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<strong>Issue</strong> No : 22<br />
Email: editor@canadianparvasi.com Contact Number : 905-673-0600 December 01, 2017 | Pages 24<br />
Jagmeet says<br />
Indigenous languages<br />
ignored in Canada<br />
Agencies<br />
OTTAWA: NDP Leader Jagmeet<br />
Singh was forced Wednesday<br />
to claw back a suggestion<br />
bilingualism requirements<br />
for Supreme Court justices be<br />
waived to encourage Indigenous<br />
candidates. Singh had made<br />
the suggestion earlier in the<br />
day after judge and educator<br />
Sheilah Martin was nominated<br />
to fill an upcoming vacancy on<br />
the top court, disappointing<br />
Continued on page 02<br />
Sikh extremists abroad<br />
behind Punjab killings: NIA<br />
Indo-Asian News Service<br />
Patrick Brown promises lower auto insurance,<br />
more hospital beds for Peel Region<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> <strong>Parvasi</strong><br />
TORONTO : Ontario Progressive Conservative<br />
leader Patrick Brown says if he is voted to<br />
power, his government will stop discriminatory<br />
auto insurance rates in the 905 region.<br />
Speaking to <strong>Parvasi</strong> Radio, Brown said, "I<br />
will ask the insurance regulator to allow no<br />
longer geographical discrimination. Kathleen<br />
Wynne has quietly allowed this to happen.’’<br />
He said it was not fair to discriminate<br />
against residents of Peel Region."If you are in<br />
Peel, your auto insurance rates are high. It is<br />
not right,’‘ Brown said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Conservative leader said he will also<br />
introduce tax credits for winter tyres to help<br />
people of Peel region to get lower auto insurance.<br />
"I will bring in winter tyre tax credits because<br />
you get lower insurance rates if you have<br />
winter tyres. But for some people who can’t afford<br />
winter tyres, we will bring in tax credits<br />
I am ready to pay political price<br />
to change India, says Modi<br />
Actors are<br />
perceived as<br />
magicians in<br />
India, but<br />
performers<br />
in West: Irrfan<br />
Page 17<br />
for them so that they can get lower insurance<br />
rates,’’ he said.<br />
About the overcrowding in hospitals in Peel<br />
region, he said though the health care system<br />
faced overcrowding all over Ontario, it was<br />
very acute in the 905 region.<br />
He said his government will systematically<br />
address this problem.<br />
Listing the steps he will take to sort out the<br />
problem, Brown said, "We are going to build<br />
20,000 long-term care beds because currently<br />
20 percent of hospitals have people waiting in<br />
beds. <strong>The</strong>y need care in long-term homes. But<br />
because there are no long-term care homes,<br />
these people sit in hospitals ...our long-term<br />
care investment will take a lot pressure off hospitals.’’<br />
Additionally, he said, his government’s<br />
commitment to mental health care will help<br />
hospitals have enough mental health workers.<br />
Continued on page 06<br />
India's Re 1 note<br />
completes 100 years<br />
NEW DELHI: <strong>The</strong> National<br />
Investigation Agency<br />
(NIA) on Thursday<br />
said that Sikh extremist<br />
elements living abroad,<br />
including Pakistan and<br />
Britain, were behind the<br />
murder of RSS leader Ravinder<br />
Gosain in Ludhiana<br />
and over half a dozen<br />
incidents of murder and<br />
attempt to murder of<br />
right-wing leaders, aimed<br />
at destabilising Punjab.<br />
<strong>The</strong> anti-terror agency's<br />
revelation comes<br />
within two weeks of its<br />
investigation into the killing<br />
of Gosain, 60, who was<br />
fired at by two bike-borne<br />
assailants on October 17<br />
near his house while returning<br />
after attending<br />
a morning RSS drill. He<br />
died on the spot.<br />
<strong>The</strong> NIA, which took<br />
over the case following a<br />
November 16 order issued<br />
by the Union Home Ministry,<br />
said the questioning<br />
of two arrested accused<br />
persons -- Ramandeep<br />
Singh and Hardeep Singh<br />
-- by Punjab Police and<br />
further investigation in<br />
the case revealed the conspiracy.<br />
<strong>The</strong> NIA had taken<br />
custody of Ramandeep<br />
and Hardeep from Punjab<br />
Police on November 22.<br />
Continued on page 02<br />
Indo-Asian News Service<br />
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra<br />
Modi on Thursday said opposition<br />
criticism won't deter him<br />
from his government's war against<br />
corruption and black money as he<br />
was willing to pay any political<br />
price for the steps he had taken to<br />
weed out graft.<br />
Addressing the opening session<br />
of the Hindustan Times Leadership<br />
Summit here, Modi said<br />
his government was committed to<br />
developing a development-centric<br />
eco system which is free of graft<br />
and is people-centric.<br />
"I am aware of the political<br />
price I will have to pay for the<br />
steps taken by the government<br />
but I am ready for it," he said, referring<br />
to demonetisation and the<br />
implementation of the Goods and<br />
Services Tax as measures to tackle<br />
graft and black money.<br />
Continued on page 10<br />
Indo-Asian News Service<br />
NEW DELHI: Its value has eroded over its<br />
lifetime of a century. Today, a rupee can<br />
buy very little, may be a toffee. Yet, this<br />
sturdy currency has survived two world<br />
wars, regularly shedding value till it has<br />
practically gone out of use.<br />
<strong>The</strong> British government introduced<br />
the one rupee note on November 30, 1917.<br />
Currency notes were introduced in India<br />
in 1861. Silver coins, including one rupee<br />
ones, were in existence for very long,<br />
some being traced to Sher Shah Suri's reign<br />
in 1540. <strong>The</strong> one rupee paper currency, issued<br />
as a promissory note, was printed in<br />
England and depicted a silver coin image<br />
of King George V on the left corner. <strong>The</strong><br />
words 'I promise to pay the bearer the sum<br />
of One Rupee on demand at any office of issue'<br />
was printed on it.<br />
Continued on page 12<br />
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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly REGIONAL<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 02<br />
Gurpreet's motion<br />
to cut senior bus<br />
pass rates denied<br />
BRAMPTON: Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon has expressed<br />
his disappointment in Council’s decision to deny his motion<br />
to be considered in the City of Brampton’s 2018 budget.<br />
<strong>The</strong> motion would have reduced the seniors’ monthly bus<br />
pass rate from $52.00 to $15.00 with no immediate cost or<br />
negative budget impact.<br />
“This proposal was cost neutral and also satisfied an<br />
increasing need,” said Councillor Dhillon. “With auto<br />
insurance, gas prices, taxes, and the cost of living all skyrocketing,<br />
this motion would have helped a vulnerable and<br />
growing sector of society,” said Councillor Dhillon. <strong>The</strong><br />
motion outlined that the approximate $75,000 annual shortfall<br />
for the new rate would have been funded for a period of<br />
four years by transferring the 2017 Façade Program’s remaining<br />
budget of $300,000, and any costs thereafter to be<br />
absorbed by future transit revenue growth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Façade Program, which Councillor Dhillon has<br />
continuously opposed due to it favouring downtown businesses<br />
only, funds the cosmetic changes to businesses in<br />
the downtown core by providing grants to land and business<br />
owners.<br />
“I don’t understand why Council did not see the immediate<br />
need for investing in reducing seniors’ transit costs,<br />
while they continue to waste millions on initiatives like<br />
the Façade Program, raising their own salaries and pensions,<br />
and giving $1.5 million to a private hockey team,”<br />
said Councillor Dhillon. “Our seniors deserve better.<br />
“With more and more of our seniors being forced to work,<br />
or solely depending on Old Age Security and pensions, getting<br />
by is becoming a challenge for them. This proposal<br />
would have helped their pocket books, as well as allowing<br />
them to become more active and socially engaged in the<br />
community.”<br />
Patrick Brown promises<br />
12% cut in hydro bills<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> <strong>Parvasi</strong><br />
MISSISSAUGA: Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown has<br />
promised to lower the average hydro bill by an additional<br />
12 percent if his party forms the next government. Speaking<br />
in Burlington yesterday, Brown said this will save $173 per<br />
household annually.<br />
Laying it out as part of his Ontario PC plan, Brown<br />
said under Kathleen Wynne hydro rates have tripled.<br />
As a result, families now pay $1,000 more than when the<br />
Liberals took office. He said the Liberals have accepted<br />
$1.3 million in donations from companies who received<br />
thousands of energy contracts. <strong>The</strong>se "sweetheart deals''<br />
have resulted in families overpaying by $9.2 billion for<br />
hydro.<br />
Kathleen Wynne also sold off the publicly-owned<br />
Hydro One in a fire sale to reward her donors and<br />
friends.<br />
Sahara Senior Services<br />
celebrated Diwali<br />
Sahara Senior Services<br />
Club celebrated Diwali<br />
on Friday November10th,<br />
2017. It was beautifully<br />
organized by the club organizers<br />
in Royal Banquet<br />
Hall and was celebrated<br />
with great hustle and<br />
bustle.MP Gagan Sikand,<br />
Honor. MPP Dipika Damerla,<br />
MPP Amrit Mangat,<br />
Nina Tangri, Bernard<br />
Jordan and many more<br />
leaders were present at<br />
this celebration. Ashok<br />
Bharti and Sushma Aggarwal<br />
introduced each other<br />
and Ashok Bharti introduced<br />
Urmil Sandhawalia.<br />
Club’s Vice President Urmil<br />
Sandhawalia honored<br />
and thanked all the guests<br />
and praised President<br />
Narinder Singh Dhuga’s<br />
hard work and efforts in<br />
establishing Sahara Senior<br />
Services Club. She<br />
also praised Manjit Dhuga<br />
for working very hard and<br />
for organizing our events.<br />
President Narinder<br />
Dhuga honored and<br />
thanked all the guests. He<br />
thanked Diwali Committee<br />
for working so hard so<br />
that we all could enjoy a<br />
well-planned Diwali event.<br />
He also gave introduction<br />
on Diwali Festival and<br />
proudly stated that Sahara<br />
Senior Services represents<br />
more female members<br />
than male members.<br />
Sumesh Nanda took group<br />
pictures for all of them.<br />
Diwali Dyas were lit up<br />
by MP Gagan Sikand, Honor.<br />
MPP Dipika Damerla,<br />
MPP Amrit Mangat, Nina<br />
Tangri, Bernard Jordan<br />
and by Club’s Board of Directors.<br />
Sumesh Nanda<br />
took pictures of all beautiful<br />
moments.<br />
MP Gagan Sikand, MPP<br />
Dipika Damerla, MPP Amrit<br />
Mangat, Nina Tangri<br />
and Bernard Jordan spoke<br />
highly about Sahara Senior<br />
Services Club and appreciated<br />
its uniqueness<br />
as it holds large number of<br />
women as club members.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y all praised Narinder<br />
Dhuga’s hard work and efforts<br />
in collaboration with<br />
members in starting Sahara<br />
Senior Services Club<br />
and growing it day by day.<br />
Jagmeet says Indigenous languages ignored in Canada<br />
Continued from page 01<br />
some who had hoped an<br />
Indigenous candidate would<br />
be chosen. But after his idea<br />
generated friction within his own<br />
caucus, Singh issued a statement<br />
to clarify he "strongly" believes<br />
that Supreme Court justices<br />
be bilingual with a functional<br />
understanding of both French<br />
and English, adding it is the only<br />
way to ensure <strong>Canadian</strong>s access<br />
justice in an official language.<br />
Indigenous rights must also<br />
be recognized and defended,<br />
Singh said, noting Indigenous<br />
languages have historically<br />
been "grossly overlooked" in<br />
<strong>Canadian</strong> institutions. "I am<br />
open to hearing suggestions of<br />
how to remain fully committed<br />
to bilingual judges while<br />
supporting the advancement<br />
of judges from Indigenous<br />
communities," he said. "It's my<br />
sincere hope that we will see, in<br />
near future, a Supreme Court<br />
Justice from a First Nation,<br />
Metis or Inuit background."<br />
Earlier on Wednesday,<br />
Singh said there needs to<br />
be an understanding of the<br />
unique situation Indigenous<br />
communities have faced and<br />
a recognition of Indigenous<br />
languages. "I would say in general<br />
our position as a party is that we<br />
support bilingualism," Singh<br />
said. "It's important as a nation<br />
that has two official languages<br />
that we support bilingualism<br />
with respect to judges but there is<br />
a specific case to be made for the<br />
Indigenous community."<br />
<strong>The</strong> remarks touched off<br />
pushback from NDP MPs.<br />
"That is not a position of<br />
the NDP," Quebec lieutenant<br />
Alexandre Boulerice said. "He<br />
knows it ... but we are ready<br />
to work with anybody from<br />
the Aboriginal community to<br />
... see how we can integrate<br />
more efficiently Aboriginal<br />
languages." NDP justice critic<br />
Murray Rankin said Singh's<br />
original comments were not<br />
in keeping with the NDP's<br />
position stipulating judges must<br />
be bilingual to sit on Canada's<br />
top court. <strong>The</strong> party's official<br />
languages critic had put forward a<br />
private members' bill to enshrine<br />
the bilingual requirement into<br />
law but it was defeated."We are<br />
trying essentially deal with two<br />
streams of rights," Rankin said.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> need to be more<br />
representative, particularly for<br />
the Indigenous ... legal traditions<br />
on the court and at the same<br />
time, an ironclad commitment<br />
to bilingualism which the NDP<br />
has long had as its policy."<br />
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-<br />
Raybould, who is Aboriginal,<br />
said Wednesday she suspects<br />
many current Indigenous judges<br />
will apply for positions on the top<br />
court in the future.<br />
All the leaders gave their<br />
blessings for club’s growth<br />
and success. Congratulations<br />
certificates were<br />
received from MP Gagan<br />
Sikand, MPP Dipika Damerla,<br />
Ontario PC Leader<br />
Patrick Brown and Premier<br />
of Ontario Kathleen<br />
Wynne.<br />
Maninder Kalra, Roop<br />
Kahlon, Surinder Dhami<br />
and Jyotsna Davda presented<br />
Arti Song from a<br />
Film. It was recited very<br />
well.<br />
Sukhpal Chodda and<br />
Kuldip Gosal performed<br />
solo dance with their favorite<br />
songs.<br />
Mohini Bharti sang<br />
her favorite song. Rekha<br />
Uppal and Suman Sodhi<br />
danced with a beautiful<br />
song from a Mughal-E-<br />
Azam movie. It was enjoyed<br />
by everyone.<br />
“Hips Don’t Lie” Bollywood<br />
Dance was presented<br />
by three girls who were<br />
enjoyed and appreciated<br />
by everyone.<br />
Punjabi Gidha with<br />
Bolian was presented<br />
by Sukhpal Chodda,<br />
Maninder Kalra, Rekha<br />
Uppal, Surinder Dhami,<br />
Roop Kahlon and Jyotsna<br />
Davda.<br />
Sukhraj Nijjar sang<br />
Hindi and Punjabi songs<br />
with his band which were<br />
enjoyed and appreciated<br />
by everyone. Dance floor<br />
was full.<br />
<strong>The</strong> door prizes were<br />
drawn which were enjoyed<br />
by all the winners.<br />
Dance floor was filled<br />
with dance lovers as DJ<br />
was played and everyone<br />
had a chance to dance and<br />
to enjoy the rest of the evening.<br />
Sumesh Nanda captured<br />
every beautiful moment<br />
with his photography.<br />
Everyone enjoyed tasty<br />
snacks and dinner.<br />
(For any information about<br />
Sahara Senior Services,<br />
visit our website at<br />
www.saharaseniorservices.com<br />
or email tosaharass2015@<br />
gmail.com<br />
or Call Narinder Dhuga at<br />
416-985-5336)<br />
Sikh extremists abroad<br />
behind Punjab killings: NIA<br />
Continued from page 01<br />
NIA officials said the arrested shooters have<br />
admitted their involvement in the killing of Gosain<br />
as well as in seven other incidents of murder or attempted<br />
to murder in Punjab that have taken place<br />
since January 2016. <strong>The</strong> killing of the RSS leader<br />
was the latest in a series of murderous attacks on<br />
right-wing and religious leaders in Punjab. "Targets<br />
in these incidents generally were members of<br />
the RSS and Hindu organisations." In July 2017, the<br />
shooters also murdered a Christian pastor named<br />
Sultan Masih in Ludhiana, the officials said. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
said a conspiracy to "destabilize Punjab has been<br />
hatched by Sikh extremist elements and others<br />
located in various parts of the world including the<br />
United Kingdom, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates<br />
and Pakistan". "<strong>The</strong> investigation conducted so<br />
far has revealed channelling of funds from foreign<br />
countries for execution of these incidents.
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
03<br />
Joyeeta Dutta Ray<br />
Contributing Editor<br />
Toronto has always been a<br />
magnet for new immigrants.<br />
Some come here to escape<br />
bullets. Some come to fill up<br />
their wallets. Some are here to<br />
breathe in unpolluted air.<br />
Over the last few years however,<br />
more and more skilled immigrants<br />
have traded their Permanent<br />
Resident garlands for a<br />
rosy life elsewhere.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Toronto Star reports<br />
that every province and territory<br />
except for Ontario, saw immigration<br />
numbers rise drastically.<br />
Whereas in Ontario, the<br />
numbers dropped from 133,600<br />
to 99,500.<br />
<strong>The</strong> reason is almost always<br />
one of the two: Unemployment<br />
or underemployment!<br />
This was seldom the case<br />
even a couple of decades back.<br />
When Mila Lebuda fled to<br />
Toronto from communist Poland<br />
in 1991 at the age of 21,<br />
the country embraced her with<br />
open arms. It did not matter<br />
that she did not speak English<br />
or that she didn’t have much<br />
work experience. <strong>The</strong> grounds<br />
for adopting her were purely<br />
humanitarian.<br />
“Canada gave me a new<br />
lease of life” she says. This is<br />
where she met her future husband,<br />
Vlad Lebuda another<br />
Polish immigrant like her. She<br />
made money as a caregiver. He<br />
drove a truck. As finances improved,<br />
their lifestyle did too.<br />
For Mila, the biggest barrier<br />
was language. Once that hurdle<br />
was crossed, life was sunshine<br />
and tulips.<br />
However, not everyone finds<br />
the same success in Canada!<br />
Mila’s tech-savvy Polish<br />
friend, Aron* (named changed<br />
for privacy) had higher ambitions.<br />
He went back to Poland<br />
as soon as conditions improved.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re are better opportunities<br />
there now. Despite living here<br />
for 10 years, he never got his<br />
due,” says Mila.<br />
Not surprising! Statistics<br />
Canada reports that even after<br />
being in Canada for 15 years,<br />
immigrants with a university<br />
degree are more likely than the<br />
native-born to be in low-skilled<br />
jobs.<br />
New Immigration<br />
Policies; New People<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s a shift in trends. As<br />
new policies replace older ones,<br />
immigrants flying in to Canada<br />
now, are visibly different than<br />
those who came in earlier.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are better educated, better<br />
versed in English and better<br />
positioned professionally.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s a reason behind<br />
that. Earlier Canada took in<br />
more unskilled workers to meet<br />
economic needs. But recruitment<br />
efforts for skilled workers,<br />
entrepreneurs and investors<br />
are the need of the hour<br />
now. “Since 2006, the government<br />
has made dramatic changes<br />
to the federal skilled workers<br />
program by raising language<br />
requirements, restricting eligibility<br />
to specific professions<br />
and pre-screening applicants’<br />
foreign credentials”, says the<br />
Toronto Star.<br />
Yet, these very skilled immigrants<br />
are the ones who are<br />
having it rough.<br />
For Roopa Rakshit who<br />
moved with her husband and<br />
12 year old son to Thunder Bay<br />
(Ontario) from Thailand in<br />
2012, migration was a decision<br />
based on being located closer to<br />
their daughter who was studying<br />
in UBC, Vancouver.<br />
It was an intimidating prospect<br />
at a stage in their lives<br />
when they were well-settled<br />
professionally. But they were<br />
confident that their international<br />
resumes would open<br />
doors. <strong>The</strong>y were in for a surprise!<br />
It took Roopa 4 years to find<br />
a job suited to her skills. “I was<br />
an environmentalist in a United<br />
Nations affiliated organization<br />
in my previous life (Bangkok).<br />
While my International experience<br />
was appreciated, I was<br />
made to realize that I fell short<br />
of the “<strong>Canadian</strong> experience.“<br />
In the race to build her<br />
“<strong>Canadian</strong>ess”, Roopa sprinted<br />
on the volunteering path,<br />
networked along the way and<br />
picked up a scholarship for<br />
PHD at Lakehead University.<br />
That was the trophy that gave<br />
her the much needed break. “It<br />
was my research topic on energy<br />
planning with the First Nations<br />
people that led me to my<br />
current job in a First Nations<br />
Technical Services Organization.”<br />
Malak Ahmed, who moved<br />
from Egypt in August 2016 with<br />
her husband and three daughters,<br />
has a similar story. She<br />
was a Business Unit Director<br />
in a leading advertising agency<br />
in Cairo. Despite her fancy title<br />
and a McGill Graduate Certificate,<br />
no employer was ready to<br />
lay out the red carpet for her.<br />
“While I did expect to work<br />
my way up, I didn’t expect to<br />
stumble so many steps down<br />
the ladder in the process. I was<br />
surprised that a city that boasted<br />
of a high rate of immigration<br />
would put so much emphasis on<br />
'<strong>Canadian</strong> experience'!”<br />
To cross the barrier, her<br />
next step was to get an employment<br />
agency to rewrite her CV.<br />
That’s quite another story.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Great <strong>Canadian</strong><br />
Resume<br />
Few countries have elevated<br />
the resume to such heights.<br />
It’s almost an art form here,<br />
based not on jotting down your<br />
skills but how strategically you<br />
phrase them. No matter how<br />
clipped your English, how impressive<br />
your name card or<br />
how many reference letters you<br />
come armed with, it’s hard for<br />
foreigners to master this skill.<br />
Only <strong>Canadian</strong>s know the<br />
trick! <strong>The</strong>y have ingeniously<br />
made a business out of it, creating<br />
employment for themselves<br />
to help clueless newcomers like<br />
Malak.<br />
When the planets finally<br />
aligned to bless her with a job,<br />
the pay didn’t match up to her<br />
qualifications. But despite it<br />
all, Malak chooses to stay on.<br />
“After the revolution in Cairo,<br />
the economy struggled and so<br />
did we. But it’s all been worthwhile.<br />
We like the cultural<br />
diversity here. <strong>The</strong> kids love<br />
their schools.”<br />
Easy to see how soaring cost<br />
of living, rising crime and jobs<br />
with unscrupulous hours in<br />
Cairo make Canada seem like<br />
Disneyland.<br />
For Alexa, who came from<br />
Honduras (Central America)<br />
to North York, the road was as<br />
rough. She arrived armed with<br />
a Bachelor’s degree in Business,<br />
a Masters in Marketing, 5<br />
years at an International Telecommunications<br />
company and<br />
dreams to make it big. None of<br />
these made things any easier!<br />
“I was a Marketing and<br />
Sales Manager at Huawei Technologies<br />
in Honduras. <strong>The</strong> biggest<br />
challenge for me was to<br />
start my career from the bottom<br />
up.” But she wouldn’t head<br />
back either. “Honduras is a<br />
small country where 50% of<br />
people live in poverty. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
is a high rate of homicides and<br />
corruption.” In contrast, Canada<br />
offers commuting safety,<br />
free education and healthcare.<br />
<strong>The</strong> choice is clear!<br />
Escaping corruption was<br />
high on the list for Marcia to<br />
move from Brazil as well. She<br />
arrived with her husband in<br />
Toronto in 2016. “<strong>The</strong> social discrepancy<br />
of wealth makes for<br />
very dangerous streets, with<br />
thefts happening everywhere”<br />
she says. While it’s a dream to<br />
stroll around North America’s<br />
safest metropolitan“without<br />
fear of getting mugged”, the<br />
Marketing professional who<br />
worked for 9 years in a leading<br />
multinational company, found<br />
it hard to find a job. It took her<br />
3 months to find full-time employment<br />
and when she did, the<br />
job was an entry level position<br />
in Customer Service that paid<br />
less than she expected because<br />
of her lack of “<strong>Canadian</strong> Experience”.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Great <strong>Canadian</strong> Resumé<br />
“You feel like your experience<br />
in a foreign country is<br />
devalued because you haven’t<br />
applied it in Canada. Recruiters<br />
tend to disqualify you too”,<br />
she says.<br />
Canada: More dependent<br />
on new immigrants<br />
than ever<br />
Canada thrives on new immigrants<br />
to bring in the bucks.<br />
Estimates from the Conference<br />
Board of Canada reveal that<br />
if <strong>Canadian</strong> employers recognized<br />
and rewarded immigrant<br />
skills, the country would earn<br />
an additional $10 million annually.<br />
Instead, every year, Canada<br />
loses valuable doctors, engineers,<br />
accountants and marketing<br />
professionals to the USA,<br />
where “American Experience”<br />
is an unheard of criterion!<br />
While others take up blue collar<br />
jobs that don’t do justice to<br />
their skills.<br />
Local employers argue that<br />
“<strong>Canadian</strong> Experience” assures<br />
understanding of the soft skills<br />
essential for success here.<br />
However, it pays for them to<br />
remember that the Ontario Human<br />
Rights Code (OHRC) has<br />
laid down a strict declaration<br />
that “<strong>Canadian</strong> Experience” is<br />
discrimination and can only be<br />
used in very limited circumstances.<br />
Interestingly enough,<br />
smaller cities and rural areas<br />
in Canada have set a better example.<br />
In 2013, Moncton, New<br />
Brunswick ran career fairs<br />
that encouraged employers to<br />
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hire immigrants. In Manitoba<br />
the tiny cities of Winkler and<br />
Morden have not just drawn<br />
newcomers in large numbers<br />
with their successful immigration<br />
programs, but also helped<br />
them settle in to a quality lifestyle.<br />
How can Ontario follow<br />
suit?<br />
Roopa suggests, “Employers<br />
should be encouraged to accept<br />
professional immigrants to<br />
maximize on their experience.<br />
<strong>The</strong> integration can include<br />
in-house orientation.” Marcia<br />
agrees. “<strong>The</strong>re should be more<br />
incentives from the government<br />
to encourage companies<br />
to hire qualified foreigners in<br />
appropriate positions. <strong>The</strong> success<br />
of the immigration policy<br />
should be measured not by the<br />
number of people who come in<br />
but by the number of people<br />
who stay on successfully in the<br />
country.”<br />
For a country that prides<br />
itself on being humanitarian,<br />
learning from the smaller<br />
towns and listening to the less<br />
heard voices could be the key<br />
to turning things around before<br />
an ageing population and<br />
shrinking birth rate get the better<br />
of the nation.<br />
(Joyeeta Dutta Ray is a freelance<br />
senior writer, editor and published<br />
author operating out of her own consultancy,<br />
Creative Joy. She can be<br />
reached on joyeeta.ray@gmail.com.<br />
Twitter handle: @joeyday20)<br />
(Credit Source: This article by<br />
Joyeeta Dutta Ray was first published<br />
in the New <strong>Canadian</strong> Media)<br />
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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly REGIONAL<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 04<br />
Handi-Care Int. celebrates Ontario 150 with differently abled<br />
ETOBICOKE: Handi-Care Intl.<br />
a registered <strong>Canadian</strong> charity,<br />
celebrated Ontario 150 with<br />
children and youth with special<br />
needs from the South Asian<br />
community at the SVBF Community<br />
Center in Etobicoke on<br />
November 4.<br />
<strong>The</strong> program focused on promoting<br />
inclusiveness through<br />
arts. <strong>The</strong> event staged several<br />
performances by differently<br />
abled children and youth to<br />
showcase their talents that complemented<br />
the special month of<br />
November 2017 which has been<br />
declared as Autism Awareness<br />
Month.<br />
Ms Sulo Krishnamurthy,<br />
president of Handi-Care Intl.,<br />
provided a short synopsis of the<br />
growth of the organization including<br />
the recent achievement<br />
in terms of having accredited<br />
clinical placements for graduate<br />
students from 8 <strong>Canadian</strong><br />
universities. She mentioned that<br />
such placements have made a<br />
huge impact in rural India in<br />
areas of spinal cord injury rehabilitation<br />
, early intervention<br />
for children with disabilities and<br />
rehab of stroke patients. She also<br />
highlighted the charity’s recent<br />
Pics From Bashir Nasir<br />
initiative to provide support for<br />
a special SDR surgery and post<br />
surgery rehab for children from<br />
Ontario, with spasticity due to<br />
Cerebral Palsy.<br />
Markahm Councillo Nirmala<br />
Armstrong inaugurated<br />
the program and complimented<br />
the organizers and reinforced<br />
the importance for such causes<br />
to be taken up despite the pressures<br />
and demands of everyday<br />
life in order to make a valuable<br />
impact on society. <strong>The</strong> presence<br />
of Mr Shafiq Qaadri, MPP representing<br />
Etobicoke North in the<br />
Provincial Government, was an<br />
honour for the occasion and a<br />
testament of the strong support<br />
from the Government for such<br />
causes.<br />
Mr Karthik Ramalingam,<br />
founder of global fusion music<br />
ensemble, Vishwe-Mithraa, talked<br />
about the benefits of music on<br />
cognitive skills and a number of<br />
kids from his music school delivered<br />
performances to enthrall<br />
the audience. Several other<br />
dance, singing and instrumental<br />
performances by individuals<br />
and groups were well presented<br />
and well received.<br />
<strong>The</strong> event was supported by<br />
other charitable non-profit organizations<br />
such as ATI Foundation<br />
(Annai Thantha Illam)<br />
which empowers <strong>Canadian</strong><br />
Tamils to realize their goals and<br />
South Asian Autism Awareness<br />
Center (SAAAC) and Comminity<br />
Living Mississauga. Several informational<br />
booths were set up<br />
for parents and activities areas<br />
kept children of various abilities<br />
engaged. (Press release)<br />
G1 test in Ontario now<br />
available in Urdu<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> <strong>Parvasi</strong><br />
TORONTO: A southern Ontario college says it's investigating<br />
two incidents in which a television reporter says she<br />
was sexually harassed by students. <strong>The</strong>re is good news for<br />
Urdu-speaking and writing people.<br />
From next spring, they can write knowledge test for<br />
their G1 licence in<br />
Urdu. Currently, the<br />
G1 knowledge test is<br />
available in 20 languages,<br />
including English<br />
and French.<br />
Minister of Transportation<br />
Steven Del<br />
Duca, who was accompanied<br />
Pakistani-origin Etobicoke North MPP Shafiq Qaadri,<br />
announced this on Wednesday.<br />
Making the G1 knowledge test available in more languages<br />
is part of Ontario's plan to create fairness and opportunity<br />
during this period of rapid economic change,<br />
said a government statement. <strong>The</strong> statement said that adding<br />
Urdu will support newcomers to Ontario in completing<br />
their tests, knowing and understanding the province's driving<br />
laws and gaining the experience required to drive safely<br />
in the province.<br />
Canada, Ontario to spend $91m to train newcomers<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> <strong>Parvasi</strong><br />
TORONTO: <strong>The</strong> governments of<br />
Canada and Ontario signed a comprehensive<br />
agreement on immigration<br />
at Queen’s Park on Nov 24 to<br />
share their responsibilities towards<br />
the new immigrants.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Canada-Ontario Immigration<br />
Agreement (COIA), signed<br />
by federal immigration minister<br />
Ahmed Hussen and Ontario immigration<br />
minister Laura Albanese,<br />
outlines the roles and responsibilities,<br />
priorities in selection policy,<br />
attraction of French-speaking immigrants,<br />
and refugee settlement.<br />
<strong>The</strong> two government plan to<br />
spend $91 million on a new program<br />
to train newcomers to meet provincial<br />
requirements to find work in<br />
their profession.<br />
Canada plans to bring in one million<br />
immigrants by 2020, with Ontario<br />
as their first choice.<br />
<strong>The</strong> federal immigration said,<br />
“Ontario is the top destination for<br />
new permanent residents settling in<br />
Canada each year, typically exceeding<br />
100,000 newcomers.<br />
With the ambitious three-year<br />
levels plan we’ve established on immigration,<br />
the time is right to put<br />
a new agreement in place that defines<br />
how Canada and Ontario will<br />
work together to achieve our mutual<br />
goals.”<br />
Laura Albanese, Ontario Minister<br />
of Citizenship and Immigration,<br />
added, “Immigration is good for Ontario<br />
and good for Canada.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Canada-Ontario Immigration<br />
Agreement strengthens Ontario’s<br />
ability to partner with the<br />
federal government to attract skilled<br />
newcomers who will benefit our<br />
shared economies and contribute to<br />
Canada’s future prosperity.”
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly CANADA<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
05<br />
U.S. governors tell Canada to<br />
relax duties on online purchases<br />
Agencies<br />
WASHINGTON: Canada is being<br />
pressed for freer trade in online<br />
goods by a number of American<br />
states, with eight state governors<br />
writing a letter seeking an expansion<br />
of Canada's low limits for online<br />
duty-free purchases.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir letter to Foreign Affairs<br />
Minister Chrystia Freeland and<br />
U.S. trade czar Robert Lighthizer<br />
says the NAFTA talks are an opportunity<br />
to review the $20 limit<br />
for what <strong>Canadian</strong>s can buy online<br />
without paying duties on foreign<br />
goods. Canada has one of the strictest<br />
duty-free limits in the world for<br />
online goods — a mere fraction of<br />
the $800 Americans can spend on<br />
sites like Amazon and eBay without<br />
paying an import fee.<br />
"Canada's ... threshold remains<br />
among the lowest in the industrialized<br />
world," says the Nov. 21 letter,<br />
signed by the governors of Connecticut,<br />
Massachusetts, Maine,<br />
Maryland, Montana, Oregon, Utah<br />
and Virginia.<br />
"Canada's low threshold for the<br />
collection of duty and tax creates<br />
unnecessary price increases for<br />
<strong>Canadian</strong> consumers and hinders<br />
North American manufacturers'<br />
supply chains on both sides of our<br />
shared border... "A modernization<br />
of the <strong>Canadian</strong> de minimis level<br />
would be beneficial to both countries."<br />
Changing Canada's limit is<br />
a high priority for the U.S. side in<br />
NAFTA talks.<br />
An American source familiar<br />
with the talks tells <strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong><br />
Press that's one reason the U.S.<br />
mentions the issue and sets a specific<br />
$800 target in its published list<br />
of negotiating objectives.<br />
<strong>The</strong> source says that while other<br />
U.S. demands are vaguely worded<br />
and devoid of hard numbers to<br />
leave negotiating room, the demand<br />
to change the limit — known as "de<br />
minimis" — is firm and unequivocal.<br />
In Canada, the debate pits importers<br />
versus bricks-and-mortar<br />
shops. Traditional retailers warn<br />
that domestic stores would be hit<br />
hard by a change in policy, as <strong>Canadian</strong><br />
purchases would flow to retailers<br />
based outside the country.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Retail Council of Canada<br />
says it's unfair to compare the dutyfree<br />
levels between the countries,<br />
since the domestic tax burden is<br />
different on U.S. retailers. "<strong>The</strong>re<br />
is no comparison between Canada<br />
and the U.S.," the council says on<br />
its website. "First, the United States<br />
does not have a federal sales tax, so<br />
there is no tax advantage created<br />
for inbound shipments. <strong>The</strong> U.S.<br />
also does not collect state and local<br />
sales taxes at the border or for interstate<br />
shipments."<br />
<strong>The</strong> U.S. also dominates the online<br />
retail space, the council notes:<br />
only 22 per cent of U.S. customers<br />
report having made a purchase<br />
from a foreign seller, compared<br />
with 67 per cent of <strong>Canadian</strong>s.<br />
Sonia Sidhu<br />
welcomes<br />
immigration pact<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> <strong>Parvasi</strong><br />
BRAMPTON: Welcoming the agreement on<br />
immigration between Canada and Ontario last<br />
week, Brampton South MP Sonia Sidhu says the<br />
Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA)<br />
creates a new framework to welcome and settle<br />
immigrants, boost the economy, and address<br />
shared humanitarian responsibilities.<br />
<strong>The</strong> governments of Canada and Ontario are<br />
working together to ensure the economic, social<br />
and cultural benefits of immigration are maximized<br />
in the province, Sidhu said in a statement.<br />
As part of the agreement, Canada and Ontario<br />
also announced a joint effort to help internationally<br />
trained newcomers meet provincial<br />
requirements to work in their profession.<br />
She said spending of $91 million on bridge<br />
training programs over the next three years - $70<br />
million from Ontario and up to $21 million from<br />
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada -<br />
will help newcomers meet requirements to work<br />
in their occupation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> agreement was signed at Queen’s Park<br />
by Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees<br />
and Citizenship, andLaura Albanese, Ontario<br />
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.<br />
Canada would welcome one million new permanent<br />
residents by 2020, with Ontario as their<br />
top destination .
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly REGIONAL/CANADA<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 06<br />
Nanda & Associate Lawyers celebrate Canada 150<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> <strong>Parvasi</strong><br />
Pics From Bashir Nasir<br />
MISSISSAUGA: Nanda & Associate Lawyers celebrated<br />
their fifth annual gala as Canada’s 150th anniversary at the<br />
Embassy Grand in Brampton.<br />
Over 1,200 guests from the GTA and elsewhere joined<br />
the celebrations. <strong>The</strong>ir diversity epitomized Canada’s diverse<br />
and accomplished communities.<br />
Among the prominent guests were NDP Leader Jagmeet<br />
Singh, federal science minister Kirsty Duncan, Mississauga<br />
Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Former Miss India Hasleen<br />
Kaur, MPs Shaun Chen, Iqra Khalid and Sonia Sidhu; MPP<br />
Harinder Malhi, and Indian Consul General Dinesh Bhatia.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y were honoured for their community services.<br />
Speakers touched on the theme of Canada 150 and the<br />
opportunities afforded to them by this country, highlighting<br />
how Nanda and Associate Lawyers stood as an example<br />
of how those opportunities could transform a community.<br />
<strong>The</strong> guests were treated to a mixture of local and international<br />
entertainment. Those who performed included<br />
<strong>Canadian</strong> singer Jay Harmony, Dance Crew Shiamak Toronto,<br />
Indian artist Madhvi Shrivastav and a varied lineup<br />
of performers.<br />
Patrick Brown promises lower auto insurance,<br />
more hospital beds for Peel Region<br />
Continued from page 01<br />
"By investing in mental health care, we will<br />
take pressure off the gridlock in the emergency<br />
room,’’ said Brown. He said he will also bring<br />
in low-income dental care program for seniors<br />
so that they don’t need to go to hospitals. Brown<br />
promised to invest $124 million to recreational<br />
and health facilities such as cricket pitches,<br />
hockey rinks and soccer and baseball fields to<br />
promote health and fitness among children as a<br />
preventive measure.<br />
"We will also bring in kids fitness tax credits<br />
so that kids who need help to pay for their<br />
sports, we will help them.’’ Brown, who has<br />
been to India 17 times, spoke about his special<br />
relationship with the Indo-<strong>Canadian</strong> community<br />
and India. "I have a special relationship<br />
with India. You don’t go to India if you don’t<br />
love the country, the people and its community<br />
here,’’ he said. Brown added, ``I have fallen in<br />
love with India - whether it is up in the Himalayas<br />
where I played ice hockey in Ladakh , or the<br />
backwater of Kerala that are such a magnetic<br />
beauty; whether it is the city that never sleeps<br />
- Mumbai - where I ran the Standard Chartared<br />
Bank marathon twice; whether it is culinary<br />
delights of Punjab - I love going to Amritsar,<br />
Chandigarh or Jalandhar; or whether it is the<br />
entrepreneurial spirit of Gujarat that is so phenomenal.’’<br />
<strong>The</strong> PC leader said if he is elected he will further<br />
strengthen ties between Ontario and India.<br />
"I will make sure that the friendship between<br />
India and Ontario is brought to new heights.’’<br />
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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly REGIONAL/CANADA<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
07<br />
Reena Virk's killer asks for day parole<br />
Agencies<br />
ABBOTSFORD: A Liberal government<br />
fond of promising help for<br />
those working hard to join the middle<br />
class unveiled billions in housing<br />
help Wednesday that could<br />
make a difference to hundreds of<br />
thousands of households — but<br />
only in a few years when federal<br />
money finally flows to new units<br />
and tenant benefits.<br />
A British Columbia woman<br />
who killed 14-year-old Reena Virk<br />
near a Victoria-area bridge two decades<br />
ago is asking a parole board<br />
to release her from prison.<br />
Kelly Ellard, who was 15 at the<br />
time of the death, is serving a life<br />
sentence for second-degree murder<br />
and will appear before a board today<br />
to request her release on day<br />
parole.<br />
If successful, she would move<br />
to a halfway house, where she<br />
would be monitored and be subject<br />
to conditions including reporting<br />
to a parole officer.<br />
Ellard, who is now 35, first applied<br />
for day parole in 2016 and was<br />
denied, but in February she was<br />
granted temporary escorted absences<br />
to go to parenting programs<br />
and doctor's appointments with<br />
her baby.<br />
She became pregnant last year<br />
after having conjugal visits with<br />
her boyfriend, who has also served<br />
prison time, and the baby lives<br />
with Ellard at a women's prison in<br />
Abbotsford, B.C.<br />
A court heard that Ellard and<br />
several other teens swarmed and<br />
beat Virk, before Ellard and a<br />
teenage boy followed her across a<br />
bridge, smashed her head into a<br />
tree and held her underwater until<br />
she drowned.<br />
Warren Glowatski was also<br />
convicted of second-degree murder<br />
and granted full parole in 2010.<br />
Ellard has spent about 15 years<br />
in prison, having spent some periods<br />
out on bail. She was convicted<br />
of second-degree murder in 2005<br />
after three trials.<br />
She has recently assumed<br />
more responsibility for her part<br />
in the murder, saying she rolled<br />
Virk's unconscious body into the<br />
Gorge waterway. She has continued<br />
to deny holding the girl's head<br />
underwater.<br />
A two-member panel of the<br />
parole board decided in February<br />
that Ellard should be granted temporary<br />
escorted absences to spend<br />
time with her baby. But panel<br />
member Alex Dantzer cautioned<br />
that she must take more responsibility<br />
for the crime.<br />
"It would be hard to exaggerate<br />
the brutality of that index offence,"<br />
he said. "It's also disturbing in the<br />
view of the board that you continue<br />
to minimize it."<br />
Tories call for Morneau to<br />
resign, Trudeau says 'no'<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> Press<br />
OTTAWA: Conservative<br />
Leader Andrew Scheer demanded<br />
Bill Morneau hand<br />
in his resignation Wednesday<br />
as political rivals intensified<br />
their attacks on a finance<br />
minister mired in controversy<br />
for weeks.<br />
But Prime Minister Justin<br />
Trudeau launched a spirited<br />
defence of Morneau, accusing<br />
the Tories of engaging<br />
in baseless personal attacks<br />
that they won't repeat outside<br />
the House of Commons for<br />
fear of being sued.<br />
"After careful consideration,<br />
in my capacity of leader<br />
of the Opposition, I am officially<br />
calling on Bill Morneau<br />
to resign as finance minister,"<br />
Scheer said shortly before<br />
question period, where<br />
the issue dominated debate.<br />
He advised Trudeau to<br />
fire Morneau if he refused to<br />
step aside on his own.<br />
But the prime minister<br />
said he still has full confidence<br />
in Morneau and then<br />
Agencies<br />
went on the offense against<br />
the Opposition.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> fabrications and the<br />
personal attacks, the slinging<br />
of mud in this place, and<br />
hiding behind parliamentary<br />
privilege, is not what <strong>Canadian</strong>s<br />
expect from this place,"<br />
Trudeau said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> push for Morneau's<br />
departure is yet another challenge<br />
to a finance minister<br />
who's been forced to navigate<br />
several ethics-related controversies<br />
since the summer.<br />
In July, he proposed taxsystem<br />
changes that enraged<br />
small-business owners to the<br />
point he eventually had to<br />
back off elements of his plan.<br />
Morneau has also faced<br />
intense political pressure<br />
over how he handled his<br />
personal financial arrangements<br />
after coming to office.<br />
<strong>The</strong> questions focused on his<br />
shares in the human resources<br />
firm Morneau Shepell,<br />
which was built by his family<br />
and for which he was executive<br />
chairman until his 2015<br />
election win.<br />
After the controversy<br />
erupted, he sold off the remainder<br />
of his holdings in<br />
the company — worth about<br />
$21 million — and vowed to<br />
place his other substantial<br />
assets in a blind trust. Morneau<br />
donated to charity the<br />
difference between what the<br />
shares were worth at the time<br />
of the sale and their value in<br />
2015 when he was first elected<br />
— an amount estimated at<br />
about $5 million.<br />
Canada's national security bill<br />
to curb homegrown extremism<br />
OTTAWA: Public Safety Minister Ralph<br />
Goodale says the Liberal government's<br />
sweeping national security bill will make it<br />
easier to combat homegrown extremism by<br />
improving existing provisions.<br />
Goodale points to a measure in the bill<br />
that would clarify the offence of promoting<br />
terrorism offences — a provision on the<br />
books he calls virtually unworkable because<br />
it is too vague. <strong>The</strong> Liberal government's security<br />
legislation, tabled in June, would narrow<br />
that provision and flesh out campaign<br />
promises to revise other elements of C-51, a<br />
contentious omnibus bill brought in by the<br />
Harper government after a gunman stormed<br />
Parliament Hill in October 2014.<br />
Goodale tells the House of Commons public<br />
safety committee that simply repealing<br />
all of C-51 would be like trying to unscramble<br />
eggs. NDP public safety critic Matthew Dube<br />
dismisses the notion Bill C-51 could not be rescinded<br />
in its entirety, noting that a caucus<br />
colleague has introduced a private member's<br />
bill that would do so.<br />
Goodale says the Liberal bill is based on<br />
the most extensive consultation on national<br />
security ever undertaken in Canada.<br />
Bail revoked for Toronto cop who shot dead Sammy Yatim<br />
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Agencies<br />
TORONTO: Bail has been revoked for a<br />
Toronto police officer convicted of attempted<br />
murder in the fatal shooting of a teen on an<br />
empty streetcar four years ago.<br />
Const. James Forcillo was sentenced to<br />
six years in prison last year for his role in<br />
the shooting of Sammy Yatim but had been<br />
out on bail, living under house arrest, as he<br />
appealed his conviction. <strong>The</strong> officer was arrested<br />
earlier this month and charged with<br />
breaching the conditions of his bail. Police<br />
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At a brief court hearing Thursday, a<br />
Crown prosecutor told a justice of the peace<br />
that Forcillo's bail had been revoked by the<br />
Ontario Court of Appeal on Monday.<br />
Forcillo is scheduled to return to court<br />
Dec. 15, when the court will determine<br />
whether it is necessary to hold a bail hearing<br />
on his bail-breach charge of failing to comply<br />
with recognizance. Yatim's death set off<br />
a wave of public outrage after video of what<br />
happened went viral.<br />
Though Forcillo was found guilty of attempted<br />
murder in the teen's death, he was<br />
acquitted of the more serious charge of second-degree<br />
murder for shooting the 18-yearold<br />
Yatim multiple times.<br />
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2017-11-29 5:57 PM
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly EDIT<br />
08<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
<strong>The</strong><br />
India heading for farmers' revolt<br />
w w w . canadianparv asi. c o m<br />
Publisher & CEO<br />
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editor@canadianparvasi.com<br />
sales@canadianparvasi.com<br />
Ontario elections<br />
With elections in Ontario looming, it is<br />
interesting to see how the three major parties<br />
are positioning themselves before the poll day.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Liberals have the burden of<br />
incumbency as they are in their fourth term<br />
now. But despite the rather burdensome legacy<br />
she inherited from her predecessor, Premier<br />
Kathleen Wynne has done well for herself.<br />
Will the Progressive Conservatives under<br />
Patrick Brown be able to dethrone Liberals<br />
this time around? Or will the Ontario NDP<br />
under Andrea Horwath spring some surprise?<br />
Ahead of others, Brown has just announced<br />
his ‘People’s Guarantee’ plan to woo voters.<br />
In a nutshell, it is a five-point plan which is<br />
essentially what matters the most for people<br />
- money.<br />
Brown has promised to lower hydro bills<br />
by an additional 12 percent.<br />
According to his party machinery, this<br />
measure will save an average family $173 a<br />
year.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Conservatives have also promised<br />
to lower income tax by 22.5 percent for the<br />
middle class and give 75 percent refund for<br />
child care expenses.<br />
Brown is also talking about making what he<br />
calls ``the largest mental health commitment<br />
in <strong>Canadian</strong> provincial history.’’<br />
His last promise is to introduce the socalled<br />
Trust, Integrity and Accountability Act.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Conservatives may be seen as an<br />
alternative to the Wynne Liberals, but will<br />
they be able to convince Ontario voters<br />
enough to trust them?<br />
If Toronto is any indication of the mood<br />
across the province, the latest public opinion<br />
taken by <strong>The</strong> Forum Poll shows 33 percent of<br />
people voting Liberals if elections were held<br />
today. Another 31 percent say they will vote<br />
Progressive Conservatives. About 25 percent<br />
people intend to vote the NDP.<br />
But Toronto is no representative of the<br />
whole of Ontario.<br />
It depends on how the three leaders make<br />
their pitch to the voters in the coming days.<br />
Thought for the week<br />
Politics have no relation to morals.<br />
~Niccolo Machiavelli<br />
Brig Nawab Heer and<br />
Ms Preet Heer<br />
<strong>The</strong> All-India Kisan Sangharsh<br />
Coordination Committee (AIKSCC)<br />
brought 184 farmers organizations<br />
together recently for a two-day Kisan<br />
Mukti Sansad at Ramlila Ground in<br />
New Delhi to highlight the looming<br />
agrarian crisis in the country.<br />
Yogendra Yadav, who heads<br />
Swaraj Abhiyan and was the brain<br />
behind the Delhi rally, warned the<br />
Modi government that it needs to<br />
implement major recommendations<br />
of the Swaminathan Commission<br />
Report to avert agrarian crisis in<br />
India.<br />
Though the Swaminathan report<br />
was submitted in 2006, nothing<br />
has been done to implement its<br />
recommendations.<br />
Many speakers at the rally rightly<br />
pointed out that the farming sector in<br />
India is in ICU (Intensive Care Unit)<br />
and will soon need support systems<br />
to survive.<br />
<strong>The</strong> irony is that very few media<br />
organizations covered the agitation<br />
and there was hardly any response<br />
from the government despite PM<br />
Modi’s promise to double farm<br />
income by 2022.<br />
Poor uneducated farmers take<br />
such promises seriously and cast<br />
their votes in hopes for improvement<br />
in their lot only to be disappointed<br />
very soon.<br />
As per this government’s own<br />
admission in parliament, the<br />
number of farmers committing<br />
suicides climbed about 42 percent to<br />
8,007 in 2015 from a year earlier.<br />
As the agrarian crisis envelops<br />
the country, this government is<br />
visualizing something else for the<br />
farming sector. It wants large land<br />
holdings as is the case in the US,<br />
Canada and many other countries<br />
and dissuade small holdings.<br />
Possibly, this could be the reason<br />
they have not implemented the<br />
Swaminathan Commission Report.<br />
This could also be the reason they<br />
are not enhancing scope of MSP and<br />
ensuring timely payments to the<br />
farmers.<br />
<strong>The</strong> impression is gaining ground<br />
Dear Members of the Sikh Community,<br />
While we are still struggling to<br />
find an acceptable definition of a<br />
Sikh, the Gurbani guides us as to -<br />
who is a Gursikh?<br />
<strong>The</strong> Sikhi doctrine mentioned<br />
in the following pankti suggests:-<br />
Üé° éÅéÕ° è±Çó î§×Ë Çåð ×°ðÇÃÖ ÕÆ Ü¯<br />
ÁÅÇê ÜêË ÁòðÔ éÅî° ÜêÅòË ¨2¨<br />
(Raag Gauri Guru Ram Das,<br />
GGS, page & line 306-2)<br />
Jan Naanak Dhhoorr Mangai<br />
This Gurasikh Kee Jo Aap Japai<br />
Avareh Naam Japaavai ||2||<br />
ÁÙé ÙæÙ·¤é ÏêçǸ ×´»ñ çÌâé »éÚUçâ¹ ·¤è Áô ¥æçÂ<br />
ÁÂñ ¥ßÚUã Ùæ×é ÁÂæßñ HwH<br />
that small farmers are being forced<br />
to move to cities for alternative jobs.<br />
It means 40 crore out of 60 crore<br />
farmers are being forced to move to<br />
already overcrowded cities which<br />
cannot absorb such large-scale influx<br />
and provide employment. In the case<br />
of Punjab, imagine what will happen<br />
if one crore farmers are forced to<br />
shift to cities such as Ludhiana,<br />
Amritsar or Jalandhar!<br />
It is clear India cannot copy<br />
the US where only 2 percent of the<br />
population is involved in farming.<br />
But in India, over 60 percent<br />
population relies on farming. <strong>The</strong><br />
situation has come to such a pass<br />
that even in an agriculturally<br />
progressive state like Punjab, there<br />
is now child malnutrition because of<br />
declining agrarian economy.<br />
Despite a partial loan waiver<br />
promised by the Congress<br />
government which came to power in<br />
the state in March, farmer suicides<br />
continue unabated, with one or two<br />
cases reported daily.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Modi government has given<br />
Rs 2.11 lakh crores to banks to cover<br />
default loans to the Industrialists, but<br />
it has no money to help the farming<br />
sector which has become a non-profit<br />
business because of higher input and<br />
labour costs and lower MSP today.<br />
<strong>The</strong> farmers of Punjab with<br />
just two percent of the country’s<br />
landholding have been filling 50<br />
percent basket of India. But now this<br />
Punjab model of farming has become<br />
a failure. One wonders how long<br />
farming in Punjab will remain viable<br />
in the face of ever-rising input costs<br />
and ever-depleting underground<br />
water. With their die-hard spirit,<br />
the Punjab peasantry may soldier<br />
on, but I am afraid the the deepening<br />
crisis will break their spirit soon.<br />
Letters to the Editor<br />
Servant Nanak begs for the dust<br />
of the feet of that GurSikh, who<br />
himself chants the Naam, and inspires<br />
others to chant it. ||2||<br />
Accordingly, the criterion to become<br />
a Gursikh is that one should<br />
chant/recite the Divine Name (of<br />
Waheguru) and inspire others to do<br />
the same.<br />
It is amazing to see that such a<br />
criterion can be easily applied in<br />
making Gurbani accepted Universally.<br />
People of different religions<br />
do recite and do inspire others to recite<br />
their respective Divine Names<br />
in daily life and in their places of<br />
worship. According to Gurbani,<br />
Punjab chief minister and his<br />
finance minister have been doing<br />
the rounds of the offices of the Prime<br />
Minister and the Finance Minister in<br />
Delhi seeking help to bail out Punjab<br />
farmers, but somehow the Modi<br />
government is not relenting.<br />
Let me point out here that<br />
Punjab also needs to put its own<br />
house in order. Take the case of free<br />
rural electricity for farmers. It has<br />
not only led to overexploitation of<br />
groundwater, but also contributed<br />
to fiscal crunch. In turn, this<br />
has affected public spending on<br />
education and health. <strong>The</strong>re has<br />
been little real growth in Punjab’s<br />
social spending.<br />
<strong>The</strong> popular image of Punjabis<br />
is that of big robust people who are<br />
rich and fond of hearty eating and<br />
energetic living.<br />
But the reality is very different<br />
today. Because of malnutrition,<br />
stunted growth or wasting (low<br />
weight-for-height) among Punjab’s<br />
children has increased from 9.2 per<br />
cent in 2005 to 15.6 per cent in 2015.<br />
One in four kids in Punjab today<br />
is stunted, according to an analysis<br />
of the latest government data by the<br />
Observer Research Foundation.<br />
Worse even, the farming crisis<br />
in the state has also resulted in<br />
deterioration in education and<br />
healthcare systems, rise in drug<br />
abuse and rampant corruption.<br />
<strong>The</strong> clock is ticking very fast.<br />
Farmer revolt may erupt in Punjab<br />
and spread across India.<br />
<strong>The</strong> writing is on the wall and<br />
it is high time the government paid<br />
heed before the country lost its food<br />
security.<br />
(Brig Nawab Heer can be contacted at<br />
nawabheer@gmail.com)<br />
they are all Gursikhs even when<br />
they think they are professing different<br />
faiths and religions?<br />
This would mean there are<br />
more Gursikhs in the world then<br />
the Sikhs.<br />
Do we need to worry to raise<br />
the number of conventional Sikhs<br />
or Gursikhs with conviction based<br />
on Gurbani?<br />
Bhai Dr. Harbans Lal may not<br />
look like a conventional Sikh but<br />
he is a Gursikh by conviction.<br />
With Waheguru's blessings,<br />
Kirpal Singh<br />
Wellington, New Zealand<br />
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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly INTERVIEW/OPED<br />
09<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
Dawood Ibrahim is depressed<br />
as his only son becomes Mullah<br />
Indo-Asian News Service<br />
THANE: Absconding mafia<br />
don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar<br />
is reported to be suffering from<br />
bouts of depression owing to a<br />
family hurdle, which, despite his<br />
manpower and gunpower, he is<br />
unable to resolve, according to<br />
police officials.<br />
<strong>The</strong> problem apparently is his<br />
third child - and only son - Moin<br />
Nawaz D. Kaskar, 31, who has<br />
turned his back on the "family<br />
business" is a devout Muslim who<br />
has chosen to become a Maulana,<br />
or a cleric-cum-religious teacher.<br />
"Moin is understood to be<br />
deadly against his father's illegal<br />
activities which have given<br />
the entire family a notorious<br />
reputation worldwide and made<br />
many of them wanted fugitives<br />
everywhere," Thane Anti-<br />
Extortion Cell head Pradeep<br />
Sharma told IANS.<br />
He said this and other nuggets<br />
of an internal strife in the family<br />
tumbled out in bits and pieces<br />
during the ongoing interrogation<br />
of Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar, Dawood's<br />
younger brother, who was nabbed<br />
in three extortion cases last<br />
September by the Thane AEC.<br />
Iqbal Kaskar has informed the<br />
investigators that a deeply worried<br />
Dawood is afflicted by bouts of<br />
despondency over who would<br />
look after and handle his vast<br />
underworld empire in the future.<br />
More so, as his other brother<br />
Anees Ibrahim Kaskar is now<br />
ageing and reportedly not in robust<br />
health, other brothers are deceased<br />
and no reliable close relatives<br />
available to take over the reins of<br />
the empire. "His son is practically<br />
estranged from the family and all<br />
its businesses since the past few<br />
years, but it is not clear if he is on<br />
speaking terms with his father,"<br />
said Sharma, a former "encounter<br />
specialist" dreaded by the mafia,<br />
with many scalps of dreaded<br />
criminals under his belt.<br />
Iqbal Kaskar told the<br />
investigators that his nephew Moin<br />
is now a respected and qualified<br />
Maulana, who is a 'Hafiz-e-Quran',<br />
having memorized the entire Holy<br />
Quran which comprises 6,<strong>23</strong>6<br />
verses.<br />
Besides, he has discarded the<br />
comforts of the family's palatial<br />
bungalow in the fashionable<br />
Clifton area in the posh Saddar<br />
suburb of Karachi and opted to<br />
live a mendicant's life in a mosque<br />
adjacent to their home.<br />
However, his wife Saniya and<br />
their three minor children have not<br />
abandoned him and are living with<br />
him in the small quarters provided<br />
by the mosque management.<br />
Moin's main religious activities<br />
comprise teaching Holy Quran<br />
and Islamic preachings to young<br />
children, leading the call of prayers<br />
and congregation of 'namaz' at<br />
various occasions and other<br />
social-religious responsibilities<br />
associated with a cleric.<br />
"Its clear that Moin, who could<br />
have inherited his father's vast<br />
legal and illegal business empires,<br />
ironically, has decided to become<br />
a man of God and completely<br />
shunned a life of luxury which was<br />
at his command," Sharma said.<br />
Earlier, Moin, who is a<br />
business management graduate,<br />
used to help out his father in some<br />
of his line of works, but gradually<br />
drifted away to the "divine call of<br />
Allah".<br />
A handsome young man, in<br />
September 2011, he settled down in<br />
life and married a wealthy Karchi<br />
businessman's daughter, Saniya<br />
Shaikh, who helps out in her<br />
family businesses in Pakistan and<br />
Britain.<br />
Of Moin's siblings, Mahrukh<br />
got married in 2006 to Junaid, the<br />
son of Pakistani star cricketer<br />
Javed Miandad, and middle sister<br />
Mahreen tied the knot with a<br />
US-based businessman's son in<br />
early 2011. Earlier, Iqbal Kaskar<br />
had revealed that Dawood is in<br />
excellent health and living in<br />
Karachi under the protective<br />
eyes of the Pakistani agencies,<br />
dismissing all speculation on his<br />
physical well-being that keeps<br />
floating occasionally.<br />
<strong>The</strong> investigators are hopeful<br />
that in the coming days, he may<br />
reveal more information about the<br />
Godfather's family imbroglios and<br />
provide clues to the future of his<br />
activities.<br />
Dark Web helping hackers execute Ransomware-as-a-Service, warns McAfee<br />
By Sourabh Kulesh<br />
NEW DELHI: As governments<br />
and companies face<br />
an uphill task to stop hackers<br />
from stealing data, the<br />
Dark Web is providing them<br />
a safe haven, helping them<br />
scale up and execute massive<br />
data breaches, global<br />
cyber security firm McAfee<br />
has warned. Dark Web is an<br />
encrypted network of websites<br />
and communities that<br />
exists outside of mainstream<br />
Internet culture.<br />
"We are witnessing a<br />
scaling model called Ransomware-as-a-Service<br />
where<br />
criminals are hired by an entity<br />
to host everything, use<br />
their own infrastructure,<br />
tools and expertise and the<br />
employer gives them a target<br />
as well as the magnitude<br />
of attack," Vincent Weafer,<br />
Vice President, McAfee<br />
Labs and Product Development,<br />
told IANS.<br />
"Before carrying out the<br />
attack, hackers are clear<br />
that they would vanish if,<br />
in case, the attack fails. <strong>The</strong><br />
hackers make sure that<br />
their employer gets caught<br />
and they escape," Weafer<br />
added.<br />
For example, encrypted<br />
software such as Tor's ability<br />
to hide the identity of the<br />
attacker is key to cybercriminals.<br />
Tor is a free software<br />
for enabling anonymous<br />
communication.<br />
<strong>The</strong> McAfee executive<br />
also said that crypto-currencies<br />
like Bitcoin are also a<br />
major reason why cyberattacks<br />
are increasing.<br />
From a product point<br />
of view, Weafer said, there<br />
is little that cyber security<br />
companies can do to stop<br />
communication on the Dark<br />
Web, but they can help provide<br />
intelligence to the regulators.<br />
"We are not looking at<br />
products that could track<br />
those criminals on the Dark<br />
Web but can provide expertise<br />
in terms of where<br />
and what information is<br />
flowing and which types of<br />
groups are operating. That<br />
information can be shared<br />
with regulators and governments<br />
because they are the<br />
ones who will be chasing the<br />
criminals," Weafer said.<br />
McAfee has assisted several<br />
law enforcement agencies<br />
in cybercrime cases and<br />
Raj Samani, Chief Scientist<br />
and McAfee Fellow, is a special<br />
advisor to the European<br />
Cybercrime Centre at <strong>The</strong><br />
Hague.<br />
Samani also leads the<br />
NoMoreRansomware.Org<br />
website -- an initiative by the<br />
National High Tech Crime<br />
Unit of the Netherlands' police<br />
and Europol's European<br />
Cybercrime Centre -- that<br />
aims to help victims of ransomware<br />
retrieve their encrypted<br />
data without having<br />
to pay.<br />
Samani said that the majority<br />
of the breaches worldwide<br />
were "SQL Injection"<br />
(a type of web application<br />
attack) issues where people<br />
were clicking on malicious<br />
links.<br />
"I agree it is important<br />
for cybersecurity companies<br />
to stay ahead of the criminals<br />
and innovate continuously,<br />
but we must not forget<br />
the fact that a majority of the<br />
breaches were carried out<br />
because of fundamental errors,"<br />
Samani told IANS.<br />
"WannaCrypt could<br />
have been patched. We knew<br />
its propagation method like<br />
20 years ago. It was spread<br />
like old school worms used<br />
to attack across systems.<br />
Majority of the issues could<br />
have been stopped by just<br />
doing the basic fundamentals,"<br />
Samani noted.<br />
When asked how cyber<br />
security companies are designing<br />
products to protect<br />
and help customers retrieve<br />
data, Weafer said whatever<br />
is happening in terms of the<br />
change in attack methodology<br />
and its impact, what<br />
people are doing and what<br />
hackers are going after, decides<br />
the product design.<br />
McAfee protects over 300<br />
million devices worldwide<br />
and has a presence in more<br />
than 2,000 companies, government<br />
institutions and<br />
healthcare.<br />
In India, the company<br />
has got a retail presence and<br />
also works with top government<br />
institutions. McAfee<br />
has its largest research and<br />
development facility in Bengaluru<br />
that employs over<br />
1,000 engineers.<br />
For Samani, the first<br />
step to protect the data is<br />
keeping a back-up.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> best way out is<br />
to back your data. As you<br />
read this, take a five-minute<br />
break, kick off a back-up and<br />
then continue with what you<br />
were doing. It doesn't matter<br />
what hackers do -- whether<br />
they leave your data encrypted<br />
or decrypt it (if you<br />
refuse to pay ransom) -- you<br />
are covered. And make sure<br />
to go for offline back-ups as<br />
well," Samani advised.<br />
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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly india<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 10<br />
I am ready to pay political price<br />
to change India, says Modi<br />
Continued from page 01<br />
He said post demonetisation,<br />
black money, which<br />
was part of a parallel economy,<br />
has now become part<br />
of the formal system as<br />
data mining after the note<br />
ban has helped the government<br />
crack down against<br />
those hoarding unaccounted<br />
wealth and involved in<br />
corruption.<br />
He said there has been<br />
a "positive change" in the<br />
mindset and self-confidence<br />
of people "like never<br />
before", ever since his government<br />
came to power in<br />
2014.<br />
"If we see the country<br />
as a living entity then the<br />
positive attitude that has<br />
come to India, was never<br />
before," Modi said.<br />
Earlier the youth,<br />
women, farmers and the<br />
poor had minimal faith in<br />
the country's resources,<br />
the Prime Minister said.<br />
Emphasising that the<br />
citizens of India in 2014<br />
not just voted to change<br />
the government, Modi<br />
said people also wanted<br />
and, therefore, voted for a<br />
"change in system that will<br />
be permanent, stable and<br />
irreversible".<br />
"Everywhere in the<br />
country, someone had to<br />
fight with the system day<br />
and night. I am trying and<br />
have committed that there<br />
will be irreversible change<br />
-- ease of living will improve."<br />
Describing Aadhaar as<br />
a major "power" to bring<br />
about an "irreversible<br />
change" in the common<br />
man's life, the Prime Minister<br />
said the Unique Identification<br />
Number would<br />
now be used in cases involving<br />
benami properties.<br />
"By linking Aadhaar to<br />
mobile (phones) and bank<br />
accounts, we have created<br />
such a system that could<br />
not have been imagined<br />
few years back.<br />
"In last three years,<br />
with the help of Aadhaar,<br />
crores of fake names have<br />
been removed from the<br />
system. Now it is going to<br />
be a big weapon against<br />
benami properties," Modi<br />
said.<br />
He said that the country<br />
saw a "behavioural<br />
change" after demonetisation,<br />
which helped in converting<br />
to a "clean and<br />
healthy economy".<br />
"For the first time after<br />
Independence, the corrupt<br />
people are scared of transacting<br />
in black money.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are scared of being<br />
caught. <strong>The</strong> black money,<br />
which was earlier the base<br />
of the parallel economy,<br />
has now become part of the<br />
formal economy.<br />
"Such an irreversible<br />
change is getting boost<br />
from Aadhaar. Aadhaar<br />
is such a power through<br />
which this government<br />
wants to ensure rights of<br />
poor. It is also playing a<br />
big role in providing subsidised<br />
ration, scholarships,<br />
medicines, pensions and<br />
other government subsidies,"<br />
he said.<br />
He said the day the<br />
country would adopt maximum<br />
transactions via digital<br />
addresses, "organised<br />
crime would come to an<br />
end to some extent".<br />
Modi said "big transformations"<br />
do not come<br />
easily and for it "hauling<br />
up of the entire system was<br />
needed". "We can increase<br />
our ease of doing business<br />
ranking from 142 to 100<br />
only when we take initiatives<br />
for big transformation,"<br />
Modi said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Prime Minister<br />
said India's influence on<br />
the international stage was<br />
also increasing "because<br />
of the growing reputation<br />
and trust" for the country.<br />
"Indians living abroad<br />
feel proud. When slogans<br />
like 'abki baar Trump<br />
sarkar' (Trump government<br />
this time) and 'abki<br />
baar Cameron sarkar'<br />
(Cameron government this<br />
time) echo, India's might is<br />
being accepted," Modi said.<br />
He was referring to<br />
the campaigns of former<br />
UK Prime Minister David<br />
Cameron, who used the<br />
slogan "phir ek baar Cameron<br />
sarkar" (Cameron<br />
government once again) to<br />
woo Indian origin voters in<br />
the 2015 elections, and US<br />
President Donald Trump's<br />
election campaign in 2016,<br />
inspired by the 2014 Lok<br />
Sabha election slogan<br />
"Abki baar Modi Sarkar".<br />
"Where is India standing<br />
today, you know it<br />
well. Big or small, all countries<br />
are walking along<br />
with India, our influence<br />
on the international stage<br />
is increasing. We don't<br />
have to stop now, we have<br />
to keep moving forward,"<br />
Modi said.<br />
Ideas are the cool currency, says Shah Rukh<br />
Agencies<br />
MUMBAI: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan,<br />
who will be back on the small screen with<br />
"TED Talks India: Nayi Soch" next month,<br />
says it's an initiative to open people's minds<br />
to the power of ideas, which he calls the "new<br />
cool currency".<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hindi TV talk show created in partnership<br />
with TED, a non-profit organisation,<br />
will go on air on December 10 on Star<br />
Plus. "Ideas are the new cool currency, the<br />
new rock n roll. This show is a unique and<br />
powerful initiative towards opening people's<br />
minds to the power of ideas and encouraging<br />
'Nayi Soch'. An idea can inspire you with<br />
limitless possibilities, give you an alternative<br />
perspective to look at oneself, one's surroundings<br />
and future," Shah Rukh said in a<br />
statement.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hindi TV talk show, to be aired on<br />
Star Plus, is created in partnership with<br />
TED, a non-profit organisation devoted<br />
to "ideas worth spreading". It will feature<br />
speakers from various fields sharing ideas<br />
in TED's signature format of short, powerful<br />
talks. This is the first time TED is collaborating<br />
with a major network to produce a TV series<br />
featuring original "TED Talks" in Hindi.<br />
<strong>The</strong> channel has come up with a promotional<br />
campaign #DontKillideas for it. Its<br />
second phase features the show's host Shah<br />
Rukh and stresses on the core premise of<br />
'ideas'. Promoting the show on Twitter, SRK,<br />
known for his signature pose with spread<br />
out arms, posted a link of the campaign and<br />
wrote: "It is time to open our minds and<br />
hearts not just the arms..."<br />
<strong>The</strong> opening episode of the show will be<br />
simulcast across Star Gold, Movies OK, Star<br />
World, Star Jalsha along with Star Plus and<br />
Hotstar.<br />
India's Next-Gen A-330 AWACS to<br />
have mid-air refuelling capability<br />
By Anjali Ojha<br />
<strong>The</strong> next-generation<br />
airborne early warning and<br />
control system (AWACS),<br />
with a 360-degree scan being<br />
developed by the DRDO,<br />
would also double up as an<br />
air-to-air refueller following<br />
a request by the Indian<br />
Air Force (IAF), according<br />
to a top DRDO official.<br />
<strong>The</strong> IAF, which is bearing<br />
around 80 per cent of<br />
the project's cost, had asked<br />
Defence Research and Development<br />
Organisation<br />
(DRDO) to equip Airbus<br />
A330 wide-bodied AWACS<br />
aircraft with refuelling<br />
capability. "Negotiations<br />
with Airbus had been completed<br />
on the basis of the<br />
in-principal approval given<br />
by the government and an<br />
RFP (request for proposal)<br />
that was floated. We will<br />
be buying six aircraft, and<br />
may buy two more under<br />
the option clause later," S.<br />
Christopher, DRDO chief,<br />
told IANS.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Airbus A-330, a<br />
medium to long-range<br />
wide-body twin-engined<br />
jet, which emerged as the<br />
single bidder for the tender<br />
floated by India, is likely to<br />
be the platform for the next<br />
generation AWACS systems,<br />
which will double up<br />
as mid-air refuellers. "Adding<br />
this refuelling capacity<br />
will give a multi-functional<br />
role to the platform. It will<br />
also be economic as the cost<br />
will be around 36 per cent<br />
lower," Christopher said.<br />
As the proposal was<br />
put to the air force, it asked<br />
DRDO if it was possible to<br />
include air-to-air refuelling.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> AWACS fly with<br />
buddy aircraft to protect it,<br />
which can also be fuelled<br />
by the same aircraft," he<br />
said.<br />
Since the Airbus A-330<br />
had already an in-principal<br />
approval for the AWACS<br />
system, the DRDO did not<br />
want to go through the process<br />
again which may have<br />
resulted in cost escalation<br />
of the platform.<br />
<strong>The</strong> DRDO official said<br />
a "tech scan" of the platform<br />
was carried out, and it was<br />
found that the Airbus A-330<br />
could be used for both purposes.<br />
<strong>The</strong> committee undertaking<br />
the tech scan had<br />
a member from the DRDO,<br />
apart from the IAF and the<br />
defence ministry.<br />
<strong>The</strong> IAF at present has<br />
two AWACS systems -- the<br />
Israeli Phalcon AWACS on<br />
the Russian IL-76 and an indigenous<br />
system mounted<br />
on a Brazilian Embraer-145<br />
that was handed over to<br />
IAF by DRDO at the Aero<br />
India 2017. Two more Embraer<br />
aircraft are being fitted<br />
with the system.<br />
<strong>The</strong> IAF at present operates<br />
six IL-78 planes for<br />
air-to-air refuelling and has<br />
a requirement for more.<br />
Incidentally, in 2016, India<br />
had scrapped a deal for<br />
acquisition of six Airbus<br />
A-330 mid-air refuelling<br />
aircraft.<br />
<strong>The</strong> indigenous<br />
AWACS have a 240 degree<br />
scanning capability, which<br />
means it scans the area on<br />
both sides, but not in the<br />
front or back.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new system being<br />
developed by DRDO would<br />
have AESA (active electronically<br />
scanned array)<br />
radars with 360 degree capability,<br />
which can detect<br />
incoming aerial threats<br />
like hostile fighters, drones<br />
and cruise missiles from<br />
400-km away. India will be<br />
only the second country in<br />
the world after Israel to develop<br />
such a system.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new system is<br />
scheduled to be ready in<br />
seven years.
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly INDIA<br />
11<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
Rahul Gandhi: My family are devotees of Lord Shiva<br />
Agencies<br />
AMRELI (Gujarat): Congress<br />
Vice President Rahul<br />
Gandhi, clarifying on Somnath<br />
Temple register controversy,<br />
has said he and his<br />
family members are "Shiv<br />
bhakts" (devotees of Lord<br />
Shiva), and he does not use<br />
his faith for political mileage.<br />
Gandhi also said that<br />
he did not sign on the (non-<br />
Hindu) register. "I didn't sign<br />
on the register... BJP's people<br />
had done that. I just signed<br />
on the visitors' book," he said.<br />
"My grandmother, my<br />
family... we are devotees of<br />
Lord Shiva and we don't need<br />
any certificate from others.<br />
Faith is a personal matter,<br />
we don't want to do dalali<br />
(brokerage) on our faith...<br />
Don't want to use our faith<br />
for political mileage of it,"<br />
said Gandhi on Thursday<br />
while addressing a meeting<br />
here in Gujarat.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>se issues are personal<br />
and usually kept in<br />
private. We don't want any<br />
certificates on our faith<br />
from anyone," he said.<br />
A major controversy<br />
broke out on Wednesday<br />
over the Congress Vice<br />
President's visit to Somnath<br />
Temple with the BJP questioning<br />
his faith, while the<br />
Congress hit back accusing<br />
the BJP of playing dirty<br />
politics and maintained Rahul<br />
Gandhi was a "devout<br />
Hindu".<br />
Kejriwal delaying defamation case, says Jaitley<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: Union Finance<br />
Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday<br />
told the Delhi High Court that Chief<br />
Minister Arvind Kejriwal's counsel<br />
were asking "irrelevant questions" to<br />
delay the trial in a defamation case<br />
filed by him. Jaitley was being crossexamined<br />
by Kejriwal's counsel in a<br />
Rs 10 crore defamation case he filed<br />
against Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi<br />
Party leaders for their statements<br />
regarding alleged irregularities in<br />
the Delhi and District Cricket Association<br />
(DDCA).<br />
Kejriwal's counsel have not asked<br />
any question on alleged defamatory<br />
remarks, after which Jaitley filed the<br />
defamation suit, the Minister's counsel<br />
told HC Joint Registrar Rakesh<br />
Pandit.<br />
Jaitley sought an early hearing<br />
of the case, but Kejriwal's counsel<br />
opposed it. <strong>The</strong> court has posted the<br />
cross-examination of Jaitley to February<br />
2, 12 and 13, 2018.<br />
Jaitley, during his cross-examination,<br />
denied that he had not<br />
replied to several letters from suspended<br />
Bharatiya Janata Party MP<br />
Kirti Azad on alleged irregularities<br />
in the Syndicate Bank Cricket Club<br />
transfer matter. Jaitley filed the civil<br />
defamation case in December 2015<br />
against Kejriwal and AAP leaders<br />
Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay<br />
Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak<br />
Bajpayee, claiming that they had<br />
made "false and defamatory" statements<br />
vis-a-vis DDCA affairs, thereby<br />
harming his reputation. Jaitley<br />
sought Rs 10 crore in damages from<br />
Kejriwal and others.<br />
He claimed the AAP leaders attacked<br />
him over alleged irregularities<br />
and financial bungling in Delhi's<br />
cricket association, of which he was<br />
the President for about 13 years.<br />
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Lt Governor has no powers over<br />
Delhi Govt decision, says SC<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: <strong>The</strong> Supreme<br />
Court on Thursday<br />
said that the Lt. Governor<br />
does not have the jurisdiction<br />
to pronounce if the<br />
Delhi government's decisions<br />
are correct or not as<br />
he can only, in the situation<br />
of disagreement, refer<br />
the matter to the President<br />
for decision.<br />
"Lt. Governor does not<br />
have the jurisdiction to decide<br />
on the correctness or<br />
otherwise of the decisions<br />
of Delhi government" said<br />
Chief Justice Dipak Misra<br />
presiding over the five<br />
judge constitution bench.<br />
Lt. Governor can call<br />
the Chief Minister and apprise<br />
him of his opinion<br />
and persuade him on the<br />
course which is he thinks<br />
is correct or vice-a-versa<br />
or refer it to the President<br />
in the event of difference<br />
of opinion but can't take<br />
upon himself the adjudicatory<br />
role, said the court.<br />
<strong>The</strong> bench also comprising<br />
Justice A.K.Sikri,<br />
Justice A.M. Khanwilkar,<br />
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud<br />
and Justice Ashok<br />
Bhushan said this while<br />
making it clear that it<br />
would decide the larger issues<br />
on "law and principle"<br />
leaving the individual issues<br />
for the High Court to<br />
decide - a position the top<br />
court took while deciding<br />
whether right to privacy<br />
was a fundamental right.<br />
"We will only lay down<br />
the law and the principles<br />
... We will decide what<br />
kind of State it is and for<br />
individual cases, it will go<br />
back to two judge bench<br />
of High Court," said the<br />
bench.<br />
<strong>The</strong> court noted that<br />
once constitutional perceptions<br />
are decided, the<br />
most of the problems will<br />
be solved "their (Delhi<br />
government) way or your<br />
(Centre) way" as Additional<br />
Solicitor General<br />
Maninder Singh, appearing<br />
for the Central government,<br />
sought to clear the<br />
impression that the Lt.<br />
Governor was functioning<br />
in total disregard of the<br />
elected government or was<br />
sitting on the files thereby<br />
paralysing the fuinctioning<br />
of Arvind Kejriwal<br />
government.<br />
Maninder Singh told<br />
the court that in every<br />
meeting called by the Lt.<br />
Governor, the Chief Minister<br />
or the Minister concerned<br />
are called and they<br />
attend them. Of the 6,300<br />
proposals that were forwarded<br />
to the Lt. Governor<br />
in last three years, 96 per<br />
cent of them were cleared<br />
and that too within two to<br />
three days of their submission,<br />
he added.<br />
He said that Lt. Governor<br />
stood his ground only<br />
in three areas - police, public<br />
order and land - which<br />
are in the exclusive domain<br />
of the Centre.<br />
Brushing aside the allegation<br />
that Lt. Governor<br />
sat on the file recommending<br />
the hike in minimum<br />
wages, the ASG said that<br />
the recommendations<br />
were not in accord with<br />
the procedure and once the<br />
procedural requirements<br />
were satisfied, the proposal<br />
for hike of minimum<br />
wages was cleared immediately.<br />
<strong>The</strong> constitution bench<br />
is hearing a batch of petitions<br />
by the Delhi government<br />
challenging the Delhi<br />
High Court order that held<br />
that the Lt Governor had<br />
the final authority in the<br />
governance of the national<br />
capital. <strong>The</strong> Centre is defending<br />
the High Court<br />
verdict.<br />
Besides Maninder<br />
Singh, the bench was also<br />
addressed by senior counsel<br />
Abhishek Manu Singhvi<br />
and Sidhartha Luthra.<br />
Son of Hizbul chief among 18<br />
injured in Tihar jail scuffle<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: Syed Shahid<br />
Yusuf, the son of Hizbul<br />
Mujahideen chief Syed<br />
Salahuddin, suffered injuries<br />
along with 17 other<br />
prisoners in a scuffle that<br />
took place over a week ago<br />
between Tihar jail inmates<br />
and security guards, leading<br />
the high court to set up<br />
a committee to investigate<br />
the matter, officials said<br />
on Thursday.<br />
Tihar authorities on<br />
Wednesday sent a report<br />
to the Home Ministry on<br />
the incident.<br />
In their report, the Tihar<br />
authorities said that<br />
Yusuf and other prisoners<br />
were injured after Tamil<br />
Nadu Police personnel intervened<br />
after one of their<br />
physically handicapped<br />
colleagues was assaulted<br />
by three inmates at Tihar's<br />
jail number 1 on the intervening<br />
night of November<br />
21-22 during routine<br />
checking.<br />
Yusuf is lodged in Tihar<br />
jail in connection with<br />
terror-funding cases.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report also said<br />
that some of the prisoners<br />
were rushed to the All<br />
India Institute of Medical<br />
Sciences (AIIMS) for<br />
treatment and were being<br />
examined by a three- member<br />
AIIMS doctors' team.<br />
On November <strong>23</strong>, the<br />
high court set up a threemember<br />
committee for inspection<br />
of the prison and<br />
submitted its report, based<br />
on which, on November<br />
27, the court passed directions<br />
to Tihar authorities.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fact-finding team,<br />
headed by a district judgerank<br />
officer, and a professor<br />
of the National Law<br />
University in Dwarka had<br />
been constituted to investigate<br />
the entire incident.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Commandant of<br />
the Tamil Nadu Special<br />
Force battalion deployed<br />
in Tihar jail has also been<br />
asked to conduct a separate<br />
detailed probe into<br />
the incident and take appropriate<br />
action against<br />
anyone found negligent,<br />
a Home Ministry official<br />
said citing the Tihar report.<br />
<strong>The</strong> official, quoting<br />
the Tihar jail report, said<br />
three prisoners, including<br />
a Kashmiri, were found to<br />
be having unauthorised<br />
material.<br />
When Tamil Nadu Special<br />
Force Sub-Inspector<br />
Muthu Pandee tried to remove<br />
them "the inmates<br />
resisted and assaulted<br />
him. As the officer is physically<br />
handicapped, he was<br />
allegedly beaten up by the<br />
three inmates. As other<br />
Tamil Nadu Police personnel<br />
intervened, the 18 prisoners,<br />
including Yusuf,<br />
were injured," the report<br />
said. It said that the team<br />
of Tamil Nadu Special<br />
Force was removed from<br />
active jail duties after the<br />
incident and the jail authorities<br />
had deposited<br />
the relevant evidence like<br />
CCTV footage with the<br />
probe teams.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report also mentioned<br />
that the employees<br />
working in Tihar jail had<br />
been sensitised and asked<br />
to ensure that the inherent<br />
dignity of the prisoners<br />
was protected while carrying<br />
out searches and performing<br />
other duties.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Home Ministry<br />
asked the Director General<br />
of the Tihar jail to submit<br />
a report in the case.<br />
Jammu and Kashmir<br />
Chief Minister Mehbooba<br />
Mufti on Tuesday spoke to<br />
Union Home Secretary Rajiv<br />
Gauba to enquire about<br />
the incident.<br />
ED raids 7 places in<br />
Rs 5,000-cr money<br />
laundering case<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: <strong>The</strong> Enforcement Directorate (ED) on<br />
Thursday searched the premises of Sanjeev Mahajan and<br />
other businessmen in connection with a money laundering<br />
probe involving over Rs 5,000 crore, officials said.<br />
An ED official told IANS that searches were conducted<br />
at seven locations, the premises of Mahajan in Mayur<br />
Vihar Phase-1 and Babar Road in Delhi. <strong>The</strong> businessman<br />
is a close aide of Congress leader Ahmed Patel.<br />
Premises of Ghanshyam Pandey in Dwarka and Lakshmi<br />
Chand Gupta in Laxmi Nagar and Arvind Gupta in<br />
Ghaziabad were also searched. <strong>The</strong> three are linked to the<br />
Sandesara Group owned by Chetan and Nitin Sandesara.<br />
<strong>The</strong> official also said that they have seized several<br />
computers and mobile phones and recovered some documents.<br />
ED sources said the raids were conducted as part<br />
of a probe into Sandesara Group that was allegedly involved<br />
in high-value suspicious transactions to the tune<br />
of Rs 5,383 crore. <strong>The</strong> owners of Sandesara Group are suspected<br />
to have some 300 benami properties.<br />
On November 1, the financial probe agency arrested<br />
Gagan Dhawan from his south Delhi residence on the<br />
charge of money laundering.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ED alleged that he was involved in diverting the<br />
amount to purchase properties and other shell companies.<br />
According to ED officials, Dhawan allegedly aided<br />
bank loan frauds related to the Vadodara-based Sterling<br />
Biotech company.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ED had registered a case of money laundering<br />
following a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case<br />
against Sterling Biotech, its directors Chetan Jayantilal<br />
Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash<br />
Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara, Vilas Joshi<br />
and several others in connection with the bank fraud<br />
case.
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly India<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
13<br />
Kirron Kher stirs controversy with advice to gang-rape victim<br />
Agencies<br />
CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh's<br />
BJP MP Kirron<br />
Kher has stirred a controversy<br />
by giving unsolicited<br />
advice to a young woman<br />
who was gang raped earlier<br />
this month here by an autorickshaw<br />
driver and his two<br />
accomplices.<br />
Kher said on Wednesday<br />
that the victim should have<br />
been more cautious and not<br />
boarded the auto-rickshaw<br />
in which three men were already<br />
sitting.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bollywood actress<br />
and Lok Sabha member on<br />
Thursday sought to clarify<br />
her statement, saying it was<br />
"only in the context of certain<br />
precautions" that women<br />
should take and that it<br />
was "not intended to blame<br />
the victim or shaming her".<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bharatiya Janata<br />
Party MP had earlier said<br />
that the 21-year-old gang<br />
rape victim should have<br />
avoided boarding the autorickshaw<br />
when she saw that<br />
three men were already sitting<br />
in it.<br />
"I want to tell this girl<br />
and all other girls that if you<br />
see three men sitting in the<br />
auto, they should not board<br />
it. I am saying this to protect<br />
the girls.<br />
"We all have to be alert<br />
about such things. I am saddened<br />
by what has happened<br />
with the woman," Kher told<br />
media on Wednesday.<br />
On Thursday, Kher clarified<br />
her stand.<br />
"I just said that the world<br />
is a bad place. We all, especially<br />
ladies, have to take<br />
precautions. As a mother, I<br />
am saying this that we need<br />
to take care," Kher said.<br />
She said that if the victim<br />
had called up the police<br />
control room, the police<br />
would have taken her and<br />
dropped her safely to her<br />
home.<br />
"If the Congress wants to<br />
make an issue out of it, I cannot<br />
help," she said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> victim was allegedly<br />
gang raped by three men on<br />
November 17 evening after<br />
she hired the shared autorickshaw<br />
to go back to her<br />
paying guest accommodation<br />
in Mohali town, adjoining<br />
Chandigarh.<br />
<strong>The</strong> police got the CCTV<br />
footage of the auto-rickshaw<br />
and its driver from a gas station<br />
in Sector 42 where the<br />
vehicle had stopped to get a<br />
CNG refuel. <strong>The</strong> Union Territory<br />
police arrested the<br />
three men after over a week<br />
after the incident.<br />
<strong>The</strong> victim, who hails<br />
from Dehradun in Uttarakhand,<br />
had boarded the<br />
shared auto-rickshaw after<br />
attending her stenography<br />
class in Sector 37 here.<br />
<strong>The</strong> victim told the police<br />
that the driver took the<br />
vehicle to the gas station for<br />
refuelling and then turned<br />
towards Sector 52.<br />
He stopped the auto near<br />
a wild growth along the road<br />
and said that it had broken<br />
down. When the woman got<br />
out of the vehicle to take<br />
another one, the three men<br />
pulled her into nearby bushes<br />
and took turns to rape<br />
her.<br />
<strong>The</strong> accused arrested included<br />
auto-rickshaw driver<br />
Mohammed Irfan, Garib<br />
and Poppu.<br />
Irfan had tried to commit<br />
suicide in police custody<br />
this week by stabbing<br />
himself with a glass that he<br />
broke in the prison cell.<br />
Madame Tussauds opens in Delhi<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: India's first<br />
Madame Tussauds wax<br />
museum opened its doors<br />
here on Thursday with 50<br />
life-like figures spanning<br />
across history, sports, music,<br />
films and politics, for<br />
the public at the iconic<br />
Regal building in central<br />
Delhi.<br />
"This is truly an exhilarating<br />
and emotional feeling<br />
to finally see Madame<br />
Tussauds in Delhi. Guests<br />
will be encouraged to interact,<br />
perform and even<br />
reflect with our figures<br />
in unique and immersive<br />
settings within the attraction,"<br />
Anshul Jain, General<br />
Manager and Director,<br />
Merlin Entertainment Pvt<br />
Ltd, said here.<br />
Madame Tussauds has<br />
been a successful tourist attraction<br />
in places like London,<br />
Las Vegas, New York,<br />
Orlando, San Francisco<br />
and Hong Kong. Its maiden<br />
facility here has wax statues<br />
of Indian personalities<br />
like Prime Minister Narendra<br />
Modi, cinematic icon<br />
Amitabh Bachchan and<br />
Father of the Nation Mahatma<br />
Gandhi, along with<br />
many Hollywood celebrities.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Delhi facility is<br />
the <strong>23</strong>rd edition of Madame<br />
Tussauds. Some other personalities<br />
here include Katrina<br />
Kaif, Madhuri Dixit,<br />
Kareena Kapoor Khan,<br />
Salman Khan, Will Smith,<br />
David Beckham, Kim<br />
Kardasian Justin Bieber,<br />
Beyonce Knowles, Asha<br />
Bhosle, Sachin Tendulkar,<br />
Kapil Sharma, A.P.J. Abdul<br />
Kalam and Ranbir Kapoor.<br />
It will be open for all<br />
seven days with tickets<br />
priced at Rs 960 for adults<br />
and Rs 760 for children.<br />
5 militants killed, commando<br />
injured in Kashmir<br />
Agencies<br />
SRINAGAR: Five militants<br />
were killed and a<br />
para commando of the<br />
Indian Army injured on<br />
Thursday in two separate<br />
gunfights in Kashmir Valley.<br />
Defence Ministry<br />
spokesman Colonel Rajesh<br />
Kalia said that four terrorists<br />
were killed in a gunfight<br />
with security forces<br />
in Futlipora.<br />
In another gunfight<br />
that erupted in north<br />
Kashmir Sagipora village<br />
of Sopore area in Baramulla,<br />
police said one militant<br />
has been killed so far<br />
while a para commando of<br />
the army was injured.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> operation against<br />
militants in Sagipora village<br />
is still on," police said.<br />
In the gunfight at Futlipora<br />
village, following specific<br />
information about the<br />
presence of militants, the<br />
security forces had surrounded<br />
the village in Pakherpora<br />
area of Badgam<br />
district in the morning.<br />
'As the security forces<br />
closed in on the hiding militants,<br />
the security forces<br />
were fired upon triggering<br />
the encounter," a police officer<br />
said.<br />
Goa and Italy are Indians' favourite holiday destinations<br />
Indo-Asian News Service<br />
NEW DELHI: Goa and Italy<br />
are on top of the mind for<br />
Indians when they plan gastronomic<br />
holidays, reveals<br />
a survey.<br />
<strong>The</strong> finding is part of<br />
travel site TripAdvisor's<br />
second edition of its annual<br />
2017 India Gastronomy<br />
Survey. <strong>The</strong> survey was<br />
conducted with an aim to<br />
uncover key habits and<br />
preferences of Indians with<br />
respect to dining out, and<br />
how much food influences<br />
holiday planning.<br />
One of the results of the<br />
survey -- conducted online<br />
in the third week of November<br />
among TripAdvisor's<br />
India survey panel -- indicates<br />
that three out of five<br />
Indians are set to undertake<br />
a gastronomic getaway in<br />
2018.<br />
Indians frequent restaurants<br />
often (35 per cent 'one<br />
to two' times per month and<br />
33 per cent once per week),<br />
but it gains more importance<br />
while travelling as 48<br />
per cent of the respondents<br />
said dining out and restaurant<br />
selection is important<br />
to their overall trip experience.<br />
As many as 74 per cent<br />
respondents said they have<br />
either planned or intend to<br />
plan a gastronomic getaway<br />
soon to a destination specifically<br />
'to try the food it is<br />
famous' for and 71 per cent<br />
of them said they even have<br />
plans to visit a 'particular<br />
restaurant' at their travel<br />
spot,<br />
Within India, Goa is a<br />
top favourite with 49 per<br />
cent voting for it, followed<br />
by Kerala (35 per cent) and<br />
Lucknow (33 per cent) as<br />
places people would love to<br />
visit specifically for their<br />
cuisine. Abroad, Italy takes<br />
the lead with 90 per cent,<br />
with Thailand (34 percent)<br />
and France (26 per cent) as<br />
other options.<br />
"India is a gastronomical<br />
paradise with its wide<br />
array of cuisines and it is<br />
said that there is no better<br />
way to experience Indian<br />
culture than through food.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> findings from the<br />
2017 India Gastronomic Survey<br />
underscore the importance<br />
of food on holiday and<br />
that Indians are only set to<br />
become even more thoughtful<br />
about the foodie experiences<br />
they have whether<br />
they are travelling domestically<br />
or overseas," Nikhil<br />
Ganju, Country Manager,<br />
TripAdvisor India, said in a<br />
statement.
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly India<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 14<br />
What does Miss World Manushi<br />
Chhillar say on Padmavati row?<br />
Agencies<br />
MUMBAI: Miss World<br />
Manushi Chhillar has<br />
said Indian women "do not<br />
feel persecuted and face<br />
challenges head-on" even<br />
though there is a feeling<br />
that "our society is not<br />
very woman-friendly".<br />
Manushi said this during<br />
a media interaction<br />
here on Monday. She was<br />
expressing her views over<br />
the row surrounding Sanjay<br />
Leela Bhansali's upcoming<br />
film "Padmavati".<br />
"All Indian women<br />
have one thing in common...<br />
we don't feel persecuted<br />
for who we are and<br />
actually face our challenges<br />
head-on. "I think that's<br />
what we need to do, we<br />
need to be confident about<br />
who we are," she said on<br />
the death threats received<br />
by Deepika Padukone, who<br />
plays the lead in Bhansali's<br />
magnum opus on the Chittor<br />
queen.<br />
"We will face a lot of<br />
limitations and sometimes<br />
we do feel that it is not a<br />
very woman-friendly society.<br />
"But as individuals,<br />
we should just set an example<br />
and make women<br />
feel confident that you can<br />
do amazing things as well,"<br />
she added.<br />
As part of the Miss<br />
World pageant, contestants<br />
were supposed to perform<br />
one dance from their<br />
respective countries.<br />
Manushi chose to<br />
dance to "Dhol Baaje" song<br />
from Bhansali's "Goliyon<br />
Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela".<br />
It was also picturised on<br />
Deepika.<br />
"All the girls used to<br />
dance to that song during<br />
rehearsal. I am happy that<br />
in a way, I could bring India<br />
in front of the world,"<br />
said Manushi.<br />
To her Bollywood<br />
calling, anytime soon,<br />
Manushi said: "I am really<br />
excited about travelling<br />
next year. We will be<br />
visiting four continents,<br />
and spreading awareness<br />
about menstrual hygiene.<br />
"Bollywood is just<br />
something that is not on<br />
my mind as of now so I really<br />
can't say anything about<br />
it." Manushi also said she<br />
loves to read books. She<br />
would like to work with<br />
Aamir Khan. Former Miss<br />
World Priyanka Chopra is<br />
her favourite actress.<br />
India's Re 1 note<br />
completes 100 years<br />
Continued from page 01<br />
Later, the promise was removed for this denomination.<br />
"As people were increasingly melting silver<br />
one rupee coins during World War I, the number of<br />
coins were reducing from the market. At that time the<br />
British government planned to introduce this note,"<br />
Sushil Kumar Agrawal, CEO of mintageworld.com,<br />
an online museum of coins, stamps and currency<br />
notes, told IANS.<br />
In its 100-year journey, design of One Rupee note<br />
was changed 44 times. <strong>The</strong> one Rupee note is the only<br />
currency printed by the Government of India and not<br />
by the Reserve Bank, and is signed by the Finance<br />
Secretary.<br />
Though printing of One Rupee note was discontinued<br />
in 1994, it was re-introduced during 2015-16 financial<br />
year after a gap of 21 years. <strong>The</strong> re-introduction<br />
was more on nostalgic value than actual usage.<br />
Asked about the reason, Agrawal said perhaps collectors'<br />
demand for One Rupee note was the reason<br />
behind the re-printing.<br />
"It does not as such have any value and the printing<br />
cost is certainly much higher than the value of the<br />
note" he said.<br />
Talking about One Rupee note's 100-year journey,<br />
founding Partner of Numismatic Auction House and<br />
founder of Oswal Antiques, Girish Jagshi Veera told<br />
IANS that the government might have reintroduced<br />
the currency because it is the basic currency of the<br />
country.<br />
But we do not get to see the note too often. It is<br />
learnt that a bundle of 100 one rupee notes is sold for<br />
Rs 600 in grey markets of Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai<br />
and Chandni Chowk in Delhi. Collectors do not mind<br />
shelling out premium for the notes.<br />
In fact, different years of printing can fetch<br />
vastly different prices. A one rupee note of 1985<br />
signed by Finance Secretary S. Venkitaramanan was<br />
sold for Rs 2,75,000 at Classical Numismatics Gallery<br />
on January 21, 2017. Another one, of 1944, issued<br />
by British India, signed C.E. Jones, was sold for Rs<br />
130,000 for a pack of 100 at Todywalla Auctions in October<br />
2009.<br />
<strong>The</strong> note, for all practical purposes, has become a<br />
collector's item.<br />
'Padmavati' row based on rumours:<br />
Bhansali tells Parliamentary panel<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: In the midst<br />
of a raging controversy over<br />
his film "Padmavati", director<br />
Sanjay Leela Bhansali on<br />
Thursday appeared before<br />
a Parliamentary committee<br />
here and maintained that<br />
the row over the yet-to-be released<br />
movie was just based<br />
on rumours, strongly rejecting<br />
charges that he had distorted<br />
historical facts about<br />
the 16th century Rajput<br />
queen. Bhansali was grilled<br />
for over two hours by members<br />
of the Parliamentary<br />
Standing Committee on IT<br />
as he appeared before it in<br />
Parliament House with Prasoon<br />
Joshi, who heads the<br />
Central Board of Film Certification<br />
(CBFC).<br />
Sources told IANS that<br />
the filmmaker was asked<br />
why he had screened the<br />
movie for a few select journalists<br />
even before it was<br />
cleared by the censor board.<br />
"All the controversy<br />
over the film is based on rumours.<br />
I have not distorted<br />
facts. <strong>The</strong> film is based on a<br />
poem by Malik Muhammad<br />
Jayasi," Bhansali said, referring<br />
to the 16th century<br />
Indian sufi poet's epic poem<br />
"Padmavat".<br />
"We don't intend to<br />
hurt anyone's sentiments,"<br />
Bhansali told the 30-member<br />
panel headed by BJP MP Anurag<br />
Thakur. Among those<br />
who attended the meeting<br />
were Congress' Raj Babbar<br />
and BJP patriarch L.K. Advani.<br />
Thakur in a statement<br />
said he raised a few questions<br />
in view of the "Padmavati"<br />
controversy and get<br />
them addressed.<br />
"How and why did this<br />
divide and controversy<br />
erupt, why is a huge amount<br />
of money of taxpayers being<br />
utilized towards providing<br />
security in wake of this<br />
issue, why was the movie<br />
showcased to a select media,<br />
even before screening it to<br />
CBFC. A movie is meant for<br />
entertainment, not for creating<br />
a tensed atmosphere<br />
across the country. This<br />
meeting has been called<br />
upon to discuss all these issues<br />
at length, bring all the<br />
relevant stakeholders on a<br />
common platform to eventually<br />
reach a consensus."<br />
<strong>The</strong> director has been<br />
given time till December 14<br />
to give a written reply to the<br />
panel about the movie and<br />
the controversy surrounding<br />
it. Thakur said the media<br />
too played a role in creating<br />
a perception amongst<br />
the audience, referring to<br />
death threats against Deepika<br />
Padukone who is playing<br />
the title role. <strong>The</strong> cases<br />
registered against the people<br />
who issued inflammatory<br />
statements by the respective<br />
state governments was not<br />
played up by the media. This<br />
at times leads to forming a<br />
negative mindset amongst<br />
the audience, he noted.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Parliamentary panel<br />
had asked him to attend its<br />
meeting to explain his point<br />
of view as several states<br />
have threatened to block the<br />
screening of the film, which<br />
was earlier scheduled for release<br />
on Friday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> film stoked controversy<br />
over assumptions that<br />
it has a dream sequence depicting<br />
romance between<br />
Rajput warrior queen<br />
Padmini and Delhi sultan<br />
Alauddin Khilji.<br />
Joshi told the panel that<br />
the censor board was yet to<br />
take a decision about the<br />
movie as it would be shown<br />
to regional and central<br />
screening committees.<br />
Earlier in the day, the<br />
censor board chief also appeared<br />
before the Parliamentary<br />
Committee on Petitions<br />
to brief its members<br />
about the controversy. Joshi<br />
is believed to have told the<br />
panel that the film had not<br />
yet been approved and the<br />
board only cleared the trailer<br />
and promos of the period<br />
film.<br />
Members who raised objections<br />
against the movie<br />
include Congress' C.P. Joshi,<br />
BJP's O.M. Birla and Shiv<br />
Sena's Rajan Vichare. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
also sought ban on airing the<br />
promos of the film.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rajput Karni Sena,<br />
an organisation of the Rajput<br />
community, has urged<br />
a nationwide ban on "Padmavati".<br />
Activists of the<br />
Sena and some other groups<br />
have been protesting against<br />
the movie, claiming it "distorts"<br />
historical facts. As six<br />
states, including Rajasthan,<br />
have already announced<br />
that they will not release the<br />
film, the Supreme Court on<br />
Tuesday took exception to<br />
people holding official positions<br />
making "prejudicial<br />
comments" about the movie,<br />
saying these breached the<br />
principle of rule of law.<br />
<strong>The</strong> apex court asked<br />
when the matter was pending<br />
for consideration before<br />
CBFC, how could persons in<br />
public authority comment<br />
on whether the censor board<br />
should issue certificate or<br />
not.
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly WORLD<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
15<br />
<strong>Canadian</strong> among victims of<br />
'online' rape by Swedish man<br />
Agencies<br />
OSLO: A Swedish man has been<br />
found guilty of raping young<br />
girls, including one <strong>Canadian</strong><br />
victim, strictly on the basis of his<br />
threatening and coercive online<br />
interactions with them.<br />
Thursday's verdict against<br />
Bjorn Samstrom, 41, marks the<br />
sixth time he has been convicted<br />
of offences involving forcing minors<br />
to perform sexual acts.<br />
<strong>The</strong> latest case involved allegations<br />
of sexual coercion<br />
against 27 victims in Canada,<br />
the United States and Scotland,<br />
according to prosecutor Annika<br />
Wennerstrom.<br />
She said court heard that<br />
Samstrom would threaten to<br />
post photos of the victims on pornography<br />
sites or to kill their relatives<br />
unless they performed sex<br />
acts as he watched from Sweden.<br />
Wennerstrom said Samstrom<br />
was found guilty of 59 of the nearly<br />
100 charges he faced, including<br />
four counts of aggravated rape of<br />
a child. One of those convictions,<br />
she said, pertained to a <strong>Canadian</strong><br />
girl who was 13 at the time.<br />
Samstrom has been sentenced<br />
to 10 years in prison for<br />
the convictions.<br />
Wennerstrom said the verdict<br />
sets a new precedent for<br />
sex crimes perpetrated over the<br />
internet. Despite what she described<br />
as a positive outcome,<br />
however, Wennerstrom said she<br />
plans to appeal the verdict on the<br />
grounds that the new precedent<br />
may be too stringent.<br />
She said the rape convictions<br />
were obtained for situations<br />
when the victim was totally<br />
alone in a room and being forced<br />
to perform particularly explicit<br />
sex acts on camera.<br />
She argued the bar needs to<br />
be set lower.<br />
"We have penetrations with<br />
long durations, and pain, and<br />
agony, and the children are<br />
afraid, and they cry, and it's still<br />
not enough," Wennerstrom said<br />
of the cases that did not lead to<br />
convictions. "So we are not completely<br />
content with this outcome<br />
because we think that it<br />
should be enough."<br />
Both sides have three weeks<br />
to file an appeal, an avenue Samstrom's<br />
defence lawyer suggested<br />
he too may choose to pursue.<br />
"He has been convicted of<br />
crimes which he does not consider<br />
he is guilty of. So it is very<br />
possible that he appeals," Kronje<br />
Samuelsson told Swedish news<br />
agency TT. Samstrom admitted<br />
coercing the teens — all under<br />
age 15 at the time — but denied<br />
his actions constituted rape.<br />
Wennerstrom said the ruling<br />
is the first of its kind in Sweden,<br />
adding she knows of no other<br />
countries with a similar conviction<br />
on record.<br />
She said Samstrom had a<br />
long history of similar offences<br />
dating back to his teens.<br />
She said the latest case<br />
marked the sixth time he came<br />
before the court.<br />
Samstrom lived alone near<br />
Uppsala, some 70 kilometres<br />
north of Stockholm, at the time<br />
of his most recent arrest. <strong>The</strong><br />
international case came to light<br />
when Samstrom was being investigated<br />
for another coercion<br />
case involving Swedish victims,<br />
Wennerstrom said.<br />
During that investigation,<br />
police found videos at his home<br />
of girls speaking English. Swedish<br />
investigators contacted counterparts<br />
in Canada, Britain and<br />
the United States, who located<br />
18 of the 26 girls and interviewed<br />
them. None were present at the<br />
trial, but their videotaped testimonies<br />
were played in court.<br />
<strong>The</strong> other nine victims were<br />
never identified.<br />
100 Chinese couples<br />
to take part in mass<br />
wedding in Sri Lanka<br />
Agencies<br />
COLOMBO: One hundred Chinese couples will visit Sri<br />
Lanka next month to take part in a mass wedding in the<br />
island country, Sri Lanka's Megapolis and Western Development<br />
Ministry announced on Wednesday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ministry said the event, the first of its kind in Sri<br />
Lanka, was expected to further increase ties between Sri<br />
Lanka and China, reports Xinhua news agency. <strong>The</strong> mass<br />
wedding would be held on December 17 in Colombo under<br />
the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena and<br />
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Some 400 guests<br />
will attend. Tourism Minister John Amaratunga told reporters<br />
that the event will help promote the island nation<br />
as an ideal wedding destination.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mass wedding will be followed by a Sri Lanka-<br />
China food festival at a luxury resort in Colombo. Leading<br />
chefs from both China and Sri Lanka will take part<br />
in the festival. <strong>The</strong> couples will later be taken on a tour<br />
of Yala, Sigiriya and Kandy, popular tourist spots in Sri<br />
Lanka. Sri Lanka has become a popular destination for<br />
Chinese tourists, with China currently being the second<br />
largest market.<br />
Pakistani kills wife over cold dinner<br />
Agencies<br />
I am biggest supporter of Hafiz Saeed: Musharraf<br />
Agencies<br />
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's<br />
former President Pervez<br />
Musharraf has said he is<br />
the "biggest supporter" of<br />
the outlawed Lashkar-e-<br />
Taiba (LeT) and expressed<br />
his liking for its founder<br />
Hafiz Saeed, blamed for<br />
the horrific 2008 Mumbai<br />
terror attack.<br />
"I am the biggest supporter<br />
of LeT and I know<br />
they like me and JuD<br />
(Jamaat-ud-Dawa) also<br />
likes me," Musharraf told<br />
Pakistan's ARY News this<br />
week, referring to the<br />
groups founded by Saeed.<br />
JuD is the LeT's charitable<br />
wing classified by the<br />
US and the UN as a terror<br />
group.<br />
Asked if he liked<br />
Saeed, who has a $10 million<br />
US bounty on his<br />
head for his role in terror<br />
activities, the former<br />
Pakistan Army chief said<br />
he does and that he had<br />
met him.<br />
Saeed was freed after<br />
10 months of house arrest<br />
last week after Islamabad<br />
failed to submit proof to a<br />
court to back charges that<br />
his release would lead to<br />
law and order problems.<br />
Acknowledging that<br />
the JuD and LeT were<br />
waging a "jihad" to liberate<br />
Jammu and Kashmir<br />
from India, Musharraf<br />
said: "Yes, they are involved<br />
in Kashmir and I<br />
support them."<br />
Musharraf said in the<br />
interview that he had always<br />
favoured "action" in<br />
Kashmir.<br />
"I was always in favour<br />
of action in Kashmir<br />
and of suppressing the<br />
Indian Army in Kashmir.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are the biggest force<br />
(LeT), India got them<br />
declared as terrorist by<br />
partnering with the US."<br />
New Delhi accuses<br />
Pakistan of arming, training<br />
and financing militant<br />
groups fighting to secede<br />
Jammu and Kashmir<br />
from India.<br />
Musharraf denied the<br />
LeT was involved in the<br />
Mumbai terror attack<br />
that left 166 Indians and<br />
foreigners dead. "I don't<br />
think Saeed was behind<br />
the 26/11 attack. In Pakistan,<br />
we don't call him a<br />
terrorist."<br />
Death for 139 in 2009 Bangla mutiny stays<br />
LAHORE: A woman was murdered by her husband following<br />
a petty argument after she apparently served him<br />
cold food, the police said.<br />
After an exchange of hot words, Feroz Khan, a resident<br />
of Sargodha, murdered his wife Roshan Bibi and<br />
fled the spot, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.<br />
<strong>The</strong> body was handed over to the family after legal<br />
formalities. <strong>The</strong> police have registered a case against the<br />
accused.<br />
Agencies<br />
DHAKA: A Bangladesh<br />
court has upheld the death<br />
sentences of 139 people for<br />
their involvement in the<br />
2009 mutiny at the border<br />
guards headquarters here<br />
which left 74 people dead.<br />
A division bench of<br />
Justice Nazrul Islam, Justice<br />
Shawkat Hossain and<br />
Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique<br />
delivered the verdict,<br />
reports Xinhua news<br />
agency.<br />
<strong>The</strong> High Court division<br />
also upheld the<br />
jail terms for 196 border<br />
guards.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mutiny on February<br />
25 and 26, 2009 was<br />
staged by a group of Border<br />
Guard Bangladesh (BGB),<br />
a paramilitary force that<br />
guards the country's borders.<br />
<strong>The</strong> victims included<br />
civilians, the BGB Director-General<br />
and some<br />
Army officers.<br />
A total of 850 people<br />
-- 8<strong>23</strong> BGB soldiers and <strong>23</strong><br />
civilians -- were accused in<br />
the case.<br />
Among the accused,<br />
813 were arrested, 13 are<br />
on bail, 20 are on the run<br />
while four died in custody
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly OFF-BEAT<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 16<br />
Mouthwash increases<br />
risk of diabetes<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW YORK: Most of us<br />
are in the habit of using<br />
mouthwash at least once or<br />
twice daily, as a part of oral<br />
hygiene. But are you aware<br />
that your routine may spike<br />
the sugar level in your blood<br />
within no time?<br />
People who use mouthwash<br />
at least twice daily are<br />
at approximately 55 per cent<br />
higher risk of developing diabetes,<br />
when compared to less<br />
frequent users, found a new<br />
study. <strong>The</strong> study, published<br />
in the journal Nitric Oxide,<br />
stated that most mouthwash<br />
contain anti- bacterial ingredients,<br />
which could impact<br />
the production of oral microbes<br />
that may hamper the<br />
nitric oxide formation in the<br />
mouth.<br />
This in turn might predispose<br />
to metabolic disorders,<br />
cause major shifts in<br />
blood pressure levels and<br />
lead to an increased risk of<br />
diabetes, at the same time.<br />
"Our aim was to evaluate<br />
the association between<br />
baseline over-the-counter<br />
mouthwash use and development<br />
of pre-diabetes/diabetes<br />
over a 3-year follow-up,"<br />
said Kaumudi J Joshipura,<br />
researcher at Harvard University.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> indiscriminate<br />
routine use of antibacterial<br />
mouthwash products may<br />
cause more harm than good,<br />
in light of recent studies, and<br />
further supported by findings<br />
from this study," the<br />
researcher was quoted in an<br />
interview to the Telegraph.<br />
<strong>The</strong> researchers studied<br />
over 1,206 overweight<br />
individuals aged between<br />
40 and 65 years, but without<br />
the prevalence of any major<br />
cardiovascular diseases or<br />
diabetes. It was found that<br />
43 per cent of the participants<br />
used mouthwash at least<br />
once daily and 22 per cent<br />
used mouthwash at least<br />
twice a daily. Both the categories<br />
of population were<br />
at a higher risk of high blood<br />
sugar problems.<br />
<strong>The</strong> finding showed that<br />
mouthwash use lower than<br />
twice daily showed no association,<br />
suggesting a threshold<br />
effect at twice or more daily.<br />
Eating garlic is good<br />
to fight cystic fibrosis<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW YORK: Consuming garlic, which contains an active<br />
sulphurous compound, can help fight the robust bacteria<br />
found in chronic infections like cystic fibrosis, researchers<br />
have found. <strong>The</strong> findings showed that the sulphurous<br />
compound ajoene in garlic appears to offer the most powerful,<br />
naturally occurring resistance to bacteria and is able<br />
to destroy important components in the bacteria's communication<br />
systems, which involve regulatory RNA molecules.<br />
Ajoene also damages the protective slimy matrix<br />
surrounding the bacteria, the so-called biofilm.<br />
When the biofilm is destroyed or weakened, both antibiotics<br />
and the body's own immune system are able to attack<br />
the bacteria more directly and thus remove the infection.<br />
"We really believe this method can lead to treatment<br />
of patients, who otherwise have poor prospects, because<br />
chronic infections like cystic fibrosis can be very robust,"<br />
said Tim Holm Jakobsen, assistant professor at the University<br />
of Copenhagen in Denmark.<br />
"But now we have enough knowledge to further develop<br />
the garlic drug and test it on patients." <strong>The</strong> study, published<br />
in the journal Scientific Reports, found that ajoene's<br />
has the ability to inhibit small regulatory RNA molecules<br />
in two types of bacteria -- Staphylococcus aureus (responsible<br />
for skin infections) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa<br />
(known to cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections).<br />
Why women are<br />
at more risk of<br />
asthma than men<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW YORK: Women are more likely to suffer from<br />
asthma than men because of the absence of testosterone<br />
-- the male sex hormone -- which prevents lungs<br />
from inhaling harmful pollen, dust or other airborne<br />
allergens, finds a study.<br />
<strong>The</strong> findings showed that testosterone acts on<br />
immune cells that act as first line of defenders of the<br />
body against invading viruses.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se immune cells are linked to asthma symptoms,<br />
such as inflammation and mucus production<br />
in the lungs, which causes airways to narrow during<br />
an asthma attack. "Initially we thought that ovarian<br />
hormones would increase inflammation, more so<br />
than testosterone making it better," said Dawn Newcomb,<br />
from the Vanderbilt University in Tennessee,<br />
the US. "I was surprised to see that testosterone was<br />
more important in reducing inflammation," Newcomb<br />
said.<br />
Prior studies have showed before puberty boys<br />
have approximately 1.5 times higher rate of asthma<br />
than girls. That trend reverses after puberty, when<br />
women are twice likely to have asthma as men.<br />
This pattern continues until women hit menopause,<br />
and then the asthma rates in women start to<br />
decline, the researchers said.<br />
For the study, appearing in the journal Cell Reports,<br />
the team focused on lung cells called Group 2<br />
innate lymphoid cells, or ILC2 cells -- which make cytokines,<br />
proteins that cause inflammation and mucus<br />
production in the lungs, making it harder to breathe.<br />
<strong>The</strong> researchers collected blood from people with<br />
and without asthma and found that those with asthma<br />
had more ILC2 cells than those without. Asthmatic<br />
women were found with more ILC2 cells than men.<br />
In addition, when the researchers added testosterone,<br />
to the ILC2 cells, they found that the male<br />
hormone prevented the cells from expanding and reduced<br />
the production of cytokines.<br />
However,"sex hormones are not the only mechanism<br />
but, rather, one of many mechanisms that could<br />
be regulating airway inflammation", Newcomb said.<br />
Why red wine is better than beer<br />
Agencies<br />
Agencies<br />
LONDON: Cerebral palsy is a neurological<br />
disorder that develops in<br />
early childhood and permanently<br />
damages the speech, movement and<br />
posture, vision and learning disabilities<br />
of a child.<br />
<strong>The</strong> findings showed that babies<br />
born to mothers who took aspirin<br />
were almost two-and-a-half times<br />
more likely to develop the life-long<br />
and incurable condition. While babies<br />
exposed to paracetamol were 30<br />
per cent more likely to have overall<br />
cerebral palsy and 50 per cent more<br />
likely to have it on one side. Ibuprofen<br />
had little or no impact, the Daily<br />
LONDON: If you want to<br />
feel relaxed after a hard<br />
day, better order wine or<br />
beer. Save the spirits for<br />
days you need to boost confidence<br />
or need to feel sexy,<br />
suggests the largest ever<br />
study examining how different<br />
alcoholic drinks affect<br />
emotions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> analysis included<br />
the responses of nearly<br />
30,000 adults aged between<br />
18 and 34.<br />
Around 59 per cent of<br />
the respondents associated<br />
spirits -- like vodka, gin,<br />
whiskey and other hard<br />
alcohols -- with feelings of<br />
energy and confidence.<br />
And more than four out<br />
of 10 associated them with<br />
feeling sexy, showed the<br />
study published in the journal<br />
BMJ Open.<br />
Spirits were, however,<br />
the least likely to be associated<br />
with feeling relaxed.<br />
Just 20 per cent felt so. Red<br />
wine was the most likely to<br />
elicit this feeling (just under<br />
53 per cent) followed by<br />
beer (around 50 per cent).<br />
Drinking spirits was<br />
also more likely to draw<br />
out negative feelings than<br />
all the other types of alcohol.<br />
Nearly a third (30 per<br />
cent) of spirit drinkers associated<br />
this tipple with<br />
feelings of aggression compared<br />
with around 2.5 per<br />
cent of red wine drinkers.<br />
"Understanding emotions<br />
associated with alcohol<br />
consumption is imperative<br />
to addressing alcohol<br />
Mail reported.<br />
<strong>The</strong> biggest danger seemed to be<br />
from taking the painkillers in the<br />
middle stage of a pregnancy -- a crucial<br />
time for brain development.<br />
This is because drugs<br />
such as paracetamol and<br />
aspirin could trigger toxic<br />
conditions in the developing<br />
brain that lead to permanent<br />
damage, or could disrupt the<br />
normal level of a mother's<br />
hormones needed to regulate<br />
brain development.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> safety of these drugs now<br />
needs to be further evaluated and<br />
women should be further cautioned<br />
about their use in pregnancy," said<br />
misuse, providing insight<br />
into what emotions influence<br />
drink choice between<br />
different groups in the<br />
population," the researchers<br />
said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> responses differed<br />
by gender and category of<br />
alcohol dependency.<br />
<strong>The</strong> findings showed<br />
that men were significantly<br />
more likely to associate<br />
feelings of aggression<br />
with all types of alcohol, as<br />
were those categorised as<br />
heavy/dependent drinkers,<br />
who were six times more<br />
likely to do so than low risk<br />
drinkers.<br />
And heavy drinkers<br />
were more likely to select<br />
any drink that was associated<br />
for them with feelings<br />
of aggression and tearfulness<br />
when at home or when<br />
out.<br />
Why you should avoid Aspirin during pregnancy<br />
researchers the from the University<br />
of Copenhagen in Denmark<br />
For the study, published in the<br />
International Journal of Epidemiology,<br />
the researchers examined 1,85,617<br />
mothers and their babies.<br />
Around 5,000 of the women<br />
took aspirin and a similar<br />
number took ibuprofen.<br />
Nearly 90,000 -- almost half --<br />
admitted taking paracetamol<br />
while expecting. <strong>The</strong> team<br />
found 357 babies went on to<br />
develop brain-related problems - and<br />
those born to mothers who took aspirin<br />
were at the higher risk of developing<br />
cerebral palsy on both sides of<br />
the body.
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly VIEW<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
17<br />
Actors are perceived as magicians in<br />
India, but performers in West: Irrfan<br />
By Arundhuti Banerjee<br />
MUMBAI: Acclaimed Indian<br />
talent Irrfan Khan,<br />
who has dabbled in Bollywood<br />
and Hollywood, says<br />
the key difference between<br />
performing in the two industries<br />
lies in how the audience<br />
perceives an actor<br />
-- for one, the parameter is<br />
engagement and charisma,<br />
while for the other, it is the<br />
nuance and subtlety.<br />
"I think the most interesting<br />
part of exploring<br />
both the worlds of cinema<br />
-- Bollywood and Hollywood<br />
-- is how the audience<br />
perceives an actor. In our<br />
(Indian) cinema, actors are<br />
like a magician who come<br />
on screen and do something<br />
to engage and mesmerise.<br />
On the other hand,<br />
in the West, actors are performers,<br />
and the audience<br />
looks for a certain amount<br />
of nuance, subtleness.<br />
"It is really an interesting<br />
area to explore for an<br />
India needs to bring archaic laws<br />
into 21st century: Lord Rana<br />
By Vishav<br />
NEW DELHI: Even as India moved into the top 100 for the<br />
first time in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business global<br />
rankings, there's a lot more that needs to be done to keep up<br />
with the rest of the world, said Diljit Rana, one of the UK's<br />
top businessmen and a member of the House of Lords. Rana,<br />
originally from Punjab who built a £60 million empire from<br />
scratch in Northern Ireland, said there was an urgent need<br />
to bring India's archaic regulations into the 21st century<br />
environment. Planning to build a world-class university in<br />
Punjab, Rana told IANS in an interview that he faced serious<br />
bureaucratic hurdles.<br />
"Planning laws are a bit outdated here. For university<br />
approval, there is a mandatory condition which requires<br />
to have so much land. Like in Punjab, to get approval as<br />
a private university, the minimum land requirement is<br />
35 acres," Rana told IANS in an interview during a visit<br />
here. "But there are many universities across the world<br />
which have much less land. And they are world famous<br />
universities. So to put a condition for having so much land<br />
for university approval -- especially in the age where we are<br />
going all electronic -- it does not feel right," he said.<br />
He added that land in Punjab is anyway scarce and<br />
very expensive and instead of such requirements, the focus<br />
should be on the quality of education.<br />
"What we should be concerned about is the quality of<br />
teaching, the faculty and the collaboration with foreign<br />
universities to lift our standards. Because the world is<br />
changing so much and so fast that half of what we teach<br />
these days, nobody would need those subjects in 20 years<br />
time. We need to concern ourselves with that," he added.<br />
Rana currently runs an education project -- Lord Rana Edu-<br />
City -- in Sanghol, his birthplace in Punjab, where too he<br />
had faced problems with the bureaucracy as the grant for<br />
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students amounting to<br />
around Rs 2 crore had been pending with the government for<br />
around two-and-a-half years now, he said. "First, the Akali Dal<br />
government kept delaying and now the new government said<br />
they had no funds," said Rana, who met the Finance Minister<br />
and the Chief Minister of Punjab regarding the issue.<br />
actor like me," Irrfan told<br />
IANS.<br />
Iconic film directors<br />
like Mira Nair, Colin<br />
Trevorrow and Danny<br />
Boyle have worked with<br />
Irrfan in international<br />
projects. Some of the titles<br />
he has worked in include<br />
"<strong>The</strong> Warrior", "A Mighty<br />
Heart", "<strong>The</strong> Namesake",<br />
"Slumdog Millionaire",<br />
"Life of Pi" and "Jurassic<br />
World". Irrfan may not be<br />
among the blockbuster<br />
Khans of Bollywood, but<br />
he has made his mark as<br />
a critically acclaimed performer<br />
who has strengthened<br />
Indian presence in<br />
films internationally.<br />
Critics praise his performance<br />
for intangible<br />
elements and for how he<br />
can convey a situation or a<br />
reaction with mere silence<br />
sometimes.<br />
He says there's a<br />
thought behind it.<br />
Explaining how he adds<br />
"soul" to any written character,<br />
Irrfan said: "In<br />
the National School<br />
of Drama, we learned<br />
how to perform, deliver<br />
a dialogue or monologue,<br />
and how to carry<br />
a certain body language<br />
for a character that we<br />
are playing. But the<br />
thought that always<br />
played in my<br />
mind is how<br />
a character<br />
establishes its<br />
relevance in<br />
silence, without<br />
uttering a<br />
dialogue.<br />
"In film acting<br />
especially,<br />
it works -- a<br />
small expression,<br />
a small<br />
silence and then<br />
amalgamate it<br />
with the subtext of<br />
the situation."<br />
However, he believes,<br />
one has to be<br />
very careful about<br />
improvisation as<br />
By Radhika Bhirani<br />
Indian showbiz is<br />
going through "difficult<br />
times", but it's a phase<br />
that shall pass if content<br />
providers remain focussed<br />
on maintaining quality and<br />
universal appeal, says N.P.<br />
Singh, CEO, Sony Pictures<br />
Networks India.<br />
According to KPMG<br />
India-FICCI Indian Media<br />
and Entertainment Industry<br />
Report 2017, television<br />
experienced a slower growth<br />
last year, while films had<br />
a disappointing year with<br />
growth down to just three<br />
per cent.<br />
"We are passing through<br />
some difficult times at the<br />
moment, but it's a phase,<br />
and this too shall pass, as I<br />
always say. We have to stay<br />
focused on creating topquality<br />
content, and content<br />
that will appeal to the<br />
viewers," Singh told IANS<br />
here.<br />
He pointed at Sony<br />
Pictures Networks India's<br />
"ambitious projects".<br />
On the film front, there's<br />
"Soorma", directed by Shaad<br />
Ali and starring Diljit<br />
Dosanjh. It will bring to light<br />
the story of former Indian<br />
hockey captain Sandeep<br />
Singh, who went through<br />
many ups and downs on the<br />
personal and professional<br />
fronts. "This film is currently<br />
under production," he said.<br />
Biopics on sportspersons<br />
have become trendy in<br />
Bollywood.<br />
N.P. Singh, an industry<br />
veteran with almost two<br />
decades of experience,<br />
reflected: "If you look at<br />
any of these stories, they<br />
are very inspiring. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
inspire not just the youth,<br />
but people of all age groups,<br />
and, therefore, it makes<br />
all the more sense for us to<br />
showcase all these stories to<br />
inspire people to challenge<br />
themselves.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> fire in the belly<br />
inspires the youth. I hope<br />
Sandeep Singh's biopic<br />
will be inspirational too, as<br />
will be the one on Pullela<br />
Gopichand or Saina Nehwal<br />
and more... <strong>The</strong>se are<br />
inspiring stories and there's<br />
a lot to learn from all of<br />
them."<br />
Sony Pictures Networks<br />
India caters to viewers via<br />
television, films and even<br />
the digital platform. <strong>The</strong><br />
core idea is to produce<br />
content that is consumed by<br />
everyone and anywhere.<br />
"We are essentially a<br />
content company. We create<br />
a lot of content for TV, big<br />
screen and also digital.<br />
<strong>The</strong> advantage we have<br />
it might just<br />
spoil a character<br />
at<br />
times. Irrfan<br />
stressed that<br />
having this<br />
understanding<br />
is important in<br />
the character-building process<br />
for an actor.<br />
"For instance, in 'Maqbool',<br />
after improvising<br />
certain parts in two scenes,<br />
I just realised that what I<br />
am trying to add is taking<br />
away the essence of the<br />
character," said Irrfan,<br />
whose Indian filmography<br />
is decorated with<br />
projects like "Paan<br />
Singh Tomar" and<br />
"Piku".<br />
Pointing out<br />
how actors at<br />
times create<br />
their own<br />
comfort zone<br />
by improvisation,<br />
he said: "I<br />
have seen actors<br />
taking an unnecessary<br />
pause<br />
between lines because<br />
he did not<br />
learn the lines properly<br />
and is trying to<br />
find his own ease<br />
in between. For me,<br />
had is 22 years' experience<br />
of producing top-quality<br />
content which appeals to a<br />
demographic that actually<br />
consumes a lot of content on<br />
digital platforms as well.<br />
"So, whether it is<br />
Kapil Sharma's show or a<br />
'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah<br />
Chashmah'... they appeal to<br />
viewers on the TV screen as<br />
well as the smaller screen<br />
(phones/iPads).<br />
"We are backing movies<br />
like 'Piku' and 'Mubarakan',<br />
which have a very wide<br />
appeal. <strong>The</strong>y work on<br />
television, they work on<br />
digital. So, our objective is<br />
to create top-quality content,<br />
which has a wide appeal and<br />
can be consumed wherever<br />
people want," Singh said.<br />
As for the television<br />
space, Singh said their<br />
latest offering is "Porus", a<br />
show which pays homage<br />
to the era when India was<br />
called 'Sone Ki Chidiya' for<br />
its richness. Produced by<br />
Siddharth Kumar Tewary,<br />
the entertainer is said to be<br />
one of the most expensive<br />
ever made for Indian<br />
television.<br />
Without delving into the<br />
numbers, Singh told IANS:<br />
"'Porus' has been mounted<br />
at a level that the youth has<br />
gotten used to watching<br />
courtesy digital platforms.<br />
that is not the right thing<br />
to do.<br />
"For a performer in a<br />
film, how the director is<br />
setting our frame of mind<br />
also matters," said the actor,<br />
who has enjoyed working<br />
with Vishal Bhardwaj,<br />
Shoojit Sircar and Tigmanshu<br />
Dhulia.<br />
<strong>The</strong> year 2017 has been<br />
eventful for Irrfan.<br />
He got commercial success<br />
with "Hindi Medium",<br />
acclaimed movies like<br />
"Doob: No Bed of Roses"<br />
and "<strong>The</strong> Song of Scorpions"<br />
and had another commercial<br />
release "Qarib Qarib<br />
Singlle".<br />
Asked if he is saying<br />
"yes" to more scripts these<br />
days instead of being too<br />
choosy like earlier, Irrfan<br />
said: "My criterion of a<br />
good script as the deciding<br />
factor has not changed. But<br />
scriptwriters are coming<br />
up with some brilliant stories<br />
and that is bringing all<br />
the changes in our cinema."<br />
Tough time for Indian show-biz, but it shall pass: Sony's N.P. Singh<br />
Even the characters and<br />
story itself, even though it is<br />
set in 350 BC, it will intrigue<br />
people curious about the<br />
golden era of India. It's<br />
something that will appeal<br />
universally."<br />
He said the need to bring<br />
out such breakthrough<br />
content is being felt more<br />
than ever due to the rapidly<br />
changing dynamics of the<br />
industry.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>y (the dynamics)<br />
are certainly changing very<br />
rapidly and they should,<br />
because they have stayed<br />
constant for a very long<br />
time. It's about time that we<br />
started to leap forward, and<br />
that's what the industry is<br />
doing," Singh asserted.<br />
On their part, they have<br />
scored an industry first<br />
by letting the 100 per cent<br />
Intellectual Property Rights<br />
of "Porus" to be with the<br />
producer.<br />
Could this be a<br />
trendsetter?<br />
"It could be, but we have<br />
to wait and see how many<br />
people have the risk appetite<br />
to invest in a concept that<br />
they have conviction in. If<br />
more people come to us with<br />
that conviction and want us<br />
to back it, we will be happy,"<br />
said Singh, adding that "all<br />
the risks have been taken by<br />
broadcasters till now".
<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly MONEY/REAL ESTATE<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 18<br />
RBC says mortgage demand up ahead of new rules<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> Press<br />
TORONTO: Royal Bank of<br />
Canada saw an uptick in demand<br />
for mortgages this fall<br />
as borrowers look to secure<br />
loans before tougher rules<br />
— including a stress test —<br />
take effect in the new year,<br />
one of the bank's executives<br />
says.<br />
Neil McLaughlin, RBC's<br />
head of personal and commercial<br />
banking, told analysts<br />
on its fourth-quarter<br />
earnings call there is a<br />
heightened awareness of<br />
the banking regulator's revised<br />
mortgage underwriting<br />
guidelines, which is<br />
expected to reduce the maximum<br />
amount homebuyers<br />
who don't need mortgage<br />
insurance will be able to<br />
borrow.<br />
"We have seen a little<br />
bit of pull forward this fall,"<br />
McLaughlin told analysts<br />
on the call Wednesday. "As<br />
we talk to customers, some<br />
of them are surprisingly<br />
aware of what the stress test<br />
is about and have decided to<br />
move more quickly."<br />
McLaughlin's comments<br />
came as RBC beat<br />
analyst expectations with<br />
a 12 per cent jump in its<br />
fourth-quarter net income<br />
to $2.84 billion, driven by<br />
double-digit year-overyear<br />
increases in personal<br />
and commercial banking,<br />
wealth management and<br />
capital markets. Its latest<br />
earnings for the threemonth<br />
period ended Oct. 31<br />
helped to cap off its fiscal<br />
year with a record $11.5 billion<br />
profit, up 10 per cent<br />
from fiscal 2016.<br />
It also comes as the<br />
banking regulator in October<br />
finalized changes to<br />
its mortgage underwriting<br />
guidelines — moves aimed<br />
at reducing risk amid high<br />
household indebtedness<br />
and rising home prices,<br />
particularly in Toronto and<br />
Vancouver.<br />
<strong>The</strong> revised guidelines,<br />
called B-20, require wouldbe<br />
homebuyers to prove<br />
they can still service their<br />
uninsured mortgage at a<br />
qualifying rate of the greater<br />
of the contractual mortgage<br />
rate plus two percentage<br />
points or the five-year<br />
benchmark rate published<br />
by the Bank of Canada. An<br />
existing stress test requires<br />
those with insured mortgages<br />
to qualify at the Bank<br />
of Canada benchmark fiveyear<br />
mortgage rate.<br />
Meanwhile, the Bank of<br />
Canada has raised interest<br />
rates twice in recent months<br />
to the current overnight<br />
lending rate of one per cent.<br />
On Tuesday, the central<br />
bank said in its semi-annual<br />
review of the financial system<br />
that the steady climb of<br />
household debt and still-hot<br />
housing markets remained<br />
top vulnerabilities. However,<br />
it said the new mortgage<br />
guidelines would help mitigate<br />
the risks associated<br />
with low-ratio mortgages<br />
(with down payments of 20<br />
per cent or more).<br />
McLaughlin told analysts<br />
Wednesday that<br />
more than 90 per cent of its<br />
mortgages are already underwritten<br />
at these higher<br />
rates, and expects the overall<br />
impact of these guidelines<br />
to be "fairly modest."<br />
"<strong>The</strong> vast majority of<br />
our portfolio and loan originations<br />
are not really going<br />
to be impacted," he said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bank of Nova Scotia's<br />
chief executive, Brian<br />
Porter, told analysts on its<br />
earnings call Tuesday that<br />
he expects the new guidelines<br />
to create a "five per<br />
cent headwind" to mortgage<br />
originations.<br />
McLaughlin told analysts<br />
that RBC expects "a<br />
similar number".<br />
Dave McKay, RBC's<br />
president and chief executive,<br />
said he expects mortgage<br />
growth to "slightly<br />
moderate." Canada's biggest<br />
lender by market capitalization<br />
had $142.1 billion in<br />
uninsured mortgages as of<br />
Oct. 31, up 11 per cent from<br />
$128 billion a year earlier.<br />
Bank of Canada releases white paper on digital currency<br />
Agencies<br />
CALGARY: <strong>The</strong> Bank of Canada<br />
is considering the merits of establishing<br />
a digital currency as<br />
interest in crypto-currencies like<br />
bitcoin reaches a fevered pitch.<br />
In a research paper released<br />
by the central bank Thursday,<br />
report authors Walter Engert and<br />
Ben Fung said there are merits<br />
to creating a central bank digital<br />
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currency as society starts to move<br />
away from cash, and the bank's<br />
potential to reap profits off issuing<br />
that cash could be threatened.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report said a central bank<br />
digital currency (CBDC) could<br />
become a cheaper alternative to<br />
debit and credit cards and other<br />
forms of payment, making it easier<br />
for competition to emerge in<br />
the retail and large-value payment<br />
sectors.<br />
Agencies<br />
"With no transaction fees<br />
charged by the central bank, the<br />
benchmark CBDC would probably<br />
be less expensive for merchants<br />
than cash and credit cards."<br />
Some of the benefits overlap<br />
with those of bitcoin, ether and<br />
the myriad of other digital currencies<br />
based on cryptography that<br />
have emerged, though one of the<br />
central benefits of bitcoin and the<br />
like is that it is decentralized and<br />
NEW DELHI: Breaking a five<br />
quarters slump, a rise in the<br />
manufacturing sector's output<br />
pushed India's growth rate<br />
higher to 6.3 per cent during<br />
the second quarter of 2017-18,<br />
official data showed on Thursday.<br />
On a sequential basis, India's<br />
GDP growth for Q2 of the<br />
current fiscal went up to 6.3 per<br />
cent, from 5.7 per cent reported<br />
during the first quarter of 2017-<br />
18.<br />
According to data from the<br />
Central Statistics Office (CSO),<br />
the GDP for Q2 stood at Rs 31.66<br />
lakh crore, or a growth of 6.3<br />
per cent.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> economic activities<br />
not controlled by any bank.<br />
<strong>The</strong> value of bitcoin, the most<br />
well-known cryptocurrency, has<br />
skyrocketed this year, rising from<br />
about US$1,000 per coin at the<br />
start of the year to crest at over<br />
US$11,000 per coin this week.<br />
<strong>The</strong> interest has led to many<br />
new entrants into the sector and a<br />
few stumbles in the rush to get in<br />
on the rising valuations.<br />
Toronto-based blockchain investor<br />
NextBlock Global said in<br />
early November that it had suspended<br />
its initial public offering<br />
after allegations that it made misleading<br />
statements in its marketing<br />
materials.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report Thursday said<br />
given the complexity and uncertainty<br />
around introducing a central<br />
bank digital currency, central<br />
banks should proceed cautiously<br />
and incrementally.<br />
India posts 6.3 percent growth, reverses 5 quarters' slump<br />
Agencies<br />
TORONTO: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> Imperial<br />
Bank of Commerce's 25<br />
per cent rise in fourth-quarter<br />
profits was helped by better-thanexpected<br />
performance in the U.S.,<br />
while rival Toronto-Dominion<br />
Bank's double-digit profit lift fell<br />
short of market expectations<br />
amidst a retracement in its earnings<br />
south of the border. CIBC,<br />
Canada's fifth-largest lender, reported<br />
net income of $1.16 billion<br />
in the three months ended Oct. 31,<br />
up from $931 million during the<br />
same time in 2016. On an adjusted<br />
basis, CIBC's profit amounted to<br />
$2.81 per share, up eight per cent<br />
from the fourth quarter of 2016<br />
and beating the $2.59 in adjusted<br />
earnings per share expected by<br />
analysts surveyed by Thomson<br />
Reuters. <strong>The</strong> major contributor to<br />
CIBC's earnings continued to be<br />
its <strong>Canadian</strong> personal and small<br />
business banking division, which<br />
earned an adjusted quarterly profit<br />
of $6<strong>23</strong> million, up 11.3 per cent<br />
from a year earlier.<br />
But it was CIBC's U.S. commercial<br />
banking and wealth management<br />
unit that saw a major<br />
bump in profit, with net income<br />
for the quarter of $107 million<br />
— more than four times the $<strong>23</strong><br />
million reported during the same<br />
quarter a year earlier.<br />
That reflected a full quarter<br />
of "strong performance" from<br />
<strong>The</strong> PrivateBank, after CIBC purchased<br />
its parent PrivateBancorp<br />
for roughly US$5 billion in June<br />
and rebranded it in September<br />
as CIBC Bank USA."U.S. commercial<br />
banking and wealth management<br />
continue to exceed our<br />
expectations ... <strong>The</strong> former PrivateBank<br />
showed one of its best<br />
quarters ever," CIBC president<br />
and chief executive Victor Dodig<br />
told analysts on a conference call<br />
Thursday. That purchase, along<br />
with the acquisition of private<br />
wealth management firm Geneva<br />
Advisors also headquartered in<br />
Chicago, was part of CIBC's strategy<br />
to deepen its presence in the<br />
U.S. and generate 25 per cent of its<br />
profits from south of the border in<br />
the medium term.<br />
Meanwhile, its larger rival<br />
TD earned $2.71 billion in its latest<br />
which registered growth of<br />
over 6 per cent in Q2 of 2017-18<br />
over Q2 of 2016-17 are 'manufacturing',<br />
‘electricity, gas, water<br />
supply & other utility services'<br />
and ‘trade, hotels, transport &<br />
communication and services<br />
related to broadcasting'," the<br />
document on the estimates of<br />
GDP for the Q2 of 2017-18 said.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> growth in the 'agriculture,<br />
forestry and fishing', 'mining<br />
and quarrying', 'construction',<br />
'financial, insurance, real<br />
estate and professional services'<br />
and 'public administration,<br />
defence and other services' is<br />
estimated to be 1.7 per cent,<br />
5.5 per cent, 2.6 per cent, 5.7<br />
per cent and 6 per cent respectively,<br />
during this period," the<br />
data said.<br />
CIBC beats expectations, TD falls short<br />
quarter, up 17.8 per cent from $2.3<br />
billion a year ago, boosted by its<br />
<strong>Canadian</strong> and U.S. retail banking<br />
business. Canada's biggest lender<br />
by assets (TSX:TD) said Thursday<br />
the profit amounted to $1.42<br />
per diluted share for the quarter<br />
ended Oct. 31, up from $1.20 per<br />
diluted share in the same quarter<br />
last year. "Q4 was a great quarter<br />
for TD and a strong finish to fiscal<br />
2017," said TD president and chief<br />
executive Bharat Masrani on a<br />
call with analysts. On an adjusted<br />
basis, TD said it earned $1.36 per<br />
diluted share, compared with<br />
$1.22 per diluted share a year ago.<br />
Analysts had expected an adjusted<br />
profit of $1.39 per diluted share,<br />
according to those surveyed by<br />
Thomson Reuters.
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Canadian</strong> Press<br />
TORONTO: An electri-<br />
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Continued on page 04<br />
Agencies<br />
WASHINGTON: <br />
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Agencies<br />
<strong>Issue</strong> No : 08<br />
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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
19<br />
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<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly ENTERTAINMENT<br />
December 01, 2017 | Toronto 20<br />
'Kal Ho Naa Ho' holds special<br />
memory for Karan Johar<br />
My kids are my biggest<br />
guru: Kajol<br />
Agencies<br />
MUMBAI: Filmmaker Karan Johar says "Kal Ho Naa<br />
Ho" is a memory that's "heartbreaking" and yet "full of<br />
heart".<br />
Co-directed by Nikkhil Advani and Ron Reid Jr, "Kal<br />
Ho Naa Ho" clocked 14 years of its release on Tuesday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> film was released under Karan's home banner Dharma<br />
Productions.<br />
"14 years Of 'Kal Ho Naa Ho', a film that I will always<br />
strongly associate with my father. A memory that is both<br />
heartbreaking and yet full of heart," Karan tweeted.<br />
Karan said the film's title song is his "strength mantra<br />
for life". <strong>The</strong> film, a love triangle, starred Shah Rukh<br />
Khan, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan.<br />
Currently, Karan is busy with "Dhadak" and "Student<br />
Of <strong>The</strong> Year 2".<br />
Agencies<br />
MUMBAI: Actress Kajol,<br />
a mother of two, says her<br />
children are her biggest<br />
gurus.<br />
"I've been learning<br />
from my kids ever since<br />
I was pregnant. I have<br />
learned a lot from my<br />
kids. My biggest gurus<br />
are my kids. I learn something<br />
new from them<br />
every day," Kajol, who<br />
was present on Wednesday<br />
at an event here for<br />
Lifebuoy's Help A Child<br />
Reach 5 campaign.<br />
"Sometimes there are<br />
words which I don't understand<br />
when they are<br />
talking, so they tell me<br />
the meaning with a lot of<br />
patience and ease. Sometimes<br />
it's their habits or<br />
outlook which I learn<br />
from. <strong>The</strong> most important<br />
thing I've learned from<br />
my kids is patience," Kajol<br />
added.<br />
She said she uses love<br />
and little threats when<br />
trying to make her children<br />
-- daughter Nysa and<br />
son Yug -- pick up a habit.<br />
But giving them knowledge<br />
is the right way.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> most important<br />
thing is that I believe<br />
when teaching a child,<br />
whatever it might be, you<br />
need to tell the reason<br />
behind it because every<br />
child asks the same thing,<br />
'Mom, why?'<br />
"So we can impart<br />
as much knowledge (to<br />
them) as possible. Make<br />
them understand the importance<br />
of its necessity<br />
and its benefits and keep<br />
doing it repeatedly. I am<br />
sure it will remain in<br />
their minds and form a<br />
habit."<br />
Asked how she and<br />
her husband Ajay Devgn<br />
react to being caught doing<br />
something wrong by<br />
their children, she said:<br />
"If I am wrong and they<br />
catch it, then I apologize<br />
and rectify it.<br />
"Ajay is perfect. He<br />
never makes any mistakes<br />
(laughs). He has<br />
OCD (Obsessive-compulsive<br />
disorder) when it<br />
comes to cleanliness. He<br />
keeps washing his hands<br />
over and over again. He<br />
is very conscious about<br />
it and keeps telling us to<br />
keep things clean."<br />
I love diamonds, but can't afford them: Disha Patani<br />
Agencies<br />
MUMBAI: Actress Disha<br />
Patani, who will be seen<br />
with Tiger Shroff in "Baaghi<br />
2", says she loves diamonds,<br />
but can't afford to buy them<br />
as of now.<br />
"Personally, I like diamonds,<br />
but as of now, I can't<br />
afford to buy it. And as I<br />
mostly go to the gym and<br />
other places, I don't get a<br />
chance to wear diamonds.<br />
Harrdy Sandhu releases 'Naah'<br />
But of course, I love diamonds,"<br />
said Disha at the<br />
preview of Forevermark<br />
and Om Jewellers' festive<br />
collection here on Wednesday.<br />
On her personal style<br />
statement, Disha said: "I<br />
just wear what I like and<br />
I don't like to know much<br />
about style and what's going<br />
on in fashion. What I<br />
like, I usually wear that.<br />
Plus, I have a great team of<br />
make-up men and stylist, so<br />
they always come up with<br />
new ideas." Her upcoming<br />
projects include Tamil film<br />
"Sanghamitra" and then<br />
"Baaghi 2".<br />
"I am going to start the<br />
shooting of 'Sanghamitra'<br />
from next month and we<br />
are halfway through the<br />
'Baaghi 2' shoot. It is shaping<br />
up well. Everybody is<br />
working hard on it, so let's<br />
see," Disha told the media.<br />
Dia Mirza appointed UNEP<br />
Goodwill Ambassador<br />
Sunny Leone to tell<br />
daughter Nisha she<br />
is adopted<br />
Agencies<br />
Mumbai : Bollywood star Sunny Leone, who adopted<br />
a 21-month-old girl from an orphanage in Mumbai, India<br />
earlier this year, has said she’s clear that Nisha<br />
will know she has been adopted.<br />
“Nothing will remain a secret for Nisha. Yes! Indeed<br />
we have to disclose this fact to her,'' Sunny tells<br />
Deccan Chronicle.<br />
“Right from the adoption papers and every minute<br />
things we have of her, will be shown to her,” she says.<br />
Sunny says, “I am not her real mom. But I am connected<br />
to her soul. I am her mom after adopting her.”<br />
Agencies<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: Singer Harrdy Sandhu on Thursday released<br />
his contemporary pop single "Naah", featuring actress Nora<br />
Fatehi in its video.<br />
"I am extremely excited about this song. A lot went behind<br />
curating this and I had a great time shooting for this.<br />
Nora is a natural dancer and I really thank her for being my<br />
partner in this one," Harrdy, known for songs like "Soch"<br />
and "Backbone", said in a statement.<br />
<strong>The</strong> video was shot in Bangkok over two days.<br />
"Harrdy Sandhu is a hugely talented and hardworking<br />
artiste. Being a perfectionist, he is making a mark in the<br />
industry in his inimitable way. This song will add to his<br />
global recognition. This is the beginning of a great association,"<br />
said Sanujeet Bhujabal, Marketing Director, Sony<br />
Music India.<br />
MUMBAI: Actress-producer<br />
Dia Mirza has been<br />
appointed UN Environment<br />
Programme's Goodwill Ambassador<br />
for India.<br />
Dia, who is also the<br />
brand ambassador for the<br />
Wildlife Trust of India, will<br />
take up the role to add more<br />
weight to her work on raising<br />
awareness and seeking<br />
solutions for environmental<br />
issues that the world, and India<br />
in particular, faces, read<br />
a statement on Thursday.<br />
"I feel honoured and inspired<br />
by this opportunity to<br />
work with UN Environment<br />
to protect the environment<br />
and promote sustainable development.<br />
"Environmental issues<br />
will be the defining challenge<br />
of this era, and I am committed<br />
to helping the UN as a<br />
Goodwill Ambassador to do<br />
everything I can to provide a<br />
better future," said Dia.<br />
She added: "Together,<br />
we will continue working<br />
towards conservation of nature,<br />
tackling climate change<br />
and inspiring people to live<br />
more sustainably."
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December 01, 2017 | Toronto<br />
21<br />
Virat Kohli, CoA agree on pay hike for cricketers<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: Indian skipper<br />
Virat Kohli and his predecessor<br />
Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday<br />
met with the Supreme Court<br />
appointed-Committee of Administrators<br />
(CoA) to discuss a number<br />
of issues, including the salaries of<br />
cricketers and the Future Tours<br />
and Programme (FTP).<br />
Besides Kohli and Dhoni, head<br />
coach Ravi Shastri also attended<br />
the meeting with CoA chairman<br />
Vinod Rai, CoA member Diana<br />
Edulji and BCCI CEO Rahul<br />
Johri, where issues like the player<br />
retainership policy and annual retainership<br />
fee were also discussed.<br />
Rai said the meeting was extensive<br />
and fruitful without divulging<br />
the nature of the discussions.<br />
No decisions have yet been<br />
taken.<br />
"It was a productive meeting.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team management was very<br />
forthcoming with their recommendations<br />
and their thoughts on<br />
various issues," Rai told reporters<br />
after the meeting, which lasted<br />
more than two hours.<br />
"This was a path-breaking<br />
initiative. We feel we've found<br />
common ground and aligned our<br />
thoughts for the betterment of the<br />
game -- be it the policies under<br />
which the player remuneration<br />
and FTP will be worked upon," he<br />
added.<br />
Ahead of the second Test<br />
against Sri Lanka in Nagpur,<br />
Kohli had complained about the<br />
cramped schedule and lack of<br />
preparation time for the challenging<br />
tour of South Africa next<br />
month.<br />
Rai had also backed the skipper,<br />
saying that the players were<br />
right in their demand, and they<br />
needed rest.<br />
Commenting on the issue of<br />
FTP for 2019-<strong>23</strong>, which will be discussed<br />
at the ICC workshop on<br />
December 7 and 8, Rai said: "On<br />
FTP, we agree with them and will<br />
look into it so that they get enough<br />
rest."<br />
"All the inputs they have to<br />
give us were taken and we are going<br />
to factor those in. <strong>The</strong> FTP, we<br />
bounced it off them.<br />
"Presentations have been<br />
made, they are in agreement with<br />
the FTP so that they get enough<br />
rest etc. Number of (playing) days<br />
I can't tell you exactly because we<br />
haven't yet worked it out," he added.<br />
Rai further said that the principles<br />
of compensation package<br />
will also be structured gradually.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> principles on which<br />
compensation package has to be<br />
structured, that has been agreed<br />
to. It's only a question of numbers<br />
now. We will now match the<br />
revenue with compensation<br />
that each player receives," the former<br />
CAG said.<br />
Captain Mithali Raj says<br />
Virat inspires her<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: India<br />
Women's cricket team<br />
captain Mithali Raj<br />
on Thursday heaped<br />
praise on skipper Virat<br />
Kohli and said it is commendable<br />
how he stays<br />
focused on staying fit<br />
throughout the year.<br />
"It feels great that all<br />
of them are getting their<br />
due, and that people<br />
are finally recognising<br />
them," the 34-year-old<br />
said at the CNN-News18<br />
Indian of the Year 2017.<br />
"I've come so far<br />
playing cricket in an<br />
era where it was not really<br />
appreciated, and responding<br />
to trolls is not<br />
really worth my time.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>re are so many<br />
people who inspire me<br />
every day, not one person.<br />
But if I do have to<br />
name someone, it's got to<br />
be Virat Kohli, for bringing<br />
the focus on fitness.<br />
Be it the men or women,<br />
everyone wants to be<br />
the best in international<br />
cricket," Raj added.<br />
Current India team can beat<br />
Agencies<br />
NAGPUR: Ahead of India's high-profile<br />
South Africa tour, former captain<br />
Kapil Dev on Thursday said the current<br />
side are at a level to beat any team.<br />
Following the ongoing series<br />
against Sri Lanka at home, India are<br />
slated to visit South Africa for three<br />
Tests, six One-Day Internationals (ODI)<br />
and three Twenty20 Internationals in<br />
January.<br />
"I think the team has reached a<br />
level where they can beat anyone," the<br />
anyone: Kapil Dev<br />
58-year-old said at the CNN-News18 Indian<br />
of the Year 2017.<br />
"Be it South Africa..or Australia,<br />
I think we have a captain who understands<br />
how the team functions," added<br />
the country's first World Cup-winning<br />
skipper. <strong>The</strong> legendary all-rounder emphasised<br />
on the fact that India are going<br />
to face a problem of plenty, with many<br />
young talents to be picked up from.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> only problem that the team is<br />
going to face is that whom they are going<br />
to pick in the playing XI, as we have<br />
a very strong bench," Dev said.<br />
India's Mirabai wins two golds in women's weightlifting worlds<br />
Agencies<br />
ANAHEIM: Indian athlete<br />
Chanu Saikhom Mirabai<br />
showed grit in winning<br />
the women's 48kg total and<br />
clean and jerk titles at the<br />
2017 world weightlifting<br />
championships on Wednesday.Mirabai,<br />
the 2017 Com<br />
monwealth Games champion,<br />
lifted her personal best<br />
in career totaling 194kg to<br />
beat Sukcharoen Thunya<br />
of Thailand to the second<br />
place by a slim margin of<br />
1kg. She was also the winner<br />
in clean and jerk of the<br />
event, reports Xinhua news<br />
agency.<br />
Two-time junior world<br />
champion Sukcharoen finished<br />
first in snatch with<br />
86kg but came up short in<br />
the clean and jerk.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Pan-American<br />
champion Ana Iris Segura<br />
Segura from Columbia was<br />
third in total.<br />
Nearly 400 athletes<br />
from about 70 countries<br />
and regions, including six<br />
reigning Olympic champions,<br />
will be competing<br />
through December 5 at<br />
the competition. This will<br />
be the first world championships<br />
featuring eight<br />
weight categories for both<br />
men and women.<br />
Duleep Trophy should have zonal teams: Bishan Bedi<br />
Agencies<br />
NEW DELHI: Former India<br />
cricket captain Bishan<br />
Singh Bedi on Wednesday<br />
urged the Board of Control<br />
for Cricket in India (BCCI)<br />
to bring back the older version<br />
of the Duleep Trophy,<br />
which he felt should have<br />
zonal teams.<br />
While the BCCI excluded<br />
the Duleep Trophy from<br />
the 2015-16 season, in the<br />
last two seasons, the teams<br />
were named as India Blue,<br />
India Green and India Red.<br />
<strong>The</strong> teams were composed<br />
of players from across the<br />
zones.<br />
Delivering a memorial<br />
lecture at the first Delhi and<br />
District Cricket Association<br />
(DDCA) annual conclave,<br />
Bedi also urged the young<br />
cricketers to prove their talent<br />
at the two domestic competitions<br />
before thinking<br />
about the franchise-based<br />
Indian Premier League (IPL)<br />
Twenty20 tournament.<br />
Bedi said that the cricket<br />
officials should have a relook<br />
at the way the Ranji<br />
Trophy is played. He minced<br />
no words in criticising the<br />
current state of the Duleep<br />
Trophy.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>se two competitions<br />
are crucial to our cricket<br />
structure. It used to be a ladder<br />
-- you do well for state<br />
teams and then go on to represent<br />
the zonal teams. That<br />
tradition has been broken.<br />
"Ranji Trophy needs a<br />
fair and hard look. Duleep<br />
Trophy should not see the<br />
colours instead of zones," he<br />
said, referring to the names<br />
of the teams in the current<br />
mode. That has to be the<br />
criteria for international<br />
consideration. "I have no issue<br />
at all on those going for<br />
T20s and IPL matches. Assessment<br />
of a talent has to be<br />
on the figures of first-class<br />
cricket," he insisted.<br />
Bedi also "respected"<br />
current Indian skipper Virat<br />
Kohli's complaint of<br />
a cramped international<br />
cricket schedule.
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