four, NDP’s vote share fell by more than 50% compare to votes in the last Federal elections.

New NDP leader Jagmeet Singh did not do much to help his party and ended up campaiging in a wrong constituency in Ontario, showing his inexperience or lack of leadership. But Jagmeet Singh

not ‘discouraged’ by poor byelection results and Singh says he didn’t expect to “turn the ship around” in two months as NDP leader. Singh says his party’s dismal showing in four recent byelections only encourages him to work harder.

Singh isn’t reading too much into his party’s dismal showing in a series of recent byelections, insisting he’s playing a long game as he works to shore up support across Continued on page 7

High-profile Liberal donor swindled millions in immigration scheme When customers demanded refund, Oei sent them pictures of PM Trudeau hugging him A prominent BC Liberal donor and fundraiser, Paul Oei, defrauded investors of about $5 million in an immigration scheme, a BC Securities Commission panel has ruled. Testimony from Chinese investors that alleged Oei promoted his connections with top Canadian politicians, including then B.C. premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In the case, Oei was accused of bilking investors of $6.9 million in an immigration-investment scam surrounding

Continued on page 11

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

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OPINION

From page 1

Saturday, December 16, 2017

“Red flags” that BC real estate purchases are used to launder illegal money - Attorney General Eby

He said this is why last September he appointed former RCMP officer Peter German to investigate allegations of money laundering in BC casinos and real estate.

German gave his interim report earlier this month and Eby has implemented the recommendations.

German, who was asked to probe allegations that large-scale transnational money laundering has been occurring in B.C. casinos. Eby said that based on German’s findings, gleaned from numerous interviews completed since late September, these allegations have been proven He said German’s final report is expected in February and he hopes to use the recommendations to prevent flagrant use of money laundering in BC casinos and real estate purchases. German’s recommendations implemented by Eby means that high-stakes gamblers will no longer be able to walk into B.C. casinos and buy chips with bundles of $20 bills stuffed into hockey bags.

German’s first recommendation is that casino operators must complete increased customer

identity and source of funds reporting for cash deposits and bearer bond deposits of over $10,000. The second recommendation is that government regulators must maintain a visible presence and increase investigative staff in B.C.’largest casinos. Bearer bonds are a controversial financial instrument that is unregistered and therefore only owned by the person who is physically holding the document.

Now in B.C. casinos, for gamblers presenting cash or bearer bonds of $10,000 or more, “at a minimum, the declaration must outline a customer’s identification and provide the source of their funds, including the financial institution and account from which the cash or bond was sourced,” German’s recommendation states. If gamblers make two such transactions in a row, casinos can only accept the funds “once it has been determined that it is not of a suspicious or illegal nature,” Eby said. Eby said he understands that German’s recommendation will also cover bank drafts, which have been used in suspicious B.C. casino transactions,

according to government documents.

Eby said he understands that critics have reported that the business model of B.C.’casino industry is to accept dubious transactions with little questioning. “I have every confidence that when (German’s) final report is filed we will be able to comprehensively deal with this issue,” Eby said. The allegations that German is reviewing were first revealed in an audit of B.C. casinos launched in 2015 by accounting firm MNP LLP after the RCMP started to investigate allegations of transnational money laundering networks that were mostly targeting Richmond’s River Rock Casino. According to the allegations, a network of organized criminals was lending suspected drug cash to high-stakes gamblers from China, who used the funds to buy chips. Eby says he decided to appoint German after learning that in July 2015 that $13.5 million in $20 bills that police suspected was proceeds of crime, was accepted at River Rock. German’s first recommendation appears to respond partly to findings of the MNP audit. MNP said that River Rock’s staff “fostered a culture accepting of large bulk cash transactions.” And because the majority of VIPs using cash to buy chips are from China or have recently acquired resident status in Canada, it is difficult for staff to build client profiles to judge if their wealth is legitimate, MNP’s report says.

MNP also recommended that “casinos refuse unsourced cash deposits exceeding a certain dollar threshold until the source can be determined and validated.”

In a statement, Terrance Doyle, chief operating officer of Great Canadian Gaming Corp., which runs River Rock, said “Great Canadian supports the provincial government’s announcement regarding the interim recommendations made by Peter German. The declaration of source of funds for high value players is something virtually all our guests who play at these levels are familiar with completing, and we do not believe this will impact the guest experience.”

www.theasianstar.com # 202 - 7028, 120th Street, Surrey, BC V3W 3M8 Ph: 604-591-5423 Fax: 604-591-8615 E-mail: editor@theasianstar.com Editor: Umendra Singh Associate Editor: Chhavi Disawar Marketing and Sales: Ravinder S. Cheema........604-715-3847 Shamir Doshi....................604-649-7827 Harminder Kaur...............778-708-0481 Parminder Dhillon..........778-859-9234 Layout: Avee J Waseer Pre-Press: Iftikhar Ahmed Contributing writers: Jag Dhatt, Akash Sablok, Kamila Singh, Jay Bains

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LOCAL

From page 1

Saturday, December 16, 2017

After much campaign rhetoric, NDP gov’t will continue to build Site C dam

objectives our government has set.” B.C.’s business community and trades groups celebrated the move, while environmental organizations and First Nations called it an appalling betrayal of the NDP’s past promises.

Horgan’s cabinet spent nine hours over three meetings debating its decision and concluded to proceed on Dec. 6. He said Monday he made the decision “with a heavy heart” but that having to write off the project’s debt would have left his government unable to afford a promised $10-a-day childcare plan.

Horgan’s Site C promise bridges no divides between applauding supporters and opponents left feeling ignored

“It was with a heavy heart I make the decision, but it was with enthusiasm that we can … address the issues we campaigned on, making life more affordable, making sure we’re building schools and hospitals,” said Horgan. “If we absorb $4 billion in debt we couldn’t do that.

I was not prepared to foreclose on the future of generations by making a decision today that made me feel better.”

Cabinet leaned heavily on Hydro rate affordability in making its decision, arguing power bills would jump 12 per cent in 2020 if it cancelled the dam and had to recover the costs within the next 10 years, compared to a 6.5-per-cent rate increase in 2025 that Hydro is expected to smooth over time.

The cost to terminate the dam would result in an increase to an average residential Hydro rate of $198 a year, according to government officials. If Hydro absorbed the debt of a cancellation entirely, it would eliminate 80 per cent of Hydro’s equity, and the resulting $4-billion loss on Hydro’s books would still plunge the province into the largest deficit in its history.

Cabinet also explored whether the provincial government could have absorbed Site C’s losses in a cancellation scenario, but concluded it could lead to a credit downgrade. More significantly, the debt would crowd out government’s ability to borrow to build new schools and hospitals.

The value of Site C on the government’s balance sheet would be the equivalent of constructing

three Pattullo Bridges, 66 secondary schools or 11 hospitals.

John Horgan announces the B.C. government will proceed with the Site C dam project, Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, in Victoria.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade celebrated the decision.

“Affirming the construction of Site C is the right decision for the future of our province,” said Iain Black, board president and CEO. “Assuring a domestic source of clean, reliable hydroelectric power helps secure our energy system for the growth of businesses and sectors of the Lower Mainland and provincial economy for decades into the future.”

Black said the decision was the “ responsible fiscal decision” for B.C taxpayers. He said the project will provide an economic boost for northern B.C. “For decades, our province has benefited from reliable hydroelectric power. In fact, many resource industries in British Columbia today are built on this competitive advantage, and many new industries, such as the burgeoning tech sector, stand to benefit moving forward,” said Black. “As our economy continues to grow and change, building reliable, new energy infrastructure is critical to provide the certainty that our industries and businesses need to invest and expand.”

The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association also supported the NDP’s plan to continue. “With so much at stake for our province, better late than never for John Horgan and the NDP Government to support Site C,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA president. “This entire process and all of the uncertainty it caused was completely unnecessary. In the past four months, we have seen a rushed review and needless NDP-Green politicking create uncertainty and confusion that put this clean energy project, and the thousands of jobs it supports, at risk for no reason.”

A government chart showing the Site C dam’s change in budget, as part of the government’s decision to continue the project. Other considerations by cabinet included First Nations impacts, greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the impact on agricultural land. In response, government said it will create a new food security fund using Site C revenues, a $20-million agricultural compensation fund, a new project assurance board, and new community benefits program to increase the number of apprenticeships and First Nations hires on site.

As well, government promised to redesign a nearby highway to avoid First Nations burial sites, and consider development new smallerscale renewable electricity projects with First Nations as proponents or partners, under a new program to start by fall 2018. Two First Nations — the West Moberly and Prophet River nations — announced Monday they will take government to court to try to undercut the government’s decision. “When it comes to reconciliation and working with Indigenous leadership there has been over 150 years of disappointment in British Columbia,” said Horgan.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Federal NDP has dismal showing under Jagmeet Singh From page 1 Canada in preparation for the 2019 federal election. And he’s waving off suggestions that he didn’t do enough to help the NDP candidate in the east Toronto suburb of Scarborough, where Singh held a so-called “Jagmeet-and-greet” event — billed in media reports at the time as a campaign event — well outside the actual riding where Brian Chang was trying to win a seat. “This is something that’s not going to happen overnight,” Singh said Wednesday after his party’s weekly caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. Liberal Jean Yip retained the Scarborough-Agincourt riding that had been held by her husband, Arnold Chan, until his untimely death from cancer in September. She captured 49.4 per cent of the vote, followed by Conservative Dasong Zou who pulled in 40.5 per cent. Chang wound up with just 5.1 per cent, down almost three percentage points from the NDP’s already poor showing in the riding during the 2015 general election. He scraped together fewer than 1,000 votes. The NDP share of the vote similarly declined in the other three ridings where byelections were held Monday, as it did in two October byelections held about a month after Singh took the helm of the party.

The most jarring result for New Democrats was likely in Lac-Saint-Jean, a Quebec riding in which the party had finished a close second in 2015 but wound up a distant fourth in October as the Liberals stole the riding from the Conservatives. It seemed further evidence that the tide has gone out on the orange wave that swept the province in 2011 under Jack Layton.

“We’ve had a certain direction that the party was headed in over the past two years, and ... I (never) expected to be able to turn (things) around in just two months,” Singh said. “I know it’s going to take a lot of hard work, and I’m not in any way discouraged; I’m just encouraged to work even harder, and I’ll continue to do that.” As for the Scarborough event, it was never meant to be billed as a byelection campaign event, said Singh — even though some media reports at the time framed it that way, and Chang was on hand as an invited guest. “We had already planned a ‘Jagmeet-and-greet’ for Scarborough; we were doing a bit of a homecoming tour,” said Singh, who was born in the suburb. “We had already selected the location and we invited the candidate; naturally, we were having a byelection and we wanted the candidate to be there.”

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Masuma Khan hates Canada; she should move to Pakistan For the last month, I have been following the unbelievable story out of Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, where graduate student and teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd faced a modern-day inquisition by her professors.

Nov 30,

Her crime? She had the temerity to ask her students to hear both sides of a controversy before coming to their own conclusions. In this case, a discussion about gender-neutral pronouns. Many have framed the issue as one of free speech, but to me, it was an

example of a university faculty gone mad, at war with common sense.

The Laurier professors reminded me of tin pot dictators who bully their citizens into submission. Unfortunately, they are not alone. At Laurier, the university president and one of the offending professors submitted the requisite apologies in the face of public outrage, but those who shared the professors’ views were not giving up so easily. So the predictable “What About?” gang of apologists went on the offensive, bringing up another university controversy where a student union official had been reprimanded for her comments regarding Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Florence Ashley Pare, an LL.M

candidate at McGill University, wrote in the Montreal Gazette that, “Those who are currently defending the teaching assistant,

By Tarek Fatah, Lindsay Shepherd, by and large did not Author & Columnist, Canada extend support to Masuma Khan,” the vice-president of the Dalhousie University students’ union who faced disciplinary measures for her harsh criticism of the Canada 150 celebrations.”

Similarly, Azeezah Kanji wrote in The Toronto Star, “Where were the odes to the absolute importance of free speech when Dalhousie University student Masuma Continued on next page

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Masuma Khan hates Canada; she should move to Pakistan From previous page Khan was threatened with disciplinary action for posting Facebook comments criticizing Canada.” Lost on defenders of Khan was the fact that while Shepherd, a teaching assistant, was reprimanded for asking her students in a classroom environment to hear more than one side of an argument before coming to their own conclusions, Khan, as the vice-president of the Dalhousie students’ union, was chastised for demeaning Canada on its 150th anniversary on Facebook. She wrote she could not be proud of a country that is responsible for “over 400 years of genocide” and “the stealing of land”.

In case we did not get her hatred for “privileged white people”, Khan added: “At this point, f— you all,” ending with the hashtags “whitefragilitycankissmya..” and “whitetearsarentsacred.”

(Based on complaints about the post – which Khan deleted – the university initiated, but later dropped, a hearing into her case that could have resulted in disciplinary action.) Curious about Khan’s anger, I wrote to her and asked whether she

supported parliamentary Motion M103 that seeks to curtail criticism of “Islamophobia” and if she saw any contradiction between the “freedom of speech” argument made by her defenders and the potential curtailment of speech under M103.

With regard to her remarks about “genocide”, I asked what she felt about the genocide in Balochistan by Pakistan or the Arab Janjaweed genocide in 2005 of Black Muslims in Darfur. While Khan may hate “privileged white” Canadians and label Canada as racist, I have a suggestion for her. She was born in Canada but finds it to be a genocidal state. Like her, I found the country of my birth, Pakistan, to be a genocidal (Islamic) state.

So I decided I should move to Canada, abandon my Pakistani citizenship, and raise my children in the “True North Strong and Free”. I suggest Khan should tear up her Canadian passport and migrate to one of the countries where she believes her rights will be better protected than in Canada.

I found freedom in Canada. Perhaps she will find it in Pakistan. Good luck.

$10M in seismic upgrades announced for two Surrey schools The province has announced more than $10 million in seismic upgrades to two Surrey elementary schools. Mary Jane Shannon and Bear Creek elementary schools will receive $7.33 million and $3.11 million, respectively, for the upgrades. Minister of Education Rob Fleming made the “long overdue” announcement at 1 p.m. at Mary

Jane Shannon Elementary.

“The new government has made it a priority to expedite and improve the face of seismic investments in Surrey and right across British Columbia,” he told reporters, students and teachers in the 59-year-old school’s gymnasium Friday afternoon.

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BC teacher suspended after accidentally displaying porn in class An elementary school teacher in British Columbia was suspended after inadvertently projecting pornographic images from his work laptop in a classroom.

The BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation says students were inadvertently exposed to a picture of female genitalia when Jeffrey Rohin Muthanna used his laptop while attempting to project online education materials onto a whiteboard.

The resolution agreement signed last month and posted publicly online by the commissioner says Muthanna was teaching

a grades 6 and 7 class in June 2016 when an internet pop up with the pornographic image appeared. It says Muthanna used the laptop issued by the unnamed school district for about two years to access pornographic images and chat rooms during non-work hours. The resolution says Muthanna, who has been a certified teacher in the province since 1999, has agreed to the statement of facts. He was suspended without pay for 13 days in September 2016 and record of the incident will be kept online through the teacher regulation branch.

Surrey RCMP looking for impaired drivers It’s not just for Christmastime, police say.

“The officers are looking for impaired drivers year round, it happens all year round,” says Surrey RCMP Corporal Scotty Schumann. “Certainly we promote it more this time of the year because people are out partying more. It’s important to remind people to plan ahead.”

On the Surrey RCMP’s first night out this CounterAttack season, officers handed out 67 violation tickets, six immediate roadside prohibitions, five no N sign violation notices, stopped three motorists for driving contrary to restrictions, made two drug seizures and issued one driving prohibition.On the first night of #CounterAttack, our officers did see:

67 violation ticket 6 immediate roadside prohibitions 5 no N signs 3 drive contrary to restriction 2 drug seizures 1 prohib driver “This whole month, the emphasis is CounterAttack, and so we’re continuing with CounterAttack activities all month long.

I think we’re going to have another joint-force initiative on Dec. 30 but details to be released on that later, once they figure it out,” Schumann said. “I would say, safe to say, there isn’t anyone who thinks that it’s okay to drink and drive.

But, not only that, we need to hammer home that it’s equally unacceptable to be under the influence of drugs and driving, and I think this will probably become more prevalent as the legislation changes around marijuana, for example.”

Provincial review of BC Ferries to launch in January The provincial government will take a closer look at the services provided by B.C. Ferries beginning in the new year.

The review will examine whether the service being provided is operating efficiently and whether there might be any changes needed.

Among the items to be reviewed are whether services match what’s needed by B.C.’s coastal communities, what changes to price caps are needed to ensure the service is as efficient as possible, and whether there are opportunities to enhance service while reducing costs.

The review is expected to cost about $250,000. Blair Redlin, the former deputy minister of transportation and former CEO of the B.C. Transportation Financing Authority, has been tapped as a special adviser to oversee the review. A final report is expected by June 2018. Before 2003, B.C. Ferries was a Crown corporation, owned and operated by the

province. Since the Coastal Ferry Act was introduced in 2003, the company has been a publicly owned and privately operated entity.

“The review will not consider bringing B.C. Ferries back into government,” says the news release announcing the review. Earlier this month, B.C. Ferries CEO Mark Collins sat down with Postmedia for a wide-ranging editorial board interview. During the interview, he shared details on an upcoming $250-million overhaul proposed for Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal, hopes for improved Sunshine Coast service, Collins also said 2017 is set to be the ferry service’s busiest year ever; summer sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen ran at 97 per cent capacity.

“We want an affordable ferry system built to last,” he said. “We know the fare payers feel it’s too expensive already.”

RCMP releases holiday wanted list Surrey RCMP is asking for the public’s help with any information that will lead to the apprehension of our top ten most wanted prolific offenders ahead of the holiday season.

This list is made up of individuals from our Priority Target Offender (PTO) program who are currently active in our community and have outstanding warrants for a number of offences. Targeting those who commit the majority of crimes in our community has a direct correlation to the greatest reductions in property and even violent crime. “Our holiday wish is for every one of these individuals to either turn themselves in on their outstanding warrants or have the public assist us with information that leads to their arrests,” says Surrey RCMP Corporal Scotty Schumann.

“Let’s ensure these offenders are behind bars as

soon as possible so that we can all have a safe and happy holiday season.” The list includes a pair of twin brothers, both men and women ages 19-40 years old, and a reduced list of the charges each offender faces. If you see any of these individuals please do not approach them and contact the Surrey RCMP or Crime Stoppers as soon as possible. 1.

Erin NORMAN, 24 years old Wanted for: Fail to Comply with Probation Order 2.

Shyanne McGREGOR, 22 years old Wanted for: Break and Enter, Theft, and Mischief 3. Desiree TOSACANO, 23 years old Wanted for: Fail to Comply with Probation 4. Daryl FRASER, 40 years old Wanted for: Fail to Comply with Order 5. Joshua MARTINCLEMENTS, 34 years old Wanted for: Fail to Comply with Order

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Pakistan court acquits man charged with killing Canadian woman Canadian citizen Rajvinder Kaur Gill’s — was acquitted because the prosecution could business trip to Lahore ended in the morgue not establish the charges. At the centre of the in August 2012. A 40-year-old death plot was a German man of BC woman landed in Lahore Pakistani origin who allegedly owed to settle a business dispute on Gill a large amount of cash. The man August 25, 2012 — the same day allegedly offered Shahzad money to she was abducted and murdered. kill the woman, who had been based The killers laced her tea with a out of Switzerland. Shahid Ghazanfar sedative and then they strangled — AKA Karishna Roy — fled to her before dumping her body in Germany and is now reportedly facing trial in Canada. Media reports a local canal. Gill reportedly was said Gill was in Lahore to purchase carrying a laptop and $5 million in cash, which was taken. Now, Rajvinder Kaur Gill precious gems while another said she was meeting a prospective husband. five years later, one of the men allegedly involved in the murder plot has been Authorities are contemplating an appeal in the acquitted. According to littleindia.com, Hafiz slaying.

Shahzad — who confessed his role to authorities

Gang police and ‘transaction assessment team’ now operating in BC casinos, documents show A police illegal gambling unit has been activated inside B.C. casinos to fight organized crime and block suspicious transactions, according to documents obtained by Postmedia News. The documents also show that a 2017 audit alleged that “non-cash alternative” patron gambling accounts, which were promoted

by B.C. Lottery Corp. to wean VIP gamblers away from massive cash transactions, are now being used to deposit cash in suspicious circumstances.

In contrast to documents released to Postmedia in October in the first phase of a freedom of information disclosure, these documents are heavily redacted. About half of the 118 pages just released are blotted out.

And the new documents don’t name any B.C. casinos. In mid-November, Great Canadian, the operator of River Rock Casino in Richmond, blocked the scheduled document disclosure to Postmedia, suing the B.C. government, claiming the company would “suffer irreparable harm” if new documents were released without review by the company. Unredacted portions of the new documents outline plans for police operations inside B.C. casinos. The documents suggest that presence of anti-gang cops inside B.C. casinos follows as a direct consequence from the RCMP’s E-Pirate investigation. The E-Pirate investigation and government documents obtained by Postmedia allege that a network of organized crime lenders based in Richmond used VIP gamblers recruited from China to buy casino chips, mostly at River Rock Casino, with massive stacks of suspected drug cash.

The scheme is part of a transnational money laundering operation that allows Chinese citizens to get money out of China and into B.C.’s economy, documents suggest. In a recent speech, Attorney General David Eby said this form of money laundering using B.C. casinos, as revealed by Postmedia, is known in the international intelligence community as the “Vancouver Model.” A Jan. 2017 memo written

by Len Meilleur, the B.C. gaming enforcement branch’s director of compliance, says “this note is to provide awareness of a planned police presence in B.C. casinos, outlining the agencies involved.” The memo provides justification for inserting police in B.C. casinos, saying “police have suspicions on reasonable grounds that cash is allegedly entering casinos as the proceeds of crime.” An April 2017 briefing note from the assistant deputy minister for the B.C. gaming enforcement branch, John Mazure, points to the implementation in May of a so-called

transaction assessment team. This team will operate under B.C.’s new Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team, the memo said, and the police anti-gang unit, the B.C. Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. In response to questions for this story, the Ministry of Attorney General confirmed the transaction assessment team is in the initial stages of becoming operational. As an indication of the urgency behind the new team, earlier in April, Meilleur sent a confidential memo to Mazure, asserting: “We are prepared to answer any questions (about the transaction assessment team) but plan on moving forward with engaging the Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team and BCLC, immediately.” Mazure’s April briefing note outlines the rationale for the transaction assessment team. The note says that gaming branch investigators took a “snapshot of the heightened risk identified in one casino” in July 2015. Data focused on high-stakes gamblers buying chips with over $50,000 in cash per transaction. Total suspicious transactions at that casino was $20 million in July 2015, the memo says, with about $14 million of the suspicious cash in the form of $20 bills.

“Investigators during this analysis identified persons of interest associated to these patron ‘buy-ins’ who were responsible for facilitating suspicious cash deliveries,” the memo says.

“They operated in and around the casino.” As a result of this finding in one B.C. casino, the Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team was created.

And the gaming enforcement branch asked auditor MNP LLP to review B.C. Lottery Corp. regulated casinos. MNP’s report, which was released in September following a Postmedia freedom of information request, noted that gaming branch investigators “compiled a document which identified approximately $13.5 million in $20 bills being accepted in River Rock in July 2015,” and “law enforcement intelligence has indicated this currency may be the direct proceeds of crime.”

As of April 2017, Mazure’s memo says, “based on intelligence from the police, BCLC and gaming enforcement branch, it is believed illegitimate lenders are using the proceeds of crime to finance casino patrons for gambling at casinos in B.C.” The memo says “the presence of organized crime in and around B.C casinos presents a viable threat to public safety.” And casino investigators remain concerned about “illegal activity … around the source of cash … how the sourced cash itself is bundled, obtained and accepted by the gaming services provider.”

Liberal donor committed fraud in immigration scheme From page 1

Cascade, a proposed Port Coquitlam recycling Yicheng Jiang, claimed his group of investors plant. Of $13.3 million raised for the project, was induced by Oei to use illegal underground almost half went into Oei’s personal bank banking transactions in China to wire about $4 accounts, his immigration business Canadian million into Peschisolido’s legal trust fund. Jiang’s Manu, and for renting luxury cars, including legal filings say part of Oei’s alleged scheme was a Bentley. The panel heard that Oei impressed promoting his government connections. “(Oei) investors by “rubbing elbows” with politicians, told me that he is taking care of a problem for and that Clark and her B.C. Liberals received Canada,” Jiang explained to Postmedia. “So the $37,888 in political donations that came directly government provides some benefits as a thank you, (Oei) said. That was his promise; the project from investor funds for Cascade.

Last year, the BC Liberals told Postmedia that would take care of our immigration for us.” Jiang if allegations against Oei are proven, “we would also claimed that Oei clearly touted his political heft. “Oei mentioned the premier and high-level return the funds — or forfeit to Elections B.C.” On Wednesday, a party spokesman stated: “We federal ministers have ‘very special’ relations with him,” Jiang said. “He mentioned Christy Clark, will follow through on our commitment.”

The panel found that Oei used Canadian Manu and he mentioned some MPs, including Joe and various numbered companies to divert 63 Peschisolido.” Oei and his wife have been active in B.C. political fundraising investments, totalling circles. They have donated just over $5 million. $8,477 to the federal Liberals “The respondents since 2014. And in July 2015 misappropriated Oei’s company Organic these funds and used Eco-Centre Corp sponsored them for their own a pre-election luncheon in purposes and not as Richmond featuring Liberal the investors were told Leader Justin Trudeau. The they would be used,” company was named in the the panel stated. The B.C. Securities Commission panel has directed parties in the Oei case Loretta and Paul Oei stand behind then premier allegations against Oei. to Jiang, to make submissions Christy Clark and MLA John Yap at a B.C. Liberal According when Chinese investors on potential sanctions. event in 2015. demanded their money back The panel heard that Oei instilled confidence in the investors — many in the fall of 2015, Oei sent the investors photos of of whom did not speak English — by having them Oei “hugging Trudeau and all these celebratory transfer funds into the legal trust of Peschisolido photos.” “It was like, ‘Look at my relationship & Company. The firm was directed by Richmond with the prime minister. We are like buddies,’” federal Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido at the time. Jiang recalled. Liberal party spokesman Braeden A statement from the panel on Wednesday Caley would not say whether the party will return said: “In most cases, investors paid their funds funds donated by Oei. “Mr. Oei has donated to into an account with the respondents’ counsel, multiple provincial and federal political parties who dispersed the investor funds into six bank (including the Conservative Party), and he has no accounts of Canadian Manu and Oei.” Some of position with the Liberal Party of Canada,” Caley the investors have sued Peschisolido. Peschisolido said Wednesday, in an email. and his firm deny any wrongdoing. One plaintiff,

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Accused B.C. drug smuggler loses extradition battle Accused B.C. drug smuggler Colin Martin was expected to be transported to Washington state Thursday after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his attempt to appeal an extradition order.

Martin, who was first charged south of the border almost a decade ago, has been arguing for years in B.C. courts that he should not be sent to the United States to face the charges.

But on Thursday, Canada’s highest court dismissed his application for leave to appeal the latest B.C. ruling ordering his surrender to U.S. authorities.

Earlier this year, Martin had argued before the B.C. Court of Appeal that the minister of justice’s decision to hand him over to U.S. authorities was wrong because the Americans had improperly handled his case.

And he claimed that his Metis heritage would not be taken into account at sentencing if convicted in the U.S. for his alleged role in a massive, cross-border smuggling operation.

But Justice Gail Dickson disagreed, saying that a 2016 decision by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould should be “accorded significant deference on review and interference is limited to exceptional cases of ‘real substance.’”

She said Martin’s situation was not one of those cases.

The U.S. alleges Martin was a leader of a drug-trafficking organization that was transporting ecstasy, marijuana and cocaine

across the Canada-U. S. border.

“The record of the case indicates that the drug-trafficking organization used helicopters to transport MDMA and marijuana from Canada to remote locations in the United States, where it was exchanged for cocaine to be transported back to Canada,” Dickson noted in her ruling. “According to the United States, Mr. Martin’s role in the conspiracy was to supply the helicopters used to transport the drugs across the border.”

During the U.S. investigation, agents seized more than 240,000 ecstasy pills, 175 kilograms of cocaine and 358 kilos of marijuana from the drug gang that Martin was allegedly aiding.

The seizures took place in Washington, Idaho, Utah, California and Nelson, B.C. Martin and B.C. residents Sean Doak, James Gregory Cameron and Adam Christian Serrano were all charged in the case in December 2009.

Another B.C. man involved, Sam Brown, hanged himself in a Spokane jail after being arrested in February 2009. Serrano pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in June 2013 to one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute controlled substances and was sentenced to three years in prison. Doak pleaded guilty last year and was handed a seven-year term.

Like Martin, Cameron has continued to fight his extradition. He has applied to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal, but no decision has yet been made.

‘Sugar Mountain’ tent city residents vow to stay despite eviction order Residents of the Sugar Mountain tent city in East Vancouver are vowing to stay put despite a city order that says they must leave by Friday afternoon.

In a notice dated Dec.12, the City of Vancouver says it needs the campsite next to the B.C. Sugar Refinery on Franklin Street to prepare the site for the construction of temporary modular homes, a key pillar in the city’s strategy to alleviate homelessness.

The city says there are lowbarrier shelter spaces available to tent city residents as an alternative to the campsite.

But residents like Ward Ferguson, who has lived in the makeshift c a m p s i t e since last summer, are reluctant to move.

“It’s been a rough go [but] I still like it better than being in an SRO [single room occupancy hotel] or a shelter,” Ferguson said.

He says living on the campsite affords him “total freedom.” At the camp, he says he doesn’t have to worry about following shelter schedules and rules and more importantly, paring down his possessions.

“In the shelter they’re putting us in they say I can have one bike and one duffel bag,” he said.

‘They’re not going to leave’ J.J. Riach with the Alliance Against

Displacement is helping the remaining residents — she says there are about 20 — organize a rally Friday to defend the camp.

“They’re not going to leave. They’re going to have to file an injunction or forcibly remove us,” Riach said, adding they could head to court if necessary.

“It’s within our constitutional rights to secure our livelihoods this way.”

The East Vancouver campsite got its nickname for its close proximity to the B.C. Sugar Refinery. (Denis Dossman/CBC) The City of Vancouver says it has already secured housing for 12 people from the camp, and shelter beds for 18 more. A spokesperson said she believed there were six residents left on the site and there was shelter space available for them.

She said the city will “continue to work with everyone on site to move them into a warm and safe shelter space as the weather gets colder.”

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Vancouver man convicted of using a rock to murder man in a wheelchair A Vancouver man has been convicted of using a rock to murder a man who was confined to a wheelchair.

On Thursday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper found Aaron Dale Power guilty of the April 2009 second-degree murder of Michael Nestoruk, 42.

The victim’s body was found in some bushes near Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School at Joyce Street and Kingsway Avenue, the same location where he was partly paralyzed in his teens when he fell off the school’s roof.

Nestoruk’s wheelchair was located in a longjump sand pit and there were what appeared to be blood pools and drag marks from the pit to the location of the body.

Initially Power came to the attention of police when it was revealed that he was in the company of Nestoruk on the day before the slaying. The two men had been using crack cocaine together.

A reward was offered for information

about the murder, with police withholding information that the rock was the suspected murder weapon, but nothing came of it and police did not have enough evidence to lay charges. But an undercover police operation was launched in early 2014 which resulted in Power confessing that he had committed the slaying, using a rock to strike Nestoruk over the head. The accused challenged the admissibility of the confession, arguing that Power was taken advantage of due to his addiction and health problems, but the judge rejected those arguments. The Crown’s theory was that Power’s motive for killing Nestoruk was that he wanted to rob him and that he collected a good-sized rock to carry out the murder.

The defence argued that there was no direct evidence to suggest Power had any intention to kill Nestoruk, who was known as “Wheels” to some, and that Power struck the victim with the rock in reaction to an attempt by Nestoruk to stab him with a knife.

No-show taxis show need for more cabs in Vancouver, stranded holiday riders say Two Vancouver women say their recent experiences with no-show taxis, which left them stranded late at night, highlight the need for more cabs and ride-hailing alternatives such as Uber and Lyft.

Rebecca Bollwitt left a concert at the University of B.C.’s Point Grey campus at 11 p.m. last Wednesday. She used the Black Top app to book a cab downtown; her booking was accepted, and a cab — she could track its realtime location on the app — was on its way.

When the cab was a few blocks away, she got a call from the driver.

“He said ‘Are you alone? I’m picking you up, are you alone?’ ” said Bollwitt. She replied she was with her husband. Then the driver told her he has friends nearby. Could he pick them up, too? Confused, Bollwitt asked: “Share our ride?” The driver said yes, and offered to take $5 off her bill. “So basically you want me to pay to drive your friends downtown,” she asked.

The driver then appeared to give in, saying he’d come get her. She tracked his location on the app and saw him pull up across the street to instead pick up a group of people.

Bollwitt and her husband ended up taking a bus back to the West End. The trip, including waiting time and connections, was about an hour. “It was very uncomfortable to have that question and discussion with that cab driver,” said Bollwitt, founder of local blog Miss604. “A man asking ‘are you alone?’ It’s 11 p.m., foggy, dark and I’m out at UBC. … This guy really

overstepped.” She filed an incident report with Black Top through their website.

Black Top general manager Saif Ullah said he learned about the incident Thursday and immediately interviewed the driver, who admitted he had asked if a friend could share the cab. Ullah said the part-time driver had been on the job for about a month. He has been suspended. “This should not have happened,” said Ullah. “It is not what we teach our drivers.”

He said the company would apologize to the customer. A frequent cab user, Bollwitt said bad experiences with cabbies are becoming more common. “It’s unfortunate because there are good cab drivers out there, but this brings to the forefront the need for more accountability and change in the cab landscape in the city.”

There have also been countless times when she couldn’t get a cab — another reason she wants companies like Uber and Lyft to enter the B.C. marketplace. “It gives you more choice.”

The NDP government had promised to legalize ride-hailing services by the end of the year, but pushed the deadline into next year. It has hired a consultant and set up an all-party committee to study the issue. The committee is expected to released its findings in February.

Carolyn Bauer, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Taxi Association, said the driver’s behaviour in Bollwitt’s case was inappropriate.

“No, they’re not allowed to be doing that,” said Bauer, who is also the general manager at Yellow Cab.

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Hilary Clinton visits Vancouver, calls Alabama’s election of Democrat a ‘turning point’

T

housands packed Vancouver’s convention centre on Wednesday to cheer for Hillary Clinton on the last stop of a tour promoting the memoir of her 2016 election defeat. Or, as event host Bob Rennie suggested, not a defeat so much as a stolen victory, in a contest that has no prize for the person who takes second place. Clinton received nearly three million votes more than President Donald Trump.

“She is our legitimate president,” said Marci Haskell, who had travelled from Bellingham for the event with her mother, Maggie Hanson.

Hanson, 87, has been an admirer of Clinton ever since 1995, when she stood up in Beijing and said, women’s rights are human rights. “She should be president right now. I’m heartbroken over it,” said Hanson. Marci Haskell and her mother, 87-year-old activist Maggie Hanson, travelled to the Clinton book tour event from Bellingham. Denise Ryan / PNG The room was buzzing about Tuesday’s upset in Alabama’s special election for the U.S. Senate. Democrat Doug Jones defeated the controversial, but heavily favoured Republican, Roy Moore.

Abbotsford man facing child porn charges A 42-year-old Abbotsford man is facing charges of possessing and distributing child pornography.

Abbotsford police say Jeremy Allen Willms was arrested on Dec. 11, after an eight-month investigation.

The arrest came after a search warrant was executed at an Abbotsford home on Dec. 6, where police seized multiple computers and cell phones, according to investigators.

Police had received information in April that someone had uploaded

child pornography online.

Willms has been released from custody under several court-ordered conditions.

He is barred from contact with anyone under 18, he’s not allowed to go anywhere that a person under the age of 18 could be expected to be and he can’t access the internet.

Willms is also banned from contact with anyone who has been involved in the sexual exploitation of children, or accessing any pornography of any kind.

Clinton called the election of Jones a turning point in U.S. politics. “The combination of Roy Moore, Steve Bannon and Donald Trump proved to be too much. … For me, this was a very important turning point in holding president Trump and his most vitriolic, destructive advisers, led by Steve Bannon, accountable.”

Clinton said Jones was a fine man, who had, in the 1990s, successfully prosecuted Ku Klux Klan members for the 1963 church bombings that killed four black girls in Birmingham, Alabama.

Clinton gave a little advice on how to get back up after getting knocked down as she promoted

her book, What Happened?

Chardonnay was mentioned several times, as was alternate nostril breathing — a yoga technique she recommends.

And murder mysteries, if only because you know the bad guy is going to get found out in the end.

Americans revoking travel visas from visitors who plan to claim asylum in Canada American authorities say an ongoing operation along their northern border has led them to revoke U.S.-issued travel visas for thousands of people, most of whom were headed to Canada to claim asylum.

Some, according to a U.S. State Department report, are associated with terrorist groups.

The revocations happened as part of what’s called Operation Northern Watch, which focuses on criminal activity such as visa fraud, human smuggling and terrorist threats at the Canada-U.S. border.

Since the operation began in January 2015, authorities have revoked approximately 2,400 visas that were issued from 85 different American diplomatic posts abroad.

“Although some suspects have

committed crimes in the United States, the vast majority of the individuals referred through Operation Northern Watch are individuals intending to claim asylum in Canada or have already claimed asylum,” reads the annual report of the State Department’s diplomatic security service (DSS).

“Included in this group were individuals with ties to designated terrorist organizations.”

Keep a ‘wary eye’ on U.S. travel visas, Goodale tells American counterpart U.S. getting better at informing Ottawa of immigration changes impacting Canada, Goodale says Body of woman, 57, found near Manitoba border believed to be asylum seeker, U.S. police say

Surrey RCMP seek public’s help to nab convenience store robber Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a robber who pulled a knife at a convenience store in Surrey’s Cloverdale neighbourhood last month.

Around 3:10 a.m. on Nov. 12, a man entered a convenience store in the 17600-block 60th Avenue and brandished a knife. He threatened the store’s staff. Police have not said what was

taken from the shop. No one was injured.

Police have released surveillance footage showing a white man in his 20s, about 5-foot10, weighing approximately 190 pounds with a stocky build. Hhe was wearing a red cap, a red and black checked shirt, and jeans.

“If you recognize this man, know his whereabouts, or have any other information about this incident please call the Surrey RCMP,” said Cpl. Scotty Schumann.

Anyone with information should contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 and cite file number 2017-161890. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or http://www.solvecrime.ca.

Two seriously hurt in crosswalk crash in Newton Two pedestrians were seriously injured Friday evening when they were hit in a marked crosswalk in the Newton area of Surrey. Police say the pair were crossing at 128th Street and 80th Avenue shortly after 7:30 p.m. when a vehicle struck them.

There was heavy fog in the area, and Surrey RCMP say it doesn’t appear alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash.

“The driver … remained on scene and is cooperating with police,” said Staff Sgt. Dwayne Farlin in a news release.

Both pedestrians were taken to hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Anyone with information on the collision is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers.

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Vancouver passes budget with surprise tax increase The City of Vancouver has passed its budget for the 2018 year, but with a property tax increase larger than what was proposed to the public last month.

Originally set at 3.9 per cent, an amendment to increase taxes a further 0.34 per cent was moved by Vision Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie Tuesday morning. it was approved in a 7-4 vote — with all Vision Vancouver councillors and Mayor Gregor Robertson voting in favour — and was ratified later in the afternoon, as the total operating budget, with a total tax increase of 4.24 per cent, was passed.

The extra tax is being used for the following priorities: $1.1 million for a tactical response team to review city-wide zoning regulations and establishing a renter protection manager. $550,000 to support a bid for Chinatown to be named a UNESCO heritage site and support for“Chinatown Historic Discrimination programming.” $500,000 for additional social

grants not in the original budget. $300,000 to “reduce the amount of time to achieve permit approvals.” Louie said the proposals weren’t in the submission discussed at a public hearing because the city’s housing strategy and apology toward the Chinese-Canadian community were only approved last month.

“These are areas where the public has spoken, and for the sake of the services necessary, I’m willing to increase taxes,” he said. “I chose the four items after significant input from the public.” The amendment was vociferously denounced by NPA councillors, who said there was no reason it couldn’t have been included in the original budget. “It’s unfair to the residents of this city to suddenly throw in almost a half per cent increase … without any consultations at all,” said Coun. George Affleck, who failed in an attempt to have the extra funding studied by staff to see if it could be included in the original $1.4 billion budget.

City pushes for more than 400 new charges against owners of aging hotels in Vancouver East The city has asked a prosecutor to approve 426 new charges against the Sahota family, owners of the Regent and Balmoral hotels.

The city said in a news release the actions were taken against the single room occupancy (SRO) hotels, both located on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, due to “significant safety risks and maintenance deficiencies impacting tenants.”

Earlier this year, the city ordered a full structural review of both buildings by a professional engineer.

The CBC went inside the Balmoral Hotel on June 2. Some units were filled with piles of junk including garbage, mattresses, clothes and broken appliances. The city disconnected the water supply in the Balmoral’s bathtubs earlier

this year, fearing any more weight in the tubs would cause the floor to collapse.

The Balmoral Hotel was vacated in June 2017 after it was determined to be unsafe due to risk of localized collapse, while the Regent Hotel required repairs to damage caused by long-term leaking from the plumbing.

The city initially filed 60 charges against Balmoral Hotel Ltd., controlled by members of the Sahota family, alleging violations of the city’s standards of maintenance bylaw, and 47 charges against Triville Enterprises Ltd., also controlled by members of the Sahota family.

The additional charges were recommended after a September site inspection, during which multiple maintenance violations were observed, the city said.

BC to roll out child-care plan next year, even without extra federal money Premier John Horgan says his government will push forward with the first phase of its universal child care program next year, even if it can’t squeeze more money out of Ottawa.

“I think the fact I said I welcomed federal participation led people to the conclusion that if we didn’t get it we weren’t proceeding,” Horgan said Tuesday in a year-end interview with Postmedia News. “We’re proceeding.

We’ll have a better program. It will be more comprehensive if we have federal participation.”

Horgan said after a November meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that if B.C. was to proceed with its planned $10-a-day child care program, it would need a willing federal partner to offer up more money. But in clarifying his remarks Tuesday, Horgan made clear the province will charge forward with the plan alone if need be.

Ottawa announced this year $7.5 billion over 11 years split among provinces for child care.

Horgan said he’s spoken to Trudeau about increasing B.C.’s share, given the prime minister’s personal roots in the province.

“I’m hopeful that he and his finance minister will be able to find a way to make a bigger contribution to our program as we unveil with it starting in February,” said Horgan.

“But we will proceed regardless.”

The NDP promised $10-a-day

child care during the spring election, to be phased in over 10 years. Initially, the government’s plan was to use the first phase to build thousands of new child care spaces, followed by a second phase that would open those spots for infant-toddlers (children aged zero to three) for $10 a day.

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BC, Britain investigate role of Canadian firm AggregateIQ in Brexit vote Privacy officials in Britain and British Columbia are investigating how a Canadian technology company may have helped sway last year’s Brexit vote. AggregateIQ, a Victoria-based data-analytics firm with only 20 employees, has fallen under scrutiny in recent months after it was revealed to have played a key role in Britain’s Vote Leave campaign. It had been hired to help influence voters in the referendum campaign,

which saw a narrow majority cast ballots in favour of Britain leaving the European Union.

No specific allegations of any wrongdoing are being levelled against AggregateIQ. But questions about its role in the campaign have surfaced since early this year, when Britain’s Electoral Commission revealed that the Vote Leave campaign paid the Canadian company £2.7-million ($4.6-million) for political work out of a total budget of £6.8-million.

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Rashida Samji files appeal of Ponzi conviction with the Supreme Court after BC Court rejects bid Former Vancouver notary Rashida Samji has filed for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in an effort to overturn a criminal conviction for operating an $110-million Ponzi scheme. The high court is not expected to announce a decision on whether it will hear the case until mid-2018.

Samji’s counsel, Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck, has until the end of January to formally file arguments. Based on an already-filed brief synopsis, the arguments are similar to those made at the B.C. Court of Appeal.

Robert Houston, an Ottawa lawyer and agent for the Crown in the case, said Samji is essentially arguing that because she had already been penalized by the B.C. Securities Commission she should not face a criminal conviction. While the Supreme Court of Canada decides whether to hear the case, Samji will remain out on bail. Earlier this month, the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed Samji’s bid to throw out her criminal

Liberals win 3 of 4 federal byelections, nab seat from Tories in BC On the campaign trail, Justin Trudeau promised to cut incclaimed such credits, their income taxes inctax increase on middle-class families — defined as families with incomes between $77,089 and $107,624. That same middle-class group only benefited $228 (on average) from the government’s cut to the second-lowest income tax rate. Simply put, eliminating just the income-splitting tax credit more than offset the benefit of the tax rate reduction.

When you add in the effect of eliminating the other tax credits, more than eight in 10 (81 per cent) of middle-class Canadian families will pay, on average, $840 more in personal income taxes this year because of

the federal government’s tax changes.

First on the campaign trail, and then repeatedly in office, the Trudeau government has vowed to cut income taxes for Canada’s middle class — a goal. The reality, though, is that its income tax changes, taken together, have had the opposite effect and actually increased the amount of income taxes the vast majority of middle-class families pay.

Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre are co-authors of the Fraser Institute study “Measuring the Impact of the Federal Personal Income Tax Changes on Middle Income Canadian Families,” available at www.fraserinstitute.org.

conviction for fraud that resulted in a six-year sentence. Samji launched her appeal on the basis that she should not face jail time when she has already been fined $33 million by the B.C. Securities Commission. In its decision, the Court of Appeal ruled that while the commission had issued a substantial administrative penalty, it was not punitive. “It was a protective and preventive order designed

to deter similar fraudulent conduct, not to denounce the appellant’s conduct or reflect her moral blameworthiness,” according to the appeal decision written by Justice Barbara Fisher and supported by Chief Justice Robert Bauman and Justice John Hunter.

The appeal court concluded that a stay under the Charter of Rights was not warranted either, as Samji had not answered to society at large for her conduct, and a stay “would likely cause the public to lose confidence in the integrity of the justice system.”

Coquitlam school trustees’ free trips to China raise ethical concerns Coquitlam school trustees are under fire for taking Chinese-government-paid trips to China.

For the past few years, some trustees, district officials and teachers have been taking 10-day trips during the March break paid for by Hanban, an arm of the Chinese government that funds the Confucius Institutes. Confucius Institutes are academic programs that provide schools and universities instruction in Chinese language and culture. School District 43 — which includes schools in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Anmore and Port Moody, has one — as does BCIT. That’s despite a call from the Canadian Association of University Teachers for all academic institutions to sever ties with Hanban because of ethical concerns. On social media, some have argued it is unethical for school officials to take foreign government handouts. Last week, the Coquitlam school board chair, Kerri Palmer Isaak, told the TriCity News the trip, which cost the Chinese government about $8,000 a person, was a boon to the school district.

School superintendent Patricia Gartland defended the trip on Friday, saying Coquitlam’s Confucius Institute provides a vital cultural exchange in a globalized world. She said the intent of the trips was to learn about the culture and meet officials at sister schools in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. “We already have a Confucius Institute. So we had the opportunity to apply for a grant (for the trip), and I don’t see a problem with taking that opportunity,” said Gartland. “It’s important for students and educators to exchange ideas, and that bilateral exchange will change the world for the better. And I think the Confucius Institute plays an important role in that.”

Former Vancouver school board chair, Patti Bacchus, says she’s uncomfortable with elected school officials taking freebies from Hanban, and called for clear provincial guidelines on taking handouts from foreign governments. Palmer Isaak, who went on the trip to China, would not discuss the ethics of taking foreign-governmentfunded trips, and referred calls to Gartland, who organized this year’s journey.

Taxi driver refuses to drive man home because for him New West is ‘too far’ A video of a Vancouver Yellow Cab driver refusing to take a customer home to New Westminster because it’s “too far” has put the cab industry back under the microscope.

TheincidenthappenedFridaynight,according to customer Kuldip Gill, who said he was trying

to get home from a holiday party downtown.

The video opens with an exchange between Gill and the driver.

For the next five minutes the cab circles downtown Vancouver, with the driver asking Gill to exit the cab, and Gill refusing.

At one point, the driver turns the roof light back on to try and get another customer.

Another man tries to get in, asking the driver, “You want me to get him [Gill] out?”

Later in the video, the driver accuses Gill of being too drunk, and says he feels unsafe with him in the car.

Reached for comment, Yellow Cab general manager Carolyn Bauer described what she saw in the video as “absolutely disgusting, not acceptable, not company policy.”

The driver has been suspended, she said, and could face discipline “up to and including termination.”

“I’ve been in touch with the director of the company, this driver is off the road immediately,” she said.

“Absolutely unacceptable. Our job is to provide safe transportation home.”

‘I’m going to teach you a lesson’: Vancouver man says cabbie trapped him in taxi Bauer also apologized to Gill, saying he conducted himself in a perfectly reasonable manner.

She said drivers are only allowed to refuse service when their lives are in danger, something she said was clearly not the case in the video.

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BC Liberal donations in question after major donor found to have committed investor fraud In the wake of major B.C. Liberal donor Paul Oei being found to have committed fraud by the B.C. Securities Commission Wednesday, questions are being raised as to whether the B.C. Liberals will give back the money they received – as they promised they would. As reported by the Vancouver Sun, the B.C. Securities Commission heard that $37,888 of fraudulently obtained funds through Oie were directly tied to political donations to the B.C. Liberal Party. Today, Oie was found to have committed fraud. Back in September 2016, B.C. Liberal party official Jillian Stead stated

that if the allegations were proven true, the B.C. Liberals would return the contributions.

The question remains whether they will make good on this promise.

According to testimony, Mr. Oei used his connections with former Premier Christy Clark and other high-profile B.C. Liberals to help convince would-be immigrants that his venture, Cascade, a proposed Port Coquitlam recycling plant, had government backing and that investing in the scheme would ensure investors could obtain permanent residency through the BC Provincial Nominees Program.

“This finding by the B.C. Securities Commission underscores why our government needed to ban big money in B.C. politics,” said Ravi Kahlon, MLA for Delta North. “British Columbians want to have confidence that those with deep pockets do not have undue influence over government decision-making, as Mr. Oei’s case strongly suggests they did under the BC Liberals.”

Mr. Oei and his wife Loretta Lai have been extensively photographed with high-profile B.C. Liberals, including former Premier Christy Clark, and former cabinet minister,

John Yap, and have contributed through both personal and corporate donations, $70,032.85 to the B.C. Liberal Party in just a five year period between 2011 and 2016.

“These contributions illustrate the cash-foraccess culture that exists with the B.C. Liberals,” said Kahlon. “It’s clear that the B.C. Liberals have very few scruples when it comes to who they accepted money from and under what circumstances, even when it hurts people.”

BC government scraps loophole allowing geographic area rent increases B.C.’s provincial government announced it will eliminate another loophole that allowed some landlords to subject renters to big rent hikes.

Vancouver-West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert said Saturday the government will remove the geographic rent increase clause.

The clause allowed landlords to increase rent above the allowable rent increase limit when other units in the same geographic area rent for higher amounts.

For example, in hot rental markets, landlords were able to raise rents by 30 to 80 per cent to match neighbouring prices, significantly over the allowable four per cent yearly rent increase, set out in provincial law.

Tenant Ross Waring said he and his building neighbours had been subject to such an increase in Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood.

“The landlords that we used to have threatened us with massive rent increases — some of us up to 73 per cent. That’s not [something] anyone can handle in this day and age,” Waring said.

Waring welcomed Saturday’s news that the province intends to close the loophole.

The new rule will come into effect on Monday Dec. 11, along with a previously announced legislation to close the fixed-term rental loophole.

Family urges public to keep searching for missing Edmonton teacher The family of missing Edmonton woman Nadia Atwi met with reporters to give their daughter, wife and sister a message. “I just want you alive,” said Salwa Atwi, the missing woman’s mother. “I just want you to know that I love you, Nadia.” Nadia, 32, was last seen by her husband at their home near 48th Street and 146th Avenue around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, said Salwa. The family, seated together at a home in the city’s northeast, urged Edmontonians to continue searching for Nadia. Focus of search for missing woman moves to south Edmonton, police say Nadia was not at her home Friday morning when Salwa came to pick her up for their morning carpool to work, her sister Randa Atwi said. When Nadia’s husband, Ali Fneich, answered the door, he told her mother that Nadia had gone to pick her up instead.

Nadia never showed up to work Friday, and stopped answering her phone. Later that day, the family started to worry. Nadia is a mother and kindergarten teacher at a private Arabic school in Edmonton.

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Montreal mosque denies asking that female construction workers be barred from site Members of a Montreal mosque are denying a TV report it asked for female construction workers to be excluded from a site opposite their building. They say they were surprised and astonished to hear about the report broadcast on the TVA network.

In a statement today, the Ahl-ill Bait Mosque said it has had good relations with the contractor since the beginning of the project.

Moayed Altalibi says the mosque requested parking at lunchtime on Fridays because

of prayer activities but never asked for anyone to be excluded from the site.

The statement adds that such reports contribute to the social breakdown between Quebecers of Muslim and nonMuslim faiths. In Quebec City, Premier Philippe Couillard said a request for women to be barred from construction sites would be unacceptable but he made it clear it was not even sure whether it had even been made.

Edmonton terror attacker waiting for psychiatric assessment in Alberta hospital A critical bed shortage at Alberta hospital and a psychologist to address growing has delayed the psychiatric assessment of demand for court-ordered mental health the man accused of attacking an Edmonton assessments, which have increased threepolice officer and hitting four pedestrians fold in the past several years. AHS is on track with a UHaul van during a police chase to complete 1,000 assessments this year, she downtown. added. It’s not the first delay in the case of Abdulahi Sharif appeared in court Sharif, who is charged with five counts of

by CCTV Wednesday, hands clasped in attempted murder. Legal Aid funding wasn’t front of him, nodding as he listened to the approved until Nov 8.Legal aid program left proceedings translated into Somali by an out of funding increase for Alberta court interpreter. systemCriminal cases Court heard Sharif, 30, had tossed on ‘trash heap’ over not yet undergone a psychiatric court backlog and delays, assessment ordered a month Alberta prosecutors warn ago. He’s expected to be assessed But Aujla said in such Thursday. complex cases it’s not A document sent to the unusual for those involved prosecutor by Alberta Health “to take their time to Services states: “As our bed ensure everything is done shortage has been critical, we have properly.” been unable to have Mr. Sharif If Sharif is tried and admitted to Alberta Hospital to convicted, he could face Abdulahi Sharif have this assessment done.” deportation back to One assessment will determine if Sharif Somalia after serving his sentence.He was is fit to stand trial. A second test will assess granted refugee status in 2012 after arriving if he can be found criminally responsible in Canada earlier that year from the United for the incidents beginning on Sept. 30 States, where he had been living since July when Const. Mike Chernyk was struck by a 12, 2011. vehicle and stabbed outside Commonwealth Just hours after the attacks Edmonton Stadium. Judge James Wheatley adjourned police said they were investigating “acts of the case to Jan. 12. terrorism” and that an ISIS flag was seized “Obviously it’s an issue,” said defence from the car that struck Chernyk. lawyer Karanpal Aujla outside the Trudeau meets with Edmonton police, courtroom, alluding to the delay. “But I’d community leaders rather have an assessment done properly.”

Man charged in Edmonton attacks But associate minister of health Brandy crossed into U.S. from Mexico, records show Payne refuted AHS’s contention that bed No terrorism related charges have ever shortages have reached a critical stage. been laid. But some media outlets and “There’s not a critical shortage but there politicians continue to suggest otherwise, was a slight delay in terms of the timeliness including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of access,” Payne told reporters.She said her who referred to the incidents as a “terrorist department has added two new psychiatrists attack” in an October visit.

BC ‘creep catchers’ leader arrested during attempted sting The leader of a controversial “creep catchers” vigilante group that seeks to put pedophiles in jail has found himself under arrest.

Ryan LaForge, the head of the Surrey Creep Catchers group, was arrested Wednesday night on a warrant for contempt of court.

Police took LaForge into custody after responding to reports that two men were chasing someone through a Surrey, B.C. shopping mall.

Members of Surrey Creep Catchers face assault charges: RCMP Lawsuit against Surrey Creep Catchers alleges defamation, threats Facebook video shows Ryan Laforge in handcuffs being placed in an SUV vehicle, but it’s unclear if he’s facing new charges.

At the time, LaForge was trying to take part in another Creep Catchers’ sting. Such stings typically involve luring adults into public places by pretending to be underage girls then confronting them on camera.

It’s a practice that police have repeatedly condemned, saying such stings can hamper their investigations into sex crimes. They have also said that vigilante stings are a risk to the safety of the alleged suspects and those attempting to expose crimes.

An arrest warrant had been issued for LaForge after he refused to comply with a Chilliwack judge’s order to delete

online posts referencing two men who are suing LaForge, claiming they were falsely targetted in a sting. The video of that sting remains easy to find on YouTube.

The Chilliwack judge’s order is separate from another order the B.C. Privacy Commissioner made in July, which demanded the Surrey Creep Catchers take down videos and personal information relating to two individuals who were targets of Creep Catchers stings.

The commissioner found that the Creep Catchers had collected and disclosed the complainants’ information without their consent. He ordered they destroy the information and to ask others who disseminated it to remove and destroy it as well.

Despite the allegations of repeatedly targetting innocent individuals, LaForge remains a hero to many people in Vancouver.

He has had run-ins with police before, and is currently facing charges of assault and uttering threats in connection with two violent confrontations in Surrey malls.

A video of LaForge’s arrest Wednesday is now being used to drum up support for Surrey Creep Catchers on social media and to direct people to the group’s Christmas fundraiser, which follows at least one other event held earlier this year to raise money.

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NATIONAL

Saturday, December 16, 2017

‘Canada should be wary of China’s efforts to interfere in its affairs’ He was a curious 23-year-old in a bustling train station somewhere in China, at the height of its busiest season, Chinese New Year. He and his two friends didn’t have tickets, but it didn’t matter.

“It was wonderful,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week in Beijing as he recalled his first adult excursion to the country. He’d been to China before, of course — as a child, with his father visiting on official political business — but this trip was different.

“The landscapes I got to see, the

discovery of myself through travelling through China was extraordinary for me.”

Trudeau referenced the formative influence of his backpacking experiences in China repeatedly this week as he tried to sell the merits of doubling the number of Chinese tourists next year. With his pursuit of free trade, it is one part of a major plan to deepen relations with the economically ascendant People’s Republic, the country Pierre Trudeau established relations with the year before he was born.

Canada open to a two-way trade pact with the U.S., Trudeau says as he leaves China without a deal ‘We will all lose’: Trudeau goes off script in China speech, warns countries must embrace free trade The attempt to create a tourism boon comes amid concern over a more malevolent form of cross-cultural influence — a deliberate and unprecedented effort by Chinese President Xi Jinping to project the

power of his country in ways that some say amounts to international political meddling.

“China does have a strategy for influencing public opinion and political opinion in other countries on issues that are important to China,” said David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China and a senior national security adviser.

Under Xi, China has undertaken a coordinated campaign known as the “united front” to influence events in foreign countries, including Canada, said Mulroney.

Kenney gains seat to tackle Notley head to head in legislature after resounding byelection victory Jason Kenney says his United Conservative Party is on track to defeat the NDP’s “jobkilling, socialist government” in Alberta’s 2019 election, after a resounding victory in a

provincial byelection gives him a legislative seat to directly take on Premier Rachel Notley.

The former federal cabinet minister defeated two other provincial party leaders and four

other candidates in the CalgaryLougheed byelection Thursday night, taking more than 70 per cent of the vote. Kenney’s seat in the legislature will let him go head to head with Notley for a year in the runup to 2019’s provincial vote. “Tonight sends a clear message that we are united, that we are stronger together and that if we stay humble and work hard, we are on track to defeat this job-killing, socialist government and to renew Alberta as a place of opportunity,” Kenney told a cheering crowd at his CalgaryLougheed byelection headquarters. Notley congratulated him on social media Thursday night by tweeting, “I look forward to debating you in the House.” NDP candidate Phillip van der Merwe came in second with 16 per cent.

Alberta Liberal Party Leader David Khan took third with just under 10 per cent of the vote and Green Party Leader Romy Tittel picked up 60 votes, less than one per cent. Reform Party candidate Lauren Thorsteinson racked up 137 votes while Independents Wayne Leslie and Larry Heather took 42 and 22, respectively.

Win hailed as proof that uniting conservatives was right move Anthony Sayers, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, says the next step for Kenney will be to unify his caucus — a task that might be easier said than done in the new, unified conservative party. “There are bruised egos, and egos, and historically quite big differences in the political preferences of the people currently in caucus,” he said. Sayers called Kenney’s resounding win a “proof of concept moment” — evidence that it was the right move to unite the right into one conservative party. Byelection marks Kenney’s fourth big victory in 9 months It’s the fourth big victory in less than a year for Kenney, a long-time Calgary Conservative MP and cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper. He left federal politics last year on a mission to oust Rachel Notley’s NDP government by dissolving the Progressive Conservatives and merging with the Wildrose to unite Alberta conservatives.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Home sales seen to fall more than 5% as new mortgage rules kick in The Canadian Real Estate Association has cut its home sales forecast for next year due to the impact of tighter mortgage regulations that come into effect New Year’s Day, which are expected to rein in spending for some buyers. CREA said in an updated projection Thursday the banking regulator’s revised mortgage underwriting guidelines, which include a stress test for uninsured mortgages, will reduce sales activity across the country, particularly in and around Toronto and

Vancouver. The association now forecasts a 5.3 per cent drop in national sales to 486,600 units next year. That new estimate shaves about 8,500 sales from its previous 2018 forecast. The national home price is expected to slip by 1.4 per cent in 2018 to $503,100.

“With some homebuyers likely advancing their purchase decision before the new rules come into effect next year, the ’pull-forward’ of these sales may come at the expense of sales in the first half of 2018,” CREA said in a statement. “Meanwhile, other potential homebuyers are anticipated to stay on the sidelines as they save up a larger down payment before purchasing and contributing to a modest improvement in sales activity in the second half of 2018.” In November, the number of homes sold through its Multiple Listing Service rose by 3.9 per cent compared

with October, led by a 16 per cent sales spike in the Greater Toronto Area. Sales were up 2.6 per cent from last November, marking the first year-over-year increase since March.

That helped send the national home price up 2.9 per cent, year-over-year, to $504,000.

The number of newly listed homes rose 3.5 per cent in November, which reflected a large increase in new supply across the GTA. In October, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions announced the final version of its revised guidelines, called B-20. The new rules, which come into effect on Jan. 1, require would-be homebuyers to prove they can still service their uninsured mortgage at a qualifying rate of the greater of the contractual mortgage rate plus two percentage points or the five-year benchmark rate published by the Bank of Canada.

CREA argues the new guidelines make it tougher for potential buyers with more than a 20 per cent down payment to qualify for a mortgage. These low-ratio mortgages comprise the vast majority of Canadian mortgage originations, it added. The association also narrowed its forecast for national sales activity this year. It expects sales to decline four per cent to 513,900 units in 2017 due to weak activity in Ontario, after the province in April announced measures such as a foreign buyers tax to cool the market.

However, the association expects the national average price of a home to rise this year to $510,400, up 4.2 per cent compared to 2016.

BC First Nations threaten court action over NDP’s approval of Site C Moments after B.C. Premier John Horgan announced his government would allow construction of the Site C dam to move forward, the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations promised to go to court to stop the project, while others criticized the NDP for breaking campaign promises to respect the rights of Indigenous people.

“This sets the tone for the next four years with this government,” said West Moberly Chief Roland Willson. Willson and Prophet River First Nation chief Lynette Tzakoza said their legal counsel would be filing a court injunction to stop construction of Site C, on the grounds that it violates the 1899 Treaty No. 8 agreement. A similar injunction sought by the Blueberry River First Nation ahead of a court case to be heard in 2018 was denied earlier this year. The question of whether Site C violates treaty rights has yet to be tested, after a Supreme Court ruling found government ministers lack the expertise to make such a judgment.

West Moberly, Prophet River First Nations warn Site C approval could lead to billion dollar treaty violation In Alberta, Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation called the decision a “reconciliation fail.”

“The [PeaceAthabasca] Delta is already dying,” Lepine said. “Our fear is this is going to destroy the delta.”

Five First Nations have signed benefits

agreements with BC Hydro for Site C to go forward, but only Chief Harley Chingee of the McLeod Lake Indian Band spoke in favour, saying the benefits of Site C are a step toward “economic reconciliation.”

In contrast, Chief Trevor Makadahay of the Doig River First Nation said his community had little choice but to sign on with a project that was moving forward with or without them. “We felt without our input on our grave sites and cultural history in the area, it would be lost forever,” he said.

“The community has never given consent, just non-objection.” The leadership of the Dene Tha’, Salteau and Halfway River First Nations did not respond to requests for comment. B.C. Premier John Horgan on decision to continue with #SiteC: “I am not the first person to stand before you and disappoint Indigenous people.”

Meanwhile, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said “the battle will continue” in the fight against Site C. “A nod of approval doesn’t guarantee that this project will, in fact, happen,” he said.

“Certainly, there are thousands of people that are bitterly disappointed.”

Horgan acknowledged that fact, telling reporters, “I’m not the first person to stand before you and disappoint Indigenous people,” while continuing to promise to forge a better relationship with First Nations.

FINANCE

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SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Bangladesh arrests cleric who issued fatwa against women farming A Muslim cleric accused of issuing a fatwa banning women from working on farms has been arrested in Bangladesh, police said Wednesday.

The imam and five mosque officials face charges after their announcement prompted locals in the western town of Kumarkhali to try and prevent women from going to work in the fields.

“They took the decision after prayers on Friday, banning women from going out of their homes,” local police chief Abdul Khaleque told AFP. “They used the mosque’s loudspeakers that evening to spread the news.”

Muslim-majority Bangladesh is officially secular, but Muslim clerics are hugely influential, particularly in the more socially conservative rural areas of the country.

Fatwas were banned in 2001, but the nation’s highest court in 2011 ruled that they could be issued on personal and religious matters

if they did not impose physical punishment.

Rights groups have criticised that ruling, saying villages far from Bangladesh’s secular courts use fatwas to issue sentences that go against the nation’s laws.

Women were once largely confined to the home in rural Bangladesh, but a labour shortage has meant millions now work in the fields during harvest or crop sowing season.

When the world is overburdened by unnecessary military arrangements and when various demoniac kings are the executive heads of state, this burden causes the appearance of the Supreme Personality of G... Read MoreAtul Patel Women also account for some 80 percent of four million workers in the country’s 4,500 textile plants -- the mainstay of the impoverished nation’s economy.

Police said the six arrested would face charges under the special powers act, a controversial military-era law.

Bangladesh police looking for family, associates of New York bombing suspect Officials in Bangladesh are trying to track down the extended family and any known associates of Akayed Ullah, a Bangladeshi man U.S. authorities say set off a homemade pipe bomb in a crowded New York City commuter hub on Monday.

“Police are looking for his family, but so far they’ve not been able to trace them,” said Abul Khair Nadim, the Chair of Musapur Union council, a local government body in the Chittagong division in southern Bangladesh, where Ullah’s family originally lived.

Bangladesh’s police chief told Reuters late on Monday that 27-year-old Ullah had no criminal record in his home country, which he last visited in September.

Ullah lived with his mother, sister and two brothers in Brooklyn and was a green card holder, said Shameem Ahsan, consul general of Bangladesh in New York.

Ahmad Ullah, a relative of Ullah, who Reuters tracked down on Tuesday, said his cousin’s father had moved to the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka with his family many years ago.

He said Ullah’s father had passed away about five years ago, and that Ullah had been

through a normal public school education in Bangladesh before moving to the United States.

Ullah, who had a homemade bomb strapped to his body, set off an explosion in an underground pedestrian corridor between New York’s Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal at rush hour, injuring himself and three others in what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attempted terrorist attack.

When the world is overburdened by unnecessary military arrangements and when various demoniac kings are the executive heads of state, this burden causes the appearance of the Supreme Personality of G... Read MoreAtul Patel A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said investigators have found evidence that Ullah had watched Islamic State propaganda on the internet.

Bangladesh strongly condemned the attack in a statement saying, “A terrorist is a terrorist irrespective of his or her ethnicity or religion, and must be brought to justice.”

China chooses ‘60 Living Buddhas’ to curb Dalai Lama influence In the 10 years since the Chinese government stepped into the business of choosing Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, the state administration for religious affairs (SARA) has approved and provided training to 60 ‘Living Buddhas’.

Its purpose is to counter the influence of the Dalai Lama over monks and Living Buddhas of different sections in Tibetan Buddhism, a seniorofficialsaid.

“The rule has successfully prevented the Dalai Lama from using the reincarnation of Living Buddha to conduct activities that threaten Tibetan Buddhism and national unity,” Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee told official media.

“Some Buddhist temples from some random area often appoint so-called Living Buddhas to serve their own purposes, and some people have been found to be using the guise of Living Buddha to swindle followers,” Zhu added.

The search for a Living Buddha takes place after the death of the leader of a Tibetan sect.

There were 1,300 approved Living Buddhas in China in 2016, according to estimates drawn up by the government owned media. Seven more Living Buddhas below the age of 16 are undergoing training which includes education on issues like patriotism and the socialist political system practised by the Communist Party.

China has replaced the earlier practice which involved senior members of a Tibetan sect selecting and approving a Living Buddha to lead them. Tibetan monks are known to use wills, predictions or other clues such as dreams, divination, omens and celestial observations to determine a new Living Buddha after one of them dies.

The succession of a living Buddha is now carried out under the guidance of government backed Buddhist associations and religious groups who are expected to see that

‘New York bomber read extremist’s books, urged wife to do so’ The Bangladeshi-origin New York City bomber had read books by an Islamist cleric convicted for inciting the murder of an atheist blogger in the country and also “encouraged” his wife to do so to learn about religion, police said on Wednesday.

Akayed Ullah, 27, suspected bomber, had a crude pipe bomb strapped to his body. The device exploded prematurely on Monday between two subway platforms near Port Authority, injuring him and three others.

Bangladesh security officials said that they have found no evidence of a local militant link of Ullah despite his fascination to Islamist literatures.

“We have not found any link between Akayed Ullah and local militant groups or any political party. We have not found any clue of his affiliation with any militant outfit in Bangladesh,” police counter-terrorism unit chief Monirul Islam told reporters.

His wife told investigators that Ullah used to “encourage” her to read books by a convicted Islamist outfit chief Jashim Uddin Rahmani as he appeared to have been radicalised over the

internet after moving to the United States, he said.

“She said he used to tell her to read the books of Jashim Uddin Rahmani to learn about religion or Islam. We are reviewing the information provided by his wife and other relatives,” Islam said.

Rahmani, the leader of the outlawed Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), was jailed by a Bangladesh court in 2015 for five years for inciting the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in Dhaka.

His books were easily accessible on the internet until some years ago.

The ABT is a homegrown extremist group which is behind the killings of several bloggers, writers and gay rights activists in Bangladesh.

Reports suggest that US officials have found evidence that Ullah had watched Islamic State propaganda on the internet.

Islam said that though no official request has been made, Bangladesh passed on the information on Ullah to US security agencies on its own as “we have given highest priority on this issue because of our zero-tolerance policy against terrorism”.

PUNJAB

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Irrigation scam: Key accused surrenders in Mohali court The Vigilance Bureau today arrested Gurinder Singh, the alleged kingpin of the Rs 1,000-crore irrigation scam, after he surrendered in a Mohali court. The controversial contractor was on the run ever since the Vigilance Bureau named him as the main accused in the scam that came to light in August.

The SC had, on December 7, rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Gurinder Singh in line with the rejection of a similar plea by the Punjab and Haryana High Court earlier. He was asked to surrender within a week and join the probe.

Former chief engineer Harwinder Singh surrendered before the court yesterday.

Those who are yet to be nabbed are former chief engineers Parmjit Singh Ghuman and Gurdev Singh Syan, executive engineers Gulshan Nagpal and Bajrang Lal Singla and superviser Vimal Sharma.

The VB initiated an inquiry into a number of works allotted through e-tenders by the Irrigation Department following allegations in allotment of tenders to a particular firm.

The tenders were allegedly manipulated by ignoring the norms to suit Gurinder Singh’s firm. Hundreds of smaller contractors were absolutely sidelined for the irrigation projects mainly at Harike.

Gov’t orders ‘stop work’ due to cash shortage From a few lakhs to crores of rupees, delayed payments for purchases or works executed by different departments in the current and last fiscal year have sent alarm bells ringing in the Punjab government.

The PWD (B&R) and Irrigation Department alone have a pending liability of around Rs 1,000 crore. Other departments are in the process of assessing their total pending liabilities on account of pending payments of contractors, societies and individuals.

Faced with fiscal crisis, the Punjab government has directed all its heads of departments (HODs) not to start or propose any new work for budget estimates of 2018-2019.

Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said to clear the backlog of payments, efforts

Bhagwant Mann attacks Sukhbir Badal, says ‘dharna politics’ won’t work In a multi-crore drug racket case, the CBI court denied the State AAP convener Bhagwant Mann hit out at SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal for holding a dharna on a Harike brige recently.

“When AAP leaders sat on dharnas during the SAD-BJP’s rule, the Akalis termed them idle. Now, what should be said about Sukhbir?” he said while campaigning for party candidates contesting the civic body elections.

He was accompanied by state AAP co-convener Aman Arora. “ T h e nominations of even AAP candidates were rejected. What did we do? We simply complained to the Election Commission. But the SAD inconvenienced thousands of people by holding a dharna on the Harike bridge,” Mann said.

The two AAP leaders addressed rallies in various parts of the city, including Bhargo Camp, Phullanwala Bazar in Gopal Nagar, Mithu Basti Road, Adarsh Nagar and Basti Peer Daad Road.

Before them, no other prominent leader of any of the three mainline parties campaigned for the MC elections.

At one of the rallies, Mann flayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to fan communal tension ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections by accusing former PM Manmohan Singh of conspiring with Pakistan to defeat the BJP.

were being made to fulfil the past liabilities and complete the ongoing works that were started in the current and the last fiscal year.

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Where are jobs, debt waiver, protesting farmers ask govt Activists of various farmer unions today staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner office here in support of their demands, including total debt waiver for the farmers and job avenues for the unemployed in the state.

Farmer leaders Buta Singh Burjgill and Jhanda Singh Jethuke said, “Prior to the elections, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had promised that he will extend complete debt waiver to the farmers, including the one they owe to public sector banks, cooperative and private banks, but even after nine months of forming the government he is yet to deliver the same. The government is resorting to dilly-dallying tactics on the premise of its empty coffers while debtridden farmers are committing suicides. The

announcement regarding waiver of Rs 2-lakh debt will benefit only a small section of farmers.”

They said the Congress had promised to facilitate a government job in each household of the state, but on the contrary it was snatching the livelihood of people by shutting down thermal plants. They said all seven farmer unions would hold a meeting to chalk out the future course of agitation regarding farmer issues.

They also demanded that complete debt waiver, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and a government job to the next of kin of the deceased should be extended in case a farmer or farm labourer commits suicide. Later, they handed over a memorandum of their demands to the DC.

24

INDIA

India’s first ever ‘happiness minister’ is wanted on murder charges India’s first and only “happiness minister” the “happiness minister.” is wanted on murder charges.

An Indian court issued an arrest warrant Lal Singh Arya was named a suspect for Arya last week, but police have yet to in the 2009 murder of an opposition find him, the Times of India reported. politician, Makhanlal Jatav, They have searched three the Times of India reported. locations across central India: Bhopal, Gwalior, The 53-year-old has previously denied the and his native town of charges, according to Gohad. The central Indian the BBC. Arya is the top state of Madhya Pradesh official in the Department created the department of happiness last year in a of Happiness, a ministry bid to “counsel people on run by the Indian state of Lal Singh Arya Madhya Pradesh. how to be always happy,” Indian media, including the Times of the state’s chief minister Shivraj Singh India and NDTV, routinely refer to Arya as Chouhan said, according to The Telegraph.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

BJP the clear winner in Gujarat, HP: Exit polls The BJP looks headed for facile victories in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, according to a string of exit polls conducted by media organisations. The votes will be counted on Monday.

Almost all exit polls predicted more than 100 seats for the BJP in Gujarat where the party has been ensconced in power for close to two decades now.

In Himachal Pradesh, where the electorate has chosen the Congress and BJP alternately in Assembly polls, the exit polls projected a clear majority for the saffron party, unseating the Congress.

Today’s Panchari gave the BJP 135 seats in Gujarat and predicted a measly 47 for the Congress, 14 less than the Opposition party has in the current Assembly. It predicted a vote share of 49 per cent for the BJP and 38 per cent for challenger Congress.

A party or an alliance has to win at least 92 seats in the 182-member House to form the government in Gujarat. In the 2012 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, the Congress 61 and others six. The Times Now-VMR exit poll predicted 115 seats for the BJP and 64 for the Congress, with the remaining going to others. The Republic-C Voter exit poll gave the BJP 108 seats and the Congress 74. The ABP-CSDS exit survey by ABP News predicted a BJP victory in 117 seats as against the Congress’ 64. NDTV said the BJP was likely to clinch 112 seats.

India Today’s ‘Aaj Tak’ news channel also

predicted that the BJP would retain power, winning anywhere between 99 and 113 seats.

Aaj Tak’s was the lone survey that said the BJP’s tally could slip under 100.

The India TV-VMR survey also forecast a BJP win, with the party likely to clinch anywhere between 108 and 118 seats. The Congress, it said, could win 61 to 71 seats.

The survey said the BJP could garner 48 per cent of the votes polled, the Congress 41 and others 11 per cent.

In Himachal Pradesh, the exit polls predicted the BJP’s return to power with a comfortable majority.

The Times Now-VMR and Zee News-Axis exit polls predicted an identical tally of 51 seats for the BJP in the 68-member Assembly. A party needs 35 seats for a simple majority in the House.

The Times Now-VMR poll gave 16 seats to the Congress and one to other, while the Zee News-Axis poll forecast 17 seats for the current ruling party. The Aaj Tak-Axis exit poll gave 47-55 seats to the saffron party, 1320 to the Congress and 0-2 to others.

Among other exit polls, the News X survey predicted 42-50 seats for the BJP and 18-24 for the Congress.

The Congress had returned to power in Himachal Pradesh in 2012 pocketing 36 seats, marginally more than the halfway mark, while the BJP secured 26. The others had bagged the remaining six.

Indo-UK army exercise concludes The “Exercise Ajeya Warriror-2017’’, the third in the series of joint exercises of the Indian and British armies culminated on Thursday at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges near the Sriganganagar-Bikaner highway. The fortnight-long exercise had commenced on December 1.

The closing ceremony was attended by observers and senior military dignitaries from both the armies. Sir Dominic Asquith KCMG, British High Commissioner in India and Major General Robert Harry Talbot Rice from the United Kingdom and Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, General Officer Commanding, STRIKE 1, and

Major General Rupinder Singh, General Officer Commanding, Cockerel Division, from the Indian Army were present on the occasion.

Set in the backdrop of growing terrorist activities worldwide, the first and second editions of the exercise were conducted at Belgaum (India) and Westdown camp, Salisbury Plains Training Area, UK, in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Representatives of both the armies conveyed immense satisfaction over the learning content of the exercise and were hopeful of more such exchanges in the future.

Aadhaar must in Punjab for land registration now The Punjab government has made it mandatory to record Aadhaar number for registration of all documents at the subregistrar and the joint subregistrar offices.

Registration of sale deeds of property, transfer of property, registration of wills, marriages, registration of mortgage deeds — will require the recording of the Aadhaar number of executants/ parties. The order will come into force with

immediate effect.

Financial Commissioner (Revenue) Vini Mahajan said the orders to this effect had been passed by the Chief Minister. “We have decided to make Aadhaar linkage must in order to curtail frauds in registration of all types of documents,” she said.

With this, Punjab is among the few states, besides Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Goa, that have made linking of Aadhaar mandatory.

INDIA

Saturday, December 16, 2017

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India, China differ over Sushma Swaraj-Wang Yi meet in New Delhi Differences have emerged over India and China’s projection of what transpired in the bilateral meeting between Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday.

The two had met on the sidelines of the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral in New Delhi. Interestingly, while the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website carries official statements on the RIC meet and a separate one on Wang Yi’s meeting with National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, there is no press

release on the meeting with Sushma Swaraj, while the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) put out a clarification about the said release.

“During the meeting between the External Affairs Minister and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on December 11 in New Delhi, the issue of Doklam was raised. EAM and Chinese Foreign Minister both noted the challenge it had posed to the relationship and both expressed satisfaction that it was resolved with the disengagement of

INS Kalvari best example of ‘Make in India’: PM Modi Presiding over the commissioning of Scorpene-class submarine INS Kalvari into the Indian Navy on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a shining example of ‘Make in India’.

“This is the perfect example of ‘Make in India’. I wish to congratulate every worker, ev-

ery employee whose sweat is involved in the creation of Kalvari,” Modi said in his speech.

The PM then thanked the Government of France for the technological assistance rendered for the construction of the submarine. The Scorpene-class submarines are designed by French company DCNS

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troops at the face-off site through concerted diplomatic communications,” said the MEA. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) “Wang Yi conveyed that the peaceful resolution of the Doklam issue reflected the political maturity on both sides. While agreeing with this, the EAM reiterated that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is an essential pre-

requisite for the smooth development of bilateral relations,” the release further added.

Jisha murder case: Convict sentenced to death The man found guilty in the Jisha rape and murder case was today sentenced to death by a sessions court in Kerala’s Ernakulam.

Ameerul Islam, who was the lone accused in the case, was on Tuesday found guilty by the same court.+ The case pertains to the brutal rape

and murder of Jisha, a law student from Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016. The chargesheet said that Ameerul killed Jisha when she resisted attempted rape.

Ameerul was the only person accused of murder. He was a native of Assam, who had left his home at the age of 10, according to his family.

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FIJI

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Man charged with aggravated robbery sentenced to 8 years and 5 months imprisonment A 21-year-old man charged with aggravated robbery has been sentenced to 8 years and 5 months imprisonment for robbing a taxi driver.

Esala Delana failed to appear in court today and there has been a bench warrant issued against him. Magistrate Shageeth Somaratne says the taxi drivers are providing an essential service in this country as in the night it may be the only way of transport available for the public.

He adds that when drivers are targeted in this manner it would discourage them from operating in the night ultimately affecting the public.Delana and two others on the 12th of June this year had robber the taxi driver of cash and assorted items to the total value of $671.00. The nonparole period is six years.

Man flees to USA, wife jailed after $285,680 theft A LAUTOKA woman who helped her husband siphon $285,680.96 from the Fiji Sugar Corporation has been jailed for five years.

While Preetika Anuwesh Lata’s husband, Sudhanshu Sharma, was the mastermind behind the crime, High Court judge Justice Aruna Aluthge said she was a key player.

He said to carry out a sophisticated “white collar” crime, a considerable degree of pre-

planning was involved. “A new bank account was opened to receive proceeds of the crime,” he said. “It had been arranged by you and your husband apparently to flee the country either to Australia or the USA. Your husband secretly fled to the USA and you deliberately suppressed this information from authorities.”

Mr Sharma absconded to the US after the theft was discovered.

Burst main causes water disruption in Lautoka Man gets 10 years jail for raping niece A Nadi man was sentenced to 10 years and eleven months in jail by the High Court in Lautoka for raping his mentally and physically challenged niece on three separate occasions.

The victim was 17 years old at the time of the incident.

In 2014, the perpetrator went to the victim’s house when she was alone and asked for a dari or tanoa to mix yaqona.

When the victim tried to get the bowl from underneath the bed, he closed the door, undressed the victim and raped her. This was the first instance. The same year the victim visited the perpetrator’s house to

visit his sisters, who were her good friends.

When she entered the house to have a drink of water, her uncle raped her again. The third incident occurred when the victim and the accused were attending a funeral.

Justice Aruna Aluthge said society could not condone any form of sexual assault on children.

“The victim is a mentally challenged person and the courts and society must ensure that disabled persons are specifically protected,” he said.

“Not only the offender himself, but potential offenders must be deterred. “The sentence must be a clear message to society.” The man will be eligible for parole after serving nine years of his jail term.

2 former Judiciary Officers appear in court on corruption charges Two former Judiciary Officers appeared in the Ba Magistrates Court today after charged

by FICAC separately with corruption-related offences.

Saleshni Lata and Yogendran appeared before Magistrate Samuela Qica.

Lata is charged with a count each of obtaining a gain and falsification of documents.

It is alleged that in April 2017, Lata, while being employed as an Assistant Court Officer/ Revenue Collector at the Rakiraki Magistrates Court falsified receipts of the Judicial Trust Fund and the Maintenance Payment Card, and as a result obtained a gain of $100 from the

Judicial Department.

Yogendran is charged with a count each of general dishonesty – Obtaining a gain” and count of “falsification of documents”.

It is alleged that in February 2017, Yogendran while being employed as the Assistant Court Officer at the Rakiraki Magistrates Court falsified documents with the intention of dishonestly obtaining a gain of $50.

Both have been released on bail and the matter has been adjourned to the 20th of February next year.

Residents living in parts of Lautoka have been advised to start storing water for a scheduled water disruption from 5pm to 12 midnight.

A release by the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) revealed the interruption in supply is a result of a burst main at SPD, Veitari Rd. The affected areas include Carpenters Shipping,

Shop & Save Bulk Store, General Machinery, Fiji Gas, Ministry Of Works, Metal Works, FSC and Water Authority Lautoka Depot.

Water trucks will be on standby to assist affected areas and supply is expected to be restored at 1:00 am

Kava dealer sentenced to 14yrs for dishonestly obtaining $500 from customer and then raping her A kava dealer from Taveuni has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for dishonestly obtaining $500 from his customer and then raping her on the 30th of September, 2015.

While sentencing Epeli Lealeavono, High Court Judge Justice Salesi Temo said that this was a serious breach of trust.

Justice Temo said that Lealeavono had asked her for a $500 cash advance on the 29th of September, 2015, in exchange for some grog he was supposed to deliver later on that day.

When the woman asked for the grog the following day, he told her to go to the bush to see the grog. Justice Temo told Lealeavono that the woman trusted him and went in his vehicle to see the grog. He said Lealeavono threatened to kill the woman and then raped her. Justice Temo said that Lealeavono showed no regard to the woman’s right as a human being and has brought her and her family heartache and sadness.

Lealeavono has been handed a non-parole sentence of 13 years.

Man runs over elder brother with tractor in Labasa A 45-year-old man has been charged with criminal intimidation after he allegedly tried to run over his elder brother with his tractor at Kawakawa in Waiqele, Labasa.

The man was charged yesterday and the alleged incident took place last Saturday.

Police say there was a dispute between the two brothers over their land when it is alleged the man tried to kill his elder brother.

The elder brother received some injuries during the incident.

We need climate adaptation or resilience to be properly valued - PMcharged with criminal intimidation Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says despite the commitments on climate finance that have been made, only a small proportion of this finance finds its way into supporting climate adaptation or resilience. While speaking at the Climate Change Summit underway in Paris, Bainimarama says for many donors of climate finance, this is simply regarded as development assistance and for private sector investors, the absence of an immediate and apparent

economic return on their investment means that funding climate adaptation or resilience efforts are rarely pursued. He says for developing and vulnerable countries, there is a false distinction between building climate resilience and preparing to adapt to climate change on the one hand, and investing in more traditional infrastructure for economic development on the other. Bainimarama says all investments should be evaluated in the light of the new norm

PAKISTAN

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Pakistan Supreme Court orders cement company to fill up Katas Raj temple pond to stop water pilfering Supreme Court ordered one of coutnry’s largest cement-makers Bestway Cement, to fill up the Katas Raj temples pond located in Chakwal, northern palteau region of Pakistan within a week. The apex court took suo motu cognizance of media reports that the Katas Raj pond was drying up due to unabated extraction of underground water by cement factories in the vicinity, resulting in water shortage for residents of the area. Suprem Court expressed concern over the absence of idols in the Sri Ram and Hanuman temples in the Katas Raj complex and sought an explanation from the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).

Katas Raj is considered as the second-most sacred Hindu pilgrimage site in Pakistan and dates back to 600 AD. It houses the Satgraha, a gathering of seven old temples, remains of a Buddhist stupa, a couple of

medieval sanctuaries, havelis and some as the newly built sanctuaries, scattered around a lake considered sacred by the Hindus.

According to Hindu mythology, the pond was formed from the tears of Shiva after the loss of his wife, Sati. Hearing was headed by a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar questioned who gave the Bestway Cement Factory the authority to use the underground water ? and asked it to “do whatever it takes” to fill the pond. The factory used 80,000 gallons of underground water every day. The chief justice observed that Bestway Cement had damaged the environment of Chakwal region. “If the environment above the ground is adversely affected then all the factories will be closed down,” Justice Nisar said, adding, “Don’t make people’s lives miserable on the excuse of exporting the cement.”

Plea for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav rejected Pakistan rejected India’s plea for consular access to death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav at the ICJ, claiming that New Delhi wants to get the information gathered by its “spy”. In its counter-memorial submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Pakistan said the provision of such an access under the Vienna Convention is only for legitimate visitors and not for spies, media reported.

Pakistan said that ‘spy’ Jadhav is not an ordinary person as he had entered

the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities. Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the ICJ in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India’s appeal pending the final verdict by it. Citing its sources, the paper said Pakistan has stated that “the Indians have not denied that Jadhav was travelling on a passport with an assumed Muslim name.”

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Supreme Court rejects bid to disqualify Imran Khan Supreme Court rejected a bid to disqualify Imran Khan for concealing his financial assets, a charge that could have barred him from holding public office. Three-judge bench said it found no evidence that Imran Khan had contravened the law, although the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to investigate whether Khan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf

(PTI) justice party had received funding from abroad. The court disqualified one of Khan’s closest aides, Jahangir Tareen, because of corruption charges during the same hearing on December 15. Jahangir Tareen was accused of concealing his financial assets, owning offshore companies, and heading a foreign-aided party.

Court orders Gov’t not to release Taliban spokesperson Peshawar High Court stopped the government from freeing the former spokesperson of Talibani leader Ehsanullah Ehsan, and directed the authorities to continue with investigation of the former militant leader. A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court took the decision while hearing a writ petition filed by Fazal Khan, father of a student killed in the December 2014 terrorist attack on the army-run school in Peshawar,

killing about 150 people, including 132 kids.

The petition stated that the government was planning to give clemency to Ehsan who is believed to be in the custody of security agencies. The court issued the order after the government failed to satisfy it about Ehsan’s incarceration and probe. The court directed the gov’t to continue investigating the former militant but barred it from releasing him on any grounds.

China stops funding for 3 CPEC projects China has halted the release of funds for three key projects under the $50 billion China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) till Beijing revised its financial mechanism, a media report on Tuesday quoted minister for planning and development Ahsan Iqbal as saying. The minister informed a parliamentary committee meeting on the CPEC that the Chinese side was reviewing the financial mechanism of these projects and work on them would restart after receiving approval from Beijing, Dawn

newspaper quoted a press release by the National Assembly Secretariat as saying.

Iqbal could not convince the committee members as to why the Chinese government had opted for a new financial mechanism and scrapped the previous one which was agreed upon by both countries, the report said. The decision by the Chinese government is likely to hit over 1trillion Pakistani rupees worth of road projects of the Pakistan’s National Highway Authority (NHA), the Dawn had reported last week.

Court summons police in case of missing peace activist Court summoned a police officer investigating the case of a missing peace activist who is believed to have been kidnapped by unidentified men this month.

Four activists critical of the army and its attitude towards militant groups went missing this year but reappeared after about

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a month. Two later said Pakistani military intelligence agents abducted and tortured them. The military denied the accusations.

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NRI

Saturday, December 16, 2017

IIT Kanpur graduate launches new company in Seoul Pankaj Agarwal, a 35-year-old IIT Kanpur graduate, has founded a start-up company, TagHive, with a few like-minded professionals in Seoul to pursue his passion for improving education. His mission is to revolutionise everyday experiences with a smart tag solution -- a combination of a button type tag, a smart app and back-end analytics that are targeted at reinventing interactions for kids at play and at school. Based in South Korea since 2004, he had earlier worked with Samsung Electronics.

Samsung encouraged him with support for his endeavour. TagHive is a technology company that was spun off from Samsung Electronics in April this year. TagHive’s new solutions are TagPlus and LEAP. While TagPlus, an award winning solution, is the world’s first

toy-centric social network for kids, LEAP is a low cost clicker (Classroom Response System) along with an app (iOS and Android) that will keep students engaged, parents informed and help teachers effectively manage their classrooms. Speaking to TOI, Agarwal said that TagHive will commercialise LEAP in South Korea in the first half of 2018 and enter the Indian market in the second half of 2018. “We are looking to partner with schools in India willing to ride the new wave of affordable smarter classrooms,” he said.

TagHive pilot tested the LEAP solution in Ambience Public School in New Delhi, as well as in South Korea, with encouraging response.

Some of the key features of LEAP are “oneclick attendance” which reduces the morning

Indian-origin man jailed for forging mother’s will in UK An Indian-origin accountant, who was found guilty of forging his dead mother’s will earlier this year, has been jailed for 12 months by a UK court for lying under oath, a media report said on Saturday.

London-based Girish Dahyabhai Patel had used a blank sheet of paper with his deceased mother’s signature and printed a document around it claiming she had left him a 40- million-pound stake in the family’s 160-million-pound palm oil plantation business in Malaysia. The 65-year-old’s claim was challenged in court by his brother Yashwant and detailed forensic analysis revealed the document was a forgery.

At the High Court in London in February Judge Andrew Simmonds had found the will to be a forgery. Instead, he upheld a previous will, made in 1986, which left everything to Yashwant, 69, a doctor who lives in New York. Girish, who sits as an arbitrator in disputes, was left facing legal costs estimated at 1.3 million pounds. Justice Marcus Smith held him in contempt of court and sent him to Pentonville Prison in London for 12 months yesterday, ‘The Times’ reported. Girish had confessed that the “detailed factual account” he gave under oath of his mother signing the will “was false”, the judge said.

Student from Hyderabad shot at in Chicago A student from Hyderabad was shot at by an unidentified person in Chicago in the United States, his family members said on Sunday.

The incident reportedly took place on December 6 when Mohammed Akbar was walking towards his car in a parking area.

Akbar’s family in Hyderabad informed Telangana home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy about the incident and sought his help in getting proper medical care in the US. They also asked the minister to take up the case with the US authorities.

“We are in a state of shock. My father has gone into depression after the incident,” Akbar’s brother told TOI. “He spoke to me two days before the incident and enquired about our well-being.

We are at a loss to understand who would have targeted my brother and why. We are also unsure about how many bullet injuries he suffered,” Ashraf said.

Mohammed Akbar is in the US on an F1 student visa and is pursuing masters in computer science at the Devry University.

New Jersey Governor elect nominates first Sikh-American as state Attorney General New Jersey Governor-elect Phil Murphy today named Gurbir S Grewal as his nominee to serve as the next Attorney General of the state.

With this nomination, Grewal will become the first Sikh- American state Attorney General in the country. The move has been welcomed by the South Asian Bar Association (SABA).

Grewal, who has spent most of his legal career in public service, is currently the Bergen County

prosecutor. Working for most populous county in New Jersey, Grewal serves a community of almost one million with his staff of 265.

He previously served as an Assistant US Attorney in both New York (2004-2007) and New Jersey(2010-2016). He ended his tenure there as Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit where he was lead prosecutor for the largest known data breach prosecution.

Indian restaurant owner jailed in UK for stealing 90,000 pounds An Indian restaurant owner has been jailed for two years in the UK for stealing 90,000 pounds in taxes by falsifying repayment claims, an official spokesperson has said.

Monir Miah, 58, admitted lying about his income from ‘The Crown of India’ restaurant, in High Street, Stone, and falsifying value-added tax (VAT) repayment claims, after he was investigated by the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Routine tax checks raised concerns and Miah was offered the chance to put his tax

affairs in order, declare any mistakes or irregularities and pay what he owed in full, plus interest and penalties, through HMRC’s civil Contractual Disclosure Facility (CDF).

The owner of the Indian restaurant in Staffordshire has been jailed for two years after stealing 90,000 pounds in tax after test purchases revealed his fraud, the official spkesperson of the HMRC said.

But Miah only declared half the business the restaurant was doing and deregistered for VAT.

31

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32

FRUITICANA

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli thank team behind their wedding who worked for a year Virat Kohli and Anushka S h a r m a pulled off the incredible by getting married in secret on December 11, but they had an entire team behind them making it happen. On Thursday, both Virat and Anushka issued a joint thanks to their team on their respective Instagram accounts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The people responsible for making the most memorable occasion of our lives peaceful and beyond beautiful - our lovely wedding planners, Shaadi Squad,â&#x20AC;? they wrote. The post included a picture of the newlyweds along with the team, all beaming with joy. The squad reposted the picture with their own message: â&#x20AC;&#x153;THIS!! We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t thank our stars enough! It was an absolute pleasure and privilege to make your dream come true! Lots of love.â&#x20AC;? Virat and Anushka got married in a private ceremony in

a lavish Tuscan town earlier this week. Rumours of their wedding had been circulating for weeks, until it was confirmed by the two in a joint statement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today we have promised each other to be bound in love forever.

We are truly blessed to share the news with you. This beautiful day will be made more special with the love and support of our family of fans & well wishers. Thank you for being such an important part of our journey,â&#x20AC;? theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d written. Shaadi Squad was the official wedding planners while Devika Narain was the wedding designer. Both teams had been working under the radar for a year to make the wedding the grand affair that it was.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

Kareena and Karan party with Malaika As Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham completes 16 years, Karan Johar and Kareena Kapoor partied together with her gang of girls. The photos of the do are uber-stylish.

Whenever we spot Kareena, Karisma Kapoor, Malaika Arora and Amrita Arora in a frame, we only ever expect stylish things. The foursome didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t disappoint on Thursday either when they posted pictures from Malaikaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preChristmas bash.

Kareena showed off her taut tummy in a stunning white IKAI dress, styled by Eshaa Amiin. Her sister, Karisma, turned up for the party in a black top and polka dot skirt. Other than the quartet, the

party was attended by Karan Johar, Sohail Khanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife Seema Khan, Sanjay Kapoorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife Maheep Kapoor and Chunky Pandeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife Bhavana Pandey. The photos were shared by the celebs on their social media accounts. Conicidentally, the party took place on Karanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s film Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham releasing, in which Kareena

Kapoor played the character of Poo. Kareena will be seen in Veere Di Wedding in 2018 in which she is starring with Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar.

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Bollywood

Saturday, December 16, 2017

HOROSCOPE Aries

Libra

March 21 - April 20

Sept. 24 - Oct 22

Your focus continues to be on exploring new opportunities and making fresh discoveries. As chatty Mercury conjoins the sun, this can also be a chance to examine an

want to explore it further. There might also be some unexpected encounters coming your way that are like a breath of fresh air. Finally, the new moon on December 17 encourages

Taurus April 21 - May 20 The deeper issues of life could continue to be on your mind and encourage conversations with those who can act as

changes that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re eager to see happen, yet as lively Mercury continues its retrograde phase, you might need to take stock, especially when it ties with the sun on Tuesday. And while your social life shows great promise, you might be

your life forward.

Gemini May 20 - June 21 With your sector of relating continuing in focus, the coming week could see you networking and perhaps reviewing ideas, projects, or even decisions. When energizing Mercury, now retrograde, aligns with lovely Venus, you might need to unpick a promise or contract that requires adjustment due to recent events. On Saturday, it might be just as well to expect the unexpected, as an invitation could lead to a sizzling encounter. The new moon on Sunday can encourage you to explore this

Cancer

you have deadlines to meet. The reason is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best not to leave everything until the last minute as long as talkative Mercury is still retrograde. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good news on Friday, though, as Mercury conjoins Venus, which could see you connecting with a person who reminds you of someone from

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 22 The focus on your personal

#

combines with chatty retrograde Mercury and encourages you to take stock of your situation and see what you can do to improve it. Mercury continues to spin backward until December 22, so go easy when purchasing big-ticket items.

If you have no option but to buy them, keep receipts and paperwork. The good news is that with upbeat Jupiter continuing in your sign, some spectacular opportunities could come

Sagitarius Nov 23 - Dec 22 This is a great time to attend to personal goals and interests. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rush any decisions, though, as with Mercury continuing its retrograde phase, changes may need to be made anyway. You might do better to research your options in the meantime. You may also want to look into an idea that you rejected but that now seems very appealing. Indeed, as the sun and diplomatic Venus combine with communicative Mercury, discussing this with others can help you decide whether to go ahead or not.

Dec 23 - Jan 20

Issues associated with your job and wellness matters continue to dominate.

And with Mercury spinning backward until December 22, it pays to be watchful, especially if dealing with important documents. Jupiter is happily ensconced in your leisure sector for the coming months, so all kinds of activities get a boost. Long-term relationships and new

brightly, helped along by feisty Mars. The weekendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new moon could encourage you

You may still have a desire to take time

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youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on track, because a continued focus on your spiritual sector encourages this. And with Mercury spinning backward, this can also be the perfect time to resolve issues that may have dragged on for some time. A new moon on Sunday could encourage you to take up a practice such as meditation that can help you relax deeply and encourage peace of mind.

June 24 - August 23 The love bug may continue to keep you enthralled with the planetary setup highlighting dating opportunities. You might feel a need to make a decision on Friday, as lively Mercury meets with lovely Venus. If so, consider leaving things as they are for now, as your outlook could change over coming

! " dynamic Mars in your home zone, you might be ready for a holiday get-together. The new moon on Sunday suggests a new creative

Virgo August 24 - Sept 24 While the holiday mood sparkles, there continues to be activity at home that may involve important discussions. You might need to reconsider a decision that involves other family members. With tactful Venus involved, you

changes. This can also be a time of reunions.

It feels good to reconnect with those who you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen in while. A lively connection between the sun and electric Uranus can see

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s the year-end is around the corner, Google has recently released its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;2017 Year in Search Resultsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; list and as always the celebs from entertainment industry dominated it followed by cricket stars. And Sunny Leone ranked first in the list of top trending entertainers of the year. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bigg Boss 11â&#x20AC;&#x2122; contestants Arshi Khan and Sapna Choudhary grabbed the second and the third spot respectively. he has played roles in independent mainstream events, films and television shows. 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 Big Boss. She hosts

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Capricorn

June 22 - July 23

Leo

Sunny Leone tops the list of Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;2017 Year in Search Resultsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19 Your social sector continues to look upbeat, encouraging you to make a few changes and consider moving in new circles. And with Mercury retrograde,

back into the fold, bringing a chance to

% a very potent focus on your career zone involving expansive Jupiter and dynamic Mars, things are certainly looking up in this area. Meanwhile, Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new moon

Pisces Feb 20 - March 20 Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of activity in your goal sector that can indicate a time of goal setting, whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s related to your career or a personal ambition. With Mercury presently retrograde,

major deals if possible. If you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, you could

terms and conditions considerably. There are times, though, when this can work in your favor.

Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new moon could inspire you to take

Tamannaah to perform stunts in her next Bollywood flick Tamannaah Bhatia is

in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi that are in various stages of production. Tamannaah has reportedly been roped in to play the female leadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in a Hindi suspense thriller.

She will be paired opposite Bollywood hunk John Abraham

stars power-packed performer

be directed by Milap Zaveri.

Apparently, Tamannaah will also perform a few stunts in the movie. This as-yet-untitled

January.

Tamannaah Bhatia was born 21 December 1989 in Maharashtra known as Tamannaah, who predominantly appears in Telugu and Tamil

!

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also participates in stage shows and

She is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products.

Bollywood Personalitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Birthdays

RAJNIKANTH DECEMBER 12

JOHN ABRAHAM DECEMBER 17

RITESH DESHMUKH DECEMBER 17

TAMANNA BHATIA DECEMBER 21

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Bollywood

Film review: My Friend`s Dulhania Aryan and Mahira are very much in love despite the fact that they are miles apart from each other. He is settled in Mumbai, while she is pursuing higher studies in Delhi.

Time passes by, the romance blossoms, and convinced that Mahira is his soulmate, Aryan travels to Delhi in a bid to propose to her. But his world is shattered on learning that his beloved has abandoned him without a word and vanished without a trace.

Two years later, while in Jammu and Kashmir for his friend Sajad’s wedding, Aryan chances across Mahira yet again. Things are further complicated when he realises that Sajad’s fiancee is none other than Mahira. The events that unfold afterwards form the crux of the romantic drama My Friend’s Dulhania.

Most glamorous sister duos of Bollywood Known to be the most glamorous sister duo of B-town, Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan never miss a chance to grab eyeballs for their impeccable style statements and make headlines with every outing of theirs.

Be it parties, family get-togethers, lunch dates or shopping, Lolo and Bebo are often spotted making the most of their time together.

We recently stumbled upon a selfie of the two, where they seem to be beaming with joy. While Karisma is seen pouting with sunnies on, Kareena looks fresh as a dew in her no-makeup look, with her sun-kissed tresses.

The Kapoor sisters recently attended a pre-Christmas bash hosted by their good friend Malaika Arora.

Dec

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MY FRIENDS DULHANIA *ing: Mudasir Zafar, Shaina Baweja

Dec

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MONSOON SHOOTOUT*ing: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vijay Varma

New Released Bollywood Films Dec

15

Dec

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MODEL *ing: Ajay Sharma, Muzahid Khan

Dec

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KULDIP PATWAL

BHANGOVER

*ing: Jameel Khan, Gulshan Devaiah

*ing: Jimmy Sharma, Aradhya Taing

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Salman Khan announces his new “Loveratri” For long, speculations have been rife about Aayush Sharma making his Bollywood debut. It then came to light that the hunk will be launched by brotherin-law Salman Khan, under his production banner. On Thursday, Salman took to his social media handle to proudly announce the film titled, ‘Loveratri’ that will be directed by Abhiraj Minawala.

Salman shared the news in a tweet that read, “Feeling very happy to announce @ SKFilmsOfficial productions ka 5th venture #Loveratri introducing @aaysharma directed by Abhiraj Minawala. More details soon.”

It had been reported that Abhiraj was a former assistant to director Ali Abbas Zafar, who Salman met during his 2016 film shoot.

While the makers are currently on the hunt for a leading lady, Aayush has been busy

preparing for his debut. Apart from learning acting on the sets, the aspiring actor underwent training in dance and action stunts, and also attended a series of workshops.

The film is reportedly a love story based in Gujarat. Filming for the same will reportedly start early next year with the makers eyeing a late 2018 release.

Priyanka to charge a whopping Rs 5 Crore for an award show performance?

Priyanka Chopra has definitely become an international sensation after her entry into the world of Hollywood. So it is exciting to hear that PeeCee will be back on home turf as she will be performing for an award show. However, it looks like the performance from the star will come at a very steep price. According to reports, the actress is charging a whopping Rs 5 Crore

for a dance performance on this award show. Her act is touted to be five minutes long and will feature a medley of her hit songs. But it looks like the organizers have no issues matching up to this steep price as they are eager to cash in on the PeeCee mania. The fact that she will be performing in an award show after two years further adds to the excitement and her act will obviously be the highlight of the night.

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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Richa Chadha on ‘Dasdev’: Love the character Paro Actress Richa Chadha, who will be seen in the upcoming film ‘Dasdev’, said she loves her character, Paro. The actress, who is currently enjoying the success of her latest release ‘Fukrey Returns’, told, “The character has been done several times by people in the films and it is something I really had fun playing.”“I love this character of Paro... All men in the town have a crush on her one way or the other. They all have an angle and she is not bothered. She is in love with Dev and is a social worker.

The film is set in contemporary politics of Uttar Pradesh which I really enjoyed.”

Directed by Sudhir Mishra, the film was earlier titled ‘Aur Devdas’. Talking about working with Mishra, Richa said, “I feel every actor should once work with Sudhir Mishra because you learn so much from that man. He has been an institution... He was one of the directors in my wish list.

In fact, I had auditioned for him a couple of times also and it never worked out.”

‘Dasdev’ also features Aditi Rao Hydari and Rahul Bhat. The film will release in February.

Richa Chadda, Varun Sharma share fu n stories after ‘Fukrey’ release

SRK gets appreciation from Nirmala Sitharaman Shah Rukh Khan was happy to receive an appreciation note from Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who lauded his effort in supporting the Armed Forces Flag Day awareness campaign. Shah Rukh shared on his social media a snapshot of the note, which read, “We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to you for supporting the Armed Forces Flag Day awareness campaign and spreading the message to your widespread audience. Thank you best of luck for the future.” =Did SRK refund distributors for ‘JHMS’?

The actor captioned it, “Thank you Ma’am for the opportunity. This is the least we can do for our Armed Forces. Will convey your message to the whole team. Jai Hind.”

Dia Mirza appointed UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza has been appointed UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for India. Dia, who is also the brand ambassador for the Wildlife Trust of India, will take up the role to add more weight to her work on raising awareness and seeking solutions for environmental issues that the world, and India in particular, faces, read a statement on Thursday.

“I feel honoured and inspired by this opportunity to work with UN Environment to protect the environment and promote sustainable development. “Environmental issues will be the defining challenge of this era, and I am committed to helping the UN as a Goodwill Ambassador to do everything I can to provide a better future,” said Dia. She added:

“Together, we will continue working towards conservation of nature, tackling climate change and inspiring people to live more sustainably.” As a Goodwill Ambassador, Dia will work with the UN to further spread the message on priority areas, including clean air, clean seas, wildlife protection and climate change.

“I am delighted to have Dia join UN Environment as a Goodwill A m b a s s a d o r.

India faces many challenges, in particular the air pollution that is choking many of its cities.

“Dia’s influence can help to turn the situation around and create a healthy future for Indians and their environment,” said Erik Solheim, UN Environment head.

Bollywood

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Bollywood

Saturday, December 16, 2017

PADMAN TRAILER PACKS A PUNCH! Continued from page 1 THAT twist apart, the trailer of R Balki’s Padman, produced by Twinkle Khanna, which drops online today, takes some fine turns to reveal a very realistic story (it’s based on innovator Arunachalam Muruganantham’s life), told in an extremely entertaining format — a formula of sorts that Akshay has lately mastered, to deliver six back-to-back hits in a row already! His last release, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, on the problem of open defecation in India, was predominantly set in Mathura.

From the look of it, Padman is shot in both, picturesque India (mainly Maheshwar, near Indore), and the US (the United Nations headquarters in New York). The visuals are stunning. But at the core of it is an equally important, national issue —

menstruation, sanitary napkins, female health, and hygiene.

As Akshay said at a conversation held at the midday office recently, “Most of us don’t know that 84 per cent of Indian women don’t use (sanitary) pads.

It’s a shame for India.

Abroad, people will be shocked to learn that over here, we use mud, dirty cloth, and so many other things.”

Looking to highlight the concern, he said, “We got the story about what happens to a man, when he invents a low-cost pad. He loses everything in his life.

I’m very happy to present this story to the world.”

As this dogged, uneducated social entrepreneur, Akshay speaks in broken English in Padman’s trailer, as he says, “I not go to IIT. IIT come to [learn from] me.” We hope the audiences come to theatres as well.

Future in safe hands FILM REVIEW

JOHNSON THOMAS hitlist@mid-day.com WRITER-director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a spectacular project, driven by strong characterisations, scaled-up visuals and rejuvenated new generation action surrounded by enveloping signature sound.

The action here picks up from the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), taking us through a set-piece opener that is as breathtaking and adrenaline-gushing as they come.

The surprises here stay true to the originator George Lucas’ sci-fi logic while straddling a new set of goals for the future. The narrative cross-cuts between Leia Or-

gana’s (late Carrie Fisher) attempts to STAR WARS: save her ragtag re- THE LAST JEDI sistance fleet from U/A: Fantasyimminent destrucsci-fi tion by the First DIR: Rian Order, and Rey’s Johnson (Daisy Ridley) visit to the aquatic CAST: Daisy planet Ahch-To, in Ridley, Mark order to convince Hamill, Carrie the self-exiled Jedi Fisher master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to rejoin the Resistance. The display of technolNew Order’s ogy, mythology Supreme Leader and imagery in a Snoke (CGI augmented Andy Serkis) has his way that entertains. The lengthy, consecutive cliown sinister plans.

The narrative expanse is maxes pull off a variegated full of mini-missions that in- scale of sci-fi dramaturgy, variably lead us to the next thus making the end result level of engagement. John- seem satisfying. He designs it son gives us a hugely credible in such a way that both veter-

321

★YUCK ★★WHATEVER ★★★GOOD ★★★★SUPER ★★★★★AWESOME

ans and newbies are given enough screen time. The Last Jedi is definitely not the end of the road for the Jedi warriors. The franchise’s future appears to be in safe hands — with the baton having passed down from the old trinity to a newer lot. Let the force be with them!

PeeCee’s onstage salary: 1cr a minute Sources say desi-girl-turned-globalsensation charging an estimated 5 cr for performance at awards gala next week Continued from page 1 GIVEN that she is a global sensation and a darling of the international media, it takes quite a lot to lure Priyanka Chopra back into the Bollywood mould. The organisers of Zee Cine Awards know this all too well. The desi-girl-turnedglobal-star is all set to perform at the awards gala on December 19. Turns out, bringing the superstar on board hasn’t been too easy on the pockets of the organ-

isers. According to sources, Chopra will be paid around 4-5 crore for the act.

An insider informs, “Priyanka’s act will be about five-minute long. Since she is so much in demand, the organisers did not negotiate on the price her team quoted, despite it coming to almost a-crore-a-minute.”

The source adds that the organisers knew her performance would be one of the biggest attractions of the event, given that she is performing on home turf after two long years. “Since Priyanka’s last performance was at the Producer’s Guild Awards in 2016, the team has planned a routine that will be the highlight of this award season. She will be dancing to a medley of her chartbusters.”

This isn’t the first time that award organisers have tried to cash in on the PeeCee hysteria. The organisers of IIFA 2016 were keen on Chopra being a part of their line-up, especially since the awards gala was in New York — where she resides while honouring her international commitments.

However, she dropped out of the show because they reportedly failed to cough up the amount she quoted. The source adds, “She is undoubtedly the frontrunner on everyone’s wishlist.

While several organisers have been trying to get her on board, Zee managed to close the deal. She is landing in India over the weekend.

She’ll have little time to rehearse, between her ad shoots and other commitments for her production house.”

Besides Chopra, the other performers at the awards show are Shahid Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez.

We reached out to Chopra’s spokesperson, who remained unavailable till the time of going to press.

‘While several organisers have been trying to get PeeCee on board, Zee managed to close the deal’ A source

7

Saturday, December 16, 2017

20

mid-day Friday, December 15, 2017 | www.mid-day.com | twitter.com/mid_day | epaper.mid-day.com

have you heard?

FESTIVE CLASH

Diwali 2018 is likely to see a clash between Amitabh Bachchan and Aam Khan-starrer Thugs Of Hindostan with Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor’s trilingual (Hindi, Telugu and Tamil) Saaho at the box office

Days of the Raj

Off the radar Last afternoon, Sidharth Malhotra went off social media. The actor deleted his Twitter display picture and wrote, “Sorry, I am done.” His bio read: Off. He did likewise on Instagram and Facebook. Though he did not spell out the reason behind the move, it is being speculated that it is part of a film or ad promotion.

Fans were in a tizzy as they wondered what prompted Sid to resort to such a sudden, drastic step.

On the occasion of Raj Kapoor’s 93rd birth anniversary yesterday, daughter Ritu Nanda’s book, Raj Kapoor — The One And Only Showman, was launched last night in New Delhi.

Her siblings Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv Kapoor and Rima Jain were also present.

This should make for an interesting read on the larger-thanlife Kapoor, his movies and heroines.

Me and my lovelies Manish Malhotra caught up with Pakistani actors Mahira Khan, Mawra Hocane and Saba Qamar at an awards gala in Dubai on Wednesday. The designer shared a snapshot on Instagram with them and Sridevi, who bagged an award for outstanding performance in Mom. He wrote, “Picture time with the gorgeous girls (sic).”

ON THE SET Arjun Rampal and Ihana Dhillon have been shooting for a song in Shailesh Verma’s Nastik in Ranchi. The Hate Story 4 actor is doing an item number in the cop drama. Ihana, who has dabbled in Punjabi films earlier, plays a gypsy in the track.

Toiling for the toned look After Isi Life Mein (2010), Sandeepa Dhar went on to do bit roles in Dabangg 2 (2012) and Heropanti (2014).

She has now landed a lead role in Ankush Bhatt’s Firrkie, which has Neil Nitin Mukesh and Karan Singh Grover as co-actors.

As she plays a supermodel, Sandeepa has been told to be in top form, for which she has embarked on a gluten and sugar-free diet.

Poking fun Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Monsoon Shootout co-acto Vijay Varma has traded barbs about his absence from the film’s promotion He has posted a video on Instagram of a Nawaz impersonator, who says th actor has finally made it to the promotions. Is it a dig or a witty way to look at th situation? Only Vijay can tell. Monsoon Shootout premiered at the Cannes film festival in May 2013. S now you know why Nawaz prefers to turn his back to the over four-year-old project.

It’s finally happening

New turn After her last film, Tera Intezaar, proved to be a damp squib, Sunny Leone is looking at her choice of roles anew. Buzz is that filmmaker Karan Razdan, who is planning a film on the life and times of the legendary Meena Kumari, has approached her for the biopic. Sunny’s keen as she wants to be seen in new light. Rumour is Vidya Balan and Madhuri Dixit turned down the offer, but Sunny is taking it up as a challenge to step into the Pakeezah (1972) star’s shoes.

The muchtalked about launch of Salman Khan’s brother-in-law Aayush Sharma in Bollywood is on course.

Yesterday, Sallu announced it on social media. Arpita Khan’s hubby makes his debut in Loveratri. The film will be directed by Abhiraj Minawala, who was Sultan’s (2016) assistant director.

Taste of regional flavours Aarya Babbar will be collaborating with father Raj Babbar for a Punjabi film, which will be helmed by a Bollywood director. It will mark the return of Babbar Senior to regional cinema after over a decade Though he will have to juggle the film’s shoot with politicking, he is keen to give it a shot. Meanwhile, Aarya is curently shooting for a psychological thriller Zehan, which is the directorial debut of film editor Dhiren Dimri.

8 21 HITLIST

Saturday, December 16, 2017 y

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,

|

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This film is thrice as good FILM REVIEW SONIL DEDHIA sonil.dedhia@mid-day.com

Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s performance is remarkable, but monotonous

MONSOON Shootout is by no means the end of our search for the ideal chor-police movie. But there is so much going in this compelling, slow-burning, well-enacted tale set in the dark, grimy underbelly of Mumbai that you can applaud the effort of debutant director Amit Kumar.

Inspired by the 1987 Polish film, Blind Chance, or rather the more famous 1998 German thriller, Run Lola Run, it narrates the story again, this time in three different scenarios. The city’s rains play a pivotal role in it.

The film takes you through the journey of a rookie cop, Adi (Vijay Varma). Having

_

y| p p

The performances are striking. Varma plays his part perfectly, so does Kabi.

Tannishtha Chatterjee as Shiva’s wife is convincing.

Siddiqui’s performance is remarkable, but since he’s been essaying the same kinds of roles, it also seems monotonous.

The movie also has the usual clichés, like Adi meeting his ex-flame Anu (Geetanjali Thapa), who has now become a nurse. A song featuring the two looks forced. But this one’s surely worth a watch.

been appointed to MONSOON take the decisive the crime branch, SHOOTOUT decision of shoothe is reminded of ing him, or not. the principles that U/A: CrimeFrom here, the film his deceased father thriller is replayed thrice, believed in. There DIR: Amit each with a differare three paths Kumar ent version, highthat one can take in lighting how Adi’s his/her life, his CAST: life unfolds demother reminds Nawazuddin pending on his dehim. They are the Siddiqui, Vijay cision. right, the wrong Varma, The film shines path, and the Tannishtha in its ability to make you question middle path. This Chatterjee your loyalty. This is principle forms the where the storycrux of the story. telling excels. You Set to work along find yourself rootwith the hoting for one characheaded senior ofter, and no later, fice Khan (Neeraj your heart aches Kabi), Adi finds himself handling an extortion for another’s victory. The film campaign, run by local king- works even better because pin, the slumlord (R Balasub- the characters are given a free ramanian). rein over the proceedings. For Adi is told to track down a instance, Shiva’s son, hitman, suspected to be Shiva Chhotu’s character (played (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). They brilliantly by Farhan Mohamlay a trap. Once Shiva is in mad Hanif Shaikh) varies ★YUCK ★★WHATEVER sight, Adi chases him down an from being innocent to taking ★★★GOOD ★★★★SUPER ★★★★★AWESOME alley. It is here that he has to revenge.

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Vol. 8 No. 46 - Saturday - December 16, 2017

New mortgage rules for 2018 New rules aimed at cracking down on the mortgage market will result in 100,000 people failing a stress test of their finances, and about half of them will be blocked from buying a home.

That’s one of the major takeaways of a new report published Tuesday from Mortgage Professionals Canada, an industry group that represents 11,500 mortgage brokers, lenders and insurers.

Average Canadian home worth $506,000 in October, up 5% in past year Mortgage carrying costs to increase 8% in 2018, Scotiabank warns The federal government has moved seven times since 2008 to tighten rules surrounding the real

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estate market, and practically every time, the market has shrugged off tighter rules around areas like maximum debt loads and amortization periods. But new rules implemented in October could be different.

Starting January, uninsured borrowers from federally regulated lenders must have their finances “stress tested” to ensure they would be able to pay off their mortgages if rates were higher than they are today.

To do that, the lender must run a test assuming rates were two percentage points higher than they are right now, and see if borrowers would be able to pay off the loan.

By the group’s estimates based on the market today, “18 per cent of mortgage borrowers who are stress tested, would fail the stress test.”

Since there’s roughly 700,000 homes sold every year in Canada, and most of them involve some sort of mortgage. That means up to 100,000 buyers would fail the new stress test and be forbidden from buying the home they want at the price they want.

Big 5 banks follow suit as Bank of Canada raises interest rate Continued on page 13

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

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14

Real Estate

Home sales rise to November record as average price hits $504,000 Last month was the busiest November for home sales on record, despite a slowdown in activity in the Greater Toronto Area.

The Canadian Real Estate Association said Thursday that home sales rose by almost four per cent in November from the previous month. The months at the end of the year aren’t

typically a busy time for home sales, but the real estate group says sales are picking up, in part because buyers are rushing to get in before new stress test rules take effect in January.

Starting in January, all borrowers with uninsured mortgages must be stress-tested to make sure they could still pay down their loans if rates were higher. Anyone who fails the stress test will be prohibited from getting the loan they’ve applied for, and will have to either get a smaller mortgage for a cheaper home, or not buy in the first place. “Some homebuyers with

more than a 20 per cent down payment may be fast-tracking their purchase decision in order to beat the tougher mortgage qualifications test coming into effect next year,” CREA president Andrew Peck said. “It will be interesting to see whether December sales show further signs of home purchases being fast-tracked.”

The increase in home sales came without any help from Toronto’s big market, where “activity remains down s i g n i f i c ant ly from year-ago levels” after the province moved earlier this year to implement new rules to crack down on speculators and foreign buyers.

On the price side, CREA’s national house price index — which differs from a straight average — rose at a 9.3 per cent annual pace in November.

That’s the smallest increase since February 2016. Across the country, the average price of a home sold on CREA’s Multiple Listings Service during the month was $504,000. If the two big and expensive markets of Toronto and Vancouver are stripped out, the average house price drops by $120,000 to just above $381,000.

“The adjustment in the Toronto market is ongoing,” Bank of Montreal economist Robert Kavcic said of the numbers.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Mortgage rules can block many people from buying homes “Perhaps 50,000 to 60,000 per year will be able to make a different purchase, albeit one that is less attractive to them,” the group said.

But “perhaps 40,000 to 50,000 per year will be entirely removed from homeownership.”

The group says it doesn’t object to the idea of a stress test in general, just that the current parameters are too rigid.

Essentially, the mortgage group says running the numbers with rates that are two percentage points higher than they are today isn’t realistic or helpful..

For starters, the majority of new buyers get a fiveyear fixed rate mortgage, which means if they lock in now. they would be immune from rate hikes until 2022.

Currently, the average mortgage rate in Canada is 2.96 per cent, the report found.

Even assuming rates are higher when they have to renew, the current stress test rules ignore two things: On average, borrowers will have paid off 15 per cent of their principal, five years into their first mortgage, even if they do nothing more than make their monthly payments with no prepayments. Having more equity in their homes makes them better able to handle debt, even at a higher rate. The stress

test rules also ignore that people generally tend to see their incomes increase over time too. “Based on trends over the past five years, mortgage borrowers will typically have seen their incomes rise by 10 per cent” by the time they renew, the group says.

Interest rates are going up: Here’s how that

will affect you A better level for the stress test, the group says, would be testing borrowers’ finances at an interest rate that’s three-quarters of a percentage point higher, not two. “Using the posted mortgage interest rate today in mortgage stress tests is excessively stringent, and will unnecessarily impair the housing market and therefore the broader economy,” the report found. “And it will unnecessarily [and therefore unfairly] prevent large numbers of Canadians from achieving their reasonable housing goals.”

Real Estate

Saturday, December 16, 2017

15

Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s five biggest housing markets are going up at a similar, healthy pace As prices in Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s five biggest housing markets are going up at a similar, healthy pace â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the first time that has happened in six years, Royal LePage said Thursday in its latest national house price survey.

The firm said that in the third quarter home prices in the Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver, Greater Montreal Area, Calgary and Ottawa all went up by between 1.5 and 3.5 per cent from the second quarter.

Royal LePage said those increases are indicative of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;much more balancedâ&#x20AC;? Canadian residential real estate market.

Hot Canadian housing market headed for cooldown, Moodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s says â&#x20AC;&#x153;Uneven regional economic growth has

plagued Canada for much of the past decade, a challenge most evident in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s housing markets,â&#x20AC;? said Royal LePage president and CEO Phil Soper. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the first time since 2011, we are seeing real estate in all five of our largest cities appreciate at a manageable, healthy clip,â&#x20AC;? he said in a release. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Canadian housing is enjoying a Goldilocks moment â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not too hot, and not too cold.â&#x20AC;?

He said that, for now, the housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver have â&#x20AC;&#x153;returned to Earth.â&#x20AC;? The two cities led the housing market with big price gains and then sharp swings lower, but are now seeing single-digit price growth.

On a year-over-year basis, several of the big markets still reflect big gains from earlier this year. In the Greater Toronto Area, prices in the third quarter were up 21.7 per cent from the same time last year, while Montreal prices were up 14.3 per cent, and Ottawa had growth of 7.9 per cent. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The market has changedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;: buyers welcome Toronto cool-down Calgary prices were up five per cent yearover-year, while Greater Vancouver showed a modest gain of 2.5 per cent after its market correction last year. Soper said rising interest rates, coupled with a strong Canadian dollar, are helping to keep price increases under control in the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major housing markets.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marginally higher borrowing costs should dampen domestic demand somewhat, and with less currency-adjusted purchasing power, foreign buyer activity is off peak levels and will likely stay that way in the near-term,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Teranet shows monthly decline In a separate report, the Teranet-National Bank house price index in September showed its first monthly decline since January 2016, weighed down by falling home prices in Toronto.

The national index, which factors in prices for 11 cities, dropped by 0.8 per cent from August.

That drop was the largest monthly decline since September 2010. The price index for Toronto was down month-over-month by 2.7 per cent.

16

Garry Grewal

Saturday, December 16, 2017

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